Dravid calls it a day

Posted by Anantha | Posted in | Posted on Friday, March 09, 2012

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I was in my high school when Dravid made his Test debut at much coveted Lord’s. I remember discussing with my friends about the century made by Ganguly – the other legend and the then debutant in the same game and a nearly missed century by Dravid. This episode made me like Dravid, like the way I love any underdog! In later games and tours, I realized, I was loving Dravid for all the wrong reasons! After all, he was not an underdog; he was a silent giant with unmatchable patience and determination, always masked by his modesty. 


We choose our heroes. Dravid could be a very unlikely hero. He was not termed a genius like Sachin, he seriously lacked aggression that Ganguly showed on and off the pitch, most of his good performances were often overshadowed by other legends in the team. I have cringed many times, when the match was actually saved by Dravid, but he ended up being the 2nd top scorer of the side. Dravid was never an attacking batsman [I had jumped off my seat when he had scored a six off Allan Donald, that went like a rocket propelled parallel to the ground and very few such handful of moments I remember and cherish], his strength was his solid defense, his perseverance, his ability to take back seat and let his partner at the other end attack. I am sure, when The Wall was at the other end of the wicket; batsmen have swung their bat freely without any inhibitions. Ravi Shastri once rightly said, it is not the number of centuries of half centuries that measures the greatness of players like Dravid. It is his number of double and triple century partnerships he has produced with his teammates. Yes, he was such a player. He was the damage controller of our team, when we lost wickets in quick succession, when our openers could not stand against the pace attacks on foreign pitches, Mr dependable at No.3 would take over. 

Sometimes when India used to lose badly in tests on foreign pitches, ignoring the team’s performance, I remember glancing through the scorecards hoping to see Dravid as the lead scorer of the team. Such was and still is my loyalty for Dravid. 

I am bad at statistics. Ask me the best centuries by Dravid, I would surely fumble. But I do remember things like how Jonathan Trott wished Dravid after latter’s last ODI innings in England in last September. I am sure Indians would want to forget this tour of England where we were beaten black and blue in test series. Then selectors threw a surprise to Dravid and his fans by selecting him for the ODI side after many years. Soon Dravid announced his retirement and said, that ODI series would be his last which left BCCI red faced. So in September 2011, Dravid was to play his last ODI international, the last of the 5 match series. India batted first. After scoring a half century and sharing a good partnership with Kohli, Dravid was bowled out by Swann. Dravid, being a true gentleman, started to walk towards the pavilion. Then most of the English players came to Dravid and shook his hand wishing him on his last ODI. But, Jonathan Trott did something unusual. He took his cap off before shaking Dravid’s hand. Now, that’s the respect Dravid had earned from his opponents. That’s greatness of Dravid, to be respected by his teammates as well as by his opponents. It’s easy and very natural to be disliked by the opponents, but it requires true character to be respected by the opponents. Well, it was nice of Trott too to gesticulate that way. That’s how Dravid played Cricket. That’s what he meant when he said, it is important to be respected in the dressing room as well as on field by opponents in Sir Bradman Oration speech he delivered recently in Australia.  

Well, retirement in sports is tricky. It has to come at the right moment, before you are made to feel your services are no longer required for the team. Not all get a heroic farewell. Dravid too did not get. Even if he had got big scores in the last tour of Australia, I doubt it would have fit into Dravid’s scheme of things. He made a silent entry; he has now made a silent exit. In the midst, he has scored a whopping 24000+ runs collectively in both the forms of the game. I think this figure speaks volumes about this man.

To end my tribute to my hero, I would like to quote from my favorite cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle from this column about Dravid – “He will be missed, as the great always are. He will see his children grow, take them to school, imbibe in them the reading habit (for he read more than most people I know and couldn't understand why others didn't), but from time to time he must tell the new flowers that will inevitably bloom in our cricket of the need to put grit over beauty, team over self, challenge before rejection, humility before arrogance, for that is what he stood for.”

Good bye Dravid, you will always be my hero…….


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Auroville Marathon 2012 - Part 2

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , | Posted on Wednesday, February 15, 2012

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Get Set, Go
I had told Jitendran that that was my first Full Marathon. An excellent runner by himself, he asked me if I have set any timing goal to finish. Being too ambitious in setting my goals, I said I have set 5 Hours in my mind as target. 5 Hours is a good time to finish a marathon.

Amol and Akshita wished Romel and me for the race. Few minutes before the race, there was an announcement about having a group warm-up session. An old white lady was giving us the demonstration of various stretching postures. We all followed her. We were all given a torch as, there were no lights on the way of trail.

