I dont think much of myself as a writer, atleast not in the creative sense, but I find that creative writing is one of the most amazing talents a person can have. So for the benefit of all the budding creative writers in the world (atleast the ones reading this) I'll put up this piece that I came across on the web (Stumbling Upon it as usual). In this ,Kurt Vonnegut, one of the greatest writers of the 20th Century, gives his take on creative writing, in the form of 8 basic rule of creative writing, which he calls Creative Writing 101, apart from being informative, it's a really good read also :
The 8 basics of Creative Writing, according to Kurt Vonnegut
1)Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.
2)Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
3)Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
4)Every sentence must do one of two things—reveal character or advance the action.
5)Start as close to the end as possible.
6)Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them—in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
7)Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
8)Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Saturday, April 19, 2008
My Mind Boggling Adventure
As, the delirium and euphoria of getting into SP Jain just begins to wear out and the fear and paranoia, of how I am going to survive a B-School after 4 years of utter lethargy in VIT during my B.Tech, begins to creep in, I have decided to take a look back at the last 10 months of my life, spent trying to capture the holy grail -admission into a good B-School, which have perhaps been the most harrowing days of my life. Worse than the years before my 10th Board exam when everyone kept telling me how the 1st big exam would shape my life for eternity and beyond, worse than 12th when all I would hear was - " Work hard for few months and the rest of your life will be easy", ya that was one whole load of crap. It was especially harder because after coasting through a B.Tech degree for 3 years, I had to face the unfamiliar task of working hard again (now I know why B-Schools prefer work-ex guys). So here are the basic phases of my MBA (Mind Boggling Adventure), others who have gone through this might be able to associate with it:
Phase I- Starting Line - Utter bewilderment and confusion
This phase involves the whole pre-preparation thing, finding out about the whole B-School process, the myriads of tests, the colleges, the coaching institutes, the test series' and all the other crap that there is. To top it of you find bozos in your college who have been preparing for the past 2 years and all of a sudden your scared out of your wits, wondering whether it isn't already too late. And your TIME and IMS and the ilk dont help either, I mean who the hell starts a 2 year prep course for CAT. Eventually you find a path through the confusion, and decide what need to be done, only to discover the hard part is yet to come.
Phase II - The Marathon or the Sprint (Depending on the path you choose)
This is where all the hard work really kicks in, whether you choose to work for 6 months or 2 years this is the slog fest. And for me it meant weekly shunts from college to home for weekend classes (I couldn't get a crash course in Vellore), 8 hour classes and a rapid succession of practice tests (each one more detrimental to your confidence than the previous). This phase also involves encountering the barrage of applications which you need to fill in order to even write the test. I mean would it kill the B-Schools of this country to subscribe to just one test. Add to that the fact that you have to buy a form for every god damned college means a seriously heavy work load and a significantly lighter pocket. All in all a serious work out prepping you for the big push. Adding spice to this whole scenario, is the whole competitive thing, who's working how hard, and hows the competition like in your vicinity. Again, there are some people who will scare the wits out of you with their hard work, I mean were people like these just put on Planet Earth to make life scarier for the normal people!
Phase III- The Obstacle Course
Well this is crunch time part 1, which decides if you stay in the game or not. This is where you have to go through your various obstacles called, CAT, XAT, SNAP, FMS and any other abbreviation you can find ( pick any 3 or 4 letter abbreviation, the odds are there will be some test in India of that name). And of course as usual we have people trying to complicate things further, strategy, final prep tips, how many pencils to carry to the exam, what breakfast you have on the exam day, to pee before the exam starts, were all things people (mostly belonging to the coaching instis) felt were paramount to your success and the difference between life death (in the B-School Race). I would like to believe that a guy who's going to be earning 10-15 lakhs in2 years time (if all goes well) would know that he needs a extra pencil or two, without somebody having to tell him that. And some how if you manage to keep your head and give a decent shot at the exam, you are obliged to go through those answer keys which come out immediately after the exam, and again no 2 answer keys are ever the same are they. Again its my understanding that if you are taking 20000 from a student you at least make sure you give him a correct answer key. And the worst part is if you fall in one of those neither here nor there categories i.e haven't done phenom ally well, and not bad enough to be completely out of the running, then you begin to sweat it out, desperately waiting for the results, hoping that a particular answer key (the one which gave you a higher score) is right while the others be damned. All in all you are the left to wait doing nothing, and just hoping that your performance in one test doesn't affect the others (like it did to me).This is perhaps the only time i would agree with Morgan Freeman in Shawshank redemption -"Hope can be a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane".
