Our Funarena!

The city bus was not overcrowded, but most of the seats were occupied. So I had to take a seat meant for senior citizens on the front left side of the bus. An elderly lady was occupying the window seat alongside me. To add to my peace of mind two seats meant for the senior citizens and differently abled persons were still empty.  So there was no immediate danger of losing the seat. After the first stop one senior citizen boarded the bus, and to my surprise instead of taking the empty seat ahead came straight to me mumbling something. I pointed to the seat on the front rows indicating that he might as well occupy it. The elderly gentleman did not budge and muttered something again. I thought I heard the word ‘madam’ and so surmised that the lady on the window seat was known to him and that he wanted to give her company for the ride. Without much of a protesting mind I obliged him, and to my luck one of the seats on the last rows just got empty. Instinctively I kept on watching t

The night vigil prolonged almost into the wee hours. We were perched on the wooden balcony of the forest bungalow hoping against hope to have a darshan of the uncrowned king of the jungle. The darkness was impenetrable and the air was still. Except for the night forest sounds and the thin cackle of the river flowing behind the bungalow there was absolute silence. We were asked to look for a pair of luminous glows coming out of the thick forest beyond into the open courtyard in front of the bungalow. We were told that the animal’s eyes burn at night and that they normally prowl around the bungalow—not for hunting, only for maybe an evening stroll. We were a little scared too if the animal tried to jump into the balcony. However, we were given assurance that the height was good enough, and the animal never becomes aggressive unless provoked dearly. Finally, we had to give up and agree with the general opinion that the animal is rarely sighted there since years. That was a long t

A brilliant century, his 26 th ODI ton, and an unbeaten knock of 154 by Virat Kohli steered Team India to a 7 wicket victory over New Zealand in Mohali on Sunday and a 2-1 lead in the five-match ODI series. As a much-awaited silver lining Captain Cool under pressure, MS Dhoni joined the vice-captain in the chase of 286 runs promoting himself to no.4 position in the batting order and contributing a solid 80  runs consisting of 3 sixes and 6 fours. The duo came together when India were is some spot of trouble losing both the openers at 41/2 in the 9 th over and added 151 runs taking the team score to 192 in 36 th over when Dhoni fell to Henry. Mohali has been a high scoring ground with the chasing team winning in the last three consecutive matches. Dhoni kept on winning the toss in this Series, and here he naturally chose the fielding option once again. Put into bat the Kiwis started well and were in a position of strength at 153/2 in only the 29 th over looking good for a to

When your home team loses you always try to find out reasons or issues responsible for that loss and try to justify that had that being different things would have been positive. Although this is a natural reaction of the home team fans, one must take in the overall picture too. There is no denying the fact that New Zealand dished out a professional and gritty performance in the second one day international (ODI) match played in Delhi yesterday against India and won deservedly. The match was an entertainer down the wire as the narrow margin of 6 runs for the win made it abundantly clear. On a traditionally slow Kotla pitch New Zealand, put into bat by India, did not get bogged down by the early loss of Guptil for a duck, but carried on the momentum with Skipper Kane Williamson hitting a superlative century and contributing for two major partnerships. The Kiwis looked set for a big score, but some tight bowling by Mishra and Bumrah accounted for 6 wickets for just 21 runs at the

Bollywood is actually a misnomer. In true subservience to Hollywood this name was coined since the Indian Film (Hindi) Industry was located in Bombay—which ceased to be so long back and Mumbai took over. Therefore, if at all, this industry should be called Mullywood! Anyway, Bollywood consists of a vast assortment of producers, directors, actors, music directors, lyricists, singers, production managers, spot boys and a huge lot of technicians in various categories ranging from cinematography to post-production labs. Basically all these people are individuals and thus all have right to their own opinions. Difference of opinions has been a celebrated hallmark of democracy—particularly in the largest democracy called India. If this democratic right of having one’s own opinion is universal why Bollywood be an exception? We cannot jump to the conclusion, as many self-motivated individuals engaged in media or politics often do, that ‘Bollywood is divided’. That the righteous differen