At 5AM sharp, the whistle was blown. I started my first ever marathon with hundreds of other runners. The bunch was really diverse, from few college students to 60 year olds. Yes, marathon running is indeed a sport for all ages.


The spilt timing and the ‘complete surrender’
Though I found it tough to make way and run carefully on the mud trail with just the light spot emitted by my torch, few minutes into running, I got adjusted to it. Fair amount of moonlight too helped us.

I finished my 10Kms in 1Hr 06 mins. I do not think I could have run better in dark on an unfamiliar mud trail. After 10Kms the fair amount of sunlight made us run without torches. I finished my 20Kms in 2Hrs 14Mins. Not bad either. I had not lost much of pace. Some seasoned runners say marathon running is like meditation, some say experiencing Runner’s High is a joy incomparable. I felt a tad philosophical too while running. Osho says, a real disciple should completely surrender to his master. There should be no element of doubt in his mind about his master or master’s teachings. Though my heart agrees to it, my mind has often raised the finger like an inquisitive student who is disliked by the teacher. But I was an obedient student on this trail. The tired legs were directed towards the destination by the signboards always. I never questioned it, I was damn sure that the trail will surely lead me to my destination. There was the complete surrender Osho referred to, I had completely surrendered myself to the trail.


The tough part and the ‘spirited’ last lap
To reach 30Kms, I seriously struggled. I had lost my pace. I did a bit of walk-run-walk. I drank more and more of electrolyte and water at the aid stations. Had few bananas and orange slices too. Different aid stations gave us runners different food supplements. Some supplied dates, some chocolates, some groundnut chikkis. But, all of them had bananas and oranges in common.

I reached 30Kms mark in 3Hrs and 35Mins. The run between 32-33Kms to 38Kms was the toughest for me. The Sun was blazing already; the humid weather of Pondicherry had squeezed every drop out of my body. I walked a lot and ran intermittently. I dropped my ambitious target of 5Hours to finish the marathon and stuck to the realistic target of 5hours 30Mins.

When the signboard read 38Kms, I know I was not very far from my first marathon. I am not sure, where that reserve energy was all that while, I attained a good speed. When some of the runners who had overtaken me were walking, I overtook them as if some spirit had gotten into my body.


The much awaited finish
When I was done with 42Kms and it was the last 200 mts left for the completion, A thought came across my mind whether to celebrate the finish with a swear-all jig like Virat Kohli does or a gentle acknowledgment like my idol Dravid does after his every century. The people near the finish line started clapping loud and cheering me. I can’t believe myself that I was almost into tears! Remember the scene in ZNMD where Hrithik gets teary eyed after finishing his deep sea diving? I had totally empathised with his character while watching it, but now after finishing the marathon, I experienced it. Finishing a marathon gives you a great sense of achievement; it makes u feel humble and strong at the same time. It makes you thank your own body, that we always take for granted. As a fellow runner told me before the start of the race, the joy of finishing a marathon is simply inexplicable, it can only be experienced.



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Auroville Marathon 2012 - My first ever Full Marathon

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , | Posted on Wednesday, February 15, 2012

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Garibrath Express – the unofficial carrier of marathoners and my new friends

The Garibrath Express from Yeshvanthpur was at 11:30PM on 10th Feb. As soon as I got into my designated bogie it was obviously evident that my bogie was full of marathoners. After the formal exchange of ‘Hi’s’ ‘Hello’s’, the topic of conversation turned to Auroville Marathon.

I met Romel, a passionate photographer and a marathon runner from Arunachal Pradesh working in Bangalore. We had an instant connection because Romel too had never run a Full Marathon before. He often said how he was feeling the butterflies in his stomach. Romel introduced me to his college mate and fellow photographer Arindham, who was in the same bogie with his family for marathon. Romel later gave me his website’s URL. Visit their site NOB-Photography, I must say Romel and his friends are indeed a talented bunch of photographers. Ask Romel, what does NOB mean, he jokingly says, None Of your Business? 

Taking part in these marathons is more fun because of the interesting people you get to meet. After getting down in Pondicherry station, Romel introduced me to two more of his friends Amol and Akshita who were taking part in Half Marathon and were in another bogie. Incidentally all the 3 of them had booked room in Anandham Residency, the hotel where I had booked my room. Instead of taking an extra bed in Amol and Akshita’s room, since Romel knew I was alone in my room, he asked me if I was willing to share my room. I had no problems at all.

The night before the D-Day
On the day we reached Pondicherry [11th Feb], we had to collect our BIBs from Auroville Visitor’s Centre. I left my hotel room soon after refreshing. I had plans to hire a bicycle and roam around Pondicherry. Then eventually I decided to cycle to Auroville to collect my BIB. I was little sceptical about straining my legs on the previous day of the marathon, but I decided to go anyway. Romel, Akshita and Amol took a wise decision of going to Auroville by bus/auto and collect their BIBs.

