"Finding out - not knowledge is the spring that makes life fascinating."
Saturday, March 06, 2010
Phir 'Mile Sur Mera Tumhara'...
I am sure everyone, whosoever is in his/her late 20s or older today, must have seen 'Mile Sur Mera Tumhara' Video on Doordarshan channel when 'Rookavat liye khed hai' line for non-transmission was a regular affair. The 'Mile Sur Mera Tumhara' song was released on 15th August 1988 on Doordarshan channel and it had 26 famous Indian personalities. The song's duration was around five and a half minutes and it was indeed doused with the spirit of unity in diversity with stalwarts such as Lata Mangeshkar, Pt. Bhimsen Joshi and many musicians lending their voice to this composition. The song reverberated the message of integrity in spite of the heterogeneity in this vast land, where the word 'Ali' in 'Diwali' and 'Ram' in 'Ramzan' are embraced seamlessly. The song depicted India as an icon of religious and regional pluralism and the phrases were tailored so graciously that they were prettier than the embroidered border of a designer kurta.
The original 'Mile Sur Mera Tumhara' was the brainchild of late Suresh Mullick of O & M Advertising.
But recently the new 'Phir Mile Sur Mera Tumhara' Video was released and the modern version was made over after 22 years. The modern version, I am told features 68 famous Indian personalities. Hmmmm, let me equate the famous Indian personalities to Bollywood+Tollywood+Kollywood personalities, in fact all woods minus Hollywood. The song is shot at 15 different locations and features movie and music industry related personalities such as A R Rahman, Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra, Shreya Ghoshal, Shankar Mahadevan and many more. The new song is bit darn lengthy and runs for about sixteen and a half minutes. I feel the soul of the original song was plundered in the new version and the modern edition lacks capacious togetherness which was the marrow of the original song. I may be a bit harsh, but the new 'Phir Mile Sur' doesn't depict unity in diversity, rather its a celebrity parade, a soup of glamorous faces humming the song of unity.
Aarti and Kailash Surendranath, the creators of the modern version of 'Phir Mile Sur Mera Tumhara' should realize that few things are better when left un-touched because those are master pieces and iconic creations of art. Any form of imitation or re-creation, even if the best in state of the art technology and sound effects are used, cannot create the magic of the original piece. The end result is as disappointing as in this attempt of the Surendranath duo. One 'Sur' never got juxtaposed to another 'Sur' which is the prime essence of the original song, rather it appeared to be an emphatic attempt by the artists to lip sync and somehow make it appear as though it were seamless. It is very unfortunate that even patriotism is used for marketing.
To me, the original work and memories of 'Mile Sur Mera Tumhara' are something best left in dusty frames of Doordarshan channel and not signed by erstwhile wave of commercialization. I still like my paati wali chai, than the tea-bag chai or chai made in any other sophisticated way.
Don't you think that fans and foes of Barack Obama agree upon one point and that is he's an impressive and inspiring orator. Though he is an intriguing speaker, he has a strong addiction for teleprompter.
Words straight from the horse's mouth
Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it's not. It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failure along the way. The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won't. It's whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere.
If you would have heard Obama speak, 'Patience' is one word that he uses often.
But is 'Patience' a virtue or a vice. For Indian Telecom major, Airtel the opponent of 'Patience' that is 'Impatience' is the new spice of life.
Group 'Wah'. What's that? When was the last time that you traveled in a bus and the driver applied a sudden screeching break and all the passengers dashed forward from their regular positions. All at once, at one time, simultaneously.
Group 'Wah' is all about unison, applying the principles of wave propagation that we learnt when in school, it's a mantra to send multitudes into a kind of frenzy, something like a mass psychosis, it's the automatic clock that makes millions of others who are in different time zones and not within their native land, to sleep and wake up, perfectly in sync with the match timings.
Do you feel that it happens only in India or with desis. No, it's a global phenomenon. Now, to explain the behavior that you see in the video, you need to understand the phenomenon known as Brainwave Entertainment.
Don't miss the complete article here. Also, at the end of the video it was mentioned that the IPL kicks off on 10th Apr'09. But so far nothing is clear and the final dates are not yet sorted out. Most likely this event would get delayed keeping in view the nation wide election which is slotted to be conducted in phases.
If in Honk Kong the sounds of horse racing announcers can stimulate the brains of people from a delta state to a beta state, it's a game of cricket, that does wonders in our desi land. Sahi boola na..
