Think...

There are several things that we, Indians need to learn from this attack.

1- This attack was not an ad-hoc attack. This was extremely well planned, with the targets being hand picked in such a manner that there would be damage inflicted on a scale so far unknown to us.

2- Apparently, these terrorists, whose total number is not yet known, have made several recons of these hotels and the city. They must have had several dry runs to check out all these places. Apart from these dry runs, it is reported that these terrorists must have had some accomplices staying inside these hotels. Video footages showed these terrorists carry a shoulder bag, which could ve been big enough only to hold a few magazines in it. These terrorists were having a sackful of grenades with them which must have been kept inside the hotel even before the attack started. Of course yes, these terrorists were extremely well trained, which has enabled them to keep India's most elite battle ready commandos at bay for over 48 hours.

3- Despite several attacks on Mumbai and N number of intelligence reports suggesting that Mumbai is very much vulnerable, neither state nor central governments seem to have put any anti terror mechanism in place.

4-Apart from all this, we do have GREAT POLITICIANS, EMINENT people like SHITRAJ Patil who appear on TV to comment on a situation where so many lives are lost. Btw.. what the hell was Narendra Modi doing there? and where the hell is the great maratha- Mr. Raj Thackeray?

5- It was the courage, grit and determination of the NSG, Marine Commados and the army and last but not the least, the Maharashtra police that has helped the people. There was nothing from the side of our great politicians, to help, if anything at all.

6- The media has done a great job by covering the entire series of events, and the Indian media has matured considerably. This can be proved by the fact that the media used discretion in their coverage rather than trying to outwit rivals by disclosing classified info that the media may have got. Hats off to you. But there were some noobs who cut Mumbai off from the news channels for a few hours, which kept Mumbaikars in the dark for quite sometime.

7- CNN has focussed on India in the last 48 hrs so much that they would nt ve covered India so much even in the last 5 years. And this is because of FBI agents landing in Mumbai to try and offer help. It is also reported that an American intelligence agent was shot dead in the Taj.

8- Nariman house is home to a few Israeli citizens, which has prompted Israel to offer help in the counter terrorist operation, which India refused.

9- Maharashtra has decided to setup a NSG like organisation to counter terrorism. All this only after attacks targetting the upper class of the society and international tourists. No action what so ever after several bombings which killed innocent commen people like you and me who are reading this article.

10- The touring England team will not play its test match in Mumbai. There has been a change of venue from Mumbai to Chennai. Chennai is reeling under a different attack. This is an attack by the rain gods who promptly bless Chennai, whenever a cricket match is announced, however focus back on Mumbai.

11- 3 top cops were killed during the initial encounter on wednesday night. All 3 of them will be forgotten soon. Let's hope Maharashtra's finest would learn their lessons atleast from their deaths.

12- What is the PM going to do by calling the ISI chief over to help in investigations? Pakistani links to this attack has all but proven to the world.

13- Al-qaeda shas been suspected to have been the mastermind behind these attacks. If that is true, then it will be the first time ever that India has been attacked by Al-qaeda. Of course, Al-qaeda have operated previously in Kashmir, but never past the borders of Jammu and Kashmir.

14-The main motive of these terrorists was not to hold Mumbai for ransom or to get some of their associates released. Clearly, this attack was aimed at destabilizing the Indian economy and also to drive home a point to international tourists and business people as well, that India is not a safe place anymore. The sole motive of these terrorists was wreak havoc, create panic and terrorise Mumbai and India in a manner that people would fear to step out again. We have to gear up to fight a new breed of terrorists, who are not fanatics with a gun, but trained fighters, who know the tactics and strategies of urban warfare.

If we do not learn our lessons soon, it won't be long before India becomes a terror torn country like Afghanistan. Security laxes, lack of co-op between intelligence and law enforcement agencies have been highlighted by these attacks. Incompetence of our politicians to do anything about it has been another point to note.

These terrorists seem to keep asking us this question over and over again- we can hit you anyway, anytime we want. What can you do?

- A stupid common man

A city under siege...

Starting around 9 30 pm n the night of 26th november 2008, terrorists held the city of Mumbai under siege. Even as i write this, the entire siege has not ended. Terrorists were reported to have been flushed out of the Taj colaba last night, but even as reoprts of the army and the nsg completing the de-sanitization process filtered in, fresh firing was heard and army sources confirmed to news channels that there was an injured terrorist, still inside the hotel. However, latest reports suggest that there are atleast 2 or 3 terrorists still hiding inside the Taj Colaba. Hostages, several in number are reported to have been trapped in there.