I was little tired after cycling for nearly 40 Kms to collect my BIBs. I had an early dinner and returned to room. Romel, Amol and Akshita were out for roaming around the city. 

Auroville Full Marathon would start at 5AM and Half Marathon at 6AM. The organizers had arranged for the pickup from major hotels in Pondicherry quite early. The bus would come close to our hotel at 2:45AM. So Romel and I decided to sleep early. But like the night before a major exam, both of us did not get sleep at all. We kept discussing a lot of stuff about running, running events, practice tips etc. At last we dozed off around 11:30. That means we effectively slept for 2.5 hours that night.


The official carrier of marathoners
Romel wanted to take shower before leaving. The idea of wetting my body at 2AM in the night did not enthuse me. I just brushed my teeth and got ready. Amol and Akshita too joined us though they were running half marathons and their pickup was another hour later. They accompanied us just to cheer for us before the race. That was really nice of them.

Raja Talkies signal was the exact pickup point for us. The four of us stood waiting at the signal. The very idea of standing on a stranded street in an unfamiliar city at 2:30 in the night is insane. These are the insane things we would cherish for a long time. Jitendran Nair, an ex-commander in Indian Navy too joined us at the pickup point. It was only when we got to know that he is retired from Navy, we could guess he would be around 45 years of age. Otherwise he was looking like a guy in his thirties. He was damn fit. See, what running does to the external appearance of a person.

The Swaraj Mazda arrived to our place at 2:50. It picked up lot of guys on the way to Auroville from other major hotels of the city. The atmosphere was electric. We all felt like soldiers in an army truck heading towards the warfield.
                                                                                                                             (to be contd...)



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Preparing for Auroville Marathon

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , | Posted on Monday, January 23, 2012

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On 12th Feb is the 5th edition of Auroville Marathon, an annual event held in the Auroville campus. If everything goes as I expected, I would be running my first ever Full Marathon [42.195 Kms] there. Having bitten by this long distance running bug since 1.5 yrs, I have run many half marathons [which includes many practice sessions]. A Full Marathon is going to be a big challenge for me. For many novice runners, running a marathon is a dream, for some, it is one of the entrants in the wish list of their lives! Frankly speaking, I am not feeling any such thing about it. I am pretty anxious about finishing it that’s all. Neither Auroville Marathon is a timing event,  nor I have an earlier timing to improve in Full Marathon. Hence I have nothing to lose, as long as I manage to complete the distance.

I have been practicing hard for the event from last 1.5 months. Sad to say, I was never able to run a Full Marathon in my practice sessions. I can run a Half Marathon comfortably. I have pushed my limits to 33-35 Kms once. The thought of last to last weekend practice session demotivates me! I had run Half Marathon and then ran for some 20-25 mins more. I had reached the farthest end of GKVK campus. I stopped for a sip of water and just did not feel like running after that! I wasn’t really tired; I could have surely run for another hour or so. But I just got bored! There was no company of fellow runners that day. Usually I do not carry any music players while running, so though I was capable of running few more kilometers, but damn.. I just got bored running. It took me 30 minutes to reach the place where I had parked my bicycle. This very thought of boredom while running scares me. I think it is high time I accept running too needs a motivating partner like in gymming. I am sure this problem will never occur in an actual event. With so many fellow runners, with runners motivating each other, with some music and dhol played at frequent intervals, I am sure, the milieu will be as exciting as ever.

Rajendra, an interesting person and my new friend from my cab, suggested me this website by Hal Higdon, a marathon runner and a coach. It is a very useful site for Marathon enthusiasts with many training programs under different categories.  All the training programs Hal Higdon suggests are of 4.5 months duration. I do not have so much time left to take this training up. I better stick to my learn-from-mistakes-regime for rest of the days and perform well in the event.

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No Reservations - Movie Reco

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , | Posted on Friday, December 30, 2011

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Dir: Scott Hicks
Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Abigail Breslin


There are these special movies that make you feel good after watching them. ‘No Reservations’ is one such movie.