[Hat tip: Larry Feign for the Theory of Group 'Wah'.]
The 4th of July is celebrated every year as the Independence Day in the US. This day is marked by celebrations, usual patriotism and fanfare and a jovial mood is there in the air. But this year when President Bush was offering a speech marking 232 years since the adoption of the declaration of independence at Thomas Jefferson's famous home, Monticello, not everyone was in a festive mood. It was the annual naturalization ceremony, in which Bush welcomed seventy-six men and women from 30 countries to the land of opportunities. He was interrupted several times by protesters.
"War criminal!" one protester repeatedly yelled.
"He has brought fascism to this shore," another man yelled.
The President did not seem to be in any mood to acknowledge these protesters. He mentioned neither the war in Iraq nor the battle against terrorism in his entire speech, other than to say that "we pay tribute to the brave men and women who wear the uniform." At one point the president told, "To my fellow citizens-to-be, we believe in free speech in the United States of America."
As one of the protesters screeched, she was escorted out by Secret Service members. But the question is why was that done ? Just a couple of minutes back, President Bush, had told that the nation believes in free speech. Did the protesters express something really derogatory in front of the crowd? The answer to this may be a 'Yes' or a 'No'.
If 'Yes', then
I don't understand what was so disparaging about the remark. President Bush, is definitely intelligent enough to understand what 'freedom of speech' means. And that criticism in any format, unless it is violent and is marked by physical assault or attack falls within the ambit of freedom of speech.
Else if 'No', then
The message that President Bush sends is that those at the helm of power and politics, be it politicians or policemen, have a very low threshold of tolerance for criticism. They will hit back with their own ways or get one arrested.
End of argument.
See there are lot of similarities between programming and politics :). Just that active criticism makes one a better programmer but the same act puts an adhesive label on one's mouth in the later domain. Now the way Bush handled the situation is nothing unique to his land, the same demeanor can be seen world over by all those in seats of power and authority.
Now I guess each one of us in India would have seen the Sprite cool drink AD which had a catchy punchline, 'dikhawe pe na jao, apni akal lagao'. Don't you feel with a bit of visual massaging, the Youtube video can fit into this bracket.
How? someone-talks-of-free-speech-and-then-next-moment-a-person-is-arrested. Need I say more, I know you got it. Copyrights for this idea is RC's, well can give the same to President Bush as he is the central character in the video ;). And and and my desi AD geniuses, who recently rocked at the Cannes Lions 2008 winning 23 lions, are you listening too. Can we knit a sooper cool AD out of this ?
For a moment forget the regular kvetching that one hears in various sources of news and media regarding Bangalore's woeful infrastructure issues. Keeping aside all these daily resentments, everyone rushed to the Kanteerva Stadium on a bright Sunday morning.
But what for? To be a part of the Sunfeast World 10K run, this is an international annual event, and was organized in India for the first time. The Sunfeast World 10k was touted as the richest 10k runs with total prize money of 150,000 USD up for grabs.
The event comprised of six races: World 10K Elite Men, World 10K Elite Women, Senior Citizens run (4 KM), Wheelchair event (4 KM), Open 10K Run and Majja Run (5.7 KM). Since the event was slotted between 6AM and 10:30AM, the city police authorities had made punctilious plans for minimal diversion of traffic during the four-hour marathon which saw active participation of around 20,000 people.
When I reached the spot around 7:30AM, preparations were in full swing for the Senior Citizens run which saw an impressive crowd of 700 plus participants. Most of senior citizens were aged above 60 but the energy and the exuberance that they displayed, quashed the roar of helicopters circling the stadium. Harmony, an NGO organized the senior citizens run. Each of the participants was given a T-shirt by Harmony and once they were dressed, there was a wave of uniformity at the starting point, very similar to a sight when children assemble in schools for morning prayer before classes commence. The highlight of this race was the high energy level of the senior citizens making them feel as if they were still in their teens. Jokes were cracked, few laughs were shared and there was an infectious air of camaraderie among these people who came not only from Bangalore but also from different parts of India.
Oprah Winfrey once said running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it. This was the kind of perseverance exhibited by a group of steel-willed people. Braving the heat and the dust, the handicapped persons maneuvered their wheel chairs, reflecting the true spirit of participation.
