The Trying to Think Man

"The Trying to Think Man" was born when a very good n sweet friend of mine, Hips, struck the thinking man's pose for the camera. He was pretty happy with his snap but sadists, that the rest of us were, we just couldn't let him have it all his way so we christianed the picture as "The Trying to Think Man".

Well, I have been doing some thinking ... err ... been trying to think of how this 2009-10 season of the EPL or BPL if you like will finish and the table in the picture above captures my opinion.

Chelsea will probably end up being the first amongst equals. Driven by a rejuvenated Drogba they are looking very solid indeed. The ANC could be the only possible banana skin for them. Then there is a Liverpool side who will again be very close. But they are heavily dependent on their no 9 and no 8. United beat Arsenal but they completely fluked it and looked weaker than Fergie's 05-06 crop, that lot which didn't even make it to the UEFA cup. But if Berbatov finds some confidence they could yet make it 4 in a row!

My Gunners, well they are playing the best football but Wenger didn't get the players he had promised. If everyone, esp Gallas, Cesc, Song n Arshavin stay fit Arsenal will compete very well. I am predicting a 07-08 encore, we played the prettiest game but ran outa steam after March. Sadly a fourth League title is not looking quite as possible.

The rest of the bunch, well Spurs and City will do well and Everton will be consistent as ever. But there could be seven teams in amidst the fight to avoid relegation.

Over all, a tighter title race with a slight drop in quality of the "players on view" awaits football fans. But It will be exiting none the less! At least that's how I am ... well ... trying to think :)

Mr. Obama, u must chop Pinocchio's nose!

The bad news coming out on all economic fronts is now finally subsiding. The world economy has finally bottomed out is the unanimous cry!

The Japanese economy has now stopped contracting and the news coming out of continental Europe is also positive. Though for every Germany and France we have a Italy and Spain, I put that down to abject leadership and double standards respectively than poor economic practices. For the Italians have a supposed pervert for a Prime Minister and the Spaniards have shown Xenophobia towards migrant workers but embraced Portuguese, Brazilian and Swedish Footballers after spending a small nation's GDP to get them.

But on the other hand, the Germans have sold their fine cars and efficient machinery to the now rich people of China to steer themselves out of th clutches of recession and then we have the French who were never too far from the shore in the puddle of greed. After all the ridicule that my mind was trained to direct towards Continental Europe's economic policies, thanks largely to the diet of Anglo American publications that I imposed on it, I finally feel ready to listen to the continental point of view.

Mr. Obama too has had a quite week in USA. Thanks largely to the passing of the last surviving of the famous Kennedy brothers. In spite of all the good intent none of his ideas have yet borne fruit. The verdict on "Cash for Clunkers" too is still very much in the balance. May be he needs to take the odd drastic step. Chopping Pinocchio's nose would be a good place to start!

Bappa, can I have that day back?

This picture here sums up my childhood days!
As a kid I loved to draw. If there was anything that captured my curious eye it had to end up on canvas, well paper actually! Be it the elephants pushing the "khatara" car in "Haathi merey saathi" or my favorite mare "Gauri", I wouldn't be at peace with myself until I drew a sketch in my little drawing book.

That day, my parents had taken me and my kid brother to watch the sarvajanik Ganesh festival in Mumbai. I was captivated by the grandeur of those great Ganpati Bappa statues! However their splendour could never be captured within the confines of my drawing book. So I was gonna need a really large piece of paper, when I didn't find any in my home, I found for myself an alternative. It was going to be the white wall in my parent's bedroom, the one supporting the master bed!

While my parents were away, I started the elaborate task that I had set my eyes on. Slowly but with a sure hand I drew a 5 feet *5 feet Ganpati in my parent's bed room. When my father came looking for me he was stunned, but the pride in his son's nascent abilities engulfed him and he asked me to climb on his back so that I could provide the finishing touches that he thought my feat so richly deserved. My mother followed my father into the room and she brought with her prasad and tips on how I should add color to my drawing. My kid brother also emerged from hiding now that it was assured that this idea of dada wouldn't bring with itself a beating. "Picasso " my mother would call him. He added the color and life that my drawing was so clearly lacking in. For many a year that wall in our home remained like that. Every guest being shown around the house was told the story by my proud parents!