After watching 5 movies by a famous Hollywood director which required thorough analysis, brain storming, reading reviews after reviews and then re-watching them again, I felt a bit tired. I was dying to watch something light, something soothing and I could not have asked something better than ‘No Reservations’. In a way, rom-coms are pretty much predictable; this one is not an exception. But what makes some rom-coms special and deserves multiple viewing is, the apt cast at the core, blended with crisp humour, garnished with delightful music running in the background, then served fresh to the audience. Oh... well, No Reservations is lot about cooking too :)


It stars Catherine Zeta-Jones as Kate a bachelorette Chef, who is just too serious about her passion - cooking. She works diligently in the kitchen of a NY restaurant, who believes she is the best cook in the city, throws tantrums on customers when they nitpick about her dishes, in turn inviting the rough relationship with the owner of the restaurant. She attends counseling sessions upon insistence by her restaurant owner often wishing ‘there was a cookbook for life’. Kate’s sister dies in an accident and gets to take care of her sister’s young daughter Zoe (brilliantly played by cute girl - Abigail Breslin). Initially Kate fails to cope-up playing the role of a caretaker for her niece who is missing her dead mother terribly. There enters Nick (Aaron Eckhart), the newly appointed chef by the restaurant owner as a replacement for a pregnant chef. Nick considers working under Kate is an honor. But, Kate is unhappy over Nick’s unorthodox working style, she is even insecure that Nick might take over her kitchen. Over the skirmishes with Nick, Kate learns to let her hair down; she even learns few lessons on parenthood from him. What follows after that is pretty predictable, but thoroughly enjoyable.

For me, a good movie is all about those special moments in it. Remember the scene where Julia Roberts asks Hugh Grant “After all... I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her” in Nottinghill. Remember Richard Gere saying, ”When you're not fidgeting, you look very beautiful...” to Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman or Julie Delpy enacting a telephonic conversation with Ethan Hawke who would be sitting right opposite to her in Before Sunrise. No Reservations too leaves you with memorable scenes that you would just not forget. There is a scene in the movie where Nick tries to kiss Kate in front of Zoe at the dining table. Kate turns her face away saying, ‘not in front of Zoe’. To which Nick says to Zoe, ‘I am now going to kiss your aunt’. Then Zoe covers her face saying, ‘OMG, this is so embarrassing’. I liked the expression on Zoe's face so much that I watched this scene many times. Every time I watch it, it never failed to convert the smile on face into a delightful grin.

Aaron Eckhart is very impressive in the movie. Check out the way delivers those smart lines, the way he uses his charm to flirt with Zeta-Jones. I have never liked Zeta-Jones this much earlier. The young girl Abigail Breslin is adorable too. Watch this movie when you are feeling little heavy in the head after a boring day at office, you will surely hit the sack smiling.

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Itsy-bitsies

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , , , | Posted on Wednesday, December 21, 2011