Suddenly the action shifted to inside the stadium because the World 10K Elite Men/Women had entered the final stage. In a closely contested run, Zersenay Tadese of Eritrea bagged the 1,50,000 US Dollar Sunfeast World 10K title by completing the marathon in 27:51 seconds just three seconds ahead of his rival Moses Kipsiro of Uganda. The women’s section witnessed the rarest of rare photo finishes in any 10k run, with both Grace Momanyi of Kenya and Elevan Abeylegesse of Turkey, declared joint winners. The complete results can be seen here..
There was cut throat competition in the Open 10K run which had large groups of amateur runners, trying their level best to live up to their own expectations. Few ran, few jogged and rest others just walked in the spirit of sport.
Everyone was indeed up and running. It was a place where the east met the west while running.
The most delightful aspect was to see each one run irrespective of caste, creed, color, religion, sex, age, language, region, etc.
There was one single motive to be a part of the excitement and ebullience.
The Majja Run as the name signifies (majja means fun) merriment was the epicenter of frolic and liveliness. Though the distance to be covered for this particular race was only 5.7 kms, what separated this one from the others were the variety and the diversity. There were runners turning up in varied costumes with powerful messages, banners and placards.
Few celebrities like Dino Morea, Rahul Bose, Charu Sharma and Vijay Amritraj had the crowd screeching as they made their appearance for the Majja Run. Everything here resembled a mini-carnival and fancy dress competition. Girls with different attention-getting dresses very much like the Indianized version of IPL cheerleaders attire.
Someone even put on special clothes to appear princely, like the mighty Tipu Sultan.
The one that surpassed every other costume in terms of ingenuity and colorations was the Ravana attire. Like a bee gets attracted towards nectar, participants were pulled in towards this individual dressed as Ravana to take a few snaps in the midst of the race.
There were lots of groups and voluntary associations such as Parikrma, Harmony and others who all came under one umbrella 'Bangalore Cares'. This aggroup participated in the race for a number of causes such as children welfare, greener and pollution free Bangalore, togetherness, etc.
How can an event of such extensive magnitude and variety happen without the support from corporate and business sponsors and advertisers? Well of course there were some sponsors from a wide spectrum. DHL was the logistics partner and it participated in big numbers, with few of the team members having flown from Mumbai. To name a few, Nike was the running partner, Kingfisher, the airline partner, Radio Mirchi as the radio partner, Manipal Cure and Care, as the medical and health partner, etc who passionately supported the cause and diversity of the World 10K experience. CNBC-TV18 was media partner and it brought the event live to millions of Indians on that day, to the television sets from 7AM onwards, along with a potpourri of other coverages and programmes related to this the event.
All is all it was a well organized event that got equally receptive reactions from all those who participated for this run. This race put Bangalore in the map of conducting with dynamism and zings a global marathon. More so, it was a testimony to the fact that multiple goals can be achieved through sports and citizen's active participation and above all how sports are a social leveler.
In this huge ocean of human beings, I could see some human faces which pulled my attention like a magnet pulls pieces of iron. There was this elderly woman selling ground nuts who was a bit perplexed to see a sea of people just running, a very new site from what sees in her day to day life.
This man was also confused to see this sudden wave of sneaker lovers on an otherwise traffic struck road.
But one of the most satisfying moment in this entire event running with my camera was to capture this bubbly toddler, who had come with her dad and brother (if you can see, the young brother is just hidden from the father) to be a part of this race. She was giving poses which to me meant, 'Daddy isn't allowing me to run or crawl this year, well next year I would be there to tip toe with other people'. That's a smart and emotionally charged expression, so I and my fellow Bangaloreans would wait for you, sunshine girl, till we meet again.
The rest of the pictures are in this album. Naama Bengaluru rocks as always.
BlogWorld & New Media Expo - Blogs Go Mainstream...
A couple of months back, I was at the Bangalore BarCamp, [a Bloggers collective version] which was nothing but a series of talks and discussions on an extensive list of topics, of course in a un-conference format. The blogging world is catching up fast, with the explosion of Internet facilities. And very soon the first and only industry-wide tradeshow, conference, and media event dedicated to the furtherance of the dynamics of blogging and new media, the BlogWorld & New Media Expo is coming.
This Blog Summit is a conference series that focuses on the applications of blogging in various spheres of life, social media and a wide array of topics. Apart from all these, the BlogWorld & New Media Expo would feature more than 50 seminars, panel discussions and keynotes from prominent gurus on the new age online technology and internet-savvy business.