Sadly I never went onto bigger things from there. May be it was the restrictions to imagination that my school's drawing teachers imposed that put me off my love for drawing or may be I am too caught up in Tarey Zameen Par, but whatever it was, my skills plateaued after that day. A couple of years ago, encouraged by my parents, I even attempted to make a career switch to animation, a field where I could put my most obvious natural and possibly only abilities drawing skills and creativity to use. But I couldn't find the courage and conviction to do it!

However I have decided I wont be living in regret either. I may not make a career out of my hobby but I will enjoy and indulge in it by taking the plunge in "My World". But for one timeless moment Bappa, can I have that day back?

A pinch of salt n a very dark ... well .... "Bibba"

Me and my school chums were chain mailing and one thing led to another and before we new it we were riding the nostalgia train which took us to a 6th or 7th standard Marathi lesson.

Assembled in the above picture, the story takes place in a rural environ where the village headman (Patil) is parading his magnificent bulls when suddenly one of his coveted beasts goes down in a heap. The Patil tries to coax and cajole it but the bull refuses to budge. His wife, the "Patlin" of course, gets a pinch of no, no .... gets "chimut bhar meeth ani kala kala bibba" ... to ward off the evil that may have possessed the beast but still the bull stays rooted to the ground. By standers declare that the animal has been possessed by evil spirits, "Bail Zapatla" is the conclusion of all and sundry. But then someone has the good sense of calling the vet. The vet nonchalantly walks up to the supposedly possessed animal, lifts his hoof removes the nail stuck in it. The bovine immediately springs to its feet!

Well getting off the train now, n I am wondering how this story is so crystal clear in my memory .... ummmm ... yes I remember now ... there was this class mate of my kid brother's, he was so dark all the kids in school called him Bibba .... kids can be so mean at times ... I for example called a class mate "Kali Kaluti Kalkattey wali" ... but it was all in good fun ... I really miss those days!

"CHOKE .... I am drowning!"

Have a look at these numbers:
Global plastic resin consumption: 562.2 billion pounds (prediction for 2010)
Percent of plastic recycled: <20%
I know dat during his cricket commentator days, the laugholic Navjot Siddhu deterred people from drawing inferences from a simple statistic, and he did that by comparing statistics to mini skirts. They hide the most important bits he would say. But the sad truth is; there can be no over stating about the statistics that I have noted. We are slowly drowning our planet in an ocean of junk!

However there is a glimmer of hope according to an article in the Economist. Apparently someone from the UK has come up with an idea to create a plywood equivalent from all the used plastic. They will I suppose, convert used plastic into fine grains and then those bits will be tightly packed between sheets of plastic to create the plywood substitute. The resulting product will be lighter, will not rot and will not even produce the sharp shards like regular plywood. No cons were listed but at least there is some hope on the horizon!

Link to the article: http://www.economist.com/sciencetechnology/tm/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14255246&source=hptextfeature

Doin a Billy & a Feathery idea!

Everton 1 Arsenal 6 was definitely the most eye grabbing story on the opening weekend of de EPL or BPL as the acronym goes these days! But the result needs to be put in perspective because A) Everton are poor starters and B) Arsenal always come flying out of the blocks when Wenger gets the full pre-season in. So for me even the emphatic drubbing of the Toffees doesn't make Arsenal certain title contenders. Having said that if Wenger stays true to his word n gets the two players he has promised, Arsenal will be very close to winning the league again. This season could well be the most keenly contested one for a while but I will choose to reserve my judgement on the fortunes of my beloved Gunners till the 1st of September. But till the next game all u gooners, stretch dat right leg forward get those arms up in de air n let's all do a Billy!

&

Truth be told ..... my blog's barely getting ne hits. But then look at Celina, championing the cause of Gays in India has made her blog a favorite amongst Web junkies. May be I need to take a feather from her cap or whatever's on her back and start advocating for Lesbian rights in America :) .... but then I guess that would be too straight a thing to do may be even bordering on male chauvinism and I am certainly not that, chauvinist I mean :) .... so I am gonna let dis feathery idea drift outa ma mind.

Sarfarosh anyone???

