V.V.S. Laxman - A batting artist who enthralled all!

What do I say about the man whose initials make him what he truly was and will always be? Very Very Special. Born as Vengarappu Venkata Sai Laxman, he was destined to be an artist. Not many people know that VVS was a brilliant student and had scored a whopping 98% in his 12th Board Exam! Right from the school days, he was earmarked for greater glory. He found his true calling in cricket as a sublime batsman.

VVS Laxman made his debut for his Ranji Trophy team, Hyderabad. His talent was there for everyone to see even at the tender age. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that he was going to represent India at the highest level. But what truly made VVS Laxman an artist was his grit, determination and above all, his impeccable timing that stayed with him throughout his illustrious career. He was a joy to watch when in full flow. Even his opponents used to admire and even applaud his magical stroke play.

The rise of VVS Laxman into the pantheon of batting greatness is synonymous with the rise of invincible Australia from mid 1990's till 2007. They were truly on the top of their game. Australia had a potent bowling attack comprising Glenn Mcgrath, Shane Warne, Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee at their disposal. This was the same attack who bundled up opponents inside 4 days of test cricket. For they had one of the game's greatest minds as their captain in Steven Waugh at helm. 

When batsmen around the world barring a select few including Sachin R. Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Brian Lara, Jacques Kallis and of course, VVS Laxman. He was an integral part of India's famed batting quartet of Sachin R. Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly. VVS Laxman just like his batting compatriots, Rahul Dravid and Sachin R. Tendulkar, had a penchant of scoring against rampaging Australians.

VVS displayed his elegant artistry against mighty Australians playing a career defining knock of 167 on the lively Sydney pitch. He gave an impression of hardly hitting the ball. But his timing was impeccable and placement was divine. By now the entire cricketing world had taken note of this truly special player. His moment of reckoning came in that legendary test match of 2001 at Kolkata that is now a part of cricketing folklore. VVS Laxman wove the magic with his epic 281 in the company of ever reliable Rahul Dravid who made 150 odd runs. Their partnership is one of the best counter attacking partnership played against ruthless Australians on the verge of conquering their final frontier - India.

India was made to follow on in the first innings and then putting up a mammoth score. Clearly the writing was truly against the wall. In the second innings, India was in a precarious position against ever accurate Glenn Mcgrath and fiesty Brett Lee. At one end was Rahul Dravid and then walked in VVS Laxman. Both of them played out of their skins to forge one of the best ever counter attacking partnership in the glorious history of gentleman's game. 281 was epic and magical. He managed to mesmerize the hard nosed Australians. And it definitely takes some doing. Right throughout his career, VVS Laxman played some of his finest knocks against them.

Few days back, he announced his retirement from cricket. It was shocking. To me, it seemed hastened and premature. I suspect the current Indian captain MS Dhoni was behind it. VVS Laxman never enjoyed his support. It's time to make the skipper understand that batting legends had earned their places in Indian team. You are a very good captain because you had and have extra ordinary players like Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar in the team. As they say, "You are as good as your team." Even your time will come Mr. Dhoni. And I am sure that you won't like it.

But coming back to VVS Laxman, you were an artist of highest calibre. Every stroke you played was like Beethoven's symphony playing out on the cricket field. A team player and a special player like you comes once in a lifetime. India is grateful to you for entertaining every Indian cricket fan for more than decade and half. May you have an equally greater run in life post retirement!

Legacy beckons Usain 'Lightning' Bolt at Olympics 2012!

The Olympics 2012 has arrived in grand style in picturesque London with a spectacular opening ceremony that left everyone spellbound. London is truly a global city that has managed to maintain its old world charm. Olympics essentially is the home coming of some of the world's best athletes. Being a quadrennial event means it will be viewed globally with great anticipation as it comes once every four years. Excitement is only palpable.

And of course, the first blog on the popular contenders amongst men for Olympics 2012 promises to be pulsating. Being a carnival of sports, there is no better platform for an athlete to perform. This Olympics will separate men from the boys. And perhaps, boys will grow into men to etch their names in gold in its glorious history.

There are host of illustrious names that comes to my mind immediately. These athletes come once in a lifetime and I vouch for them. I am confident that these men or boys will come into their own. As they say, "Cometh the hour, cometh the man". Their names include Usain Bolt, Roger Federer, Michael Phelps, Novak Djokovic, Abhinav Bindra, Mahesh Bhupati, Leander Paes, Vijender Singh, Sushil Kumar and many more illustrious names from around the globe.

But there is one athlete who have captured imagination of spectators around the planet since a certain Carl Lewis, a former 9 times Gold medal winner and 1 silver winner ,  is arguably the greatest name in Olympics history. He is a true Olympic legend. And if there is one man who can equal or get past his incredible tally of Gold medals is a man who answers to the name of Usain Bolt of Jamaica.