Phase IV- Hurdles
So, if all things go well and you are able to survive all the crap that come before and by some good fortune you are able to get a few good calls, then its time to sit through the hell of GD/PI, not that the experience is in itself that bad (except when you have a 70 yr dude telling you that the you that youngsters like me listening to Rock and Roll are ruining this country's cultural heritage),but its the whole aspect of your future depending on a 15 minute chat with a bunch of men looking to kick your ass (figuratively speaking). And the thing is that unlike a test you never know here you stand (makes you wish they had answer keys for GD/PI too). And it becomes that much worse when you get one reject while preparing for another interview ( I got a SIBM reject before my MDI and IMT interviews), it totally messes with your confidence, its like trying to jump a hurdle and hitting your foot the way down, you're never sure how you will fare with the remaining hurdles. And the sheer volume of thoughts flying through your brain after an interview, about how it went, what went right, what went wrong, where you screwed up, what you could have said, what you should not have said , can drive you absolutely crazy. And then there is the waiting, the damn waiting, keeping your fingers crossed, hoping, praying, checking the net every single day, its absolutely excruciating. But eventually the waiting, the praying, is all worth it when you get an acceptance into a great college, its worth the trouble, its the ultimate prize for surviving this difficult journey. And for some of you who are still fighting on, not having reached their dream, I'll quote form Shawshank Redemption again -"Remember .., hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things".
So why are we put through this hell, I guess it is because its the single toughest course in maturity, learning the hard way, boys to men, call it whatever you will, its the only thing which prepares you for the actual challenge, the really tough adventure, life in a business world which, I'm looking for to with dread and anticipation.
So don't you think the story above justifies the title-mind boggling, and the really scary part is that the ride is just starting!!!
Phase I- Starting Line - Utter bewilderment and confusion
This phase involves the whole pre-preparation thing, finding out about the whole B-School process, the myriads of tests, the colleges, the coaching institutes, the test series' and all the other crap that there is. To top it of you find bozos in your college who have been preparing for the past 2 years and all of a sudden your scared out of your wits, wondering whether it isn't already too late. And your TIME and IMS and the ilk dont help either, I mean who the hell starts a 2 year prep course for CAT. Eventually you find a path through the confusion, and decide what need to be done, only to discover the hard part is yet to come.
Phase II - The Marathon or the Sprint (Depending on the path you choose)
This is where all the hard work really kicks in, whether you choose to work for 6 months or 2 years this is the slog fest. And for me it meant weekly shunts from college to home for weekend classes (I couldn't get a crash course in Vellore), 8 hour classes and a rapid succession of practice tests (each one more detrimental to your confidence than the previous). This phase also involves encountering the barrage of applications which you need to fill in order to even write the test. I mean would it kill the B-Schools of this country to subscribe to just one test. Add to that the fact that you have to buy a form for every god damned college means a seriously heavy work load and a significantly lighter pocket. All in all a serious work out prepping you for the big push. Adding spice to this whole scenario, is the whole competitive thing, who's working how hard, and hows the competition like in your vicinity. Again, there are some people who will scare the wits out of you with their hard work, I mean were people like these just put on Planet Earth to make life scarier for the normal people!
Phase III- The Obstacle Course
Well this is crunch time part 1, which decides if you stay in the game or not. This is where you have to go through your various obstacles called, CAT, XAT, SNAP, FMS and any other abbreviation you can find ( pick any 3 or 4 letter abbreviation, the odds are there will be some test in India of that name). And of course as usual we have people trying to complicate things further, strategy, final prep tips, how many pencils to carry to the exam, what breakfast you have on the exam day, to pee before the exam starts, were all things people (mostly belonging to the coaching instis) felt were paramount to your success and the difference between life death (in the B-School Race). I would like to believe that a guy who's going to be earning 10-15 lakhs in2 years time (if all goes well) would know that he needs a extra pencil or two, without somebody having to tell him that. And some how if you manage to keep your head and give a decent shot at the exam, you are obliged to go through those answer keys which come out immediately after the exam, and again no 2 answer keys are ever the same are they. Again its my understanding that if you are taking 20000 from a student you at least make sure you give him a correct answer key. And the worst part is if you fall in one of those neither here nor there categories i.e haven't done phenom ally well, and not bad enough to be completely out of the running, then you begin to sweat it out, desperately waiting for the results, hoping that a particular answer key (the one which gave you a higher score) is right while the others be damned. All in all you are the left to wait doing nothing, and just hoping that your performance in one test doesn't affect the others (like it did to me).This is perhaps the only time i would agree with Morgan Freeman in Shawshank redemption -"Hope can be a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane".
