Arrgghhh....

Michael Schumacher's engine betrays him only 17 laps away from chequered flag and when he looked all set to take the championship lead. Can't stand it any more..!!! :(

Bloglines out, Google Reader in

I have been ardent Google fan ever since it launched and using it since wayback in 1999. I have always preferred Google products over competitors as long as Google offers it. Google Search,GMail,Google Earth,Google Notebook, Google Talk to name a few... I rank Google for coolness of its products. Google offered 1 GB with GMail when other competitors were offering atmost 10 MB and shocked the Mail world.

I was disappointed when Google launched Google Reader, it didn't offer lots of features my then feeds reader Bloglines offered. It didn't offer reading feeds neither individually nor tags/folders wise and bloglines remained the only non-Google product that I used over Google, but I was more than thrilled to read latest post on Official Google Blog. Google Reader seems to have taken lesson from popularity of Bloglines and back in the webworld with its usual uber coolness. I admit, although as good as bloglines but not better, just for sake of my emotional attachment to Google, I am officially shifting to Google Reader.

Image Courtesy : Official Google Blog

Sachin Tendulkar : Return of the King

THE Master Blaster is back and with a big bang. Batted through 50 overs and marvellous comeback Century.



SR Tendulkar(rhb) 142(148) 13x4, 5x6 (SR - 95.94)



Form is temporary, class is permanent.

Michael Schumacher bids adieu to Formula 1

The rumours I was talking about have turned out to be true. Michael Schumacher declared emotional retirement after winning Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

Personally speaking, it has been a huge blow. Not that I wasn't expecting it but it being official does matter. I started watching Formula 1 almost 7 years back. I supported Michael Schumacher for the simple reason that I knew only a single man from the sport. That time around Mika Hakkinen ruled the circuit and Michael Schumacher came 5th at end of the season. Since then it has been a long emotional journey till 2006. Since 2000, Schumacher started rulling the circuit. Unfortunately after 2001, worth competitor of Michael Schumacher, The Flying Finn Mika Hakkinen announced retirement, but Schumi continued his triumph there after. 2004 was season any fan had never seen before. Michael Schumacher winning 13 out of 17 races and ended up with 148 season-end points. 2005 saw rise of Renault and Fernando Alonso and his unreliable Ferrari gave him really tough time through out the series. Starting of 2006 season saw yet another slow start from Michael Schumacher, but as the season is ending Ferrari and Schumi are tightening screws on Alonso. After Italian Grand Prix Schumacher stands just 2 points behind Alonso and hopefully will end his last season as the champion, securing 7th Championship.

Michael Schumacher's career has always been full of controversies, but you can't deny that he has champion's attitude. His statistics speak for themselves. Just look at this.

• Most race wins: 90 (previous record beaten in 2001)
  
• Most race wins with one team: 71
  
• Most podium finishes: 153
  
• Most second place finishes: 43
  
• Most points finishes: 188
  
• Most pole positions: 68
  
• Most fastest laps: 75
  
• Most race wins from pole position: 40
  
• Most "clean-sweeps" (pole position, race win, and fastest lap): 22
  
• Most championship points: 1,354
  

Now what do you say to this? Records he has established aren't going to be broken for a long time I bet. Very few people have ruled the sport for more than 10 years like Michael Schumacher has. He will be remembered as long as the sport exists, that is for sure, whatever Jacques Villenueve or anyone says. When I picture Schumi, it's always standing on podium, wearing red dress raising his hands to the cheering fans and leaping on the top of the podium every time as if it's his first one and I think that's what keeps him going all the time. He is never satisfied. When he broke Alan Prost's record of 55 career wins, how I had really wish that he would retire with a century. Had it not been for the slump of 2004-2005, we would have easily seen him there. Love him or hate him, but you can't deny that he is undoubtedly one of the best of all time in Formula-1. As for me, After 2006, Formula-1 won't be ever same again.

Hail Schumi!!!!

એક ગુજરાતી પોસ્ટ

આજે વિચાર આવ્યો કે ગુજરાતી મારી માતૃભાષા હોવા છતા ગુજરાતીમાં મેં એક પણ પોસ્ટ કરી નથી. આ રહી મારી પહેલી પોસ્ટ. નિશિત દેસાઇ બ્લોગ પર આપનું સ્વાગત કરે છે.

Not just yet... :(

Everything that has beginning has an end. But not so soon. No please no. Please don't go so early. You have a lot to offer to the game and fans like us.

Official verdict is going to be out on the race day itself, but there are strong reports that Michael Schumacher is announcing his retirement on this Sunday at Ferrari home, Monza. I am already feeling too sad. Just one more season Schumi and I bet you'll show Alonso what a champion is!!