Now anyone who already has the blog virus in his/her blood can join the party. Anyone who is currently blogging, podcasting, producing other forms of new media content, entering the new media industry, or just want to learn about the know-hows of the blogosphere, can be a part of this comprehensive blogging convention, the BlogWorld & New Media Expo.
Blogcritics and Desicritics are participants in this event. Eric Olsen, the Founder and Publisher of Blogcritics.org and who later mentored Aaman in the Desicritics initiative is one of the key speakers at this forum.
A peek into Eric Olsen's career graph in writing, editing, and media exposes his expertise in this arena for close to 20 years now. He has written volumes on a vast array of topics including politics, current events, world affairs, popular culture, music, music industry, digital technology, opinion and commentary, etc., for periodicals, books, TV, radio, and the Internet. As an editor and author, he supervised the compilation and publication of Networking In the Music Industry (Rockpress, 1993) and Encyclopedia of Record Producers (Billboard Books, 1999). In 2002, Olsen founded online magazine Blogcritics.org, the sinister cabal of superior bloggers.
I am a member of the Desicritics family and softly coupled to Blogcritics. It's definitely a moment of pride and appreciation for all the Blogcritic'ians and also Desicritic'ians to have Eric Olsen address such a groundbreaking conference on blogging.
Apart from the discussions on blogging, the conference would also touch other appendages, that regular bloggers use such as widgets, advertising networks, news readers, aggregators, etc to enhance the substance and the presentation of their sites. The event would also feature an open house discussion on the galore of products and services configured to make blogging easy and user-friendly. Apart from these some interesting discussion sessions on topics such as improving the look and aesthetic features of blogs, tips to increase readership, and how to make money from blogs, etc.
The inaugural event will take place on the 8th and 9th November'07 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, with an exclusive 'Executive & Entrepreneur' conference beginning on the 7th November '07.
Venue : Las Vegas Convention Center Address : Las Vegas Convention Center 3150 Paradise Road, Las Vegas, NV 89109, USA.
Some facts to show how fast the blog virus is spreading. So much so that many of the contenders both from the Democrats and Republicans brigade are using blogs as a medium for canvassing voters for the forth coming US elections. A glance at the official blog site of one of the strongest Democrats competitors, Hillary Clinton shows the impact this new media tool has made. Also a couple of weeks back, there was news about an anonymous blogger who assumed the persona of Steve Job, Apple's chief executive and made ad-lib posts at The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs, to charade Mr. Jobs and his reputation as a swollen-headed and egotistic leader. On being unmasked, Mr. Daniel Lyons, a writer and editor for the technology related articles for Forbes and author of two works of fiction, the most recently one being, 'Dog Days' said.
Mr. Lyons said he invented the Fake Steve character last year, when a small group of chief executives turned bloggers attracted some media attention. He noticed that they rarely spoke candidly. "I thought, wouldn’t it be funny if a C.E.O. kept a blog that really told you what he thought? That was the gist of it."
Mr. Lyons says he recalled trying out the voices of several chief executives before settling on the colorful Apple co-founder. He twice tried to relinquish the blog, but started again after being deluged by fans e-mailing to ask why Fake Steve had disappeared.
Now how can I miss Heather alias Dooce, the queen of blogosphere and a household phrase in Technorati. Heather Armstrong created Dooce.com in February 2001, and a year later she was 'dooced', i.e. fired from her job as a web designer for writing about her co-workers and workplace. Dooce ranks very high on Technorati and is on the top 100 Most popular blogs list and has won Bloggies Award for Best Writing, Most Humorous Weblog, Best Tagline and Best American Weblog. Unlike other top blogs, Dooce is centered around Heather's articulate and humorous pennings on interesting observations in life, pregnancy, babies, depression, jobs, husband, and hilarious interactions with her daughter.
Ok, if you see the last point, it's like someone spends to close to one day out of every seven days in the blog world, for reading, writing, commenting, etc all related to blogs.
I think it was in the early 2006 series, that Ranchi Rambo, Mahendra Singh Dhoni led the Indian squad to victory against Pakistan in the third One-Dayer. More than the win, what was significant was that this dude, found an admirer in none other than President Pervez Musharraf. Yeh he liked not only his aggressive batting flair but also his unique hairstyle.