Phase IV- Hurdles
So, if all things go well and you are able to survive all the crap that come before and by some good fortune you are able to get a few good calls, then its time to sit through the hell of GD/PI, not that the experience is in itself that bad (except when you have a 70 yr dude telling you that the you that youngsters like me listening to Rock and Roll are ruining this country's cultural heritage),but its the whole aspect of your future depending on a 15 minute chat with a bunch of men looking to kick your ass (figuratively speaking). And the thing is that unlike a test you never know here you stand (makes you wish they had answer keys for GD/PI too). And it becomes that much worse when you get one reject while preparing for another interview ( I got a SIBM reject before my MDI and IMT interviews), it totally messes with your confidence, its like trying to jump a hurdle and hitting your foot the way down, you're never sure how you will fare with the remaining hurdles. And the sheer volume of thoughts flying through your brain after an interview, about how it went, what went right, what went wrong, where you screwed up, what you could have said, what you should not have said , can drive you absolutely crazy. And then there is the waiting, the damn waiting, keeping your fingers crossed, hoping, praying, checking the net every single day, its absolutely excruciating. But eventually the waiting, the praying, is all worth it when you get an acceptance into a great college, its worth the trouble, its the ultimate prize for surviving this difficult journey. And for some of you who are still fighting on, not having reached their dream, I'll quote form Shawshank Redemption again -"Remember .., hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things".
So why are we put through this hell, I guess it is because its the single toughest course in maturity, learning the hard way, boys to men, call it whatever you will, its the only thing which prepares you for the actual challenge, the really tough adventure, life in a business world which, I'm looking for to with dread and anticipation.
So don't you think the story above justifies the title-mind boggling, and the really scary part is that the ride is just starting!!!
As Funny as the English Language - 2
Now, being a multilingual chap, I know the experience of Lost in Translation, where one thing in one language can mean something absolutely absurd in another, especially when translated literally into English, so I was rolling over in laughter when I came across this list of English subtitles used in films from Hong Kong.Its absolutely hilarious:
1) Who gave you the nerve to get killed here?
2) I'll fire aimlessly if you don't come out!
3) I will surround their house by myself.
4) I am darn unsatisfied to be killed in this way.
5) Fatty, you with your thick face have hurt my instep.
6) Gun wounds again?
7) A normal person wouldn't steal pituitaries.
8) I'll burn you into a BBQ chicken.
9) Take my advice, or I'll spank you a lot.
10) You daring lousy guy.
11) Beat him out of recognizable shape!
12) I have been scared silly too much lately.
13) The bullets inside are very hot. Why do I feel so cold?
14) The Americans will not save you for Christmas.
15) Both of you will die when the sun hits the bell.
16) You always use violence. I should've ordered glutinous rice chicken.
17) I got knife scars more than the number of your leg's hair!
18) Beware! Your bones are going to be disconnected.
1) Who gave you the nerve to get killed here?
2) I'll fire aimlessly if you don't come out!
3) I will surround their house by myself.
4) I am darn unsatisfied to be killed in this way.
5) Fatty, you with your thick face have hurt my instep.
6) Gun wounds again?
7) A normal person wouldn't steal pituitaries.
8) I'll burn you into a BBQ chicken.
9) Take my advice, or I'll spank you a lot.
10) You daring lousy guy.
11) Beat him out of recognizable shape!
12) I have been scared silly too much lately.
13) The bullets inside are very hot. Why do I feel so cold?
14) The Americans will not save you for Christmas.
15) Both of you will die when the sun hits the bell.
16) You always use violence. I should've ordered glutinous rice chicken.
17) I got knife scars more than the number of your leg's hair!
18) Beware! Your bones are going to be disconnected.
Friday, April 18, 2008
J.K Rowling ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hain?