Lage Raho Munnabhai

Munnabhai meets Mahatma Gandhi. This was the title orignally chosen for the movie. Too paradoxical yet too befitting. Just try to picture it. On one hand there is Munnabhai, a local bhai who with his right hand Circuit knows only one way to justice. Khopche mein le jaa ke kharcha paani. On the other hand, you have Father of the nation, who had only one weapon, non-violence. Can these two go together? Yes they do and do it well.

Munnabhai is in love with RJ Jahnavi (Vidya Balan) (who BTW is jockey on Worldspace Radio and still you can hear her on most of the radio set for free.. yuppie..!!!) and ends up making her think that he knows a hell lot about Gandhiji and finds himself in trouble and that's when father of the nation himself comes to his resuce. Jahnavi has her own set of troubles which she needs to deal with aid of Munnabhai, the history Professor. Can Father of the nation help him? Can Munna get out of grave trouble he is in? Watch it to see it.

Lage Raho Munnabhai works and how? Writers for this movie had huge task at their hands. First movie was a blockbuster and one of the biggest hit of the year and they had to deal with huge pressure that naturally comes with a sequel of big-time movie, which most of the sequels fail to handle. Lage Raho Munnabhai comes out with shining colors. It gets even bigger and better than the original, I daresay. It's always tough to combine a comedy with a message and making sure that you don't get preachy and didactic at it. Making sure that your script is emotional but at the same time not sentimental. Munnabhai simply just does that. There is a Gandhi in all of us. We just don't know it or may be we don't care to know about it. It's not that big a deal if you just come face-to-face with it. Job well done Hirani. As Sarika, puts it aptly in the words.

People miss honesty
They miss
it by miles
People miss honesty
And they don't even realize.

Munna-Circuit chemistry is as good as the first one. They make you laugh with their jokes and one liners all the time. When you watch Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi on the screen, you feel like they must have been born as Munna and Circuit and not the other way around. They have immortalized this pair. Vidya Balan continues to impress me. She was like a seasoned actress in her debut Parineeta as a typical Bengali girl and this time around she enthralls you as a youthful urban girl. IMHO, she is one of the biggest difference between first two films. She brings out the charm on the screen which Gracy Singh failed to. Boman Irani continues to impress as an evil builder. It is unfortunate for Hindi film industry that such a talented actor remained hidden until Munnabhai MBBS brought him in the limelight.

Lage Raho Munnabhai. We want more..!!!

(Cross-posted to InFiCA)

Bakul Tripathi no more

It seems God is lacking fun up above there these days. After sad demise of Hrishikesh Mukherjee few days back, noted Gujarati humourist Bakul Tripathi died yesterday evening. Well-known for his daily column “Kakko ne Barakhadi” in popular Gujarati daily Gujarat Samachar was undoubtedly one of the cherished writer of Gujarati literature. May his soul rest in peace!!!

Hrishikesh Mukherjee no more..!!!!

A huge shock if you ask me. Makers of some excellent movies like Chupke-Chupke, Golmaal, Anand, Bawarchi, Guddi, Anupama, Khubsoorat, Namak Haram, Anari. Undisputedly best comedy film maker of India. I don't remember tears rolling down my cheeks when some film personality died. Salute to you Hrishi-da.

Anand mara nahi, Anand marte nahi...

Mixed Bag

In a state where I have been after a really looooong time. Atleast 4 years I say . And frankly don't know what it's about. It ain't frustration, boredom, emotional hell, fatigue or may be all of them. May be some complex combination of following things.

Current Album : Saathiya, Parineeta
Current Work : Automatic Error Detection
Current Platform : MATLAB
Current Thoughts : 11-dimensional (Personal, Professional, Academic and 8 other similar dimensions)
Current Ambience : Pleasant

Now you do the math and I will try to rest in peace.

Omkara

Omkara - A beautiful poem from Vishal Bhardwaj.

After struggling I finally saw the movie and that too by bunking office on that day. Yeah!!!! It feels so good and it was all worth it. Much has been already said about
the movie. I don't want to add much to it, but I strongly recommend movie to everyone. Vishal Bhardwaj has done fabulous job of bringing Othello on Indian Cinema and in Indian context. I haven't read Shakespeare or even Othello, but movie is a sincere and honest effort to present a story of a tragic hero.