During the course of publishing a post on LinkedIn on current affairs concerning India I had come across quite a few reactions and comments that made me a little inquisitive. Since the post involved a kind of political behaviour rampant in India and some issues regarding international diplomacy the discussion thus ensued veered towards politics. And yes, there came comments from different members or non-members vociferating that LinkedIn was not the right forum for politics. Now, almost all will agree that LinkedIn is not a job portal notwithstanding the fact that a lot of HRD managers and recruiters regularly use this as a place for talent hunt. More truthfully, most of the members here are already employed—looking naturally for greener pastures. There are many commentators on LinkedIn who say that not having a profile here is a cardinal sin or even suicide in today’s times—no matter if you are employed or not. Therefore it is also agreed that this networking place is crucial

Virat Kohli recently made it clear that he should never be compared with legendary Sachin Tendulkar, but it must be said that after Tendulkar he seems to be the main Indian contender to make or break records. In 48 Tests so far Virat hit 13 centuries including a double ton and 12 half centuries having a batting average of above 45. In 2012 Virat was made vice-captain of the Indian test team and since then he had been in the reckoning for the skipper’s post consistently with one of the most outstanding Indian skippers Mahendra Singh Dhoni having both cricketing and non-cricketing ups and downs. However, Virat Kohli’s entry as India’s Test captain was  quite  dramatic. First, he was named captain for the Adelaide match against Australia in December, 2014 as Dhoni pulled out due to an injury. He made two centuries in the two innings in that match and nearly pulled in off in  favor  of India.  Virat showed his positive frame of mind by going for an outright win instead of  laboring

When you log in to your Gmail account and it is not working properly then Google promptly tells you ‘Something’s not right’! It keeps on popping up till order is restored. I think Google should consider adding this tag to ‘India’ whenever any reference is made to this country! However ruefully, you must admit such a necessity particularly after what you’ve witnessed recently over the most successful Surgical Strikes executed by India on Pakistan.   I thought at least the anti-terror sentiment was universal, but not in this country. For some people of this country terrorists are also human beings and therefore their ‘human rights’ are of paramount importance. These same people don’t utter a word about ‘human rights’ when soldiers and cops are slaughtered brutally, but in case of all kinds of criminals they become extremely vocal. They consider doing or saying anything under the sun as their ‘democratic right’. There have been so many instances in recent times in India when such

It’s not always necessary to go into the oft-repeated health hazards while trying to convince you to give up smoking. There are numerous equally hazardous and compelling reasons to inspire you kick the dirty habit. Pictures Grotesque: The very pack you pay money to buy contains horrendous pictures on its surface with a lot of gore thrown liberally in. Beholding the bloody insides of your body on the outside you must feel nausea surging inside you making you crawl away from the filtered pieces within. Recently the pictures have become still more gut-wrenching. Prohibited Areas: If you happen to visit a smoking prohibited area and feel the urge you must prepare for the worst. The habit is considered to be so dirty that you will be directed to the garbage dump behind the toilets to do your act by some understanding inmates you choose to ask for guidance. The stink you so ardently desire to put into your system will be totally overpowered by the all-pervasive stink availabl

The Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro, August 6-21,2016, have come to a grand close today. We have no space here to cover all those terrific achievers from across the world. Therefore we will concentrate only on India, although it has been a disappointing tale. As usual, India sent the largest ever contingent to participate in various sports disciplines, but for eleven long days the country fumed and fretted for an elusive medal which was made worse by some negative vibes, comments and hiccups. However, four magnificent ladies from a largely patriarchal society came to the fore and the focus of concentrated attention giving the countrymen a rare opportunity to feel proud of them.  In Badminton expectations were mostly from Saina Nehwal, but she failed not even through to midway in the competition. And came PV Sindhu, not at all in contention for a medal, and fought like a tigress competing with players much much higher in world ranking. She set the ball of euphoria rolling by e