The Oberoi-Trident and nariman house were the other targets. The siege is still on at nariman house and at the Oberoi-Trident. Many police officers, including an Anti-Terror Squad Chief, an encounter specialist with the Mumbai police and a Deputy Inspector General have laid down their lives. More than 125 killed and not less than 320 injured, Mumbai is torn apart.

India has never been witness to such a dastardly act of terror on her soil. But even such attacks do not prove as a reminder to the men who matter. Such attacks fail to make our great leaders forget that India needs an extremely strong anti-terror mechanism. Mumbai has been targeted a number of times in the past few years. And yet there was no proper anti-terror mechanism in place. How can you have a bunch of terrorists, sauntering into a big city like Mumbai and wreaking havoc, after Mumbai has been hit several times? Shouldn't we have learnt our lessons the very 1st time that Mumbai was hit? Imagine, If this be the plight of Mumbai, the financial hub of India, which has been hit so many times, think of all the other cities.

Well, this is not over as yet, India has to learn its lessons soon. The Taj Colaba had been burning for more than 24 hours and yes, more than considerable damage must have been caused. No doubt, The Taj management would be looking to repair all damages within a short span of time and get on with business. Once the repairs have been done, Taj Colaba would represent what it was before the fire. People would obviously forget what happened. Taj can do a great service to the nation by not repairing the damages to its exterior. A damaged facade would prove as a constant reminder to people. This would make the people and the government realise the value of a life, especially the lives of those heroes who sacrificed theirs so that we may live in peace.

Now, the world has to gear up, not against fanatics who know to use guns, but against trained militants, who know the ways and methods of tactical fighting. These terrorists were armed to the teeth but they were not fanatics with guns, they knew how to cover up for each other and they knew their targets very well. What began as a shootout ran into a siege.

Coming to the points made by a certain gentleman on tv last night. He was very angry. His anger resembled the anger of a billion Indian lives. True. Very true. WIth GREAT ministers ruling us at the centre, we CERTAINLY WON'T ve any terror strikes. Politicians would 've swung into action if any of them were hit or killed on Dec 13. Innocent civlians don't matter to politicians till elections are announced. And even then India will remain India. STUPID COMMON MEN like us would vote these very back stabbers back to power,based on our stupid religieon, caste bias and all sorts of nonsense and once again these GREAT LEADERS are happy being self indulgent. At present India is not shining, India is bleeding, people.

Only GOD can save India. Mumbai, our prayers are with you......

Adios Mr. Anil Kumble....

The 1st thing that comes to my mind when you say Anil Kumble, is the great man's gut and determination. Remember ppl, the test match against the West Indies, when jumbo batted and even bowled with a broken jaw. Eventually getting Prince lara out, in that match.

10/74, the only other bowler in the history of cricket to claim 10 wickets in an innings. Kumble can never be forgotten by players all around the world for the magic and temperament that he brought with him to this game. The leg spinner ranks behind Mutthiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne in terms of number of wickets, his pesence will be sorely missed by India in the years to come.

Honestly, you can't really ask anything more of this man. He has done so much for India that India can never pay him back. A match winner, a gutsy cricketer in his own right. Just imagine, an Indian cricketer who didn't actually do more than a couple of brand endorsements throught his entire career. A man who played with a broken jaw, when younger cricketers around him and also some of his own peers, flew down to australia and england, to get treated for minor bruises. India will miss his services when India play sides like England, Australia and South Africa in the future.

An Indian has to be born again to beat Anil Kumble's record of 6/12, which till date, remains as the best bowling figures in ODIS by an Indian. Anil Kumble took over as captain in 2007, when Rahul Dravid, surprisingly, decided to relinquish his post as captain. Since then, till date, Kumble has captained India in 13 test matches, winning 3, 5 losses and 5 draws. Off the field, Kumble is an avid photographer and there cannot be a tour where Kumble has failed to photograph something or the other.

Anil Kumble, fondly called as "Jumbo", will always be respected by even generations of cricketers to come. He has always been respected all around the world for being the tough cricketer that he is. All the very best for your future. Indian and International cricket will miss you a lot.

Comebacks and comebacks....

"First on the offside, there's god. Then there's Sourav " -Rahul Dravid

Written off after that infamous chappelgate scandal, where the great guru Greg's "personal, private and confidential"(or whatever you want to call that) leaked to the media, Sourav Ganguly was written off, never to make a comeback.