"A lot of placards in the crowd have suggested that you should get a haircut, but if you take my advice, you look good in this hairstyle," Musharraf told the Indian wicketkeeper-batsman during the presentation ceremony.
After that many hair product endorsements just came bucketing along his way. Brylcreem, was one of such products for which Dhoni endorsed. Incase you are not aware, this was not the first time that any cricketer was promoting for the product, several years ago, former test cricketers Farokh Engineer and Dennis Compton were brand ambassadors for this hair care product.
Just then a point reached, after the embarrassing debacle of the 'Men in Blue' in early rounds of the last World Cup, that the name calling game started. It so happened that, Dhoni's hairdo which was something different that much aligned with his flamboyant and free flow style of playing, now started giving this dashing cricketer an image that he would not have been most comfortable with.
Then came the 20-20 World Cup in 2007 and the young Indian team won this trophy under the captaincy of Dhoni. He again rose from the ashes and shone like a beacon. Now something new is on platter when the local chookra heads to his hometown, Ranchi with the complete disappearance of the famous locks. A new hairdo, 'point cut', the short trimmed hair managed without combing.
He got some flattering comments on his new make over.
"Bahut smart dikh raha hai, bal kata liya hai, jhakas look hai, (he is looking very smart after a new hair-cut. His looks are irresistible)," said the companion claiming that now he would change his hairstyle.
Now there are many theories centered around this choppy coiffure. One surmise goes by the word that the Team India ODI skipper is trying to imitate the latest trend as is followed by Bollywood stars. Is Dhoni trying to have his hair cut short like that of John Abraham ? The new look is the outcome of the handiwork of hair stylist Sapna Bhavnani and her precisioned fingers on the scissors.
Now the second theory stands a bit strong. Some link it to a solemn request from Bollywood sensation model-turned actor Deepika Pradukone as there are rumours about his affair with this beatific lass. Now this theory maain thoda sa daaam hai, kyon ?
Deepika Padukone, inspite of having a busy schedule, travelled from Bangalore to Mumbai to be a part of the cheering crowd for the recently concluded Twenty-20 match against Australia held at Brabourne stadium. There is some furphy in the media and the newspapers that, Deepika even invited the cricketer for the premier show of her film 'Om Shanti Om' to be released shortly.
But when Dhoni was questioned by the media, woh thoda shaaarma gaya and replied.
'Please do not change my girl friend's name at least for the time being' was the request made by India cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni to the media.
I don’t know how much of this is true and how much is false, but I have a major doubt. Now the movie 'Om Shanti Om' is going to be released shortly, in which Deepika is sported with SRK with his new swaggering and swashbuckling hairdo in the Dard-e-Disco song. If she liked the flowing hair in the movie, tau abhi Dhoni se short sporty cut kyon ?
For those interested in cricket with this lack luster World Cup going on, in the Caribbean Isles, Australia continues to kick ass all the teams but lets hope all is not over yet. This World Cup produced some unexpected surprises in the very starting. Or those surprises were expected?
But there is this brilliant chap, Brett Lee who missed the World Cup as he was suffering from an ankle injury. After missing World Cup, Brett Lee didn’t leave his attitude of keeping the 'batsmen-ass-on-fire' even when he was off the field and planted his ass on a safe turf for a successful post-retirement career.
Lee, who penned, sang and appeared in the romantic duet 'You're The One For Me' along with Bollywood singer Asha Bhonsle, has plans to cut his album in India by the end of this year.
But Lee's journey from cricket will not take him into the television commentary box, but instead the sprawling studio lots of the world's biggest and most lucrative movie industry.The 29-year-old self-confessed Indophile was offered a lead role in a lavish Bollywood production when he visited Mumbai on his way home from Australia's tour of Bangladesh this year.
The notion was floated by none other than Amitabh Bachchan, or the Big B as he is more widely known, one of the biggest and most recognisable stars in India's huge film and television industries.
Lee knows he can rake in the maximum moolah in India, so he left no stone unturned in his preparation. Lee is busy doing lot of AD's for many luxury products and business houses also. Fundu and timely action, with all the advertisement houses no more running after the 'Men-In-Blue' after their jhaakas performance in the World Cup. So Lee is bang on target, definitely more bang than he can take.
The Cricket World Cup is just round the corner and cricketers along with their fans across the globe are waiting eagerly as the biggest event of the game takes center stage on March 9, 2007 in the West Indies.
