Why KBC is an Inspiration?

Its been running for 11 years now but I think the last two years of KBC have been the best. The prime reason being that the show now presents the background stories of all the participants, in their own words. The diversity of contestants represent the diversity of our country. There have been all types of contestants, the jolly, the serious, the talkative, the introvert, the eccentric, the laid-back, and everything else. Perhaps, the biggest reason I like this show is that it is the perfect example that shows us that one doesn't have to be from a metro city to achieve great things. In fact, the people coming to the show from small towns far outnumber the participants from big cities. And what towns!! There are some which we would have never heard before, and would probably never hear of again. There are some people from towns where the entire population is less than that of a housing complex in a city! The show also breaks the popular thought that people in small towns don't have the same IQ as people from big cities. Time and again this has been proved to be false, as many contestants have gone on to win huge amounts, more than anything many of them would have ever dreamed off. This just goes to show that given the opportunity, many of us would achieve great heights, despite our backgrounds and place of residence.
Last but definitely not the least, and perhaps the biggest draw of the show, is a certain Mr. Amitabh Bachchan. There is no words to describe the abilities and accomplishments of the great man. He has achieved it all in life and there is nothing left for him to prove. Yet the zest with which he still carries out his work, both on the screen and on the sets, is truly inspirational. His ease with the contestants is refreshing, and it makes them comfortable. He hasn't lost any of his sense of humour or his comic timing. The way he has fun with the participants is a treat to the audience.

He who brings the Equipment, makes the Rules!

Remember the pesky little kid who used to own a cricket bat, play his innings with it, and then make some excuse and go back home, as soon as he got dismissed? It would leave the others high and dry, having to share a bat between two batsmen, or worse still, having to stop the game. Well the same thing seems to be happening in the international game at the moment! India rule the roost, both money-wise and by their recent performances, leaving aside the tour of England. They have the most successful T20 domestic tournament in the  world, which to be honest, isn't really a domestic one. They also own the rights of the Champions League T20. First of all, how can you call it a Champions League, if all the Champions are not allowed direct qualification. As it is, there are only 7 countries allowed to participate, and even then the champion teams from only 4 of them are given direct qualification. At the same time, 3 Indian teams get to play, and a fourth gets to play the qualifiers. Also, how can a single country have the rights to a so-called World event? Imagine the UEFA Champion's League being owned by the Premier League or the La Liga! Sounds absurd, doesn't it? This brings up a very unsettling question, is it all about the money? The fact remains that a tournament would draw in big crowds only if Indian teams participate. So, judging by the scenario, it seems the answer to the question is a 'yes'.
Another point to note is that the foreign teams don't get to bring their own sponsors. They have to avail sponsors from here. This is again another ploy to rake in the cash for local businesses. Even though all the sponsors might not be Indian companies, but it is their Indian franchises who are profiting.
Then there is the bending of rules to favour the Indian teams. Chris Gayle was a replacement for Dirk Nannes in Royal Challengers side. Now, the organisers have allowed them both to play for RCB at the same time!  No one seems to have noticed. Even if they have, it hasn't been brought to the forefront. Also Mumbai Indians have been allowed to field 5 foreign players because of injuries to their Indian players. How is that fair to the other teams, who have to juggle their overseas recruits in every match? This however has seen protests from the other teams. No changes have been made o the ruling yet though.
It seems at the moment that the richest sporting body in the world can get away with anything. Their power seems almost tyrannical! But, it must be remembered that every tyrant eventually falls at the hands of the same people who they dominate. They need to change this attitude, or risk alienating themselves from the rest of the Cricket world.

Smile Please :-))))

A few days ago, I was messaging a friend of mine and we had been replying each other's messages with a lot of smileys, so i told her that. She replied that it was good, because its as if we can see each other's faces through our messages. I had never thought about it like that. This got me thinking, what if we couldn't show emotions? What if we were stuck with the same expressions on our faces for our whole lives? Not a very attractive thought, is it? We express so much through our expressions. We don't need to speak out to make others understand the way we feel.

The same goes for text messages. Sometimes all it takes is a smiley, or a 'cry-ey'(or a crying smiley, whatever you call it) or any other type of smiley to let the other person know how we are feeling at the moment. Sometimes you can be lost for words, but a proper smiley can express more than any word ever could. Initially, it took me a long time to start using the smileys. My messages would be devoid of emotions, so to say. But nowadays, smileys come automatically, and it is probably a lot easier for me to express myself, since I often don't find the right things to say.

No Laughing Matter This!!

