Every dream comes to an end

Until today, every time I heard the theme song for ICC World Cup 2015 - WDL Bob's beat, after a match that India played, there was a sense of elation, pride and deep content. The summary of the day's game with the song playing in the background evoked a degree of confidence in the Indian team. For the first time, I felt disappointed as the song played, as MS Dhoni walked up first to have a chat in the presentation ceremony, after India lost the semi final by 95 runs at Sydney Cricket Ground against an indomitable opponent, Australia. 

Expectations which started with a zero balance soared high with every win of the Indian team and seven consecutive wins in a tournament like world cup is highly laudable. Veritable improvement appeared in all three departments for once, and after a long time the home team gave the notion that they did not rely on just one GOD batsman to score all the runs, everyone had to chip in and they did, fielders remained agile, leapt in air and performed unseen acts and fast bowlers proved that they mattered too, much like or may be much more than the spinners in a game. 

Despite all the above positive changes, an extended stay in Australia and losing many games against the host nation, one has to admit that team India still has to learn few more vital lessons; more aptly, remember lessons learnt and implement them without faltering. We clearly witnessed how fumbling and choking under pressure does not help from the first semi final game between South Africa and New Zealand where the former team despite getting headway in pieces failed to get their act together. Also, within the team there are many lessons that fellow mates have to learn from MS Dhoni before seniors/veterans and many from all quarters question him on when he will relinquish captaincy and take a back seat. After all, sporting tattoos, blowing kisses off the bat and displaying aggression/anger on field alone cannot win matches. 

MS Dhoni gets an ardent fan in me after this tournament, it would only be appropriate to rephrase the simile as cool as cucumber after him. The way he guided the team, toiled keeping wickets, gave essential tips to bowlers and fielders studying opponents on field and came to rescue with the bat when needed proved that there is just none like him. Kudos to this man's stamina, fitness and composure, squat and get up for each ball for fifty overs and still come hit helicopter shots! 

I have always harbored special admiration for other wicket keeper captains/leaders starting from Adam Gilchrist, Kumara Sangakkara to Brendon McCullum. This admiration is the sole reason why I wanted team India to win today's game, sail ahead and lift the world cup; a befitting gift for our captain cool though it was too sweet a dream to come true. Also for the same reason, I will now want New Zealand to win the final on March 29, 2015 for McCullum is a wonderful leader and the team rightfully deserves to win the trophy at least once. 

Sad that dreams of billions came to an end today but have to admit that it was not purely bitter and starkly premature, after all. 

There's always a first time

Victory is always sweet. When India wins in cricket, the most revered game in the nation, it only gets sweeter. And when the victory comes against a long time foe, the sweetness goes up by notches.These are times when the end result of a tournament itself barely matters and all prayers, good wishes and fervent appeals go out unequivocally to make that one win possible. This is precisely what happened on Feb 15, 2015 when India won against Pakistan yielding a 6-0 result, totaling all its world cup duels. 

For me, it was after four full years, after the 2011 ICC World Cup final, I was watching an ODI match so devoutly. I thank the prudence shown by team that scheduled matches for ICC World Cup 2015, they nailed my interest back again in limited overs edition of the game by placing such a high tension encounter right in the start, no other game could have had me so glued to the television. 

Back then, I always ensured that no one in my family changed channels or even moved in their seats or uttered anything positive too early when things were going great for India; vehemently insisted on a change when things were not falling in place for India in such high voltage matches.Mini pujas were performed, thousand slokas were rendered, even ash and kum kum were smeared on favorite batsmen on TV screen. The ardent fan in me for the game just drooped over time, may be due to excessive cricket that was played or the pomp and glamor that IPL brought along with a big baggage of match fixing slush or may be for other reasons unknown. I lack that insanity but the fun, thrill, tension, apprehension and anxiety lurk around even now. To watch such a crucial match almost fully, with my two and half year old son screaming "green uncle OUT" whenever Pakistan lost a wicket, "blue uncle SPEED" whenever Virat Kohli or Raina hit the ball hard was truly, madly, deeply enjoyable. Criticized widely before the tournament; with least or no hopes pinned on them, the Indian team performed magnificently, performed where it really mattered, made the nation that waited with bated breath sing "Neighbor's envy, Owner's pride" in chorus. 

It is not easy to feel content, a difficult test lay ahead. India took on an indefatigable and formidable opponent, South Africa yesterday, on Feb 22, 2015. And what a victory again, the margin by which it came, the manner in which it happened, with all three departments cohesively clicking to render magic on field, eliciting never seen before results, a victory so convincingly supreme/supremely convincing, utterly sweet for a first time. 

My son only got better with this match, he began to focus on jersey numbers and not just colors. For him, Green Uncle 8,  referring to Dale Steyn ran too fast and Blue uncle 99,  referring to Ashwin appeared very very BIG. 

Appreciation poured in from all quarters after India's unprecedented victory, Ganguly showered praises taking true nationalistic pride, Michael Hussey, Warne and Pollock could not hide their surprise, Harsha Bhogle was all smiles when interviewing Shikhar Dhawan (who crafted a beautiful century singing "Kanna, Keep Calm" and received beautiful partnership from a peaceful warrior, Rahane), Dhoni heaped laurels on perennial underdogs - the fast bowlers in the team. The nation so well knows and admires Big Bachchan's baritone voice but Ravi Shastri's voice bettered it yesterday as he announced with all elation "There's always a first time".

Some Dumbo Kids with Over ambitious Fathers

There are awards for best actors/actresses, awards for sports persons and their teachers. Recognition is meted out in field of arts, literature, press, journalism, photography, environment protection (despite calamitous damage done to it by humans), try naming any field and a bag full of awards, trophies and medallions bestow honor and appreciation.

Parenting too, is an art and this seems to be a department where I have not heard of awards or accolades. There are days or occasions celebrated across the world to mark its importance like Father's day and Mother's day but no particular trophy is given out to a chosen few.

If there was an award for the most doting, caring, supremely dedicated father (in India, keeping focus on some star kids) it would go to Amitabh Bachchan, undoubtedly.

With a dumbo - Abhishek Bachchan, for a son, Big B's efforts as a father to shape his son's career, future as an actor, to elevate him to a larger than life image have been relentless. From Bunty Aur Babli to the recent take - Bol Bachchan, the father has shouldered all responsibilities in an unimaginably excessive fashion leaving no stone unturned. In a ripe old age, he sings, dances, emotes, shouts, delivers crisp dialogues in his baritone voice and pulls along Baby B to stardom. Be it interviews or KBC shows or personally upclose moments, as a father he constantly swears by his son, stands by his son and is an immovable Rock of Gibraltar to him. The son, though now a father himself, no doubt, loves the cozy, warm zone of protection , has not shown enough mettle to prove his capabilities. In fact, the million dollar question is if he is capable at all? Or toning down the quotient of sarcasm, is he fit/suited for the field of cinema? Barring the movie Guru, where Mani Ratnam fiercely extracted some expressions from this rock faced star child, Abhishek has proved disastrous in all his other movies in all departments. When he dances, he makes only Tapori like/Dappan koothu moves, biting and rolling his tongue, making dodo like expressions on his already awkwardly shaped face. However, the father still believes his son who turned to stone in one of his earlier births by a stare from Medusa, will turn victorious some day.

Though Big B and Aby baby make the most outstanding example of best dumbo son, over ambitious father combination the world can ever witness, there are other examples from the film industry itself. Rishi Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor (recent histrionics in IIFA awards) is an example that hits my head directly; the son is not a failure in all departments but looks a complete dodo and definitely delivers incomprehensible dialogues. When Ranbir sings "Jo bhi mein kehna chaahoon, barbaad kare, alfaaz mere" in Rockstar movie, you cannot refrain from nodding in appeal.  