The game of Cricket is not just a game but a "religion" which drives 1.2 billion people into a state of frenzy once the men in blue are on the field. Introduced in India as a rich man's game, today there is hardly any place in India or any heart in the Indian diaspora that is not infected by its tentacles. "Lagaan", a period film’s script was written with the intention of appealing to the contemporary viewer, particularly the cricket buff about this shift from a phirang aadmi’s game to aam bharatiya game. The country comes to an abrupt stop when a cricket match is being played, the roads are deserted, parties and weddings are postponed, operations in hospitals are rescheduled, parliament goes in for early closing, work schedules at offices are re-planned,etc.
The World Cup is like a festival for us. The craze, the frenzy, the excitement and a feeling of patriotism reaches its pinnacle during this time. Every Indian is soaked in the tricolor whether in his/her attire or spirit. All cricket fans bond with each other ignoring all differences of caste, creed, color or religion. Just about everyone becomes an expert discussing each and every aspect of the game. Like, I myself follow the game but am not an ardent follower or die hard cricket fanatic. But what charges me is the spirit and the liveliness of the fans. Someone holding a transistor in a busy local bus or the busy Mumbai local trains or near a chai shop to know the latest score. They shout for their team and pray for one single cause – An Indian win with a wide spectrum of human emotions on display. Isn’t it amazing! So much so that the drama of the game continues off the pitch, and in recent weeks, the marketing and the branding fraternity has not left any stone unturned in cheering for the men in blue. This is exactly what "Nike", the official apparel sponsor for Team India did in its latest AD.
"Nike has signed a 43-million-dollar deal to kit out the Indian cricket team after outbidding rivals Reebok and Adidas, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said.
The five-year contract, which starts on January 1, 2006, also gives the US sports goods giant the rights to sell the BCCI's official merchandise at its retail outlets across the country.
Nike's bid for 1.97 billion rupees (43 million dollars) topped Reebok's 1.19 billion rupees and Adidas's bid of 1.28 billion rupees, BCCI vice-president Lalit Modi said on Friday."
The AD is a little to long and can be bracketed as a short movie snippet. It starts with a typical Indian scene, a traffic jam something very common in all Indian cities and the city that is highlighted is Mumbai, home to some of the best cricketers the world has ever produced. It’s like "I think cricket, I drink cricket, I breathe cricket". One go-getting boy jumps on to the roof of a bus while another gets on to an adjacent bus and thus the virtual cricket pitch is formed instantly. The game starts amidst the crowd trapped in the traffic blockade. The batsman hits the ball hard and like a projectile it hits a hoarding and then a balcony and after passing through ‘N’ number of hands, the ball suddenly gets under a moving car and one of the fielders risks his life to collect the ball. Note the elephant there in the video, I feel it symbolises the Rising Elephant economy growing at a rate of more than 8% a year. Watch more here, aaram se.
North-south, east-west, rich-poor, men-women, rural-urban, Hindu-Muslim, a craze bordering on madness unite the nation when it comes to cricket. I have one of my cousins, studying in standard seven in the US who asks me for the blue T-shirt of Indian cricket team incase he doesn’t travel to India once a year. It’s a must-buy in his list when he is in Bangalore, else I have to send it somehow may it be by post or through some person. The reason, my cousin wears this blue T-shirt whenever India plays any important cricket match. Few call this craziness but even though he is born and brought up in the US, he is still soaked with cricket-mania.
The matches, the highlights, the strike-rates, the pre-match predictions, the post-match analysis, the schedule, the records, the cricketing histories, and other nitty gritties of the game would be feeders for all forms of media such as newspapers, blogs and television in the coming few days. So let me leave that part here and get into some interesting stuff.
India's latest pace sensation Sreesanth is all set to rock cricket fans. It is not his bowling that I am talking about here [though I want that too], but his song, the lyrics of which he wrote himself. His 6-year old niece lends a seraphic tone to the song. Watch more here.
"It is a motivational song that gives a feeling that the whole nation is there for the team to support them in their ups and downs. It gives a dream that we are going to win the World Cup." "The song has to be there on the lips of all Indians at the Caribbean grounds to motivate the players," Sreesanth adds.
How can you think of the World Cup and forget noodle strap, Mandira Bedi who will once again anchor Extra Innings on SET. This time she will drape herself in saris, specially designed by fashion house Satya Paul. So from noodle strap to no strap, rest all hoooo la la lee le ho hoooo la la lee le ho. The saris will be auctioned by online website eBay after the mega event and will include flags of the participating nations, signatures of players, a red cricket ball, newspaper mastheads and cricket figurines.
