The Dark Disappointment

When I read the reviews of the latest Hollywood box-office smasher, The Dark Knight, sequel to the Batman Begins, and the second movie in the Batman trilogy, I was, to say the least, dying to go and watch this film. The newspapers, considered this movie to be, if not the best, one of the very best to have ever come out of Hollywood. It wasn't however, before one whole month, did I actually get the chance, to go it and see for myself.

And I was disappointed. A bit too disappointed.

Well, it was good. The special effects were pretty awesome, and the acting was mind blowing, no doubt. But at the end of the day, it all boiled down, to a typical Hollywood action film. The plot, was complex, and the story had... hm... too many indigestible loose ends. For example, the Joker (who was the main star in the film, more so than Batman aka Bruce Wayne himself ) ... I accept the fact that he is a super villain, but c'mon, one cannot possibly blow up so many buildings at the same time, single handed!!! Secondly, Bruce Wayne's ability to change his costume to become Batman in an instant, and that too in the middle of a party, is ... er .... not quite possible!!! Agreed, that that is just another super power that DC Comics superheroes are known to possess (remember Spiderman?) but then, when these super powers step beyond the reaches of plausible reality, it clearly points at elements of immaturity, and a contrived storyline.

However, the plus points include the phenomenal acting of the Joker, the superbly crafted out special effects, the ability to make the viewer sit back, in anxious anticipation, and in cliff hanging suspense, and the innovative little ideas of Joker at spelling disaster.

Overall, a nice film to spend three hours with. Watch it, you'll enjoy it no doubt, but make sure that you don't get biased by the misleading reviews.

The Much Awaited Sequel to The Market Place Saga Part 1

... and therefore named as 'the Market Place Saga' part 2.

If, with the complete nonsense of my previous post, I have succeeded in lighting the fire of curiosity in your mind, then let me , very frankly tell you, that 'the thing' wasn't as much of a thing, to actually have invoked curiosity, of that great a magnitude. I understand that readers cannot tolerate anti-climaxes, like this one, but what to do... this is life. However, if my attempts have indeed borne fruit, and you are curious, then I believe, I can start upon the remaining phase of the story, with new found gutso, and determination.

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the thing that happened, was the sort of thing which tells you that its going to happen, by making the hairs at the back of your neck, stand on end, before it actually happens. Honestly, I did seem to hear that voice of conscience, sounding from my gut, that something was about to happen to the grumpy old woman (whom you might just recall from my previous post). But oh! If only my gut would have been a bit more informative, I would perhaps have gauged the near future, but some things in life don't happen the way you want it to happen...so I had to be content with it.

Now this GW (grumpy woman) had just managed to postion her centre of gravity between her feet, and was looking slightly happier owing to this achievement, when the protagonist of my tale, made an entrance. And that too on a bicycle.

And than I realized, the profoundness of what they call 'a gut feeling'.

The protagonist made an entrance all right, but at the cost of the other character. I dion't mean to say that she did an exeunt, but rather fell down. The moral of the story: Mr. Protagonist had barged right into her.


... and the market place scene changed. The whole load of tomatoes she was caarying, broke free, and spread all around her, till it seemed as if the Red Sea had flowed into this city. Passers-by crushed them under their feet, scooters ran over them, auto rickshaws squashed them, disfiguring their geometry to a great extent, but that did not deter the tomatoes, no sir. They had broken free, and intended it stay free, outside all baskets, out of all polythene bags. So they did one thing, that round bodies are very good at. They rolled, they rolled, and they rolled, till it seemed that V = Rw was certainly, not a myth. Till it seemed that the round bodies were meant to take over the world, owing to their sheer rolling power. And till it seemed that, someone at Pizza Hut, had ben a bit too generous with the tomato sauce, and had mistaken this market place for a big pizza.