So, whats bothering everybody's favorite fantasy author nowadays. A lot apparently, or atleast enough to cause her to breakdown and cry in a courtroom. The case in concern is Ms Rowling and Warner Bros lawsuit against RPR publishers, who are attempting to print a book version of the Lexicon, an online collection of the whats what of Harry Potter, maintained by Stephen Vander Ark, a devoted Harry Potter fan ( Definition of "Devoted HP Fan"- 50 yr old loser who gave up his previous obsession with Star Wars for HP). Now, the official claim of the lawsuit is that this book or encyclopedia (though I always thought encycolpedia's were supposed to contain useful information) will hamper Mrs. Rowling's ability to write and publish such a book of her own. Adding drama (the useless kind, like the whole Ron-Hermione crap in HP) to this case, is the fact that both Mrs.Rowling and Mr. Vander Ark, broke down on the stand, Mrs.Rowling claims that this work is a theft of her life's work and its like looking at her own children blah blah blah... and Mr. Vander Ark claims that he is doing this out of his love for the books and profit was not his motive, ya right! So even though Mrs. Rowling is, in the strictest legal sense, probably right, I still find the lawsuit bemusing for a number of reasons:
1) I do remember Rowling herself once saying that she was agianst the idea of publishing a HP encyclopedia, and even if she does there will still be a lot of "Devoted Fans" (see definition above) who will stand in the queue for hours to buy it. My guess is Vander Ark himself might buy the 1st copy. And yes, if it is any good, we Indians will continue to buy em in the pirated market for 5o bucks.
2) Also as far as the quality of this Lexicon goes, Vander Ark's website is amongst the most popular of HP fan websites, infact Rowling herself has expressed admiration for it before. So the question needs to be asked- is thie quality ok as long as it is online and promoting HP sales and it all of sudden becomes crap when its on paper?
3) As far as any financial losses areconcerned, isn't Rowling stinking rich already ( I'm guessing the world will be destroyed by global warming before Rowling and her progeny are done spending her HP income), and again isn't the lawsuit itself costing money, I dont think Rowling's lawyers would come cheap. And honestly isn't the whole point of being rich that you dont need to bother about minor losses, which is all that this book will be.
4) Aso given the slew of lawsuits that shes been through, does Rowling reall need another one?
So I return to the original point, what is so damned important about this lexicon, to Rowling, to spend all this money and time ( to personally testify at the trial). If you ask me, the answer is plain and simple - frustration. Yes, I think Mrs.Rowling has had it with all the crap that the book has endured through, I mean the endless slew of crappy fan fiction ( a lot of which involved the characters doing unmentionable things to each other) before the 7th book itself is enough to drive any author crazy, not to mention the pathetic movie versions which Warner Bros comes out ( of course she can't sue them cause most of her money was given to her by them). And then there are people coming up with fake books, rip offs and what else, just to make a quizk buck. Not too mention people in India, China and other countries, who build bookshelf of pirated HP books ( all those in India reading this know what Im talking about). So finally, Mrs. Rowling found someone to target and vent out her frustration (which she did on the stand). But, I do have to question her judgement, I mean seriously, is suing your devoted fan the best way to prove your point, cause after all the initial euphoria dies down it's these guys who eventually drive your business and make you the money to finance your whimsical lawsuits.
Whatever happens I cant help but thinking, this would make a great Boston Legal episode!!
1) I do remember Rowling herself once saying that she was agianst the idea of publishing a HP encyclopedia, and even if she does there will still be a lot of "Devoted Fans" (see definition above) who will stand in the queue for hours to buy it. My guess is Vander Ark himself might buy the 1st copy. And yes, if it is any good, we Indians will continue to buy em in the pirated market for 5o bucks.
2) Also as far as the quality of this Lexicon goes, Vander Ark's website is amongst the most popular of HP fan websites, infact Rowling herself has expressed admiration for it before. So the question needs to be asked- is thie quality ok as long as it is online and promoting HP sales and it all of sudden becomes crap when its on paper?
3) As far as any financial losses areconcerned, isn't Rowling stinking rich already ( I'm guessing the world will be destroyed by global warming before Rowling and her progeny are done spending her HP income), and again isn't the lawsuit itself costing money, I dont think Rowling's lawyers would come cheap. And honestly isn't the whole point of being rich that you dont need to bother about minor losses, which is all that this book will be.
4) Aso given the slew of lawsuits that shes been through, does Rowling reall need another one?