Mandira Bedi has also acted in a movie "Meerabai Not Out" made by her husband Raj Kaushal. Meera, a 30-year-old lady is a teacher in a school, hails from a middle class family, which lives in Mumbai's Shivaji Park, the mecca for budding cricketers. Since she is 30, she is in a kind of a set-up where she seems to have missed the boat as far as marriage is concerned. Of course, her family is still on her case to get her married soon but she is not interested; her first love being cricket.
The World Cup has always been garnished with spicy anecdotes, which make it even more interesting. From the dressing room gossips to the food to the late nightouts if one is across the other side of the Caribbean, everything becomes the flavor of the season. The fans just go crazy and the media, the sponsors even the restaurants all over, try to score on it. Like it happened to me yesterday. I along with two of my friends, started for a late night dinner in some restaurant near my residence. We heard some loud music before entering the food hall, only to realize that something special was happening in a pub, "The Legends of Rock" adjacent to the dinning hall. To satisfy our curiosity we barged into the pub only to find that a live coverage of cheering hangama for the Indian Team being shot by Headlines Today, one of the leading news channel of India today. This was part of the cheering campaign before Team India left for the West Indies on Feb 28th’07.
The time has arrived yet again and it would be no different. The game of cricket would be at its glorious best along with its favorite sons aiming for the trophy. This tournament has always been a test of team spirit and the ability to perform under pressure. At the end of the day, the team, which displays power, performance and passion for the game, would be the ultimate winner. So let’s get set, all equipped with our lucky charms, anthems and prayers to be with our teams as the battle begins.
By the way, do you know what is the official song for World Cup 2007? It’s 'The Game of Love and Unity', sung by Jamaican-born reggae star Shaggy, Barbadian entertainer Rupee and Trinidadian Faye-Ann Lyons. Yes it’s the same old Grammy Award winner, Shaggy, best known for his hit singles Oh Carolina, It wasn't me, Angel and many others.
Khel ke maaidan pe kuch rishte baneiynge, kuch rishte tutaiynge, kuch kwaab sajeegee, kuch umedaiyain bhi, paar TEAM INDIA, kuch kar guzroo ish baar, dekhado 1983 ke woh jalwaee....
You probably spend long hours a day staring at the computer/laptop screen — working, blogging, chatting, talking to friends, e-shopping, e-banking, blah blah blah....... With so many creative people spending so much time on their computers it is no surprise that the computer interface itself has become source material for ideas. It’s the sheet that one uses to make the optimal use of the "left side" and the "right side" of the brain. Daily immersion in a two-dimensional space has raised an intriguing question that many people can’t resist: what is the physicality of the creativity and how do I add a third-dimension to it? This concept I feel is applicable in all spheres of life, be it at home, in the classroom, at work place or for-that-matter anywhere. Just that the tint, shade or tone of the third-dimension takes a new perspective, like it varies from what it means to an engineer, to a writer, to a doctor, or an artist, etc.
The ubiquitous interface experience has created a symbiosis between the metaphorical space of technology, ideas and the physical world.
I got an email from one of my friends, Mo who is pursuing her MBA in the US and she sent me this interesting pic. This is a magnificent piece of smart ADs involving the combination of real people and intelligently placed photos to attract immediate attention.
There's a lot of ways to promote a magazine. Some strikingly unconventional than others. With the tagline "Let us keep on dreaming of a better world," which, funnily sounds like some old hippy song. The pictorial graphics portrays a woman as is visualized inside the fantasy-laden mind of a man. This is a promotion for Belgian magazine,Che.
I think it is fun if viewed without the lenses of one's politically correct glasses and the person who created this definitely has lots of humor and uses his/her grey cells for some of the most original creative expressions and witticism.
I also read an interesting post, while searching for an online bookstore on the Internet and learnt a new form of art. Have you ever wondered that you can create a photo-mosaic of a lot many things of your interest using book-covers using a simple step-by-step process? Check more here.
Did you like it or you didn’t, adding a third dimension to the two dimensional life?
It is difficult to describe yourself, so I decided to tell what I think about life.Enjoy life as it comes and make sure you work hard to reach where you want to be in life..Cribbing sucks !!
Read my blogs to know me more.