Moving from these examples and changing domain from films to sports, recent newspaper and TV reports have made me conclude that though the kid is not a dumbo here and the father has not done anything overtly to push the kid into limelight, this nosy father and an arrogant kid combination has wreaked havoc to true sportsmanship spirit. Leander Paes and Vece Paes form this unexpected example. The father features in all press reports like a spokesperson, brokers deals and bargains, asks for written assurance from Sania Mirza that she will partner with her son in mixed doubles format on the pretext of which he claims his son will play along with Vishnu Vardhan in men's doubles format at London Olympics (2012), all of this has gone awfully irksome and weird. Leander too,  throwing his weight around, quoted preposterously - " The only one I need to worry about is Vishnu, the poor boy is 307 in the world and I don't even know if he has grass court shoes. So it is like a bit of tough one." Such a gibe from an Olympic Bronze medalist, Commonwealth Games bronze medalist, winner of men's and mixed doubles in 1999 Wimbledon is a real shocker.

Personal frustration, ego, superiority complex and professional vendetta have ripped Leander off true sportsmanship and his father, an ace hockey player himself, has forgotten to drive lessons to get his son grounded. Paes will need to pick cues from other sports figures in India - Tendulkar and Vishwanathan Anand for instance, who are GODS in their respective games; yet haven't roped in their families/fathers to speak on their behalf, their likes and dislikes. 

True, we all admit - Like Father, Like Son; a son always looks up to his father for emulation. However, it is true that each one of us has a distinct talent, an area of super specialization which can quite be different from that of the father. Leander took this lesson to his head and chose tennis, not hockey; but few lessons of humility went starkly amiss and his over ambitious father failed to reinstate them. 

IPL 2012 - what will make it interesting for me?

Ahhh ... so April 4 2012, it is, tomorrow! Indian Premier League Season 5 will kick start tomorrow with an inaugural session and a match between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians at the MA Chidambaram stadium, Chennai. Nine teams battle it out with each team playing against the other - 9x8 = 72 T 20 games in the league session itself barring qualifiers, semis and finals ... that's a whooping big total.

1. With MS Dhoni steering Chennai Super Kings this time too, from the front, no surprises if a repeat of 2010 and 2011 years happens. 

2. I think Sachin really got tired of all media reports, tons of questions and speculation of his calling it quits from cricket, so he decided to pacify press folks by handing over captaincy of Mumbai Indians to  relatively younger Bhajji. 

3. Sehwag will get to make his own rules and run his own empire, no Dhonism to hamper his progress, no injury will now come his way, he will fight like many kings history has seen from times of Hastinapur to Shahjahanabad and conquer it all for the Delhi Daredevils. 

4. What is Kolkata Knight Riders without Dada? Though we are now used to his absence, Gambhir with equal bouts of fiery temper, arrogance and attitude like Dada may work hard and harder to Korbo, Lorbo,  Jeetbho! Still somewhere, the positive passion that emanates from fury and attitude as in case of Dada will go amiss. 

5. Pune Warriors India will miss a true warrior, Yuvraj Singh, who is waging an even more critical battle than cricket itself. To not have the swashbuckler play the format he excels at creates quite a loss. It is a little absurd to see Dada - Saurav Ganguly head Pune Warriors India, even more absurd to learn from the newspaper that he insists on opening. The only Bong connection that is evident is that the team is headed by Subrata Roy. Hope this Poorab Poschim connection works. 

6. Kings X1 Punjab don't have any Chak De Phatte effect. This season, even rumor mills will fall quiet as Preity's pretty guy Brett Lee does not figure in the squad. 

7. Loyalty changes and so does royalty... may not make sense but it does rhyme well. The Wall - Rahul Dravid who recently became more of a Wailing Wall after retiring from cricket will have his hands full as the coach and captain of Rajasthan Royals. 

8. Royal Challengers Bangalore can earn back all fortunes lost, save many a sinking ships or more aptly said save many a drowning planes if two things are tightly adhered to, one keep Deepika Padukone out of all matches and never issue her a ticket and secondly keep Virat Kohli just happy (not too much or too little) and more focused so that centuries rain down heavily without stoppage. 

9. Deccan Chargers.. ahha ..there's something in the air of this team, they are like students who prepare extremely well for their exams, so well, yet flunk on d-day. 

Not too many reasons in favor to kindle and sustain interest in this season, yet I am sure I will keep a good eye on most, if not all matches :) After all, for really long, have I waited to break free from endless news debates on NDTV, CNN-IBN and Times Now channels .. so long, so long ....  

A case of Over Display of Emotions

This Sunday gave a shocker to many watching the news for the first time it was reported Indian Cricketer Yuvraj Singh is suffering from a malignant form of cancer. Definitely, a real shocker, Yuvraj is a batsman of great caliber with great titles like Player of the Tournament in 2010 ICC World Cup, only one to hit 6 sixes in an over in a T20 format game, he has led the Indian side to victory in many crucial games, fields well despite odds of a huge beer guzzler tummy, bowls magical spells that leave all spellbound and hits like a rocket in steadfast attempts to damage the opponent. 

The Times of India newspaper on Monday Feb 6 quoted that in India his initial reports were stolen - now that is highly ridiculous. Not sure who wanted to auction these reports and earn money. Also, another hospital (unnamed) in India failed to detect the cancer last year. So in clinical diagnosis of the disease the nation has not been of any avail. But in arenas of displaying emotions and support - we stand second to none. Since Sunday evening, there have been scores of people coming on TV and talking about how Yuvraj is a great player and an even bigger fighter. These people encompass a group of cricket commentators, fellow players from IPL and other formats of the game, self declared cricket enthusiasts and some time pass souls who get a daily wage to appear in one of the windows of the news channel, whatever be the topic. Fans from all over the country are being questioned on news channels on questions like - when do you think Yuvi will return to cricket, do you think he can churn the same magic when he returns, how big a fan of Yuvi are you? 

The news channels are already on their way paying homage (Shraddanjali) to a person who is very much alive,  battling the disease which has been discovered at the earliest stages, thanks to medical expertise of a Russian doc. 

Today's news article in TOI describes the form of cancer that Yuvi is suffering from, its symptoms and treatment methods. The first line of this article reads - Yuvraj Singh is happy he is in Boston for his cancer treatment and not in India where unwarranted and sentimental attention could have dampened his mood. Very well said ! Full blown accolades to Yuvi for taking the decision of undergoing chemotherapy treatment in Boston away from homeland, may be this is the most crucial and well taken decision of his lifetime. If he had been treated in India, his parents would have had to spend more time giving interviews to news channels than be by the side of their ailing son. Journalists would shed their skin and shame to get a sneak peek into the room in which Yuvi is resting. They would not mind climbing skyscraper buildings for this purpose, even break their back in the process, just a picture of Yuvi drinking a glass of mosambi juice in his hospital ward would suffice news mongers for many days.  

Crowds would throng the hospital where Yuvi is admitted and create a huge law and order problem. If for a break, Yuvi tuned into a channel other than news channels, he would be feasted to his own advertisement which has been running in an infinite loop mode since Sunday - the ad on BIRLA SUN LIFE INSURANCE - Jab thak balla chal raha hai thaat hai (which literally translates into - as long as batting and career is fine - everything is rosy - when the bat does not work its magic .. then FULL STOP). This completely unwarranted over display of emotions is an inseparable part of  fundamental rights of every Indian citizen - something like Sadda Haq, Aithe Rakh. This situation can never be mended, so wiser and wisest to run away from it. 

So here's wishing Yuvi a very speedy recovery and issuing strict warnings to stay away from motherland till he is fully fine and completely cured. 

From Sholavaram to Buddh International Circuit

A shower of memories flooded me on 30/10/2011 as I sat down to watch the inaugural session of Formula One Indian Grand Prix. The elite sport commenced at 3 pm on India's Buddh International Circuit, Greater Noida and the sixty lap race spanning roughly two hours gripped my interest wholly.

