Caesarean Rhapsody

It was disappointing to see Team India (who suggested this crap anyways) giving in so very tamely. It wasn't that big a surprise either. Ahmedabad takes the cake when it comes to upset of the series. However, I was expecting a 3-3 draw at Firozshah Kotla, bringing a fairly nice series to a pale end : pretty much a given, with an India-Pak final. But then, disproving all rumors of the series being fixed and all dispelling all faith in the spirit of the Indian Cricket Team, the entire Indian batting order collapsed for a mere 144. The superlative ease with which the Pakistani openers played their text-book shots, made it look as if the game had shifted to another stadium for the Indian innings. Power cuts at Pune made me miss the Indian innings (and the immense humiliation). However I managed to catch Parvez Musharraf stifling laughters while patting the backs of his victorious home team and Rameez Raja taking a stab at the patriotic pride and ego of the Indian commentators, which according to me was at its nadir that evening.
But what seemed more astounding was the agility with which most TV channels threw together a few old (and mostly jobless) cricketers, a few journos and a lot of irate Indian fans; tossed them a bit and dished out a healthy spread of programs analyzing "The Match that India Lost". Javagal Srinath went live on DD Sports (if I'm not mistaken), some other channels aired a handful of experts carrying out a post-mortem of the game and still others had reporters chasing angry Delhi-ites to capture their angst on camera. All this has piqued my curiosity. Were these guys so sure of India's loss that they had all this crew on hold, just in case? Did India's flagging spirits indicate so clearly that we'd lose, and that too so miserably? Moreover, where were these guys when the formidable pair of Bhupathi and Paes lost at Wimbledon?Had they shut off their senses when the Indian hockey team was losing games left, right and center? Had they killed their conscience when the weightlifters sent to the Olympics pleaded guilty of doping? Even if the negative aspect is ignored, they haven't applauded Narain Kartikeyan for his stint with Jordan. Nor has Major Rajvardhan Rathore received any laurels for having made us proud at numerous occasions. With one exception, that of Sania Mirza, no sportsman in India has got his/her due if he/she hasn't been associated with cricket. I must say it's become a Big Brother-like figure (at least in India) and probably the next to join my list of hate.
Sad, but then, I am like that only!!!

What the fuck is wrong with our politicians? Are these the guys we "elect" as our leaders?
Last week Maharashtra CM R.R. Patil decided that the dance bars in Mumbai have to close shop. His contention was that it was spoiling the cultural fabric. Rather agreeable and a bold move considering the fact that a lot of revenue (cough) comes through this channel. I was mighty impressed. But the very next day I heard stuff on the news regarding the opposition's view on this. I was surprised (or should I rather not be) that instead of applauding this action, the opposition party was hurling brickbats at the fellow. Their point being that the ruling party is trying to get the focus away from more important issues and is therefore trying to distract the public by creating such controversy. What a shame! And come to think of it, the very same guys from the opposition (BJP) are the ones who want to be the moral police when they are in power. It would have been OK had they thought about the bar girls turning to prostitution after the implementation of the ban. But no, they corroborated the revenue funda and also kept saying that the Congress party has no vision at all. An extremely sad state of affairs.

I wasn’t expecting much from the Indian side, except from Sehwag who’s shown great form off lately. Ganguly, true to his form got out on 9 and SRT disappointed me by getting run out cheaply. But then, in came Dhoni with his club and started sending the ball to the fence very frequently. Hitting a handsome 148 off 123 balls, he’s given the selectors and John Wright a reason to smile and be proud. Sami, Naved and Arshad Khan won’t be forgetting this day any time soon. It was sad to see the tail just wag and dwindle towards the end, with some (but not great) effort from Balaji & Zaheer. I just wish I could have witnessed this ODI live instead of just jumping out of my seat whenever the score on my online score board soared higher after every over.
I haven’t seen Dhoni keep wickets yet, so can’t say if he’s a good replacement for Dravid. What I can say is that he could buttress the slightly flagging top-order or even the faltering middle-order. But it’s too soon to comment on it. After all Vizag isn’t exaclty Eden Gardens, Lords or Melbourne.

I know some people are terrified of the bomb and some are terrified to be seen carrying a modern screen magazine. But experience teaches me that silence terrifies people the most.