10 months later, Team India saw its former captain, the man who led them to its 2nd ever world cup final, return to the test team, to play an innings of character against South Africa. Inarguably, India's most successful captain ever, since the days of Kapil Dev, "Dada", as Ganguly is fondly called, has always frustrated rival captains, with an extremely brilliant sense of captaincy. Steve Waugh would never forget the way Ganguly frustrated him during the quest for "the final frontier".

Ever since that comeback against South Africa, Ganguly has led India's scoring pack, becoming India's leading run scorer since then. The stylish left hander had some problems facing Ajantha Mendis and Murali during the last tour of Sri Lanka and failed pretty badly during that tour. However, the entire team performed badly then, including Rahul"the wall"Dravid. The selectors, including Mr. Dilip Vengsarkar, were apparently looking for a reason to drop Sourav and put and end to his career.

There's a saying "Fortune favours the brave." Sourav Ganguly has been one brave cricketer, who has faced and defeated controversies and made his career a glittering one. The Kolkata Knight Riders captain was not named in the teams for the irani trophy, which was an attempt to get him out of the Indian side. No runs to show to the selectors to consider, meant that your career's virtually over. Then, this man's a fighter. He played even for some local league team in Punjab, scored runs and caught the selectors attention.

The selection committee change, helped Sourav Ganguly even more. With the "colonel" Vengsarkar now out of the selection committee and Krishnamachari Srikkanth, taking over the reigns of the selection committe, the Royal Bengal Tiger can once again roar on the international scene.

Kangaroos beware, the tiger's back.....

Oh shanti shanti!

nee indri naanum illai,
en kaathal poiyum illai,
vazhi engum unthan mugam than,
vali kooda inge sugam than,

thoduvaanam sivanthu pogume,
tholaithooram nagarnthu pogume,
karaiginra nodigalil naan nerungi vanthene,
Ini unnai piriya maaten,
thuli thooram nagara maaten,
mugam paarka thavikkiraen,
en iniya poongaatre.

Oh shanti shanti, oh shanti,
en uyirai uyirai nee yenthi,
yen sendrai sendrai, ennai neengi,
naan vanthaen vanthaen, unnai thedi. ohhh...

nee indri naanum illai,
en kaathal poiyum illai,
unnai kaanum neram varuma?
en kangal moksham peruma?

viralodu vizhiyil vaadume,
viraiginra kaathal nogume,
iranthalum varugiraen un madiyil naan thoonga,
ennai vanthu urasum kaatre,
avalodu karaiyum netrey,
kai korthu nerunginaen,
kan adithu nee yenga...

Oh shanti shanti, oh shanti,
en uyirai uyirai nee yenthi,
yen sendrai sendrai, ennai neengi,
naan vanthaen vanthaen, unnai thedi. ohhh...



ppl.. u must be wondering, why the hell this guy's posted something like this... simple reason.. im obsessed with this song... my obsessions with certain songs ve gone overboard at times.. this's one number that's created a rage in my over the last few days... kick ass song.. those of you who can enjoy these lyrics, go on, savour it..

The forgotten breed...

How many of us remember people who've helped us on our path to success? How many of us still have contacts with them, at the very least?

These questions can't be answered so easily with a simple yes. Truth is most of us don't ve any contact with those people. You may think. My dad and mom are responsible for my success and i'm with them 24*7. You are right and you are wrong. Right- true, they too have been responsible for your success till now. (Mark the word too). Now, you are wrong. WHY?

Think about it for a couple of min...













Thought enough? I'll tell you whom you've missed in that list.

Your first thoughts other than your parents must 've been your girl/boyfriend, if you have one that is. Next in line would 've been your closest circle of friends, ok agreed. Then? some close relatives, then..... The buck would 've stopped right there.

Spare a thought for a breed of people who can be stern and strict at times. Looking at you with piercing eyes and seeing through all your lies and alibis. Those people would 've supported you for the major part of your life. Those people would've taught you so much, drilled so much of things into that hardwood head of yours. They are a forgotten breed of people.


Now, you know whom i'm talking about... yes.. your teachers, mine as well. Be honest.. haven't you forgotten them? all of us may forget most of them, certainly not all of them. Your favourite teacher maybe the one who came on hard on you and yet managed to win your heart at some point of time. For others it would be the softer variant. Now, i think there maybe a bit of nostalgia going on in your head. Anyways, just dont forget them... The forgotten breed.

Dynasty or Die-nasty??

Ever seen dynasty politics?? or at least heard of it??

Well.. what exactly is Die-nasty or is it dynasty politics? Little too confusing ain't it? Simple, yet so complex.. That's what it's all about. Dynasty politics is a little complex compared to die-nasty politics..