Sunday, 18th September, 6:12 pm, Kolkata experienced the highest magnitude earthquake in its history, with a reading of 6.8 on the Richter scale and the epicenter in Sikkim. As for me, I didn't feel a thing at the time. I was busy watching the Liverpool vs Tottenham match, and just around that time, Tottenham had opened the scoring via a Luka Modric stunner. There was a different kind of 'quaking' going on inside me at the time. The way the match had started, things were looking bleak for Liverpool. And thats exactly how it turned out. They lost 4-0. I refuse to comment any further on this....
It was half an hour after the event that I got to know about the earthquake. At that time, I didn't give it much thought. It was only Monday morning when I got to know the full extent of the damage that the earthquake had caused. There has been a lot of damage in Sikkim. Entire highways are still blocked and the conditions are quite bad. Accessibility is a major problem to most of the affected areas.
The sad part is, here in Kolkata, people have been treating the earthquake as a sort of casual experience, like one would treat seeing a meteor shower, or a solar eclipse for that matter. I have even heard people express disappointment at not having felt the tremor! I must admit, when I first heard about it, I too dismissed it as a very minor tremor. The feeling has changed since. I'm relieved that a lot of us didn't feel the tremor, or the effect of the earthquake was not more severe in our city. An earthquake is no joke. It is one of the scariest things one can ever experience, and I hope that we never have to experience it in our lives.
And as for Liverpool, I hope they clean up their act this coming weekend. This week's performance was probably their worst under Kenny Dalglish!

This Day that Year

Date : 17th September, 2003
Venue : Vidya Mandir, Birla High School, Kolkata
Event : ESPN School Quiz, Kolkata qualifying round
Experience : Absolutely Incredible

The BEST day of my life so far,period. The ESPN school quiz was an annual TV quiz which went on air for 5 seasons. This was season 4 and we, that is my friend Arjun and yours truly, were participating in the qualifying rounds for the first time. This was also the first time that our school, The Assembly of God Church School, Tollygunge, was being represented at the event. It was because of the efforts of Arjun that we got the chance in the first place. It was he who asked ESPN to send an application to our school so that we could participate. I agreed to be his team-mate when he asked me.
On reaching the venue, it was quite overwhelming. We had seen the show on TV, and were well aware of the format and the level of quizzing. Besides, there were busloads of students from some schools present to cheer on their school's participants. We had been allowed to take only 5!
The quiz got under way with the written qualifying rounds, with 12 teams being selected for 2 semi-finals, after which there would be a six team final. We made it through the first semi-final via a tie-breaker. The question which got us through was "Between which two teams is the Calcutta Cup of Rugby played?". The answer is "England and Scotland". The  source where I had come across this answer is even more surprising. At that time I used to play Rugby 2003 demo from EA Sports a lot. On the exit screen, there were details of what one could play in the full version game. This answer was given there. A computer game helped us get through to the final. This remains is the most memorable answer I have ever given in any quiz.
The final was very tough emotionally. I have to say here that if Arjun had not been positive throughout the final, we would never have managed to achieve what we did. I had given up hope half-way through it. We were stuck at the back of the pack till the last round. Eventually, because of our better understanding of the rules, we managed to secure a third place finish and book our places in the National rounds to be held in Delhi. We were awarded a trophy which is kept in our school for all to see. Deservedly, Arjun got the 'Man of the Match' trophy for not losing hope when we were in dire straights.
Perhaps the most lasting impression of that day is the support that we received from The Assembly of God Church,  Park Street cheering team. They had packed up about a quarter of the auditorium. Unfortunately, their team did not qualify for the final. That was when the magic happened. At one point, they were even chanting "AGCT(Assembly of God Church,Tollygunge) on the top!" That was an awesome gesture. There was this one guy who was acting as the leader, calling out the chants first and the others were  backing him up. I didn't get a chance to meet him in person, but if you are reading this, you were fantastic that day. The selfless attitude displayed by those students made me fall in love with our parent school, and I ended up doing the last 2 years of my schooling from that school itself.

Novak Djokovic - The court jester who became a King!

A couple of years ago,when you would say the name Djokovic to a decent tennis follower, they would reply with something along the lines of ‘He does amazing mimicry of other tennis players’. The fact that he could play amazing tennis seemed to be lost on the general public. This keeping in mind that he had already won a Grand Slam, the Australian Open in 2008, beating a rampaging Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final. However, ever since that win, he seemed to have developed a rather impetuous habit of self-destruction in the latter stages of big tournaments. He had also begun to lose some of his sharpness, and by his own admission, things off the pitch started taking a toll on him.

The year 2010 proved to be a huge turning point for him. He changed his lifestyle, his diet, and most importantly, put tennis before all his other extra-curricular activities. His efforts began to show results within a short frame of time. He displaced Roger Federer, probably the greatest player in the history of tennis, to the 2nd rank in the world last year. Another huge milestone for him turned out to be the Davis Cup win for Serbia last year. That win instilled within him the confidence to take on the world. He hasn’t looked back since.