Usain Bolt has already tasted Olympic success with an impressive 3 Gold medals on his Olympic debut in 2008. Add to that, he already has 5 world championships to his credit. It's not for nothing that he is aptly nicknamed 'Lightning'. If you want to see a champion athlete in full swing, it has to be Usain Bolt. Coming from a humble background, Usain Bolt is a simple, friendly young man with a penchant for dancing and music. And it's not a surprise that he comes from Kingston, Jamaica of Carribean Islands.

Let me tell you that Usain Bolt is a once in a lifetime athlete. And he might not have been at his best during trials conducted prior to Olympics 2012. He means business. His charismatic victory celebration pose of 'lightning' is adored by his legion of fans across the world. Being a 6' 5" frame, he is a gentle giant both in terms of his physical appearance and his extraordinary ability. Most importantly, he has a heart of a true champion.

I have this funny feeling that this Olympics 2012 will firmly establish the name of 'Usain Bolt' in gold for his immense contribution to the world of sprinting on track and field. If he repeats his feat of 2008, his name should be changed to Usain 'Gold Lightning' Bolt. Go for it, Usain! Legacy is yours for the taking.

The Legendary Wall of India bids adieu to cricket!

The era of Rahul Dravid began in England alongside his fellow teammate and former captain, Sourav Ganguly. Though he fell short of a well deserved century on debut, his class and impregnable technique was there for all to see. Soon the English media was abuzz with praise for the man known for his mental toughness, temperament and immaculate batting technique. It became apparent that Rahul Dravid belonged to the stage of world cricket.

After his near perfect debut, Rahul Dravid continued to pile on runs through tiring the opposition bowlers and playing the waiting game to perfection. When you saw Rahul Dravid in his heydays, he was a picture of elegance that was earlier said to be the signature style of great Gundappa Vishwanath and former Australian opener, Mark Waugh. But Rahul Dravid was far ahead when it came to grinding down the opposition with his water tight technique.

In late 1990's, Rahul Dravid had firmly established himself as one of the greatest test batsmen of all time. His voracious appetite for runs was well known. When the times were rough and opposition bowlers were on top, Rahul Dravid emerged as India's go to man or the man everyone called 'The wall'. What makes Rahul Dravid a true batting legend is his simple, grounded thinking which was reflected in his batting. Another admirable quality about Rahul Dravid was the fact that he was a team man to the core.

As I mull about Rahul Dravid's memorable knocks, I can't help but travel back 11 years to one of the greatest venues, Kolkata's Eden Garden, in 2001 where India were playing World Champions, Australia, led by one of the game's greatest skippers, Steven Waugh. India were already trailing in the series and the test match was in a precarious situation as India was given a follow on. What unfolded next is the best ever turnarounds in cricketing history. Rahul Dravid walked in at No. 5 as VVS Laxman was promoted to coveted No. 3 position ahead of Rahul Dravid.

After facing the initial on slaught by Aussie fast bowlers, the terrific duo of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman settled down and began to score freely. As the innings progressed, everyone knew something special is in the offing. VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid indeed dished out the virtuoso performances with VVS Laxman scored the perfect 281 and Rahul Dravid made a wonderful crafted 180. And that resulted in arguably the greatest test match victory for Indian cricket team. While everyone hailed VVS Laxman, but for me it was Rahul Dravid who played the rescuer's role marvelously yet again. If it wasn't for Rahul Dravid's marathon innings, India would have lost badly. That innings was a perfect blend of caution and aggression. Yet again Rahul Dravid was the unsung hero of Indian cricket.

A lesson which you and I must learn from Rahul Dravid is to never give up and challenge the impossible by staying focused on your goals. He was truly a captain's delight and opposition teams respected this artist. In an era of swash buckling batsmen, Rahul Dravid stood tall with his classical style which oozed elegance. He was a joy to watch when in full flow and even better when going was rougher for the team. Another spectacular inning came in the famous Adelaide Test Match against rampaging Australians which also happened to be Steve Waugh's farewell test match. Yet again Rahul Dravid rose to the challenge and made a flawless 233 in the first innings and 72 not out in the second innings to register India's first ever win in Adelaide.

Rahul Dravid was one of the greatest test batsmen to have played this glorious game. The strong character of Rahul Dravid came to the fore when he was labelled as the legendary test batsman and an average One Day International player. Media ridiculed him for being 'slow' and some experts called for his ommision from the Indian ODI team. Rahul Dravid took it as a challenge and he went back to the nets and finetuned his game. In 1999 World Cup, Rahul Dravid ended up as the highest run getter in the tournament. That year was the arrival of Rahul Dravid, the legendary one day batsman.