So I return to the original point, what is so damned important about this lexicon, to Rowling, to spend all this money and time ( to personally testify at the trial). If you ask me, the answer is plain and simple - frustration. Yes, I think Mrs.Rowling has had it with all the crap that the book has endured through, I mean the endless slew of crappy fan fiction ( a lot of which involved the characters doing unmentionable things to each other) before the 7th book itself is enough to drive any author crazy, not to mention the pathetic movie versions which Warner Bros comes out ( of course she can't sue them cause most of her money was given to her by them). And then there are people coming up with fake books, rip offs and what else, just to make a quizk buck. Not too mention people in India, China and other countries, who build bookshelf of pirated HP books ( all those in India reading this know what Im talking about). So finally, Mrs. Rowling found someone to target and vent out her frustration (which she did on the stand). But, I do have to question her judgement, I mean seriously, is suing your devoted fan the best way to prove your point, cause after all the initial euphoria dies down it's these guys who eventually drive your business and make you the money to finance your whimsical lawsuits.
Whatever happens I cant help but thinking, this would make a great Boston Legal episode!!
Baywatch better for Kids than Cartoons?
No matter how absurd that tagline sounds..it is true; atleast according to the Venezualan Government. Recently in Venezuala, the Broadcast ministry removed the Simpsons from the air during the peak hours of kids viewing, because it was believed to be detrimental to kids, and replaced it with,u guessed it: Baywatch Hawai. Yes, that same show which was so succintly summarised in Friends as : a bunch of girls in bikinis running (and for the unitiated, Baywatch Hawai has more girls, with skimpier bikinis), is believed to imbue better family values and foster the edcation of Venezualan youth.
Now, on the surface this looks like a ridiculous ruling, and yet another example of a govt cock up. But look closely and you will realise that is nothing more than Govt propoganda, because there is no other logical reasoning for it otherwise. Simpson is in terms of visual content not at all detriment to kids, and again being a cartoon is taken less seriously than Baywatch. Now I'm not being conservative and actually saying baywatch is bad for kids, just that it is no better than simpson, maybe slightly worse. The real reason why this happened, according too me, is that the Simpsons has a history of political commentary through its shows , and it is often aimed at dictatorial communist regimes, such as those of Venezuala, and thus it was banned to prevent the youth of Venezuala from learning about democracy, free speech and other such privileges. Infact the official reason given was -"that the show sends messages that go against the whole education of boys, girls and adolescents." What education might that be? Anti-capitalist propaganda perhaps. Infact the show is now threatened in Argentina because in one episode Juan Peron is called a dictator. Ay caramba!
All this goes to show is how lucky we Indians are to live in a country which still has a free media, I was recently involved in a debate where the guy said Indian media is biased and controlled by politicians, I wish I could show this to him and show what really a controlled and biased media and I would also probably add- "Eat my shorts!!".
Now, on the surface this looks like a ridiculous ruling, and yet another example of a govt cock up. But look closely and you will realise that is nothing more than Govt propoganda, because there is no other logical reasoning for it otherwise. Simpson is in terms of visual content not at all detriment to kids, and again being a cartoon is taken less seriously than Baywatch. Now I'm not being conservative and actually saying baywatch is bad for kids, just that it is no better than simpson, maybe slightly worse. The real reason why this happened, according too me, is that the Simpsons has a history of political commentary through its shows , and it is often aimed at dictatorial communist regimes, such as those of Venezuala, and thus it was banned to prevent the youth of Venezuala from learning about democracy, free speech and other such privileges. Infact the official reason given was -"that the show sends messages that go against the whole education of boys, girls and adolescents." What education might that be? Anti-capitalist propaganda perhaps. Infact the show is now threatened in Argentina because in one episode Juan Peron is called a dictator. Ay caramba!
All this goes to show is how lucky we Indians are to live in a country which still has a free media, I was recently involved in a debate where the guy said Indian media is biased and controlled by politicians, I wish I could show this to him and show what really a controlled and biased media and I would also probably add- "Eat my shorts!!".
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Passion for Books:reKindled or Extinguished
It was around 3 months back that I saw the article announcing Amazon's Kindle in Newsweek, and it has taken a surprisingly short time for this new technological revolution to hit India. For thse unaware of the Kindle, it is, to simplify things, an iPod for books. It is a pocket book reader launched by Amazon. This idea has been tried before by other big names before (even Sony tried it) and they all failed, some more miserably than others. But Kindle tries to offer what none of them did before, a more authentic reading experience for the book lover, it's got a new technology which mimics the appearance of a book on the screen. In addition it's got other features which a book can not offer, for instance people with poor eyesight can actually adjust the font size of the text, and you can store several thousand books on a single device, which means no more overflowing bookshelves ( a problem I have personally dealt with). Also it makes finding and buying books much more easier, particularly getting hold of very old or rare books.
Thus it has given rise to several Nostradames' of print who have claimed that this is the end of the paperback as we know it? Is it?