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  • Did you guys notice the striking similarity between the teenage sister(?) of Nargis Faqri named Mandy in the movie Rockstar and French actress Audrey Tautou; The female who played the lead role in the movies Amelie and The Da Vinci Code. I was already smitten by Audrey Tautou and now by this Mandy! Talking of Audrey Tautou, the movie I fell for her is neither Amelie nor Da Vinci Code. In fact, I am a ‘Dan Brown Agnostic’, when my friends who had read the novel were enjoying the movie in theatre, I had fallen asleep! The movie that cast the magic on me was Priceless, a French rom-com which I watched in UTV World Movies some time ago. It is a nice little movie with this cute actress in it. I would like to take the name of Priceless in the same breath as that of Pretty Woman and Nottinghill, for its high cuteness quotient. Watch this movie without a miss.
  • Since I mentioned Rockstar, I must say I liked the movie incredibly. Was unable to mention in my blog as the post on it has been the state of draft for quite some time and I am failing miserably to transcend my thoughts about the movie into words.
  • I know it is quite late to comment on the music of Rockstar after many people admiring it and some calling it an average work of A R Rahman. But I will comment about the film’s music anyway as I have taken the name of the movie. Remember the song ‘Masakkali’, the first hit song in Mohit Chauhan ARR combo? I remember watching the interview of ARR during the release of Delhi-6 in one of the news channels. When the interviewer asked who is ARR’s favourite contemporary singer, ARR mentioned the name of Mohit Chauhan and even hummed his favourite song by Mohit Chauhan - ‘tum se hi..’ from Jab We Met. I was not very surprised by what ARR said, because it is very common for celebs to say their most recent work being their best and to take the artist’s name they have last worked with as their best colleague ever, as they would be paid to promote their recent work. With my limited knowledge of music, I do not think Mohit Chauhan is an accomplished singer, although there is a sect of film music to which his distinct voice and style of singing suits perfectly. After all, to score a match winning century in cricket you do not need to be a technically perfect batsman. I was amazed to see almost all the songs in Rockstar being sung by Mohit Chauhan. Not sure if ARR has used the any other singer so extensively in any single movie before. I no more doubt ARR. Mohit Chauhan must be his favourite contemporary singer. I must also say, listen to ‘Naadan parindey..’ carefully. It is sung by both ARR and Mohit Chauhan. In few places, it is difficult to say who is who. In high notes, their voices blend beautifully in unison.
  • I took part in 5th Bangalore Midnight Marathon which was held on 10th December. I finished the half marathon with my personal best timing of 2 Hours 7 mins and 58 secs. It was really an amazing feeling to run in the night with so many of enthusiastic runners. The energy really was infectious.
  • Got to read a quote by Javed Akhthar in TOI recently, which perfectly sums up the debate of who is the master of one’s destiny. “Your life is designed by three important factors – circumstances, coincidences and you. At any given moment, any of the three could be the chief designer”.
  • There is a scene in ZNMD where Farhan insists Hrithik and Katrina to take a stroll after dinner, so that he can share some private time with Nooria. On their long walk, during their conversation about the ‘type’ of guy Katrina prefers, Katrina blames Hrithik that he belongs to the type of guys who considers money as the only important thing in life. To which Hrithik retorts, “don’t judge me, you don’t know me”. I found this statement ‘very much mine’. I have said the same thing in the past many a times to different people under different circumstances. Is it the itch to shout out that I am off the herd, an exception to the generalization.. a craving for distinctness.... Hmmm...
  • The mention of ZNMD makes me write that it is really amazing that Farhan Akhar is associated with all the three best male bonding movies in Bollywood according to me. He forayed into direction with DCH, then he acted in Rock On!!, which was directed by Abhishek Kapoor, lastly he has acted in yet another brilliant movie on male bonding with ZNMD, directed by his sis Zoya.
  • It has been quite some time since amma is staying [vacationing] in my native. This has rekindled my passion for learning cooking. I have been trying out few of the dishes on my own with some useful tips from akka. I am glad that there has not been a disaster till date. I believe any person with good amount of common sense can never be a bad cook, but to be a really good cook, you need to have real talent man...
  • Whenever I prepare some dish which has come out pretty good, I keep it in fridge sticking a small note on the door of the fridge for my cousin to taste it. My cousin who stays in our home works in night shifts. Since I hardly get to speak to him during the weekdays, the sticky notes has been the effective medium of communication between us. These handwritten sticky notes reminded me of amma teaching me to write letters to my aunts and cousins during my school days. I used to be really happy when I used to get the reply for my letters. The advent of email and SMS has killed the communication through postal letters. The joy of seeing those cute handwritten paragraphs, the crossed lines, the corrected misspelt words is certainly irreplaceable. I feel there was warmth in that medium of communication... the emails and SMSs look pale, cold and impersonal in comparison.

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An old A R Rahman song

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , | Posted on Monday, December 19, 2011

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Good that I checked my mobile just before starting my car. Basu had messaged to carry my small portable speakers [as I do not have a music system in my car yet]. I went back and got my speakers hoping that it has enough charge to last for few hours during our drive. My friend Basu and me had planned a day's trip to Kolar. More than the destination, both of us actually wanted a nice drive on an open road.

Basu had got his iPod. He connected my speakers to the iPod and asked me what kind of music I wanted to listen, he was all set to be the DJ during the drive. Off late, I have gotten bored of my own selection of music. It's my own predictable set of choices that has bored me! Knowing Basu since little more than a decade, I had total faith in his taste for music, I told him to play anything he liked. He was "mixing" it well with few recent Kannada numbers, some ARR Tamil hits and few Hindi hits. Then he played this Tamil number 'Kannukku Mai Azhagu'. I had never heard it before. He told me it's an ARR number. He told me to guess the singer. Since the song sounded pretty old, my mind started matching the voice with some of ARR's favourite female singers. It wasn't Sadhana Sargam, It wasn't certainly Chitra, It wasn't Kavitha Krishnamoorthy. I am not even sure if Kavitha Krishnamoorthy has sung any Tamil song for ARR. Then Basu said, it is P Susheela. Waaww, that's really a rare combo.

Googling a bit about the song, I got to know the song is from the movie Pudhiya Mugham (1993). The song has a male solo version too by Unni Menon. ARR has used the same tune in the Hindi movie Vishwa Vidhaata (1997). There the song, 'nazaron ke milne se' is sung by Kavitha Krishnamoorthy.




The tune is very very soothing. Those were the days after Roja, when ARR used to use minimalistic musical instruments, used to use all well established singers of music industry. Though the song sounds pretty much like a lullaby, it is a romantic song with very beautiful lyrics. Check out the translation here.

I know I sound pretty old in saying this, I doubt such an amazing tune and lyrics fit into the scheme of things in today's music in movies :-/

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