Happy Independence day everyone!
Thought I would check the independence day celebrations on the TOI.
But guess what, the TOI which has now become a poor man’s tabloid is covered with the news of SRKs detention at Newark Airport. It really was a shame the incident i.e. but it’s hardly surprising. A beige colored complexion, glasses and a fairly expressionless face has been my own curse at many a airport security checks in America. Greeting the security or immigration guys with a tail firmly between the legs “Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening Officer” usually helps. But imagine SRK staying that in his own “Ssssstyle” n one has to think he’s better of as it is.

Though I empathize with SRK, I don’t buy the argument that he should have been treated better just because he is a famous star. I feel that privilege is only reserved for delegates and government officers traveling on official business. A celebrity can be as likely a suspect as you n me. Remember the movie Sarfarosh anyone :)??

Good Song Dis ....

I have no musical talent ... cant sing n cant play no instrument eider .... but luckily my Equus Assinus hasn't yet completely taken over my Homo Sapien, so I can still appreciate a good song whithout braying my gutts out. (For glossary please read the earlier post :P)
So there u go, "Gotta be somebody .." by Nickelback is a song worth listening to n here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TVD76VmP28&feature=related

Homosapien Equus Assinus

Would u believe it folks, I of all people have acted in a movie. Check the link if u dont trust me :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nIp0ldRSZA

I guess one can argue that most of my screen time I have been hamming so it still doesn't count, but then again there is that moment of magic where I move the cursor ever so S-L-O-W-L-Y to click the "Open Item" button :):) .... But seriously .... the only one who has acted well is the girl
(Dhanashri) depicting "jealousy seething hatred". People liked the narration that I have done here. I did it in a single take so its not too bad and the voice modulation is pretty cool!

LookAlikes1

One of these guys is Wolverine's half brother the other plays for the Poms n loves the Moses splitting the sea pose. Both are burly gentlemen with husky beards, well who's who?? .. U tell me :):)

My favorite American

If I was asked who was my favorite American about 12 years ago, I would really be hard pressed to come up with an answer. Not because I was enchanted by half the American population but because I felt Americans and America were selfish, arrogant and greedy. And hence I didn’t like the country so much. In spite of these largely incorrectly held pre-conceived notions, I had great admiration for two of America’s citizens. The first was tennis champion Pete Sampras. Armed with a cannon like serve and a statesman like brain, pistol Pete was undoubtedly one of the world’s greatest sportsmen. Holding my breath whenever his match was in the balance, I cheered for him like I have cheered for no tennis player before or after him, he was definitely one of my favorite Americans. But Sampras had an equal as my favorite American, and that equal was the stunningly beautiful lady from California, Cameroon Diaz. Her entry scene in the Mask, where she enters the bank in a red dress and stoops to pick up something, is etched in my memory. In fact it was my admiration for the actress that made me connect with one of my best friends, Atul. Too bad we haven’t been in touch lately.

In Feb 2008, I traveled to America and with that I slowly realized that my initial impression of America was exactly what I have said it was, an incorrectly assumed preconceived notion. But even then Sampras and Diaz remained my favorite Americans. However that changed last week when I watched the biography of one Mr. Abraham Lincoln. The man was simply phenomenal! The things that he thought of and did at the time that he did is simply amazing.

In fact a lot of his qualities and deeds made me realize that he was not very different from my favorite Indian, M.K. Gandhi. Both men were simple, honest, calm, compassionate, they never imposed their leadership on anyone people followed them and made them leaders, they both were lawyers and had largely forgetful family lives. One of the speakers said that had Abraham Lincoln completed his second term, America would not have required a Martin Luther King. So like Gandhi, Lincoln also wasn’t around to rebuild his nation!

Strangely this wasn’t my first encounter with Lincoln. I remember reading his white house ghost story from “World famous ghosts” and then there was a paragraph about him in my 9th standard history text book and even Nicky Cage claimed Lincoln was his favorite Prez in National Treasure; yet this great historical figure would have passed me by had I not seen that documentary!

I have been twice to the Lincoln monument and on both occasions wondered what all the fuss was about. But now I know, so if I do go for the 3rd time I will go like a pilgrim!

My favorite pic

A picture they say is worth a thousand words, and that I think is one of the lamest cliches :).

The picture right here is of a building in Washington DC, it is situated on the road leading up to the State Capital building.

I don't know if the picture carries any metaphorical meaning or not, but for some reason I like looking at it.

From today I have decided to write a blog. With a hope that my creative juices subdue if not drown my various anxieties. Hopefully it's happy blogging.