I dont think so, 1st of all practically speaking, there are several cost issues, particularly in India. I somehow cant see people spending 10k on a book reading device when most people dont buy 10k worth books in their entire lifetime. Also buying books will become far more expensive, simpler but expensive, because we'll have to purchase books directly from Amazon or some other website, which is a huge jump in expenses considering most Indians do their book shopping in second-hand and roadside book shops.
On a more aesthetic level, half the fun in books comes with sitting in a book store for hours together and going through a dozen books to pick one. Somehow I cant see that happening while browsing through Amazon and getting everything I need to find by clicking on 'related links'. Also how authentic the reading experienced promised by the Kindle will be, only time will tell. Also it wouldn't be very prudent to give our generation with very low attention spans a device with a thousand books on it, I am sure most of them wont finish the more than a 50 pages of each book before moving on to the next.
Personally though, I wouldn't mind having a kindle, I mean think of th potential-if I am on the road(which is where I find myself most of the time these days) I will never get bored also while reading a book before going to bed, I can pick one which most suits my mood.
Neverthless, I am not holidng my breath for the Kindle, neither will be any hurry to get my hands on it. For now I am happy with paperbacks, my college library and the bookstore round the corner of my house, which give me all the reading pleasure I need.
Thus it has given rise to several Nostradames' of print who have claimed that this is the end of the paperback as we know it? Is it?
I dont think so, 1st of all practically speaking, there are several cost issues, particularly in India. I somehow cant see people spending 10k on a book reading device when most people dont buy 10k worth books in their entire lifetime. Also buying books will become far more expensive, simpler but expensive, because we'll have to purchase books directly from Amazon or some other website, which is a huge jump in expenses considering most Indians do their book shopping in second-hand and roadside book shops.
On a more aesthetic level, half the fun in books comes with sitting in a book store for hours together and going through a dozen books to pick one. Somehow I cant see that happening while browsing through Amazon and getting everything I need to find by clicking on 'related links'. Also how authentic the reading experienced promised by the Kindle will be, only time will tell. Also it wouldn't be very prudent to give our generation with very low attention spans a device with a thousand books on it, I am sure most of them wont finish the more than a 50 pages of each book before moving on to the next.
Personally though, I wouldn't mind having a kindle, I mean think of th potential-if I am on the road(which is where I find myself most of the time these days) I will never get bored also while reading a book before going to bed, I can pick one which most suits my mood.
Neverthless, I am not holidng my breath for the Kindle, neither will be any hurry to get my hands on it. For now I am happy with paperbacks, my college library and the bookstore round the corner of my house, which give me all the reading pleasure I need.
A 'Champions League of Cricket'
Well, just saw on the news today that the English cricket Board is planning to Launch its own version of a T20 league called the 'English Premier League' (the English are'nt the most imaginative people are they). So that means we now have 3 professional leagues popping up in the matter of a year. And there could be more- the Aussie board is now threatened with the possibility of players retiring early to take up the IPL, who knows they may launch their own league.
So what does this all mean for Cricket, I guess cricket is going to get richer, possibily more exciting, and definetly more competitive with countries not just competing for laurels and trophies but also for the prize of most exciting league and bigger share of the ever growing cricketing pie. It might also mean that Test Cricket might lose its charm ( particulary if we have drab series like India -SA) , and even ODI cricket will be threatened. The purists will continue to cry and claim the decline in technical standards (some idiots still claim that cricket is a Gentleman's Game), but the viewers will definetly get a more fun version of cricket. After all as Harsha Bhogle said- "The purpose is to get the ball to the boundary, how it gets there does not matter" and boundaries and sixes will be always be there with T20. And there is a possibility that the new form of cricket will attract more teams towards cricket (that however does involve the possibility of the Americans getting involved,how irritating that would be).
But the most exciting possibilty is that of a "Cricket Champions League", akin to the UEFA Champions League in european football, you could have the winners of individual leagues taking on each other. Who knows maybe cricket could get more professional and move in the football direction with clubs taking precedence over country. Whatever happens Cricket is going to change dramatically over the next few years and to think it all happened because Subash Chandra and Zee got pissed off for losing the TV rights for Indian Cricket.