His record for 2011 stands at 67-2. That is 67 wins and 2 losses. He is in the form of his life and has taken his game to an all-time best level. It is almost flawless at times. The fact that he is concentrating more on tennis hasn’t taken the away his naughty side. He still mimics other players, with Maria Sharapova and Rafael Nadal his favourite targets. It must be kept in mind that it is all done in good humour, and the players on the tour have all taken it in the right way. A recent press conference where Caroline Wozniacki, the women’s world number 1, interviewed him, was a treat for the audiences(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3x34FMHt3U). He also turned up as Maria Sharapova in a promotional event just prior to the US Open. That however, did not stop him from winning his 4th Grand Slam a fortnight later.

10 lesser known songs I adore

Every now and then, I come across a gem of a song which otherwise does not receive the adulation it deserves because of the lack of publicity or sheer audience ignorance. Here are a few which tops my list...

1)Teri Kami Hain - Vishesh Aagman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX96VWnAn60&feature=related

2)Tere Bin Main - Richa Sharma and others for MTV Coke Studio India

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejG2NwA5Crg

3)She's All I Ever Had - Ricky Martin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUBFbI2_Ma8

4)Kuch Kum - Dostana(Shaan)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5pLoCbNLxk

5)Way Back Into Love - From the movie Music and Lyrics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vS49_v4ZlU

6)Falling Slowly - From the movie Once

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkFB8f8bzbY

7)Aaj Kal Zindagi - From the movie Wake Up Sid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1HbHeVoMak

8)Forever - From the serial Full House sung by John Stamos with the Rippers(Originally from the Beach Boys)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d46sWCdmees

9)Der Lagi Lekin - From the movie Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhy1ryasIm0

I have to put this last one in,even though it is technically not a song,but a background score. But I think this is the best one I have come across...

10)Last of the Mohicans background score

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJvUi3EqWOQ

The list keeps going on and on. Maybe I'll put in 10 other songs sometime soon. As for now hear these tracks and keep posting :-)

Are we a One Sport Nation?

Ask the 1.21 billion in our country what their favourite sport is, and 1 billion would reply Cricket. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but my the fact remains that most people in India today follow just that one sport. There was a time when we were dominant in Hockey, with eight Olympic gold medals to show for it. There was a time when we qualified for a Football World Cup, but couldn't participate because of the lack of shoes, or because of the lack of funds to travel, whichever story you believe. For quite a few years after that we were the highest ranked Asian team in the world. Today we are ranked around 150 in the world, behind every single one of our sub-continental neighbours, leave alone the powerhouses. So the question is, how did this fall happen in a matter of half a century  in case of football, and just about a quarter of a century in case of hockey? Perhaps the problem lies in the way sport is run in our country. Most of the people in charge of the sports federations have never played the sport they are running, hence are completely unaware of the facilities and infrastructure required. Even if they are made aware, they seem more interested in devising ways to preserve their seat rather take a hard-line approach in rooting out all the problems starting at the grass-roots level. This fact is very well established when we see the ground conditions of the pitches used for the national football league in the country, and compare them to moderately developed countries like the ones in South-East Asia. No effort seems to be made in improving the grounds and the development facilities, and as a result these sports seem to be a continuous downward spiral.

Another very recent controversy which I should bring to light here is the row surrounding the prize money offered to the hockey team which returned victorious from the first ever Asian hockey championships. They were offered a paltry sum as prize money and quite correctly, they refused to accept it. The reward was later increased, but by then the damage had already been done. This sort of step-motherly and callous attitude of the federations serves as a demotivating factor for the players, who become disillusioned with the lack of recognition which their sport brings. Hence, youngsters tend to prefer Cricket, because it ois sure to provide them a much better source of income if they become moderately successful.

I'm in no way saying that all sport in India is dwindling.  Sports like shooting,boxing,wrestling,chess and a few others have been producing a number of champions over the past couple of years. But an interesting thing to note here is that most of the sportsmen who have achieved success are the ones who have put in their individual time,money and effort to train and improve themselves and have not depended on the federations. An Abhinav Bindra,a Saina Nehwal or a Vishwanathan Anand have all trained individually and achieved success. Probably the only exceptions here are the boxers and the wrestlers, but most of them train with the Army or the Police, who have strict regimens they must adhere to.

So perhaps the pertinent point here is that the attitude of the people in charge of the sport have to change in order for our sportsmen and women to achieve greatness. There needs to be a start somewhere, and the quicker that happens the better. We should not give up on other sports just because we are world champions in cricket. All sports should be given a chance to grow. Sport is the one sphere where people genuinely forget their differences and celebrate as one, case in point, the Cricket World Cup win this year. I hope other sports also provide us qith more such reasons to celebrate in the future.