The GW? guess what happened to her? She did one thing that middle aged women are very good at. She screamed, she screamed, and she screamed. The gravity of the situation, had taken its time to enter her brain, but when it did, she looked helplessly around for help, and finding none, had to be content with her screaming. After a few minutes of star-rated wailing, when she realized, that Mr. P was the cause of her fate, she looked desperately around for the culprit. But clever Mr. P. He was gone!!! If there is one person to whom this story is dedicated, it is indeed him, for it is he who gave me this story to write about. Meanwhile, dejected, and looking murderously vindictive, the GW tried her best to collect as many red stuff she found lying on the road, but were attempts were futile: the good round ones, had made a getaway. The ones who hadn't succeded, were left either crushed, or wasted on the road.


With this I end this great saga. I am not sure whether you have enjoyed it. But if you have, do let me know. If you haven't, than forgive me for wasting your time. To cap it all, a note of caution: be on the lookout for rolling tomatoes in and around Lansdowne Avenue. If you do spot one, well you might just know, whom it belongs to!!!

The Market Place Saga Part I

this was a post published a year back, when my blog was still in it's infancy. Here's it again for all those who missed it

the following write-up is meant to be mere cheap humour, with not even an iota of deep insight. The topic is derived from one of my school english language exam essays, which I had attempted. A few people who had read it, might recall. Nevertheless, the write-up is fraught with complex sentence constructions, and you are requested to give some time, in reading it carefully and slowly. If you like it, do let me know!!!

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If someone were to ask you, which is the most happening place in town, what would your answer be? Well....if you are the typical...er...type, you might blurt out something like, say, the Forum, City Centre, or some other similar stuff....or if you are the slight daring type, you might just vote for nightclubs, and discotheques. But, if you are not aware by now, I tend to be slightly obtuse in my opinions, which turn out to be quite acute, to others. Whether they are obtuse, or acute, they seem quite right and straight to me. So I would cast my vote in favour of the market-places, for which our city is so well known.
Yes I mean those market places, that shout out loud, that this is India or better (worse?) this is (quite ironically) the City Of Joy. The same market-places that bring to the thousands of hawkers, a daily meal, and an income. The same market-places that seem to denounce, every bit of the government's 'Save the Environment' policy. And the same market-places that have today, given me a topic to write about.

Now, first, let me clarify your doubts, regarding my alliance, or better allegiance ie whether I'm for these markets, or against these markets. For one thing, in no way do I have any affinity for these popular hotspots, neither do I intend to in the foreseeable future, but coming back to where I started off from, there IS reason enough for me in casting a vote, in favour of these historical monuments. I happened to (quite unfortunately) visit one of these masterpieces, a few days back, which provided all the reasons to do so.

The market place under our forthcoming experimental discussion, sprawls over 10 acres, of fertile alluvium, and black pitch, of the Lansdowne Aveneue, and like most other markets, does not possess, a name of its own. It had been there for the past fifty plus years, and owing to the prevalent confusion, regarding its nomenclature, it got quite unanimously, named as the
The Lansdowne Market. It is this name we shall adhere to, during the latter course, of this fascinatingly boring journey.

Coming back to the story of my visit, it was a not so cloudy Monday morning, when I was sent, by my folks back home, to buy tomatoes, and not knowing any other shop in my locality, that sold tomatoes, I headed straight for Lansdowne Market. The same market, which my grandmom sanctified every other morning during her groceries, which needlessly, should have tomatoes to satisfy, the whims of my kitchen, and it did. The good old market lived up to its name and reputation, and I was pleasantly surprised, at the quantity of redness, I beheld in almost every shop.

This calls for a clarification. The word 'shop' utilised in the previous line, happens to be an exaggeration, because these were more of... bivouacs (those who went through the ICSE in 2007, may recollect this word....it essentially means a temporary battle camp, where in this case, it refers to the hawkers', mad battle, for possession of more territory for enhanced display of their inventories. Whatever they may be, I headed for the nearest establishment, where a grumpy old woman, sat squatting on a low stool. She looked rebellious, and seemed more inclined to fending off customers, than welcoming them in. I succumbed to her repulsion , and headed for the next shop, which looked, equally repulsive, but slightly less offensive. It was here, where I obtained my tomatoes, and had no sooner turned about, to head back home when the thing happened.