So what does this all mean for Cricket, I guess cricket is going to get richer, possibily more exciting, and definetly more competitive with countries not just competing for laurels and trophies but also for the prize of most exciting league and bigger share of the ever growing cricketing pie. It might also mean that Test Cricket might lose its charm ( particulary if we have drab series like India -SA) , and even ODI cricket will be threatened. The purists will continue to cry and claim the decline in technical standards (some idiots still claim that cricket is a Gentleman's Game), but the viewers will definetly get a more fun version of cricket. After all as Harsha Bhogle said- "The purpose is to get the ball to the boundary, how it gets there does not matter" and boundaries and sixes will be always be there with T20. And there is a possibility that the new form of cricket will attract more teams towards cricket (that however does involve the possibility of the Americans getting involved,how irritating that would be).
But the most exciting possibilty is that of a "Cricket Champions League", akin to the UEFA Champions League in european football, you could have the winners of individual leagues taking on each other. Who knows maybe cricket could get more professional and move in the football direction with clubs taking precedence over country. Whatever happens Cricket is going to change dramatically over the next few years and to think it all happened because Subash Chandra and Zee got pissed off for losing the TV rights for Indian Cricket.
To Stumble or not to Stumble, that is the question?
A few months back a friend of mine told me about this thing called Stumble and according to me this is possibly the best tool possible for all net junkies.
I am sure a lot of you would have already tried it but for those haven't this is how stumble works...you download the stumble toolbar and create your profile filling in your interests. You can then use the tool bar to randomly surf through the net based only on your interests..basically the toolbar shows you random web pages based on your interests..its got a host of other options..you can even generate ramdom you tube videos...
I am posting this cause i found stumble amazingly fun and its not half as invasive or annoying as social networking sites aka orkut,facebook...
The only drawback is that its damn addictive..i've spent hours at a time stumbling away...so if you've got time to waste..this is the most fun way to do it..
Here's the link...
http://www.stumbleupon.com/
I am sure a lot of you would have already tried it but for those haven't this is how stumble works...you download the stumble toolbar and create your profile filling in your interests. You can then use the tool bar to randomly surf through the net based only on your interests..basically the toolbar shows you random web pages based on your interests..its got a host of other options..you can even generate ramdom you tube videos...
I am posting this cause i found stumble amazingly fun and its not half as invasive or annoying as social networking sites aka orkut,facebook...
The only drawback is that its damn addictive..i've spent hours at a time stumbling away...so if you've got time to waste..this is the most fun way to do it..
Here's the link...
http://www.stumbleupon.com/
As funny as the English Language
The English Language can be an exasperating thing, irritating and often difficult to grasp for a beginner (or some of the faculty at my college atleast). However, it's also the most entertaining if viewed in the right sense. So I am going to start a new section on this blog where I will post interesting and funny tidbits from the English language that I can find.
This is the 1st one..found it on a nice site...its a list of funny metaphors used by kids in Australia...
1)Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.
2)She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli and he was room-temperature prime English beef.
3) She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.
4)He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree.
5)The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM.
The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.
6) He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.
7) McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup.
8) Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.
9) The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot oil.
10) John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.
11) He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.
12) She was as easy as the TV Guide crossword.
13) She walked into my office like a centipede with 98 missing legs.
14) It hurt the way your tongue hurts after you accidentally staple it to the wall.
15) Even in his last years, Granddad had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut.
16) The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.
17) The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.
18) "Oh, Jason, take me!"; she panted; her breasts heaving like a university student on $1-a-beer night.
19) He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame. Maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.
20) The ballerina rose gracefully en pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.
21) Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.
22) From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and "Sex in the City" comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30.
This is the 1st one..found it on a nice site...its a list of funny metaphors used by kids in Australia...
1)Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.
2)She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli and he was room-temperature prime English beef.
3) She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.
4)He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree.
5)The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM.
The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.
6) He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.
7) McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup.
8) Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.
9) The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot oil.
10) John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.
11) He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.
12) She was as easy as the TV Guide crossword.
13) She walked into my office like a centipede with 98 missing legs.
14) It hurt the way your tongue hurts after you accidentally staple it to the wall.
15) Even in his last years, Granddad had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut.
16) The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.
17) The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.
18) "Oh, Jason, take me!"; she panted; her breasts heaving like a university student on $1-a-beer night.
19) He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame. Maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.
20) The ballerina rose gracefully en pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.
21) Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.
22) From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and "Sex in the City" comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Post Numero Uno
Well, I'll begin my blogging escapades with football..more specifically Arsenal (you should have seen this coming when you saw the title).