Sitting in front of the television, I recollected some of my father's conversations on motor cycle racing, the magic this sport weaved back in 1980s in Sholavaram circuit, near Chennai. The Indian Grand Prix commenced and Vroom Vroommmed the super machines. My father remained an avid fan of bikes and motor cycle racing in 1980s, his young days. During a span of 8 years, from his age 25-33, he owned two Royal Enfield Bullet bikes and two YEZDI. As a kid, I could figure out my dad arrived home by picking up the majestic DUD..DUD..DUD notes of his bike. I proudly occupied a place on his bike's fuel tank. As per his accounts, the first race I saw was the last race held at Sholavaram circuit in 1988. However, I do not carry memories of this racing circuit, once an air strip during World War II times. The Madras Motor Sports Club, thereafter, changed the venue of racing from Sholavaram to Irungattukottai, near Sriperumbadur, off Chennai.

Passionate about racing, powerful bikes and cars, rallies - few of which he has been a part himself, my father took me to many races held at Irungattukottai. Images of this race track remain clearly etched in my memory - a gigantic MRF tyre arch at the head of the circuit, stands made of wooden planks for audience and few special stands/glass towers for the rich class.

Come February every year, my father would take us all - me, my mother, my cousins, aunts and uncles who visited us at that time, to the Formula 3 races at this venue. This was an era of glorious names like Karivaradhan, J. Anand, Vicky Chandok, Akbar Ebrahim and Vijay Mallaya.

Anyone with an iota of interest in motor sports in 1990s could not afford to feign ignorance when the name Sundaram Karivaradhan was mentioned. This legend hailed from a wealthy business family of Coimbatore (Lakshmi Mills), remained reticent in social spheres and highly committed to the advent and steady progress of motor racing in India. The impetus he provided inspired and sprung forth the current heroes - Narain Karthikeyan, Karun Chandok and Armaan Ebrahim. Formula India Single Seater Maruti Engine was Kari's brain child and with it began the first and complete tryst of India with this sport, a sport that does not stop with flushing gallons of adrenaline in its drivers but instills a huge rush of this hormone in its audience too. Cars would zoom and whroom past, lap after lap, fast, faster and fastest each time. Whizz men were unfazed by the deadly turns and corners, they cracked it all in a fiery fashion. Speed meant absolute power!  

The constant buzz of the Formula One cars - Ferrari, Renault and Mc Laren Mercedes etc on Buddh International Circuit gave me a quiet sense of satisfaction and happiness, I was lucky to have witnessed Formula 3 races at Irungattukottai at least over 4 years during my childhood times. Probably, this introduction to motor sports, in my home town, at a young age inspired me to follow Formula One intently. 

Come lap 24 of the Indian Grand Prix; a fiery battle ensued between Felipe Massa of Ferrari team and Lewis Hamilton of McLaren Mercedes, their cars cut across and collided for the fifth time this season. The feud on television,  quite reminded me of rivalry between Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna in 1989-91. I followed rivalry between these two drivers much more intently than the on-field battles between India and Pakistan in cricket. Ayrton Senna's death in 1994 San Marino Grand Prix pained me terribly. His death evoked a sense of fear and overshadowed the sense of awe I had for the sport. The period of abysmal interest towards Formula One halted with the entry of iconic Michael Schumacher. His unbeaten championships from 2000-2004 pumped up zeal. He and Ferrari made an indomitable combination, his prowess at the wheel was and remains unsurpassable. People knew results of the race he participated in before they began. 

Path was paved for few greenhorns in the sport with Michael Schumacher's retirement announced in 2006.His return to Formula One with Mercedes GP team in 2010 assured the king cannot stay away from his empire and subjects for long. At the age of 42, he churned out a rank 5 in the Indian Grand Prix. 

Sebastian Vettel, the young gun (a double champion now) led every lap, right from start to finish, turned the apple of eye of every Indian who watched the race that Sunday. Vettel equalled Michael Schumachers' record of 11 wins in a season yet leaving most critics admit that the former had a long way to go before being placed at par with the Messiah. 

The Buddh International circuit looked fantastic with its cynical combination of turns - thanks to its architect - Hermann Tilke. Champagne poured lavishly on the podium, smiles shone on faces of Sebastian Vettel (1), Jenson Button (2) and Fernando Alonso(3). The opulence that evaded India for long, arrived in a weekend in October 2011at the cost of farmers' land, humongous funds during economic downturn times and many more factors that are busily analysed by media. I am not sure if we deserve to and will be able to play host to this splendid power packed sport. All I can say is that - the two hours long event on Oct 30, 2011 helped me revive some lost interest in Formula One and I snugly relished the memorable journey from Sholavaram times to F1 Indian Grand Prix at Buddh International Circuit. 

Some Ugly moments spoil the Sport

Mar 18, 2007 was a day when cricket as a sport took an ugly turn. Pakistan’s elimination from ICC World Cup 2007 after a humiliating defeat at the hands of greenhorn like Ireland, sent shock ripples across the world.

More flabbergasting was the end, the coach of the Pakistan team, Bob Woolmer met, in just a few hours after the calamitous defeat. The whole world sniped at the unfortunate turn of events, the murder in Pegasus Hotel, Jamaica gave a morbid and cold start to the most important and prestigious event in cricket calendar.

Investigations by a jury, vindications, insufficient evidence to draw conclusion if death of Woolmer was due to criminal act or natural causes marred the professionalism, dignity and camaraderie expected in any sport. I barely followed 2007 ICC WC and virtually lost interest in the sport after this episode.

There were times when my comatose state was awakened – 2007 ICC World T20 cup, Monkey gate scandal of Border Gavaskar trophy 2008, IPL, the Ashes, India topping ICC test rankings, Suraj Randiv-Sehwag’s no ball gate. The multitude of verbal spat between Greg Chappell and Saurav Ganguly, Greg's public, acrimonious remarks on the overall conduct of Indian team increased my doubts if there were any positive attributes left in the way the game was played or managed.

It is difficult, however, to stay away from cricket for long, call it a part of Indian inherited trait or upbringing in a household where people are die hard cricket fans. With dauntless Dhoni leading team India from the front, his astonishing aplomb in dealing with cricket affairs both on and off field and a sensible, grounded and sincere coach in Gary Kirsten, interest revived and became profound as days passed with the pinnacle hitting at 2011 ICC world cup.

Many reasons made 2011 WC special from the start – it was happening in the Indian sub continent and no part of the world can parallel the cricket frenzy here. Sachin had to bag the gift which had long been eluding him. He served the nation against all odds for over two decades, a world cup victory was the only delectable garnish to his palate of zillion individual records. Dhoni definitely weaved magic in all formats of the game and taught all and sundry the importance of being careful with words, being diplomatic, shrewd, clever, composed and most importantly fearless – come what may. And yes, I was only 8 months old when India last lifted the world cup.

We are basking in the glory we earned the hard way for team India’s efforts culminated in the picture perfect victory on April 2nd 2011. India rode majestically as a team, unified in overcoming many a hurdle from league matched to the likes of Aussies, Pakistanis and Sri Lankans. The semi final against Pakistan in Mohali on 30/03/2011 was one such hurdle. Gautam Gambhir’s loose comments on a social networking site that India’s win in semis was for all 26/11 victims made no sense. Such a shoddy, insensitive remark was completely uncalled for and Afridi’s response calling Indians "not large hearted" gave the familiar ugly tinge to the game again. Gambhir has nobody to blame but himself – not just for missing his century by a wisp on the grand finale as quoted by Dhoni in the presentation ceremony but also for his insensible remark on mixing politics with sports. Common man in India would be glad to see this vigor and ire in ministers who lead the nation, to get clear answers for 26/11. They readily shun it all and invited their counterparts from across the borders for diplomatic talks over a cricket match. May be nations’ leaders started it all and Gambhir only followed suit.