Die-nasty politics.. easy one.. politics in which u get to die in a nasty way.. ugh.. that's die-nasty politics. for eg: You get involved with a tiff with your rivals, and they are out to get you; Make you feel real bad about that tiff, so they put up a really devious plot, which 'll get you killed or at least hurt very badly. Now, that's what you'd say Die-nasty politics.

Toughie- Dynasty politics.... this 's something more delicate than the die-nasty politics. Simply put, a dynasty is a family. So, it 's more often than not called, family politics. Now, family politics, as popularly known, it's basically all the political happenings within a family. Consider a very Indian scenario, to better understand family politics. To understand this deeper, consider a typical, Indian joint family.

In a typical joint family, it's more or less like the elders rule the roost. In the elders itself, in almost 9 out of every 10 families, have the poor male "head" of the family, who happens to be the "head" only as a name. AKA rubber-stamp . This "head" has to obey his wife, who happens to be more or less dominating. She continues to dominate the male, till the poor guy passes away.. that's a bad one.. Then, in the heirarchy, comes the daughters of the "head". These daughters. These daughters are eventually the mother's pet. Obviously, if there are more than one daughters , the last one's bound to be the favourite. And the the last daughter's kids get more attention and care than even the son's kids.

And yes of course, just like their mother, these daughters tend to go after their husbands, reducing their husbands also to the status of their father, the rubber-stamp. Finally, lowest down in the order would come the son, his wife and kids, who do everything for the "head" and his wife, who hardly ever recognise anything done by them. To the "head" and his wife, or to be even more precise, the wife would hardly ever give a shit to what her daughter in law does or says. Then, even if the daughter in law's extremely good, she gets kicked even then. Right from day one, when a girl gets married into a typical Indian joint family, she is looked at with such contempt, like she 's meant for bonded menial labour. Not only does the head's wife irritate her, she draws flak from her sisters in law for being the nice girl that her husband and mother in law want. Apart from all this, she has the additional burden of taking care of her parents and siblings; which is to compound her already existing problems. Final nail in the coffin- she goes to work and has an extremely demanding boss. Bad times befall her everywhere. All in all to sum it up- it's saas vs bahu, everywhere, with all the others playing supporting cast.

Poof.. That's just the outline, and I know, your eyes bleed already. Imagine, if this 's just the trailer, then the movie??? Anyways, it's all a part and parcel of life in an Indian family...


"All the world's a stage,And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts,"

Where do these lines fit in? The rubber-stamp was once upon a time a kid to his mother, then a husband to his wife, a father to his kids and then finally a grandparent to his grandkids. Implied meaning- Males are always dominated by his female counterpart. There may be a few families in which the females are dominated. If you, as a reader are from one of those few families, please forgive me.

Disclaimer: The above post was written from my own observations. Any resemblance to any real life happening is purely coincidence. And, I'm not a chauvinist.

Tell me your dreams...

Dreams... what are they really? Aspirations? Ambitions? Things that you feel that may or may not happen to you or me?

Well.. you can say that way. 1st.. What's a good dream? varies really.. to me seeing a person i hate getting kicked maybe an OK dream but to see that same person getting killed.. well.. that'll be a very good dream..lols.. Then, a bad dream? err.. seeing myself getting kicked or killed by people whom, i 've trusted my life with all these years...

And when do you normally get such dreams? well... dreams don't normally come unless and until you think of something really seriously. Take this for a situation. When you go to bed, you had a really nice time with your friends that evening. What dreams do you get? Really nice ones. Dreams of you having a nice time with all your friends again. Such dreams are so precious that you'd want to have them over and over again.

Flip side.. You've had a war of words with your best friend. You feel like giving him something back. You start dreaming of that. That's not half as bad as the dream where you and your best friend become enemies for life. ugh.. really nasty..

One thing that's been observed is dreams don't last more than 5-20 min. However, there maybe multiple dreams during the time for which we sleep. Dreams are not an indicator of how well we sleep, but quite the contrary. They indicate how disturbed we are. Be it a good dream or a bad dream, it shows how balanced the mind is. No dreams..?? don't worry, just sleep tight...

One more time- lose control

Ever felt like losing control over urself? ever felt like going berserk about something?
Ever felt like doing something that u've never ever done before?

There are certain really crazy things that we'd want to do. As kids we'd happily roam the beach in our underwear but now?? As adults we now think of crazier things such as becoming kids again, shedding all responsibilities and happily enjoying life as kids....