The Queen of Crime

The world of detective fiction, may have been enriched by various authors from all over the world, but Agatha Christie sure stays apart with head held high. Thanks to her massive collection of intriguing mysteries, each of which keep the engrossed reader mystified till the last line, she can safely contend for the 'Braniest Lady of the Century Award', and win it.

Wow. This is one lady who has indeed given gentlemen of the type Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a run for their money... seriously. Personally I have an inclination towards Christie's books, than Doyle's, which might be due to the fact that I have read a lot more Christies, than Doyles. But the few Doyles I've read, I have seriously been bored, and to say the least, dissapointed by them. Events seem to proceed rather slowly and the language seems a bit too archaic. On the other hand, Christie is a lot more enjoyable and gripping.

However, tables in my mind seem to be turning against Christie now. The reason ? Here goes:

I have literally poured over Agatha Christie books in the past 2-3 years... Hercule Poirot, Tommy and Tuppence, Miss Marple... and the other miscellaneous stuff, but there is always, one striking similarity in all of her books, and I emphasize all. If you have been an avid fan of Christie, and have read some of her books, you would have noticed, that whatever the story may start out as, it keeps winding back to the same old setting. 10 suspects, 1 detctive. 1 of them seems to be the culprit. 3 others seem to be the most innocent. At the end, it is the THE most innocent of the three most innocent who is the criminal. In fact, those who have read 'And Then They Were None', will recollect, how a person who "appeared" to be dead was the criminal at the end. Added to that, the one whom you would have bet your life on, to be the culprit, would actually, turn out to be the most innocent. Getting muddled up ? Sorry, it is supposed to be muddling. And here's one more hint, to catch the criminal before the person is revealed: the new character who is inroduced at the very beggining, before all other characters, is generally the culprit. This happened in 'The Unexpected Guest', 'And Then They Were None', 'Black Coffee', 'Death by the Nile', 'One, Two, Buckle My Shoe', and some others.

At the end however, it is Christie herself, who reigns supreme. Those who have read 'Murder In the Orient Express', or 'The Witness to the Prosecution', will know why. Only Christie could have come with marvels like that.

Whatever it may be, she still is the 'Queen of Crime'.

K for... KK!!!

A short quiz:
Q1. Who is the best play-back singer in Bollywood today?
Q2. Who is the artist with the maximum number of hits today?
Q3. Who is the one whose voice can be heard today on any popular radio station?
Q4. Who is the one playback singer whose hits remain in all top 10 music lists all over the country?

The answer to all these questions is simple, and not to forget, rather short. It is indeed KK we are talking about. The one and only KK, whose full name happens to be Krishna Kumar Menon. To cut a long story short, and to make up for my overtly precocious previous blog post, heres something to calm down my detractors.

Coming back to KK. Born in Kerala, 23rd August, 1970, he entered the world of playback singing in 1996 with 'Chode aaye hum' in the film Maachis. His voice came as a breath of fresh air amidst those of stalwarts of the type, Udit Narayan, Kumar Sanu, and Sonu Nigam. It was mature, new age, and most importantly, enchantingly melodious. He struck a chord throughout the country, with his singing abilities, and hasn't looked back since.

However his career went into proper rolling, with his debut album Pal, wherin the title track, enthused the country, and KK was soon one the one whose voice, people were all craving for. Back in Bollywood, he set the charts ablaze, with his 'Tu aashique hai' from Jhankaar Beats, and the smash hit 'Dus Bahaane' with Shaan. More hits follwed. 'Awarapan banjarapan' from Jism also topped all hit song lists, and this was proceeded by 'It's the time to Disco' from 'Kal ho na ho'.