Gambhir does not need to look too far to learn his lessons – he has responsible fellows like Dhoni, Tendulkar to look up to, even better - Virat Kohli who stumped the whole nation with his single sentence remark on what Sachin means to India. For now, all I ask for is, there be not too many ugly moments that spoil the fun and agility that this sport brings to its fans. Hope the nation does not wake up to another round of verbal brawls of the Ganguly-Greg Chappell likes through Gambhir-Warne (if Warne were to become the Indian coach as per speculations dated April 6, 2011)

Play of Anomalies

Many would have said, “We don’t care about the finals. Just win this game” for the WC 2011 Semi Finals between archrivals – India and Pakistan, hosted at Mohali, PCA Stadium on Mar 30, 2011.

While news channels quizzed if the ever increasing frenzy was due to decades old Indo-Pak jingoism, while various diplomats and ministers with their hefty group of delegates met after a brief cold war, terming the match an excuse for diplomatic cross border relations, for the common man in both the nations, this game was larger the life, most critical than most of their daily duties. The streaks of patriotism were so heavily rampant that no "Aman ki Asha" initiative would work.

For an average Indian, there were many questions –

1) Will India maintain its unbeaten record of being triumphant over Pakistan in all WC encounters?

2) Will Sachin hit his 100th century today?

3) Will Dhoni include Ashwin in attack?

Many more questions occurred as the game progressed –

1) Why did Dhoni include Nehra when he was so costly in previous WC 2011 matches?

2) What did he find so interesting in the pitch that he included three seamers in the bowling attack?

3) Why did he keep Ashwin away when he had done well and when everyone endorsed his selection?

4) How much butter did Pakistanis consume for breakfast to let go Sachin so easily and so many times?

5) What magic wand did Sachin wield to keep alive at the crease for so long?

6) Will Indian pace attack weave the same magic that Wahab Riaz managed to through his 5-wicket toll?

7) How Pakistan manages to bring in the best pace attack possible, every time despite its ace bowlers – Asif and Mohmd.Amer denied their berths in the team?

8) Why Raina was not brought up in the order for his unruffled batting prowess displayed on many occasions and was brought in at position 8 for fire fighting?

9) Why, despite many fielding lessons, did Yuvraj hit the stumps with his hand and not with the ball, thus giving a lease of life to Umar Akmal?

10) Why Pakistan team did not use their batting power play much earlier when Afridi and Misbah were at crease?

/////////////*********************************************///////////////

India’s victory was truly special, a memorable one it will remain for every soul in the country. It was a show of power and responsibility by Team Blue – be it Sehwag’s cold blooded massacre of Umar Gul’s overs, Sachin’s consistent efforts to remain at crease and work wonders, Raina’s unquestionable composure at very testing moments, unprecedented discipline in bowling from Nehra, Yuvraj’s contribution with the ball, Bhajji’s witty tricks on his home turf, only a single digit extras in an innings that carries unfathomable pressure, the yorkers, leg cutters and off cutters from the pacemen of the team. Every moment was full of tension, fervent prayers and anxiety. There were many anomalies observed from the captains of both sides. At the day’s end, the net cost of the comedy of errors; how and for whom luck outplayed anomalies mattered. Mar 30, 2011 is a special day for India, another day where luck worked to support stupendous efforts and did not give a hoot to petty manual follies.

CWG 2010 – First a trickle, then a drizzle and then a TORRENT

The title of this post is inspired by a line in an article that featured on the The Calcutta Telegraph newspaper. This one-liner was used to describe the crescendo effect in India’s medal triumph in the 19th edition of the Commonwealth Games held at Delhi. With an event of such international importance happening in India and sportspersons from all fields striving hard to prove their mettle in their home ground, I could not refrain from capturing special moments these laudable achievers offered us. Many a times, our national flag was hoisted before the medals podium. Many a times, our national anthem was played before an awestruck audience and proud winners.

I list down, in this post, all gold medals that our Indian sportspersons won in the 19th edition of Commonwealth Games, Delhi starting Oct 3-14, 2010. The shower of gold began on us on the 5th of October. On this day, we won 5 gold medals from shooting and wrestling.

Shooting

1)10 m Air Rifle Men pair event - Abhinav Bindra, Gagan Narang - win the first gold medal in CWG 2010 for India.

2)25m Pistol pair event- Rahi Sarnobat, Anisa Sayyed

Wrestling

3)Greco Roman style 96 kg men - Anil Kumar

4)Greco Roman style 74 kg men – Sanjay Kumar

5)Greco Roman style 60 kg men – Ravinder Singh

The quest for gold proceeded in full vigor with sportspersons from weightlifting arena joining in.

Shooting

6)10m Air Rifle Men (individual) - Gagan Narang

7) 25m pistol women (individual) - Anisa Sayid

8) 50m pistol men (individual) - Omkar Singh

Weightlifting

9) 58 kg category Women - Renu Bala Chanu

Wrestling

10) Greco Roman style 55 kg men - Rajendra Kumar

11) Greco Roman style 69 kg men - Ravi Kumar

Wrestling, Weightlifting and Shooting emerged the strong areas for India.

Shooting

12) Pairs 25 m Rapid Fire Pistol Shooting Men - Vijay Kumar and Gurpreet Singh

13) 10m Air Pistol Pairs Men - Omkar Singh and Gurpreet Singh

Wrestling

14) Freestyle Women 55kg - Geeta

The archers joined chorus with fellow Indian comrades. Women clinched gold in wrestling and ensured a near clean sweep; much like men did in Greco Roman style wrestling.

Archery

15) Women team recurve - Dola Banerjee, Dipika Kumari and Bombayala Devi

Shooting

16) Men's 50m Rifle three Positions (Pairs) - Gagan Narang and Imran Hassan

17) Men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol - Vijay Kumar

18) 10m air pistol event Men (individual) - Omkar Singh

Wrestling

19) 59Kg Women Freestyle Wrestling - Alka Tomar

20) 67Kg Women Freestyle Wrestling - Anitha

The shower of gold medals continued unabated for the nation. However, it was localized over the rain bearing areas of shooting, archery, wrestling and weightlifting.

Shooting

21) 25m Centre fire Pistol (Pairs) – Vijay Kumar and Harpreet Singh

22) 50m men's rifle 3 (individual) event – Gagan Narang

Wrestling

23) 60kg Freestyle Men - Yogeshwar Dutt

24) 74kg Freestyle Men - Narsingh Pancham Yadav

Archery

25) Women Individual Recurve - Dipika Kumari

Tennis figured in the list of sports that won India gold on Oct 10, 2010. The day offered a pot pourri of golds.

26) Men's 25m Centre fire Pistol – Harpreet Singh

27) Archery Recurve Men Individual – Rahul Banerjee

28) 66kg Men Freestyle wrestling – Sushil Kumar

29) Tennis Men Single – Somdev Dev Varman

On 11, Oct 2010, India added only one gold medal to its kitty. However, the day witnessed a remarkable feat. Gold, Silver and Bronze in women's discus throw were all won by Indians. The podium shone brightly with these valorous women and nation's flag flew higher like never before.

30) Discus Throw Women – Krishna Punia

Athletics was for long deemed a drought prone arena, since 1958 Cardiff Games where Milkha Singh proved his prowess by winning a gold in 400 yards track event. On Oct 12, 2010, the shower of medals that brought merry to the nation turned into a heavy torrent bringing unprecedented joyous and proud moments. The long term drought was over.

31) Women Pairs 10m Air Pistol - Heena Sidhu and Annu Raj Singh

32) 4*400 women's relay event athletics - A.C. Ashwini, Manjeet Kaur, Mandeep Kaur and Sini Jose

Neatly completing an act of tribute to their coach - Gurbaksh Singh Sandhu, the Indian boxers won three gold medals. And the Indians went ping pong in merry, winning gold in Table Tennis for the first time.

33) Men's 62 kg light-welterweight boxing event - Manoj Kumar

34) Men's Boxing Flyweight (52 kg) event - Suranjoy Mayengbam Singh

35) Men's Super Heavyweight (Over 91kg) Boxing event - Paramjeet Samota

36) Table Tennis men's doubles - Achanta Sharat Kamal and Subhojit Saha

Dreams of a second place in the overall ranking in CWG 2010 and total medals over one hundred were turned into reality by Indian badminton players and the country's national game, hockey, earning a silver.