Having represented India with pride and distinction for 16 years, Rahul Dravid silenced his critics with his bat by scoring over 11,000 runs in Test Cricket and over 10,000 runs in ODI cricket. It bears a testimony to his sheer greatness and his stature as one of the greatest batsmen to have played the gentleman's game. Even his illustrious compatriots, Sachin R. Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble, held him in high esteem. Each one of them praised Rahul Dravid for being a champion batsman and a true team man.

Yesterday, Rahul Dravid walked into the sunset of his glittering career in his hometown of Bangalore. Now that's what legends are made up of. Rahul Dravid has etched his name on the minds of every cricket fan as an inimitable legend known for values such as passion, dedication, temperament and simplicity which he upheld with dignity. Hats off to you Rahul, your name will shine for ever!

My spine chilling encounter with the paranormal spirit of a woman!

The midnight of 19th January, 2012, proved to be one of my most horrifying experiences. Not that I haven't encountered it before. Were they my illusions or just scary facts that I can see the paranormal? Unfortunately, it’s the latter. It was totally unexpected as I clearly remember that my day began like any other normal day.

The following day proved to be an action packed one for me as my colleague, Mahesh and I, were busy mulling over the concept for the launch of 1st of our Campaign Ads for one of our projects. It was a usual day, but the last minute brief changed everything. This sudden decision of placing an Ad in one of the leading tabloids on the very next day put an unexpected responsibility on our shoulders.

We braced ourselves for the challenge that confronted us. But we were not going to back down as well. As it's an opportunity for me to impress usually unflappable Boss with my quality work and commitment. Once our team members left, the real work began at 8:30 P.M.

Then it was just two of us and our team members from Marketing Department. We were busy racking our brains inside out for fleshing out a concept, visuals and of course, my specialty of Copy in Advertising parlance. Unfortunately, my colleague, Mahesh, who is a Sr. Visualizer, was busy multitasking. He was lending them a helping hand in putting together a Media Kit consisting various marketing collateral. As we had the launch of our hospitality chain with a press conference at a swanky restaurant in Mumbai beckoned our team including our Boss, VP of Leisure Division and Marketing team the very next day.

While we were preoccupied with our work, hunger pangs got the better of us. We were so consumed by our work that we had even skipped our dinner. But all thanks to the largesse of our Marketing Manager who ordered dinner for all of us. Once the order arrived, we grabbed a quick bite as it was almost past 1:00 AM! And by the time we left the office premise, it was around 2 o' clock.

My colleagues called a ‘Cool Cab’ and they dropped me near the bridge as my place is barely 10 minutes walking distance from that spot. I looked at the watch and it showed 2:12 AM. Night was black as street lights were switched off. I was walking with a weird feeling that someone was following me. Then I came to an intersection point of ‘3 Way Road’ where I had to take the right. As I was about to take a right turn, a middle-aged woman with a red sindoor appeared out of darkness and tapped on my shoulder from behind and asked for direction for going towards Majiwada. I directed her by pointing my finer towards the road. I felt something spooky. I turned back after few moments, she disappeared into the darkness.

After experiencing that, my heart almost skipped a beat. I started briskly walking towards my place. Finally, I reached home and heaved a huge sigh of relief. As soon as I entered home, I narrated this bizarre, yet horrifying experience to my parents and spouse. They warned me to never come home alone by foot. Apparently, I nodded my head in agreement as their point made sense to me. The next 4 days were normal.

Nope. As bad as I wanted to get over the nightmare of that freak incident, the spine chilling moment was far from over. The next day was Sunday. It was an eventful one as I indulged in a game of cricket with my friends in my locality. And my in-laws had come over for lunch. It was a pleasant day throughout. Around 5 PM, we went to see the exhibition near Gadkari Rangayatan, a prominent landmark in Thane city. It was a good outing for me as my spouse and I accompanied my in-laws to that exhibition. We proceeded to my maternal uncle’s place with them. It was a quality family time that I was fortunate to share with those who matter!

Around 9:30 PM we left my maternal uncle’s place. We got into a rickshaw and proceeded towards our place. It took about 15 minutes to reach as there was no customary traffic. Finally, we reached home sweet home. By the time I hit the bed, I felt asleep immediately. And I thought that the nightmare of 19th January, 2012 was over! I have this habit of getting up in the middle of night for sipping on water. I got up to quench my thirst. As soon as I kept the bottle down and looked up, here she was! The nightmare of the street was right there in front of me staring me back into my eyes! I was shell shocked and speechless. I started to sweat profusely despite being a chilly night.