Story is pretty much known, so won't write about it much here, but I will definitely put a word for performances. Saif Ali Khan is a revealation. I bet noone ever expected him to give such a fine performance as Langda Tyagi (Iago). I am betting for Saif for this year's National Award... again. Konkona Sensharma is a boon to Bollywood. This girl handles every role with finesse. Second surprise for me was Kareena Kapoor. I officially detest Kareena, but I must admit after Chameli for the first time, I actually liked Kareena (Kareina if you prefer). Without any makeup, she is perfectly cast as Dolly Mishra (Desdemona). Ajay Devgan succeeds as the tragic hero, but I somehow felt Manoj Bajpai would have done fabulous job as Omkara, but never mind that.

Bottomline : Omkara, without a doubt, is the best movie of 2006 with Being Cyrus being second. If you raised your eyebrows... yes I have seen Rang De Basanti, Fanaa, Krrrrish, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna or any other crap you have in your mind.

Some excellent reviews : Bardwaj Rangan,Falstaff (Not too impressed with the movie, but excellenet review), Raja Sen, Jai Arjun

SRK fascination and 'Don'

Let me accept this first. I used to be a fanatic SRK fan. I used to publicize and recommend anything and everything that attached Shahrukh Khan name with it. If I say ever since Deewaana and Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman came, I was SRK fan I would be lying. As a kid, I used like Shahrukh as Abhimanyu Rai in "Fauji" a lot. Baazigar and Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge just strengthened his status. I still remember when DDLJ re-released after almost two years, I took my friends willingly/unwillingly for the movie on my 18th birthday. Now I was out in full swing. I was ready to take on fan of any other hero. Then I went to see Baadshah first day first show, I came out with all praise (although with a little guilty). Unfortunately, after that I started listening to my conscience more than my fanaticism. Meantime, I also saw Guddu, English Babu Desi Mem, Ram Jaane, Zamaana Deewana (bet you haven't heard this one), Ram Jaane, Duplicate. Duh... what more do I say? Although Hey Ram, Dil se and Swades(an apt review) made me proud.

I am not a fan now, but in some corner of my heart I still hope his every coming film beats any other Aamir (although he is a better actor), Hritik flick. Whatever I or you say about Shahrukh, we must admit he has an aura about him. Whenever he is onscreen doing a typical mushy, candyfloos Yashraj-Karan Johar scene he makes his presence felt. There is energy about every step he takes in his dance. His dance for 5 minutes can make crap like Kaal a hit. I bet there are millions like me out there who would want to watch an SRK movie, although it might be clearly evident from promos that it's just another Rahul/Raj movie, you never know he might surprise you with Aman Varma or Amjad Ali Khan or Mohan Bhargav.

How was I remembered of Shahrukh suddenly? Because I watched First promo of a first official Hindi remake, Don. Disappointing I say. I hope he is not pulling off yet another Mannu (a la Duplicate). Amen!!

Related Posts : Gaurav Sabnis on defending Khan. My feelings aptly put.

Promo Source : IndiaFM

Freedom to be...

First breath in free air

India got its freedom back again on July 21st, 2006 where bloggers can now view their blogs again. Got a little carried away there eh?

Read full story here.

Sometimes...

Sometimes you remember someone so much that you can't get her out of your mind ? She may not be love of your life or your bestest friend, but feels so special for some moments that her memories can't be overcome by thoughts of *anyone*. You don't exactly miss her, but for those special moments she is very close to you. I enjoy those moments.

How you really wish that you could call her up and say I remembered you sooo much, but that isn't always appropriate, now is it? Has that happened to you? For me, it indeed has. I would rather keep it to me only and cherish it for a long time to come. So here it is to the beautiful person I've known, befriended and loved...

Champion v/s Champion

It was indeed clash of the titans.

Roger 'cannibal' Federer ate up Bjorkman in Wimbledon Seminfinals..Scoreline read. 6-2 6-0 6-2. and that's not a first round score, it was semifinal. Commentators comment "Nadal and Baghdatis (other semifinalists) better not watch this match, it might scare them" . Very true..!!! Seed 3 Andy Roddick has declared "Federer is almost unbeatable on grass court". Nobody has answer for Federer's baseline shots and backhand pass shots. He was broken only twice this year at wimbledon and has not dropped a single set and is on route to his fourth consecutive wimbledon crown.

Rafael 'clayking' Nadal beat Marcos Baghdatis and beat him hard. defeated in straight sets. 6-1, 7-5,6-3. Nadal sets up dream final with Federer and I tell you what, it's not going to be easy. The way Nadal was playing Federer must be wishing that he would face Baghdatis in Final but it's his nemesis face to face again..Nadal sprint across first set. In second and third set Baghdatis gave fight with some wonderful drop shots but ultimate had to lose to Nadal's power game and well-executed volleys.