37) Badminton women's doubles event - Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa

38) Badminton women's singles event - Saina Nehwal

The above list looks flabbergasting for a nation highly undervalued in multi sports events, even by its own people. With such achievements, Indian sportspersons had every reason to party with huge gusto and we, Indians, loved getting drenched in this torrent.

CWG 2010 Opening Ceremony: Glitz and Glory

On 3rd October 2010, the whole nation, starry eyed, awaited the opening ceremony of the 19th edition of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium. Shadowed by only negative attributes in the last month, the games and the nation bore the brunt of endless scams; embezzlement of public money; shoddy, unfinished and delayed work; innumerable reminders of unlivable conditions in the athlete’s village, collapsing foot over bridge and false ceilings, caving in roads; slaughter by heavy rain and inundation. It seemed that the nation had to gear for more embarrassment with the commencement of the games.

However, yesterday, thousands of people from Delhi and outside buried the hatchet and came to laud the glitz and glory showcased by a nation that possesses prolific culture. A long, boring conversation between Charu Sharma and his colleague, the anchors for the show on DD; long commercial breaks made the audience impatient in many homes. The channel Doordarshan, the official broadcaster of the Delhi CWG 2010, provides LIVE High Definition content of the games to all its viewers.

The opening ceremony began with huge posse of percussionists from all over India marching to the forefront, playing bold music. The central dais was huge and had a small kid, Keshava from Pondichery at the tabla. He was oblivious of the many eyes watching him as he played the tabla. He shook his small hair curls and locks, his face wore a constant smile, as he enjoyed every musical moment in true maestro Zakhir Hussain style, the crowd went into a crescendo of applause.

A presentation on the various forms of classical dance in India was the next grand event – groups of Bharatanatyam, Mohiniaattam, Kuchipudi, Manipuri, Odissi and Kathak dancers performed to classical tunes, first singly and then in unison. Next was the turn of thousands of children, neatly forming a pattern of hands folded in welcome – the Swagatham symbol against the backdrop of a song rendered by renowned singer Hariharan. The children swiftly changed their hanging robes and created the tricolor. Shrouded under a huge white cloth, they used altha (red dye) and created an image of mehandi on palm in no time. At this point, the audience roared in cheer and amazement and it was clear that India was doing every essential act to recover its lost pride.

The central showstopper in yesterday’s opening ceremony was the 70 crores rupees worth aerostat held aloft, above the central dais. Huge in perimeter, with many reflector panels in its base, it created magical lighting and stunning visual effects. Events happening far below on the floor of the stadium were displayed vividly on the aerostat's screen. Hogging all the limelight, this helium balloon added the quintessential element of BIG scale grandeur to the ceremony, making it a sheer visual treat to millions.

There were speeches by heads of India and the British Empire – our Prime Minister, Mr.Manmohan Singh addressed the gathering, he appeared sober and preoccupied. The head of OC – Mr. Suresh Kalmadi was next in turn and welcomed by incessant booing from the crowd. Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales declared the games open, reading out Queen Elizabeth II's message. To my surprise, the President of India – Ms. Prathiba Patil possessed more energy and fervor than anyone did in the stadium, she announced boldly – “Let the games begin”.


The contingents from 71 nations across the world marched in pride and cheer waving to the audience. The previous games host, Australia, led the parade followed by other nations in alphabetical order, with India, the current host, marching in the end. As the various contingents marched, the name and the national flag of their country appeared vibrantly on the aerostat. The Indian contingent was led by Olympic Gold medalist, Abhinav Bindra who also delivered the oath of the games in a composed manner and with clear diction. The Queen’s baton relay continued in the stadium passing from hands of one Indian sports icon to other - Vijendra Singh, bronze medalist in Boxing, Beijing Olympics 2008, Mary Kom, 5 times world champion in women’s boxing, Samaresh Jung, nicknamed the "Golden Finger" for his medal kitty in 2006 CWG and Sushil Kumar, a bronze medalist in wrestling in Beijing Olympics, 2008. The Commonwealth Games flag was hoisted with impeccable military honor.

The cultural extravaganza continued in full throttle in front of the athletes’ teams assembled in the floor of the stadium. There was a pompous display of rich culture and diversity in India by the Indian Railways. A temporary, but beautifully crafted rail engine wriggled into the stadium to the tune of Chaiyya Chaiyya song, with its many coaches displaying varied elements of a common man’s life in Indian states. There were dabbawaalas from Mumbai, bangle stores, sweets and condiments shops, cycle repair shops, porters walking and folk dancers from all parts of the country dancing to lively music. The celebration was huge and it was like a Kumbha Mela/fair.

Highly talented artists crafted art, using sand, on a screen and depicted the Dandi march – salt Satyagraha movement led by the father of our nation. The brilliant piece of work was thrown open to full view on the aerostat. Prince Charles and Princess Camilla were caught staring at the sand art in rapt attention. Towards the end of this creation, a Gandhi like figure, in rich illumination of laser beams arose from the central stage. There was an astounding display of the various Aasanas in Yoga by school children. This event ended with a human figure in a yoga posture with dazzling laser beams and rich lighting effects emerging from the central dais. The delegates from various nations wore a completely look, a look of ratification that when it comes to richness of culture, color, life and vivacity, India is Incredible, and is undoubtedly, unbeatably the BEST.

The maestro AR Rahman arrived in the last segment of the ceremony along with an elaborate and ornate array of fireworks springing up from every corner of the stadium. He rendered the CWG 2010 theme song accompanied by synchronized gyrations from a group of dancers. The folk dance artists were still on the floor performing their classy steps to his tune. More power packed than his theme song, was his rendition of Jai Ho song that sent the stadium into reeling applause, cheer and uproar. Jai ho truly works out magic – be it the Oscar awards podium or the Delhi Jawaharlal Nehru stadium. To mark the end, Rahman sang loudly – Jiyo, Utho, Badho, Jeetho; bolstering further, the message – Come out and Play!

Sports Ka Superstar - Grand Finale

My favorite sports quiz show came to an end yesterday - 20/09/2010. After the last semi final on 13th Sept, I was eagerly expecting the finals on 15th as the quiz show is aired on Mon/Wed every week. But that day, on DD National, a show on All India Radio was telecast during the quiz slot 10 - 11 pm. A mixed reaction, one of ennui and confusion resulted, "Why no quiz today, if not today, then when is the finale?"
The question snowballed into an unsolved mystery as Internet searches did not yield desired results and Times of India newspaper does not tabulate DD national daily program schedule.
To make matters and my fear worse, KPL started in Bangalore from Sept 16th and our cable operator conveniently replaced DD National with a certain Udhaya Kannada Varthagalu in the evenings to telecast ongoing KPL matches LIVE. My husband and I, after a couple of phone calls to our cable operator, topped it with two visits to his office requesting him to restore DD national channel. Our dogged fondness for the show took us to the cable operators' office for one last time at 9 pm yesterday, a fervant attempt to remind him of the indispensable channel restoration. Success !! and he reinstated the lost channel. The clock struck 10 and Mini Mathur, along with Shera, the mascot for CWG 2010, appeared on the sets of the show with a battalion of ten, brilliant finalists.

Atul Nath qualified to the podium and contested with P Sarin in challenger rounds for the title of Sports Ka Superstar that carried cash prize of Rs 3 lakhs and a trophy as honors. Sarin turned out victorious at the end of the final buzzer round.