My mind was in overdrive trying to get rid of this unwelcomed visitor, the spirit of the woman who I met few nights ago. Somehow I summoned my courage to chant my ‘Shri Akkalkot Swami Maharaj’ divine name. Now I felt confident that she could do no harm to me. I kept repeating it several times. Sooner my beloved spouse woke up to check on what’s happening. Just as I looked up, the spirit of that ghastly woman disappeared without a trace.

Till this day, I am still baffled. Is it an illusion or my spine chilling encounter with Paranormal? To be honest, I was scared to death. But my loved ones including my friend Sundar had informed me to never display fear in front of the spirits. I followed their advice and stayed strong. Here I am as I have lived another day to tell this tale.

My Dirty Experience!

The word 'dirty' evokes an erotic imagery in general. To me, the word 'Dirty' symbolizes different contexts. In today's case, I use it in the context of a movie. That's right. It was dark, murky world of opportunism where a certain siren from down South called 'Silk Smitha' who sent men in a tizzy with her raw sensuousness and bold demeanor.

My Dirty Experience revolves around a movie aptly titled ‘The Dirty Picture’ based on the original seductress, Silk Smitha. To start off with, its promo was laced with oodles of oomph. It was enough to send everyone's mind including mine to a greener pasture where it finds the orgasmic peace of mind. For a change, it was refreshing to see a movie that had a woman playing a lead in the movie. The silky reason behind its success was Vidya Balan who gives one of her most memorable performances till date.

Everyone knew of Vidya's high calibre as an actress with her laudable performances - be it in critically and publicly acclaimed 'Parineeta' and 'Paa' which firmly entrenched her reputation as an actress for all seasons. With 'The Dirty Picture', she went up a notch higher with her riveting performance that will give the original Silk Smitha a complex.

Finally, we have an actress who can do justice to both women oriented roles as well as to the so called 'Commercial - Multi-starrers'. All of a sudden, she is B-town's hot property. It makes me grin from ear to ear as she happens to be one of my favorite actresses after Madhuri Dixit.

Right from start to end, Vidya's acting prowess looms large over everyone including a seasoned Naseeruddin Shah and a spunky Emraan Hashmi. To share the screen with such a dynamic actor and give him run for his money is no mean feat at all! Hats off or shall I say, Shirt off to Vidya! Being a Milan Luthria movie, it was supposed to be edgy and that's what it turned out to be. The direction is up to the mark, dialogues are witty and yet, laced with sassy overtones.

The first half of the movie starts with her rise to fame, while the latter half unfortunately portrays her dark reality with an unexpected astonishing fall from the fame leading to her demise. That puts an end to a career that promised so much, but failed to live up to her lofty expectations. Her hot-cold relationship with Naseeruddin Shah's character where she claims to share sizzling bedroom chemistry with him marks the coming of age of Indian cinema.

On a closer look, there are various factors that led to her downfall. Among them is her voracious appetite for being famous, her 'on your face' attitude, her on-off relationship with the hero of the movie, Naseeruddin Shah and later with his diffident yet struggling writer brother, Tushar Kapoor. Silk becomes a self-induced victim of two relationships that fails to give her peace of mind, let alone love and happiness.

As the relationship with Naseeruddin Shah’s character goes sour and abject failure to find solace in the arms of his brother, Tusshar Kapoor. Initially, Tusshar Kapoor knows of his brother’s extra-marital affair with Silk. Initially, he has a pity on her. But as the movie progresses, Tushar Kapoor’s character falls for the seductive Silk. He even decides to tie a knot with Silk. But his elder brother Surya (Naseeruddin Shah) strongly objects to their alliance. Besides, he lures his brother by giving him an unavoidable opportunity of giving him his first big break. As a result, even Tushaar Kapoor’s character ditches Silk at the last moment.

Another big surprise package of the movie was Emraan Hashmi. It seems that Emraan is fast becoming a good actor with his strong performance in ‘The Dirty Picture’. To be honest, it was unlike the Emraan Hashmi we have known over the years. In fact, he plays a struggling Director who happens to detest Silk and everything about her. As the time passes, they become good friends.

Finally, she loses her control and gets addicted to booze. Ultimately, she loses her eventful life in a rather quiet manner. All in all, it was really a dirty experience that will continue to linger on my mind. At a time when Silk eventually succumbs, everyone from Naseeruddin Shah’s character, Tusshar Kapoor’s character and her admiring junta failed to show up at her funeral. What unfolds is a stark reality of deserted look on the street outside her bungalow instead of a mass hysteria.

It’s worth a watch at least once! Kudos to Vidya Balan for her riveting performance yet again! Keep watching this space for more.