KK has definitely got himself going with the tides, the times, and the ups and downs of the music industry in India. Drifting from Hindi, he also sung for Tamil, and Telegu films.

In the last two years, he added more than 50 musical classics to Bollywood. Amongst these, the ones that have definitely rocked the charts are 'Tuhi meri shab hai' from 'Gangster', 'Kya Mujhe Pyaar hai' from 'Woh lamhe', 'Alvida' and 'O meri jaan' from 'Life in a ... metro', and 'Ab toh forever' form 'Tara Rum Pum'. And of course, not to forget 'Ajab si' from 'Om Shanti Om', 'Labon ko' from Bhool Bhulaiya, 'Beetein Lamhe' from 'the train'.... well ...the list is endless!!!

Not only this. KK was also nominated the best male playback singer, for 'Ajab Si', 'Dus Bahaane', 'Tu aashique hai', 'Awarapan Banjarapan', and 'Bardasht'. He also recieved a major national award for 'Tu aashique hai' in 2003.

KK has, is, and will rock the music industry for years and possibly decades to come. He has not only cemented his place, in Bollywood, but has also proved with his voice, that he is indeed, one of the most talented vocalists, India has ever produced.

Kingfisher..the good times partner?

If there is one person in this world who certainly is in deep waters at the moment, it is Vijay Mallya. Poor soul. Aspired for so much, tried for so much, and gave so much, sadly, didn't get so much. Showed an incurable optimism by buying a Formula 1 team, and then an IPL team, both of which backfired against him, quite miserably.

Vijay Mallya, who is incidentally one of the foremost liquor barons in the world, (thanks to his father Vitthal Mallya, who founded the United Breweries), should stick to the fields in and around his precious vineyards, and not dare into what is not his.



Consider the following:

When Force India, the Formula 1 team was announced last year, with Mallya as its boss, it created quite a stir in the motorsport world. Shelling out a king's ransom and buying for himself, Giancarlo Fisichella, and Adrian Sutil, as drivers, and a tie-up with Ferrari for engines, it sure looked big for Mallya. But quite unfortunately, halfway into the F1 season, they haven't been able to start in half of the races, leave alone scoring points... and even when Sutil came to the verge of winning a point at Monaco last week, Raikonnen's Ferrari, very nastily, slammed into his rear, and damaged his suspension.



The next big blow came in the form of the Indian Premier League. Buckling out a massive US$ 5m to buy men for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mallya ended up buying for himself, a Test team...capable of holding innings together...but just not right for T20. Look at the players he bought: Rahul Dravid, Jaffer, Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Anil Kumble...stalwarts of Test cricket perhaps, but not the right men for T20 at all. The result: a pathetic no. 7 slot in the IPL table.

Yet another blow for Mallya, is perhaps the massive loss Kingfisher Airlines incurrs every year.

So my advice for Mallya: dear sir... buy more vineyards, grow grapes and keep your brewers engaged. That way, you would not suffer as many embarresments as you are suffering. Live long, drink and enjoy life...with Kingfisher, your partner for "good" times.

Knights Ridden Over....

long time no see....or should i say.... no hear, no talk, no smell... nothing at all...

Whatever, the fact is that I am back to blog and bore. Class 12 has started... and so has the IPL. But none are turning out to be as nice as i had hoped they would. For one, class 12 makes you even sadder than what you had speculated to be, and the recent fired up IPL season serves to be a perfect comapnion to your downtrodden spirits.

When IPL was announced, a few months back, the Kolkata Knight Riders seemed to be one of the deadliest team in the tournament, and why not. With the reins in the hands of king Khan, and explosive players like Ricky Ponting, Brendon McCullum, Sourav Ganguly, Chris Gayle, David Hussey and Salman Butt, in the batting line-up, what could actually go wrong with them? In addition to that, the Knights had a fearsome bowler squad, spearheaded by mavericks of the sort Shoaib Akhtar, Ishant Sharma, and Ajit Agarkar. Everything seemed to be just fine. But then the Gods decided to play foul, and Chris Gayle went down with a groin pain, not to play in any match at all. Responsibility shifted to Ponting, McCullum, and Ganguly to make up for the loss.