I was highly excited yesterday for reasons below -
1) this quiz show has been on our regular must-watch list for over two months and it was good to see the sports trivia bigwigs battle it out
2) we would have missed the finale by a whisker if not for the timely, personal reminder from my husband and quick/polite response from the operator

Without further ado, containing my excitement, I list down the questions from the Sports Ka Superstar Grand Finale (dated 20/09/2010) below - (please refer to the comments section, a comment from me for answers)

Sports Ka Superstar Grand Finale Questions
1) What trophy is given to the winner of World Men’s Team Badminton Championship?
2) Which Dutch footballer is nicknamed the “Non flying Dutchman” because of his aviophobia?
3) Name the first Indian woman to become a finalist at the Summer Olympic games.
4) Which country’s President is a former weightlifter and winner of seven Commonwealth Games gold medals?
5) Which athlete currently holds the world record for women in 100m and 200m races?
6) In the world championship of which sport is Richard Bergmann Fair Play award given?
7) When did beach volleyball make its debut in Summer Olympic games?
8) Name the only Indian to score a hat trick in football at Olympic Games.
9) Name the Australian athlete who won gold in 400m event in Sydney Olympics in 2000 (visual q modified)
10) Name this legendary middle distance runner who after retirement took to politics, headed the London bid to get the right to host Summer Olympics in year 2012 (visual q modified)
11) Name the current president of FIFA (visual q modified)
12) Name this swimmer turned film actor who is best known for portraying Tarzan (visual q modified)
13) The basketball shooting technique called Skyhook became a trademark of which player?
14) Name the last event in decathlon
15) Name the first recipient of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Rathna award
16) Which Indian cricketer has also played Davis Cup?
17) Name the event for males for which the female counterpart is 100 m hurdles (visual q modified)
18) Name the legendary athlete who won gold in 400m hurdles in 1976 and 1984 (visual q modified)
19) Name the gymnastics event that includes jumping on a taut cloth surface (visual q modified)
20) Apart from athletics, aquatics, wrestling, boxing, lawn bowls, which other game featured in the first edition of CWG?
21) Who is the first double centurion in women’s ODI cricket?
22) In 1997, a head to head 150m race was held to determine the world’s fastest man, this was between Michael Johnson and which other athlete?
23) Shiva Keshavan represented India in which sport in Winter Olympics?
24) Who is the first Indian to reach the semifinals of Wimbledon Men’s singles?
25) Name the famous race held on the Thames river between Putney and Chiswick
26) Cricket, my style is a book from which cricket captain?

***********************************************************************************

Sports Ka Superstar - More Questions

The semi final episodes are drawing to a close, there's just one more round before we BANG onto the grand finale of the sports quiz Sports Ka Superstar. Yesterday's episode had a mixed bag of questions, some easy, some difficult, not a very high scoring episode. Also, some contestants like Ramki, Pranav and Arun Hiregange, more adept in quizzing, slipped from becoming the "awesome twosome" by a hairline margin. In my opinion, the two selected from this episode, especially the winner - Gaurav from Bangalore, will face the heat with the rest at the grand finale.

I decided to list down the questions of yesterday's show (dated 08/09/2010) in a new post, I had some problems formatting the contents of the earlier post. Guess it ran above the prescribed/manageable length.

Set 4: (Questions from the episode dated 08/09/2010 + 8 questions from prelims episodes, answers to this appear as my comment - refer comment 1 of the comments section to this post)

1) Which one of these games does not have a goalkeeper – polo, water polo, football, hockey?
2) At 2004 Athens Olympics, which athlete broke the 400m national record made by Milkha Singh in 1960 Rome Olympics?
3) Crocodile hold, elephant stance, charging elephant are all skills employed in which sport?
4) Which country’s national football team bears the nickname – Bafana Bafana?
5) Name the only Olympic medalist from Namibia who holds the current CWG record for 200m, a record since 1994.
6) With which team did Michael Schumacher make his formula one debut?
7) What is the “bull taming” sport in Tamil Nadu known as?
8) Name the strongest female chess player in history who became the grandmaster at the age of 15 years 4 months. (visual q modified)
9) Name the French footballer of Indian origin who made his debut for the French national team in the year 1999. (visual q modified)
10) Which edition of CWG is known as the “boycott” games?
11) The player who hit the fastest century in Indian Premier League.
12) Name the sport that is played with two kinds of balls – “kitty” and “woods”
13) Name this Swedish athlete just behind Jackie Joyner Kersie in the all time heptathlon points list (visual Q modified)
14) Name the gold medal winner in 2004 Athens Olympics – women’s singles tennis (visual Q modified)
15) Name the first woman sportsperson to receive the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award
16) Name the first recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award
17) Name the sporting organization founded on 23rd June 1937 in Army HQ at Shimla
18) In Durand cup, currently, the winning team is presented with two other trophies, name them.
19) In 2010 Wimbledon, John Isner and Nicolas Mahut played the longest ever tennis match, how long did this match last?
20) Name the first woman to have run the entire Boston Marathon.
21) Name the South African band that featured along with Shakira in 2010 FIFA anthem – Waka Waka
22) Name the first Indian in NASCAR
23) Name the president of Rajasthan Cricket Association from 2005-2009
24) Name the players of the very popular/successful men’s tennis doubles team from Australia which bore the nickname “The Woodies”
25) Which major mishap is associated with the Tamburello corner?
26) Who is nicknamed as the “The Flying Sikh”?
27) In the name Jeev Milkha Singh, Jeev is the shortened form of what?
28) To whom did Milkha Singh lose the Bronze medal by a whisker in the fateful 400m run in 1960 Rome Olympics?
29) Who threw his Olympic medal into the Ohio River after a feud with a whites gang and after being refused service at a whites restaurant?
30) Name the player who received two golds in CWG for lawn bowls and was inducted to Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2007?

************************************************************************************

The last round of semi finals happened yesterday - 13/09/2010. With just 20 days more for the CWG at Delhi, the concern of a neat display is a perennial high - first over corruption, money laundering, completion of venues on time, then on health aspects as the number of dengue cases are skyrocketing by the day, most recently on warnings from host nation government officials on an impending terror strike during the games. As a nation, we all are on tenterhooks, waiting to see events unfold from Oct 3-14, 2010. Not digressing further, I have updated a set of 40 questions (26 from yesterday's show and rest from previous episodes, after a gruelling memory exercise :)). The questions in yesterday's show mostly dealt with Olympic events, the questions I recollected from past episodes are more CWG centric.

Please find the answers to the questions below as a comment (comment 2) from me in the comments section. Happy Quizzing !!

Set 5:

1) Which of these events will be a part of the Delhi CWG? 50km walk, 20 km walk, pentathlon, bicycle motocross
2) The term steeplechase derives its name from which sport?
3) Which team won the Ranji Trophy in the year 2009-10?
4) Which game originated at Melrose, Scotland in 1880s when a local butcher Ned Haig organized it for fund raising for a sporting club?
5) Which city did Delhi beat by 46 votes to 22 to win the right to host 2010 CWG?
6) Ippon, Koka, Yuko, Waza-ari are four scores in which sport?
7) Who is the only tennis player to have won all the 4 grand slams and an Olympic gold medal in the men’s singles?
8) Which city has hosted the Asian games maximum number of times?
9) In which Olympics, did Leander Paes win the bronze medal for men’s singles, becoming the second Indian to win an Olympic medal in an individual event?
10) Name the Ukrainian heavyweight boxer who is the current IBO, WBO, IBF and Ring Magazine champion of the world. (visual Q modified)
11) Name the legendary baseball player who bears the nickname “Sultan of Swat” and “The Bambino” (visual Q modified)
12) What is the title of Dhyan Chand’s autobiography?
13) In 2010 FIFA world cup, Jerome Boateng represented Germany, which country did his half brother Kevin Prince Boateng represent?
14) Who defeated Bobby Riggs in the widely publicized match called the “Battle of Sexes” in the year 1973?
15) Which Bollywood actor represented Indian in cycling?
16) Name the Czech long distance runner nicknamed as “Czech Locomotive” who won gold s for 5000m , 10000m and marathon in 1952 Helsinki Olympics. (visual Q modified)
17) Name the first woman athlete to have won 6 Olympic gold medals. (visual Q modified)
18) Name the athlete who holds the record for 1500m middle distance track event (visual Q modified)
19) In which Olympic Games did women compete in weightlifting event for the first time?
20) Kalenjin tribe, the running tribe, known for long distance running skills belongs to which country?
21) Ever Onward is the motto of which sporting event/games?
22) Name the Olympian who was diagnosed with Polio at the age of 7 but accumulated 10 golds over 4 games.
23) The athletes of which country were taken hostage/murdered during the 1972 Munich Olympics?
24) In which sport did Jonty Rhodes represent South Africa apart from cricket?
25) Which five time US open men singles champion is also the youngest to win the title?
26) Which sport was demonstrated by the Hanuman Vyayam Prasarak Mandal in the 1936 Berlin Olympics?
27) Which athlete was forced to leave Munich (1972) before closing ceremony of the Olympic Games for the fear that he should not be targeted by the Palestinian gunmen?
28) Which sport is locally known as Hu-Tu-Tu or Chaduguddu in different regions of India?
29) Where did the first edition of CWG take place?
30) Who marches first in the Parade of Athletes in the CWG?
31) Who hosted the games under the name Commonwealth Games for the first time?
32) When and where did the Commonwealth Games take place for the first time in Asia?
33) The CWG held in 1962 were also known for “heat, dust and glory” for the inhospitable weather conditions. Where was this edition of the games held?
34) Name the first black African to win a gold medal Olympics, who clinched the gold (1960 Rome Olympics) in marathon event running barefoot.
35) Name the Indian athlete who failed the gender test and was stripped off her silver medal of 2006 Asian games.
36) Who remained not out in the innings when Kumble picked up all 10 wickets in the test innings in the year 1999?
37) Who won the Orange Cap for the IPL held in 2010?
38) In which edition of Olympic games did Agassi win the gold in men singles, managing to complete a career golden slam?
39) Name the legendary figure in Indian motorsports who died in an air crash while flying a trainers aircraft

40) Which of the following is not related with Cricket? Deodhar trophy, Irani trophy, Shimla trophy, Ranji trophy

Sports Ka Superstar

For the last two months, I have been hooked to a certain quiz show on Doordarshan channel - Sports ka Superstar. This is a sports quiz produced by BIG Synergy productions (Siddhartha Basu), anchored by Mini Mathur and Shera (the mascot for Delhi CWG 2010).

The sports quiz puts forth a great collection of questions, with multiple choice (4 choices) and buzzer, visual/direct (without choice/shootout) variants. Ten participants contest each time, with only 2 qualifying at the end of the show to the next round. The quiz show aired on DD on Mondays and Wednesdays at 10pm, has so far, handpicked 50 sports whizkids out of 25 episodes. The contest is now, on between these 50 players for selection to finals, with already 2 clearing the semi final hurdle on 30th Aug 2010.

The quiz is a must-watch as it is well anchored, the participants have immense knowledge of the subject and there is definitely lots to learn from the questions thrown. For long, I watched the show intently, answering questions along with the contestants, researching on unknown topics the next day. From now on, I intend to note down as many questions as possible and post it onto my blog for future reference.

I have jotted down some questions (see below) from the Aug 30, 2010 show (not all, some of them) and some questions from the previous episodes (some that I remember starkly) -

Set 1: (the answers to these questions will appear as a comment from me in the comments section)
1) Who said these words - It's hard to be humble, when you're as great as I am.
2) The name of the military leader who participated in the Stockholm Olympics 1912 modern pentathlon event.
3) Who is the only player to have scored a hat trick in FIFA finals?
4) Who is the first Indian member of the International Olympic Committee?
5) Which sport does the body FISA represent?
6) With which sport will you associate FIDE?
7) K.M Beenamol won gold in 800m track event in Busan 2002 Asian games. Her brother, KM Binu, won the silver medal in which sporting event the same year, same games?
8) Name this tennis player from Sweden who lost to Rafael Nadal in 2010 French Open.
9) Name the golfer who has the nick name – The Great White Shark
10) The 1934 CWG were held in London. Which was the initially proposed venue/city for the games?
11) The Merdaka tournament is associated with which game?
12) Name the game that was first introduced in Doha 2006 Asian Games.
13) Shaolin martial arts hail from this country.
14) Name the Olympian after whom a Cricket stadium is named in Gwalior.
15) This is a unit of measurement of length and is roughly equal to/little over 600 feet. Name this unit
16) Name the sport that is going to be demonstrated in Delhi CWG 2010.
17) With which sport will you associate the terms – glide and spin techniques?
18) Who is the only athlete to have won 4 consecutive Olympic golds in the same individual event and also bettered the record with every win?
19) With which sport will you associate the famous sportsperson – Jehangir Khan?
20) The book “From gloom to glory” is the story of which Indian coach?
21) Straight from the Heart is an autobiography of which sportsperson?
22) The Four Minute Mile is associated with which famous athlete?
23) Breaking the Surface is the story of which famous sportsperson?
24) Venus Rosewater Dish is presented to the winner of which tournament?
25) Which famous tournament in Tennis is named after a French Aviator?
26) It’s not about the bike is a book by a famous sportsperson. Name him
27) With whom will you associate the Rope a Dope technique in boxing?
28) With which sport will you associate terms like castling, the fortress, Alekhine’s gun?
29) Name the air pistol specialist who claimed 5 golds, 1 silver, 1 bronze in 2006 Melbourne CWG.
30) Which country won the most number of golds in Beijing Olympics 2008 and which country won the maximum number of medals at the same event?

Set 2: (the answers to these questions will appear as a comment from me in the comments section)

After yesterday's episode (01/09/2010), here I update the post with another set of questions, as many as I could note down. Good to note that of the two selected to finals from this episode, one Mr. T.B. Srinath belongs to my school (PS Senior Secondary School) and college/graduated from BITS, Pilani.

Below are the questions:

1) Who is the only Indian prime minister to have received the Olympic Gold Order?
2) Who along with Sir Roger Bannister ran a mile under 4 minutes in the 1954 Common Wealth Games?
3) Name the S.African cricketer whose autobiography is known as “White Lightning”
4) Which other country apart from England, Wales, Scotland, Australia and New Zealand has attended every edition of the Common Wealth games?
5) Who was named the greatest female athlete of the 20th century by Sports Illustrated for Women magazine?
6) Their national netball team features a silver fern for its symbol, name the country.
7) Which sport has a technique named after Mitsuo Tsukahara?
8) Name the chess grandmaster who is diagnosed with a kind of spondiloarthritis.
9) Which other nation, apart from China and Indonesia, has won the Thomas Cup since its inception from the year 1948?
10) Name the athlete, who in 1913, was stripped off his Olympic Gold medals on grounds of violating the amateur rules.
11) Which football club was sometimes known as Jubilee club, Hamidia club, Crescent club?
12) Name the first recipient of Arjuna Award for achievement in athletics.
13) Name the only player to have won twice, all the four grand slams singles title (each set of 4 grand slam titles was won in the same calendar year)
14) Which Ethiopian long distance runner is nicknamed Neftenga?
15) Name this athlete who four Olympic Gold medals in the year 1948, nicknamed “The Flying Housewife”
16) With whom will one associate the book “The good, the bad and the bubbly”?
17) Name the remarkable invention made by Mr. Stuart Robertson, the marketing manager of ECB.
18) With which sport will you associate the term small/little slam?
19) Which other city apart from Melbourne and Sydney has hosted both Common Wealth Games and Summer Olympics?
20) Question from one of the earlier episodes: What was awarded to the victor in Ancient Olympics?

Set 3: (the answers to these questions will appear as the third comment from me in the comments section)

Yesterday's episode (06/09/2010) was a very high scoring session. Questions were relatively easier - my personal opinion. My favorite contestant from prelims- Pradipta Chattopadhyay, qualified for the finals. He has tremendous knowledge of sports trivia and yesterday he scored a neat 100/100 in MCQ s rounds. Along with him qualified Mr.Anand from Mumbai, outsmarting fellow contestants - Kinshuk and Sairam by a very narrow margin.