When Cricket left me, I found Football, I found Liverpool Football Club

In the first ten years of my life, there was only one sport which existed, and that was Cricket. I literally lived, breathed, ate and drank cricket. I watched everything, from international matches, to local matches. If there was a cricket match being shown on TV, I would watch it. I was so addicted, I could tell the results of the matches by heart. Then in the summer of the year 2000, something happened which shattered my belief in the 'Gentleman's Game'. The Late Hansie Cronje, until then considered one the game's true gentlemen, and a hugely respected and popular captain of the South African team, was suspended for life on charges of match-fixing. That wasn't all though, the bigger setback was yet to come. And that hit home! Literally. The Indian captain and vice-captain at that time Mohammed Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja, respectively were also given bans, the former a life ban, later revoked in 2006, and the latter a ten year ban from the game. This decision shook my faith in the sport I love. there came a time when I started to question every run-out and every loss which my country suffered. I was , to put it mildly, disillusioned!

About a year after this, in the summer of 2001, a quarter of the way across the planet, a certain sleeping giant was rising out of its slumber. After ten years of lack-luster performances, Liverpool Football Club won five trophies, the FA Cup, the English League Cup, the UEFA Cup(presently Europa League), the Community Shield and the UEFA Super Cup. They also had a young English froward in their line-up,who truly is a club legend. His name is Michael Owen and he had already made waves, both for his club and country. And at that time, he was the footballer I adored. To be honest, the only club football matches I had watched up until then, were either Real Madrid's or Manchester United's. Anyone who was watching football seemed to be supporting either of these clubs. Somehow, that didn't seem like an option to me. I decided to be neutral for the time being. Then I saw a match in which Liverpool beat Manchester United by a solitary goal, scored by Danny Murphy from a free kick. Somehow, I felt good after watching them win. And the rest, as they say, is history. Its been ten years now that I've been supporting them and I haven't looked back. There have been times when I've been disappointed, times I've felt lost, but I've never considered giving up on them. They have also provided me with one of the best nights of my life, the night of 25th May and early morning of 26th May, 2005. Because of the time difference the match ended early the next morning here. They came back from three goals down against AC Milan to win the Champion's League on penalties, after the match ended 3-3 after extra time. That is a night I will never forget. It was almost as if I was there, living the dream with them.

We Are The Champions!!

Greetings from a Fellow Earthling

People tell me I don't talk enough. I agree. I do tend to keep my mouth shut a lot. So I've decided to start this blog. I'm still not talking, but at least you'll get to know some things that go through my mind.
Coming to the introductions, my name is Abhishek Sinha. But I've got used to people not calling me that. At home,among my childhood friends and my relatives I go by Sonu, and among my school friends, its Choino. How that name came about is a long story. I need to thank two of my friends Bikram and Abhinaba for that. It started with chinese, because I had small eyes,emphasis on has, they've opened up now, despite what others might tell you (:-p), and finally, after many alterations, they decided that Choino has a nice ring to it. And boy oh boy(!) did that name stick. They still call me that. Nowadays, I'd find it weird if they suddenly started calling me by my real name! In a way its good, it makes me unique. In my part of the world, Abhishek is very very common. All through my life I've had to share a classroom with three or four of my namesakes. So this helps me stand out.
To be honest, the first twenty and a half years of my life have been pleasant, to say the least. I've got most of what I wanted. There were obviously some disappointments, but they were mostly in the relationship department. I've always been slow in expressing my feelings for someone. So they have tended to move on. I don't blame them. Maybe they just got tired of waiting. That apart, its been a breeze really. Without sounding boastful, I've been a decent student throughout. I've been able to pursue an academic career as I had planned it. I'm two weeks into my job now. The training period is ongoing. No complaints so far. I have a nice home, loving parents, and some of the best friends anyone could ever ask for. The part I like best about my friend circle is that we've been close for a long time, without any major falling out. I hope I don't jinx it by saying this, but so far its been awesome(:-) )

Our regular 'Dil Chahta Hain' moment

There are two things in my life which I've loved more than anything else. The first is Football and the second is Quizzing. I put quizzing second even though it has given me the  most memorable day of my life. Me and my friend Arjun represented our school and finished third in the Kolkata(that's the city I live in) qualifying rounds of the ESPN School Quiz,a national level quiz. I will never forget that day.
I put football first because it gives a lot of happiness every weekend. All week every week I wait for the weekend, to watch matches of the team that I support, Liverpool Football Club. I used to play a lot of football as well, but nowadays I don't get the time to play it. I take every opportunity I get though. My love affair with Liverpool dates back to 2001, when they won 5 trophies in a year, the only team at that time to have achieved such a feat. They had a certain Michael Owen in their team, and being a forward myself, he was my idol. So that is already a ten year love affair, and I'm confident it will last a lifetime.
To  summarise, yes I'm a bit of an introvert, but I have opened up quite a bit over the past few years. This blog is just a part of who I am. To know me fully is quite an achievement! Stay tuned...

My Sands of Time