Boredom

In months of March-April this year, ICC scheduled the World T-20 Qualifiers for associate teams in Ireland and Scotland. Two spots were reserved for 12 teams in World T-20 scheduled to be played in India in March 2016. Tricky scenario is that they will again have to participate in a qualifier event before the commencement of actual world cup where they will compete against the likes of Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. So you see how tough is their journey to the center arena of World Cricket. So in the aforementioned qualifier event, Nepal and Oman were competing in a match. I wanted to see the match live on Star Sports 1 which was the official broadcaster of this event. But I didn't get to see it for Star was supposedly broadcasting only 16 matches from the tournament. I was dumbfounded for I wanted to see the progress made by teams such as Papua New Guinea, Jersey, Oman, Namibia, Hong Kong, Nepal and many others first hand. But then again, some of my favorite teams qualified for the ma...

If there is one movie that I miss the most from my collection, it's got to be 'Immortal Beloved'. I remember deleting it but not really the reason for doing so. I feel almost gutted whenever I find a mention of Gary Oldman and his unforgettable portrayal of legendary German Music Composer, Ludwig Von Beethoven in the Bernard Rose's film, 'Immortal Beloved'. I am feeling quite low especially today for today is not an ordinary day, it is the day commemorating Beethoven's 245th Birthday. And if you have logged on Google today, you will have already known that. Beethoven need not an introduction to all the music lovers across the world but those who are unaware of him, let me tell you that he was the LION of European (or Western) music jungle in early 19th century. He composed divine music that resonated through both classical and romantic era of western music scene and his compositions remain as influential today as they were in his prime. Beethoven started l...

'Unanswered' is a book penned by Mr. Kunal Uniyal and it's his third book. I am calling it a book, using a common noun to describe it and I have a good enough reason for doing so. It's a book that consists off both poems and prose and I was in real dilemma picturing its prognosis in my mind. It started with a poem named 'You and I' and beautiful it was, all poised and lyrical. And then came a snippet of a prose by the name 'Life of a Yogi'. They were really not connected and I was perplexed. Then I allowed myself some comfort and decided to dig up some more. Some more beautiful poems and accompanying yet again not quite related passages of prose followed but now they looked more in shape and very much in order. Now I was beginning to realize that there was more to this book than met my eyes earlier and it's scope is much wider that what I originally thought. You are required to engage yourself with this book and once you do that, you will know you ar...

Two observations from the just concluded first ever day night test match between Aus-NZ: 1) Australia were 116/8 in response to NZ's first innings total of 202. On a helpful pitch, a handy lead of 80+ would have done wonders for NZ. Then Lyon-DRS imbroglio happened and every cricket-fan's mood got spoiled. With NZ Cricket's honest, hardworking and clean image (and Australia's supposedly exact opposite), everyone wanted NZ to come up as a winner more so after their stellar performance in Perth Test. But as luck would have it, Australia prevailed, once again like those days of Great Australian (yet match-maligned) era. Australians again showed that if they are given a little sniff, they are still able to turn the tables on you. I'm glad that they showed their 'Australianism' once again and John Arlott, who coined and defined this term at the first place, must be smiling in heaven after witnessing their bravado performance.....perhaps, World Cricket needs a r...

"Confessions of a Drenched Heart: Turning on the Fife of Life" is a work of poetry from a promising writer, Ms. Shweta Kesri. As the title of this poetry collection itself suggests, the poems indexed are glimpse of writer's psyche or I should rater say, heart. I must admit that poetry was off my mind's radar for a while so when I got my hands on this book, I was little bit skeptical of its chances for scoring my likeness. And this is not to say that I don't like poems but as of late, I have been so immersed with works of prose that I almost forgot what a good poetry collection really means for its readers. Ms. Kesri's debut poetry collection gave me that surreal, enjoyable feeling back. This is in no way a made-up work, this is an honest work and it stays true to its title. It confesses and thus makes you reach out to your heart too. The Positives You will probably call me biased if I keep on going raving about this brilliant work but believe me when I sa...

As of late, checking the news on TOI/Hindu App first thing in the morning after waking up has become one of my standalone habits. It helps me in opening up my eyes, widening them after a 6 hrs sleep. So today as well, I followed up the same routine. Terrorist Attacks in Paris: The first and only news flashed across my Mobile Screen. Eyes Wide Open, Jaws on the floor and mind completely numb. Next moment: TV Switched on. All the infamous Indian News Channels blaring their coarse voice, their necklines sore. Irony: Some are making news space for Ind/SA test matches like the Indians are caring for it too much now. Perhaps tomorrow. Perhaps day after tomorrow but at least, not today you morons. Tickers are running at a frenetic pace. Emergency Numbers flashing across TV boards. World Leaders showing solidarity in condemning the gruesome attacks. Pretty common stuff, regulation you can say. Talk about 'growing intolerance' now. I'm listening. Lives and achievements of 160 citize...

I have been following American TV Series 'Lost' as of late. Couple of weeks ago, I was down with two seasons and wasn't really sure whether I should go ahead with rest of the seasons. There are six in total. So I asked my friends for an opinion. Popular notion wasn't really favorable and opined on a 'no go ahead' signal. I didn't coincide with it for I always thought there was enough to 'Lost' that meets the eye and now when I'm done with two more seasons, I'm glad that I made a good decision. Lost is awesome in most truthful of literary senses. And so are its cast members. John Locke, James Sawyer, Jack Shepherd, Sayid Jarrah, Charlie pace, Hugo Reyes and Kate were the series regulars and terrific from the beginning. In came season 2 and I was introduced to characters of Mr. Eko, Ana Lucia, Henry Gale aka Benjamin Linus and Desmond Hume. They outdid the regulars in their guest star roles. However, the season 2 finale left me aghast for it ...