That's a paradox... That's life... When we were kids we yearned to grow up but when we grew up we yearn to become kids again....

Somehow, most of us at some point of time or the other must've felt, bruised knees are better than torn hearts. That's what's happening all around us. Strife, Love, Hate.

What's there in our life to lose?? Let's just lose control.. just one more time.. Freak out.. Enjoy life...

What is it that you want the most?

See the compass there? That is a magical compass, in the movie series, Pirates of the Caribbean, used by Captain Jack Sparrow (played by Johnny Depp)... What is this about a compass, people might ask.. Specially those who haven't seen or even heard of Capt. Jack Sparrow's exploits in the movie.

Well, this compass aint an ordinary compass mate. It points to what the holder desires the most at that very point of time. Using this compass, one could find out what they desired the most. The effect of the compass was not limited to locations and objects, but could also indicate the user's desire towards another person.

Now, what's the connection between this and our lives? Well, won't everyone of us like to have such a compass. Say someone wants to have PEACE the most. Oohh.. Tricky one. Now where on earth do you go for peace? U.S.? No, India? No, South Africa? No. It's there within each and everyone of us. Only thing, we fail to search for it.

Just for kicks, lets see what some of these people would desire the most:

George.W.Bush - Another term in the white house... Sorry bub, the compass points straight back to your own house, wherever it maybe.

Laloo Prasad Yadav - The prime minister's office... Ofcourse, rail mantriji, You are most welcome to visit the Prime Minister, whenever he feels comfortable.

Australian Cricket team - No one else should win another world cup, a knockout or any major ICC tournament... Certainly, that'll happen, only in your dreams.

Jose Mourinho - A silent winning season with once again Chelsea... Stop kidding Jose, you can't keep your mouth shut for 5 minutes.

Rahul Dravid - To play a test match for the Bangalore Royal Challengers against a rest of the IPL team and win it... Quite possible, provided all other teams agree and Dravid wakes up from his sleep.

Well, those are just a few of those. However absurd it may seem, all of us do yearn and all of us do want, maybe not in tons, but just maybe a few milligrams of it... Love, Affection and Someone to give us all this and remember us throughout their lives. That's what most of us would want rather than money, fame and power, things which we cant take to our graves.

The real theme..

What are the first thoughts that come to your mind when you see those words... 2 sides of a coin?

Well, the real theme, is in showcasing human nature. We, generally tend to be good to one person n maybe, at times, bad to another person. No one can be good to everyone, nor can anyone be bad to everyone.

To make things crisp, it can also be said that, "One man's hero, is another man's terrorist." This very line itself simplifies the theme. "Hmmm.. I still can't understand, how come people like me and yet I am being disliked by almost the same people", this is one other question that'll form in the minds of people who read this blog. Simply put, consider these points:
1. You are genuinely liked by people, dislike is feigned
2. Opposite to scenario 1, liking is feigned and dislike rules the roost.
3. People like you and dislike you according to situations.

Scenario 3, is the most interesting thing to consider. You support someone depending on a situation or an issue. This will create a sense of liking to the person whom you support and maybe, in most cases a sense of dislike lies with the person whom, you are against. Now, this showcases the 2 sides of a human mind.

One other way of explaining this theme- consider the story of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde. To be really precise, that is the perfect example for this theme. Everyone of us have a bit of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde in each and everyone of us. We are a Dr. Jekyll, in the eyes of the ones who love us and a Mr. Hyde, to the ones who don't like us as much.

There do exist certain bad elements in all of us, no one is perfect and hence, each one of us have a head and a tail, just like a coin. Have you ever wondered, why it's a head and a tail and not something else?? Heads- because as a human, we can think and act accordingly, showcases the good side of our human nature. Tails- well, it's pretty obvious, we do have our own shortcomings, our own nasty little side, which may at times show our devilish features, in a rather ugly manner at that.

Well, i guess i must 've clearly confused people who 've read this once, read it again, maybe you'll feel better then.

First Innings...

After giving some really serious thoughts about blogging, I've finally decided to start my own blog. My innings starts here...

Well, basically, my blogs may become a bit too redundant with time, but i will do my best to show up a few interesting things every now and then.

First Innings- now that's something very important for any cricketer. Batsman or bowler, neither would want to give an opponent the upper hand in the contest very early. Here in my case, there's no opponent but just the presence of my wariness( or should i label it as laziness) to blog.

Argh! Never thought so much to write just a few lines of words. Last time i did think so much to write something was in an exam where i knew absolutely nothing in the paper. Lol...