Tossing the captaincy hat

Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. When the crown in question is for captaincy of the Indian cricket team, the magnitude of that proverbial uneasiness is magnified by a billion hopes. No wonder then that Sachin Tendulkar refused captaincy for the Test team. He knows what it's like to be in that position and to fail miserably so. With no other senior players ready to face this challenge, Anil Kumble stepped up and has been appointed the captain for India's Test team. An unconvincing choice really.

Anil Kumble is not one to shy away from adversity and he could potentially be a good leader for the team. His appointment as captain though, brings disappointment to the advocates of youth. Kumble's tenacity and commitment to the game is unparalleled. He has the experience and cricketing acumen necessary to wield the team out of tricky situations. Somewhere still, the general feeling lies that this was not the right time for him to be appointed captain, even if for a short period of time.

The other choice the selectors had was MS Dhoni, already leading the side in the other 2 forms of the game. Test series' against Pakistan and Australia would've been baptism by fire for MS Dhoni. The way he has been leading the team from the front in the ODI's, I don't see any reason why he wouldn't have been able to grow into this job too. Admittedly, Test cricket has it's own twists and turns by the session and experience is the only bankable factor, but Dhoni has the luxury of shepherding some of the finest cricketers in the country and he could have drawn from their collective experience in leading.

Stop gap arrangements never prove conducive and hence the selectors logic in appointing captain cannot be justified without actual results. No doubt Kumble will do a fine job, but therein lies a wasted chance for MS Dhoni. We'll wait and watch.

What the hell?!

Last time I checked I was living in San Diego and not frikkin Seattle. The sun hasn't showed up in 2 weeks. Where's my Vitamin D, bitch?!

Price to Play

It is human nature indeed to lament what it does not have and not celebrate the moment. We are in the midst of Diwali, one of the most important and widely celebrated Hindu festivals. Reading some blogs from people based in India (no I will NOT link them here) I seemed to sense a growing sense of discontent about this festival. Some rue the fact that the air will be heavily polluted, some seem to despair over not having enough time to celebrate while some still yearn for the Diwali when they were 10 years old. And then there are people like me, who want to celebrate, but havent been home this time of the year in the past 6 years. I am so pissed off, I'm not even wishing anyone a happy diwali anymore.

Yes Diwali was when I was home, with family. The aroma of good food in the house, the acrid smell of firecrackers outside it. It was when we had to walk the streets carefully watching all around not knowing when and where the next firecracker would explode. It was when I would wake up early in the morning to claim that it was me who burst the first firecrackers in the neighborhood, when I would try to sleep early in the night but couldnt because my neighbors kept bursting firecrackers all the way into the night. It was when I found one more reason to shop for new clothes and to meet friends and family over long lunches and dinners. It was when even passerbys on the street would wish you a Happy Diwali, when sweets and gifts were exchanged way past the festival days. Times when the streets were a sight to behold in golden hue, lit up with a million lights to celebrate the Festival of Lights that is Diwali. It was when the good times rolled.

All of this was then. And what do I have today? Thursday.

Post Title: Staind - Price to Play

Good guys always win ...

.. or atleast that's what they'd like us to believe. Jab We Met is the story of Aditya (Shahid Kapur) and Geet (Kareena Kapoor). Of how Aditya loves Geet while Geet loves Anshuman (Tarun 'whatsup with his hair' Arora). Of how Aditya comes to terms facing the challenges in his life while also winning over Geet with his selfless love. And that's when you realise such syrupy, sugary, diabetes invoking froth only looks fit for the screens.

As the story goes, Aditya succeeds his father and is at a point in life where nothing seems to be working out for him. His girlfriend dumps him, business isn't going too well. In dejection, he sets off on a train to nowhere. Enter Geet, a sikhni from Bhatinda, who is on her way home from Mumbai. Geet's only mission in life seems to be never missing trains, getting married, running away from home, living life by her own terms. She is as chattery as they come and starts to chat up Aditya. Aditya gets fed up of the constant perky chatter and gets off at one of the stations midway. Realising this, Geet gets off too to get him back on the train while the train is about to leave. No prizes for guessing both of them are left stranded. Geet blames Aditya for this and tells him she won't get off his back until she gets home safely with all her luggage.

On the Bhatinda bound journey Geet and Aditya get to know each other and Aditya unknowingly falls for Geet. Geet, however, is planning a runaway wedding with Anshuman. So Aditya leads her home and also runs away with her later on to get her to meet Anshuman in Manali. Leaving her with Anshuman, he returns to Mumbai and transforms his dipping fortune. Some time later, Geet's family comes hunting for Aditya in Mumbai and are shocked to know the truth about Geet running away. Aditya promises to bring Geet back. Somehow he manages to find her, a million miles away from her former self. Gone is the bubbly, chattery Geet. Instead we now have Geet, au naturale, dumped by Anshuman, working her way through life, taking it hard on herself for all her follies all along. When Aditya persuades Geet to go back home, Anshuman shows up and confesses that he still loves Geet and would do what it takes to marry her. Then the three set off to Bhatinda, more confusion follows and Geet realises that she too loves Aditya as much as he loves her. And thus the triumph of selfless love.

The movie rolls brilliantly in the first half and there are quite a lot of comic moments and not the stretched, slapstick kind. Of particular mention are Kareena's scenes with the TC, the station master and the motel owner and then there's one in the 2nd half where Tarun Arora goes nahi dekhni yaar mujhe ganne ki kheti =)) Kareena has done a laudable job in playing Geet. Shahid P Kapur, however, still looks like he is trying hard to be the next SRK. He is mostly convincing for his role but has the only single constipated expression that he has mastered while doing emotional scenes. It would certainly do him a world of good to fix that quick. Rest of the cast is passable, music - no clue.

To sum up, a movie with a done-to-death hackneyed plot, pulled up by decent acting, backed up with unassuming dialogues. Worth spending 2.5 hrs of time on.

Packed Weekend

There are rare weekends when you get a lot done and still on Sunday evening you feel like you're ready for the coming week. This was one such weekend. Went to the office party on Friday evening, cleaned up the apartment on Saturday, went to the beach, watched American Gangster, gained an hour (of sleep) on Sunday, went to the gym, wrapped up my laundry, did my groceries, ran some errands, finished my weekly cooking, watched Jab We Met, all of this thrown in with a lot of talking on the phone and it was 10 pm on Sunday already! Time just ran by. And to think that I had no particular plans :)) I'll take more of such weekends :D