Below are the set of questions from yesterday's show. I have added two (that came to my mind) from the prelims.

1) Name the grand slam tennis tournament held last in a calendar year.
2) Who received the Golden shoe award for the best athlete in the 1986 Asian Games held at Seoul?
3) Name the only sport in which women took part in the 1930 Commonwealth Games, its first edition.
4) An annual hockey tournament, Sultan Azlan Shah Cup is named after which country’s monarch?
5) With which Olympic sport will you associate the terms – Epee, Foil and Sabre?
6) Which sport was introduced in the year 1895 for those who found playing basketball very tiresome?
7) Which sport introduced in the year 1895 was known then as Mintonette and was initially designed to be played indoors?
8) Besides lawn tennis, which other sport’s name features/is associated with Wimbledon?
9) Who is the author of the book Letters to a Young Gymnast?
10) Which was Sania Mirza’s first grand slam win?
11) The first three editions of Cricket world cup were officially known by what name?
12) Which victory came first for India, the Cricket world cup victory or the Hockey world cup victory?
13) Which nation is hosting the 2014 FIFA world cup?
14) In which water based sport is the eggbeater technique used?
15) Name the British athlete who won 100m gold in 1924 Paris Olympics, the feat that was depicted in the movie “Chariots of Fire”
16) What does the WADA monitor?
17) Which city hosted the equestrian events for 2008 Beijing Olympics?
18) What did the Czech athlete Jan Zelezny hurl for a distance of 98.48m at Jena, Germany in the year 1996?
19) What is the name provided to the four-year period between two Olympic Games?
20) Name the football tournament, introduced in 1888 to provide recreation for the British soldiers and Shimla secretariat personnel.
21) Which Indian tennis player’s mother played basketball for India?
22) In 1967, two warring factions in Nigerian civil war agreed for a 48-hour ceasefire to watch which player play?
23) Who announced retirement from hockey after 2010 hockey world cup?
24) With which sport will one associate the terms – Amar, Surjeevani and Gaminee?

25) With which sport was Leander Paes’ father Vece Paes associated?

On Friday, Sept 3rd 2010, Viswa and I went to Bangalore Cantonment station to see the Commonwealth Games exhibition train/CWG Express. The train arrived from Mysore and was scheduled to leave to Hubli on 3rd night. Open for public viewing from 10 am to 7 pm, the train in green color (the 2010 Delhi CWG is also known as the Green Commonwealth Games) had 5 coaches dedicated to information on Commonwealth Games and 6 other coaches for information on e-governance and Information technology.

The 5 coaches dedicated to CWG were laden with information on CWG, its birth, its history, its different venues/hosts, stadia/venues and their details for Delhi 2010 CWG, Indian sportstars, superstars in Indian sports who serve Indian Railways etc.

The mascot - Shera for 2010 CWG was completely adorable in the many cartoon strips displayed on information charts in train.

IPL3 Musings (Note 2)

Not good at poetry, just tried my hand at it.
Some of the lines below struck me as I travelled in rain, past Chinnaswamy Stadium on Apr 21, 2010. Got a chance to complete it post semi final 1 of IPL 3 session :)

Thunder jolted the Bangalore sky,
Lightning struck heavily and ripped it apart,
We were to host semi finals here ... (sigh)

Anyways, that would not have happened for weather was insane.
Pollard, Rayadu did the magic to get Mumbai Indians through, whilst challengers shrunk in pain,
Bangaloreans hurried back home to watch their team win,
battling the rain that left enough moisture,
But Royal Challengers Bangalore appeared totally out of form and only lacklustre.
Interesting, it will be if Chennai Super Kings lose today, for they have not been shrewd !
Then RCB and CSK will clash on Saturday; guess it will no less tense than India – Pak feud.

IPL 3 Musings (Note 1)

The league matches of IPL 3 are all over. Overall, it has been a fantastic feeling to play host, as a nation, to IPL 3. However, the last few days have left a couple of issues to ponder. These are not directly linked to the players and their performances, but are related to the league, its policies and organizing committee; some associated events. The league has earned quick disrepute in abundant proportions, much in the same fashion, it ascended the ladder to splendor and fanfare in its first season.
First of all, this one episode, narrated below, threw me back in complete disbelief.

Saturday, Apr 17, 2010 witnessed two blasts outside Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, close to an hour before the match between RCB and Mumbai Indians. The match had a delayed start and the next day morning's search unearthed few bombs that luckily did not explode. When questioned, the police commissioner reasoned there was'nt enough light for a thorough check the previous evening, the match had to go on, that was the top priority, after which the search in broad daylight next day morning continued and revealed more unexploded bombs.

That's definitely the most nonsensical explanation I have ever heard. May be the Police Commissioner did'nt realize there is'nt enough light to sanitze the whole stadium, that 40000 people and cricket players cannot be held bait to a lurking danger, that the match better stand postponed, saving lives of people and godly figures - the cricketers is the top priority.

During lunch, on Monday, I heard a group of colleagues discuss heavily, in Kannada and English, on why CSK did not deserve to make it to top 4. The Bangalore home team, RCB is a contender in the semis, there was no room for dejection. However, more than happiness of seeing the home team through, there was anguish on why/how CSK made it to the semis.

On Monday evening, I happened to overhear a conversation of a group of teenagers after my swimming class. "Why did the blast happen here, why did it not happen in Chennai? Or why did it not happen before the Chennai Super Kings vs Kings X1 Punjab match? Crap, CSK too has entered the semis". I was taken aback at the way these people spewed animosity against a neighboring state.

Pakistan and India have remained foes for six decades now, yet when reports on blasts killing many in Peshawar or Lahore appears, I am sure we don’t say – "Yes, they deserve it." Or when terror attack occurred in Mumbai or Pune, we never questioned, "Why Mumbai, why not Islamabad or Lahore?" If such thoughts for neighbouring nations were ruthless and unwarranted, how can animosity between states in the same country be justified?

The conversation between teenagers literally paralyzed me. I pondered on where they picked such strong animosity from at such young age. From home, from school? The hostility between the two states finds its roots in the issue of Cauvery river water sharing. The issue has always been overplayed before elections as a political trump card by various parties. Water Sharing Disputes Tribunal has the complete, essential information to decide on actions necessary. Let dirty politics be played only by politicians, let it not engulf arts, sports, literature and other unallied fields. Let future generations not choose hatred as a natural instinct.

It is unfortunate that the state had to witness two blasts before a league match and meekly give up its role of playing host for two semi final matches. There is disappointment lurking in all of us, let that not transform to ugly hatred for another state in our own country.

There are immigrants from all over in Bangalore – from Kerala, Andhra, Tamil Nadu, North India and many parts of Karnataka. The city has swelled, unable to take the inflow. No faction of immigrants is solely responsible for the exponential change in urban scape in Bangalore.

Let us get one thing clear, there is enough hostility brewing between nations, tension over man made boundaries, fanaticism in name of religion already; more than required animosity that makes our future bleak. One mad/wrong move by one warring group can destroy the whole world’s peace. Let us not add one more dimension to this through national/inter state hatred. Petty politicians will continue to turn one Indian citizen against another. Our only and last resort as an Indian citizen is to resist these attempts, fervently. If we follow suit and instill separatist thoughts in future generations, we might soon create the need to remove lessons on "Unity in Diversity" from our school books.

The next time, your child cuts a cake, ensure that he/she is not cutting a cake that is shaped like North India/Bihar like Raj Thackeray; your child questions on what is Telengana, ensure you don't spew venom by saying coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema have taken it all and left a region deprived, and that is Telengana. Time wasted in imbibing these wrong lessons can be usefully spent in educating oneself, becoming more tolerant and capable to grab the required opportunity. India is one nation and we do not possess dual citizenship. We are all Indian citizens, we make sense as one nation, not as individual states; definitely not as warring factions waiting to slit each other’s throat for the most preposterous reasons.