18th April, 2008. 8:00 PM, Bangalore.
The KKR showed the world, what T20 cricket actually meant. Brendon McCullum with his record-shattering 158 odd runs, off merely 80 odd balls, won the hearts of millions in the City of Joy, and raised hopes of all fans for matches to come. The Bangalore Royal Challengers, with men like Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis, and Praveen Kumar just stared on.

20th April, 2008. 4:00 PM, Kolkata.
Another big victory over a deadly rival, the Deccan Chargers, which boasted of the likes of Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, VVS Laxman, and Chaminda Vaas. KKR really seemed to be on the roll.

That turned out to be a turning point.

Then came the row of defeats. The Chennai Super Kings, the Rajasthan Royals, the Mumbai Indians, and the Kings XI Punjab....did seem to have the upper hand over KKR. Adding to that came the unfortunate departure of McCullum and Ponting, leaving the Knights completely disillusioned and demoralized. Salman Butt and Aakash Chopra, came in to fill the vacancies and after their string of four consecutive defeats, the King's men decided to give yet another go. Morale was definitely low in th KKR camp, when they went for their home match against the Royal Challengers. This time, however, they emerged victorious, and the city of Joy, was joyous again. Following this victory, and with Korbo Lorbo Jeetbo Re resounding in their ears, they achieved another big victory over the Deccan Chargers, with Ganguly spearheading the batting assault and sweeping in 91 runs off merely 44 balls. Kolkata's hopes for the semi final seemed to have rejuvenated again. With four wins in their bag the King's men now readied themselves to face the Delhi Daredevils for the first time.

The news of the inclusion of Shoaib Akhtar, the fastest, and the deadliest bowler in the world today, came as a big reason to celebrate.

And he showed the detractors what fast bowling meant. Averaging 147 km/hr with the ball, he struck a fatal blow at the roots of the Delhi batting order, and got Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, and other top order batsmen, back to the pavillion. Akhtar seemed to be fired up with the cause to win, and to defeat. Charging down the pitch like a roaring lion, and sending balls hurtling at the batsmen, was intimidating in itself...and he proved his worth, scalping 4 wickets in his 3 overs of bowling, and conceding only 10 odd runs to the Daredevils.

The victory over Delhi was much celebrated. And that was again the point whenceforth, the wheels started rolling down again.

The second match with the Mumbai Indians came as a big letdown. The Knights ended their own innings at a terribly meagre 67, and although Akhtar struck early, sending Tendulkar out for a duck in the first over, the required 68 runs proved to be a cake walk for Jayasurya, who ended the game within 6 overs.

After this humiliating defeat the Knights, faced Chennai for the second time, and they lost yet again by a couple of runs in accordance to the Duckworth Lewis Rule.

This is where Kolkata stands now. They have 3 matches left, and to reach the semifinals they need to win all three. Big task? Sure. Mohali, Jaipur are right at the top, and beating them won't be easy.

to cap it all...


The Knights have surely been ridden over.

A drama: The Return

A one scene drama which is supposed to serve as an introduction

Enter: Wrahool

Wrahool: Ever since my exit from the blogging world a couple of years back, i have thought, thought, thought, and finally figured out that returning to blog (mind the verb) would perhaps be the perfect-est way to voice my opinions to the wide world at large. Or should I say, to the unfortunate souls, who having nothing better to do in life, than coming to read my blogposts, would care to care about.

[Flourish: trumpets sound]

Wrahool: Presenting 'Wrahoolz Wramblingz' !!! The almost perfect companion to your boredom, guaranteed to make you even sadder than what you are!!!

[Exit]