Arsenal fans' are one of the most rarest things in sport...I mean who in their right mind would support the Gunners,its a team without superstars- a team which in fact refuses to buy
superstars, a team which very frequently crosses the boundaries between the sublime and the dismal and very often leaves its fans infuriated (kinda like the Indian Cricket Team). So its no surprise that over the past few years, Arsenal fans have begun deserting their team. So, the question being why do I support Arsenal, infact a lot of people would find it easy to support other teams like Man Utd with their Portugese Paladin or Chelsea and their bags of Russian money or the Champions League experts Liverpool. The answer to put it simply in one word - football.
Yes, Football, the sport which amidst all the championships, the trophies, the transfers, the board room power games, we all seem to forget.The sport who's single greatest exponents on the planet are a bunch of 20 something year olds with a French Manager playing in North London.
For the football lover nothing is better than watching Arsenal on a good day, their intricate playing style is arguably the most exciting thing in football today.Now a lot of people might disagree with that statement, particularly fans of Man Utd,who have scored more goals and have been flying this year. And while that might be true the fact is Arsenal have played their brand of football year in year out, in their most succesful and their most barren years, they still play the same way. And that is what you love about Arsenal's football culture, it's unfettered by results, independant of personnel and has grown to become the hallmark of the team. And all this is down to one man, Arsene Wenger , their inspirational manager, who has transformed this once puritan english club into the most energetic brand in modern football. A man who has come into severe criticism for his transfer policy and what is often see as a stubborn selection policy, but would I give up Arsenal's brand of football for a boring collection of superstars ala Chelsea, or for Liverpool who bore opponents to death and win the UCL- not a chance in hell.
And eventually come to think of it football or sport for that matter is all about entertainment, I mean the Ronaldo's and Ronaldinho's of the world wouldnt make their big bucks if not for the entertainment value of sport, so why not support good football rather than trophies or cups. After all if winning trophies was all that mattered then Ricky Ponting would be placed above Sachin Tendulkar, now that would be a travesty. And finally as a last testament to Arsenal's footballing magic, consider this - on Tuesday at Anfield the mere presence of Arsenal, caused Liverpool, the most boring team on the Planet (when it comes to the UCL) to be involved in one of the most exciting matches of the season.
Go Gunners. (My next football post after the Arsenal - Man Utd match on sunday)
Arsenal fans' are one of the most rarest things in sport...I mean who in their right mind would support the Gunners,its a team without superstars- a team which in fact refuses to buy
superstars, a team which very frequently crosses the boundaries between the sublime and the dismal and very often leaves its fans infuriated (kinda like the Indian Cricket Team). So its no surprise that over the past few years, Arsenal fans have begun deserting their team. So, the question being why do I support Arsenal, infact a lot of people would find it easy to support other teams like Man Utd with their Portugese Paladin or Chelsea and their bags of Russian money or the Champions League experts Liverpool. The answer to put it simply in one word - football.
Yes, Football, the sport which amidst all the championships, the trophies, the transfers, the board room power games, we all seem to forget.The sport who's single greatest exponents on the planet are a bunch of 20 something year olds with a French Manager playing in North London.
For the football lover nothing is better than watching Arsenal on a good day, their intricate playing style is arguably the most exciting thing in football today.Now a lot of people might disagree with that statement, particularly fans of Man Utd,who have scored more goals and have been flying this year. And while that might be true the fact is Arsenal have played their brand of football year in year out, in their most succesful and their most barren years, they still play the same way. And that is what you love about Arsenal's football culture, it's unfettered by results, independant of personnel and has grown to become the hallmark of the team. And all this is down to one man, Arsene Wenger , their inspirational manager, who has transformed this once puritan english club into the most energetic brand in modern football. A man who has come into severe criticism for his transfer policy and what is often see as a stubborn selection policy, but would I give up Arsenal's brand of football for a boring collection of superstars ala Chelsea, or for Liverpool who bore opponents to death and win the UCL- not a chance in hell.
And eventually come to think of it football or sport for that matter is all about entertainment, I mean the Ronaldo's and Ronaldinho's of the world wouldnt make their big bucks if not for the entertainment value of sport, so why not support good football rather than trophies or cups. After all if winning trophies was all that mattered then Ricky Ponting would be placed above Sachin Tendulkar, now that would be a travesty. And finally as a last testament to Arsenal's footballing magic, consider this - on Tuesday at Anfield the mere presence of Arsenal, caused Liverpool, the most boring team on the Planet (when it comes to the UCL) to be involved in one of the most exciting matches of the season.
Go Gunners. (My next football post after the Arsenal - Man Utd match on sunday)
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