November 27th, ‘08 was a gruesome day any Indian won’t forget in his lifetime, for it was an unprecedented attack on the financial capital of India, killing more than 170 people and leaving more than 300 injured. Gory scenes, flaring fumes, and with highly sophisticated ammunition - Mumbai was held hostage by 10 terrorists for more than 60 hours. Apparently, these perpetrators are from the Pakistan soil, every soul on earth won’t deny that truth but the Pakistan government blindly rejected all the evidence saying they need more information to persuade them. Right from the day, the terrorists attacked Mumbai, the tourists who always frequent India are aghast - they are feeling reluctant to visit India, especially the targeted hotels in Mumbai. Tourism has taken a beating and no matter how much security is provided, the tourists will definitely have second thoughts if they are planning to choose India as their choice for a destination.
A board meeting was convened for poets, columnists, and other journals from Pakistan but due to these ghastly incidents, it was called off. Or perhaps, they were vehemently requested not to come to India. Coming to cricket, the Pakistani umpire Azad Rauf wasn’t given a visa on behalf of this incident during the recent England tour of India but later on, he was cleared of all the actions they were holding him up. Talking about the England team, the skipper Kevin Pietersen and his team after the terrorists attacks, came back to India and played two test matches. That defiant and intrepid gesture won many hearts and indeed, got a standing ovation when the team came out to play. True, many teams would have but simply called off the tour citing security reasons but this gesture is commendable, kudos to them. Many players, however, condemned the terrorist attacks. Having said all these, India will still remain a haunted place for some, if not many. Meanwhile, the hotels that were attacked have reopened again albeit Mumbai hasn’t recovered fully from the massacre. But life still goes on.
Does this name ring a bell? If you are a Malayalee and if you are that movie buff who doesn’t miss any of those movies which are aired on television, this should definitely ring a bell. Mukesh, Siddique, Jagatheesh, and Ashokan are back in action together in the rib-tickling entertainer ‘2 Harihar Nagar’ (2HN). This is actually the sequel to ‘In Harihar Nagar’ (IHN). My goodness gracious, how many times have they aired that movie on television and how many times have I fallen off my chair while guffawing to the hilarious jokes and scenes. Agreed the movie was not that good in the second part but the first part was really funny - couldn’t have asked for more humor. 2HN is slated for a April 1st release and I’m very certain that this will be a stupendous hit. Meanwhile, coming to the cast of 2HN, the only change is that Lakshmi Rai has donned Geetha Vijayan’s role. Expecting the movie to be a good one and I can’t wait to watch it. And regarding the review, I’ll write one probably after watching it.
No one would have, in their wildest dreams, thought that they would end up being the most successful team in the first season. Tagged as the underdogs, everyone underestimated the team and with their clinical performance, they proved eveyone wrong. As a matter of fact, they didn’t rely on a single player alone. There were more than a couple of all rounders in their team and when evryone clicked in one way or the other, there was no way in stopping them. Shane Warne’s captaincy was quite astute and even luck played a part in their success. But things are a bit different this time as the key performers are unavailable.
Prior to the tournament, everyone were under the impression that Chennai Super Kings were the best team in the first season. With the likes of Hayden, Hussey, Morkel, Oram, and a couple of others, they were clearly the favorites and you couldn’t have asked for a better team. Now with the inclusion of Flintoff, they are looking even more formidable. Having said that, the team can’t always rely on him because after a couple of weeks’ time, he won’t be available. Micheal Hussey who played a huge role in the first season has promised that he will be back in the team if they reach the semi-finals. Let us hope CSKs reach the semi-finals even this time and let us hope Hussye joins the team as well.
The team was riding high on the flamboyance of the destructive Australian openers, Shaun Marsh and Luke Pomersbach in the first season. But as the players are unavailable in the second season because of national duty, things are a bit worrying for the semi-finalists. Of course the fact that the Australian and Pakistan players are not available because of national duty is very unsettling but with the likes of Yuvraj, Sangakara, Jayawardena and a couple of other players, the team is looking formidable yet again. Though thy look like a very good team, how they fare in the second season is anybody’s guess.
With Gambir and Sehwag as openers, and with the likes of Glen McGrath, Daniel Vettori, Dilshan, deVilliers, Asif and a couple of others, Delhi Daredevils looked like one of te most formidable teams in the first season. Though they had big names, they didn’t fare that well in the first season. However, in this second season, they are the pundits’ favorite and that is mainly because the Delhi openers Gambir and Sehwag are in sublime form. And the bowlers would hate to bowl to them. Now with the inclusion of David Warner, they are the best team on paper and they are the team to be beaten. If their bowling clicks as well, you can’t ask for anything better than that can you? Let’s see.
Sat down to watch the Bollywood flick ‘Fashion’ the other night. Although I had a couple of interesting books to read, frankly speaking, I was bored to death the other day. And with nothing else to do, I decided to watch the film. Moreover the movie had three gorgeous lasses out of which two are my personal favorites, so I was all agog to see them share the same screen in this film. First of all, to put the whole movie in a gist, it is about 3 girls who make it to the fashion industry, realises how hard it is to survive there later, and most importantly, how arrogant they become once they reach the top. Meghana Mathur (Priyanka Chopra) plays the protagonist’s role who pursues her dream of becoming not just a model, but in fact, a super model. The film has also highlighted the deplorable life of a model - drugs, cigarettes, alcohol and one also gets to notice the widening of the acquaintanceship circle. Ultimately, with the deadening plot with which the film was made and witnessing the wretched life the models face, it will no doubt give you a bad taste in the mouth. On the whole, with the hype and hoopla it created, it was not a so good movie. Can be watched once, just once. Meanwhile, the wannabe models who are making a foray into the fashion world may watch this flick, it’s not that bad either.
I don’t really know what made me to propose to that girl via an email but some day or the other I had to know the truth - the truth whether or not I was in her heart. True, I didn’t have the guts to face her and say that was in love with her and yes I admit that I’m a coward when it comes to things such as these. This girl with whom I fell in love with on the very first day of my high school swept me off my feet the very moment I saw her. Call it love at first sight. Yes, kind of. Her countenance, body language, gestures - I fell in love with everything. I was rather crazy about her and I didn’t think of anything else. That said, I was a trifle curious to know whether she liked me or not. Contemplating about what might happen if I send her an email, I finally decided to go ahead with the idea - I sent her the proposal mail finally. I thought it might take at least a week’s time or at the most, a couple of weeks’ time to get a reply but unpredictably to my greatest surprise, I got a reply from her the very next day. Her reply wasn’t in the affirmative. It was disheartening for me and embarrassing at the same time because I had a good number of friends around me when I read the email. It wasn’t a mere rejection, she offended me quite badly through the email. Seriously, I didn’t expect this at all. Unable to bear all these, I cried day in and day out. That was the last email I received from her but nothing has detered me from wishing her on her birthdays. Unrequited love maybe, but I still love her. Yes, very much.