Now it's show down. On one side, Roger Federer, Grass court's undisputed king. On the other side, Rafael Nadal, who is invincible or clay court, but considered very vulnurable on Grass Court. To everyone's surprise, he reached final of Wimbledon and it was only his fifth encounter on grass court. Only fifth encounter and Wimbledon final??!! Great feat. Ever Since Federer era began in 2004, Nadal is his only nemesis. Nadal had defeated Federer in their last 5 encounters, including 4 this year and overall record stands 6-1. Battle was all set.

First set looked like yet another triumph of Federer. Federer won 6-0!! Nadal is the man who doesn't give in so easily. He fought back and broke Roger Federer's first serve in first game of second set. Federer broke back and ultimately won the set in tiebreaker, but it was never so easy. Third set, it got even harder and Nadal forced Federer to drop his first set in Wimbledon 2006. but Federer, the man that he is, Broke Nadal twice and ultimately won his fourth consecutive Wimbledon Crown with 6-0 7-6 6-7 6-3 and proved that he is still best in the business. But emergence of Nadal has proved that if Federer wants a place in All-time great, it won't be an easy journey with this hurdle always on his way and who knows like Pete Sampras Roland Garros might always allude Federer the emperor. See you at US OPEN :)

Don't ask a blogger about....

Don't ask a man's salary and a woman's age they say. What not to ask while talking to a blogger?






Source :- Pears Before Swine

How Brazil Lost

Need I say anything more? You decide if they deserved to win this one?

Wikimapia

Q. What happens when you take cross-product of Wikipedia and Google Maps?
A. Wikimapia

Wikiesque effort for tagging cities, helpful for Indian cities where Google Maps are not available (and high-resolution images for few major cities). You can search and tag your places here and even put it on your page (Shown below is my office, Read-Ink technologies).



Few other Bangalore landmarks :

• Read-Ink Technologies :)
  
• Bangalore Airport
  
• ChinnaSwamy Stadium

Riya Photo Search uses similar tagging technology for location-wise photo search.

(Link via Rupesh)

Update: It does work in Firefox :)

Bus Uncle

Haven't you seen Bus Uncle yet?



This video is now HUGE in Hong Kong and has led to many debate over work pressure and all. Bus Uncle's quote I face pressure, you face pressure has become a catch phrase in Hong Kong Junta. Post stories and related stories on India Uncut here.

Devil's Singer

Describe 2006 for music channels in two words :Yes you got it. Himesh Reshammiya. Reshammiya is not only sensation but also a secret, a mystery which remains unfolded. No one could quite understood. Despite far from being melodious, he was rocking all the music charts, not only as composer but also as a singer. Few people had their own doubts/suspicions/theories/hypothesis, but no one could quite prove it.

Some thought that his all-round abilities (singing and crying at same time that is) that earned him his popularity, but Anu Malik too had multi-facet personality i.e. composing (stealing that is), singing (crying that is), but he never got what he "deserved" and had to satisfy himself with face on TV singing Dekho Baarish ho rahi hai.. it's raining.. it's raining.. it's raining.. Mera Dil ro raha hai.. my heart is paining.. it's paining.. it's paining...

A huge set of conspiracy theorists thought that it was his uninque nasal singing that earned him respect, but then again wasn't Anu Malik unique too (i.e. the only singer in bollywood, who actually didn't sing). So after all, what is it??

Our team had our own hypothesis, but we being perfectionists and insisting on Bringing out truth out, no matter what. decided to dig further into this and we finally had a clue. We came to know about this and suddenly all jigsaw pieces seem to fall in the right place. With these interviews and further research we have found out the truth.

People say it was Sonu Nigam who insisted that Reshammiya should sing title song Aashiq Banaya Aapne instead of Sonu, which was followed by record and ear-breaking sales of Reshammiya music numbers. Seeds of success had been sown long before that. Evidences of Ghost-capturing incidences from Gujarat and Reshammiya being Gujarati is not a mere coincidence. It was a lonely night when Reshammiya was trying his hand at singing and while no one on the earth could bear it, his voice crossed three-dimensional frequency barriers and went far ahead and deeper than that until followers of the dark side compalined their lord. The Dark Lord contacted Reshammiya and urged/requested/petrified/stupified , but none of them worked. It wasn't until dark lord promised him success in our world (a la Keanu Reeves of Devil's Advocate ) that Reshammiya agreed to confine his voice to our world. Rest is history, but don't just write it off yet. There is more to it. Dark lord is happy with success of having found an apprentice to torture mere mortals, is signing permanent contract with Himesh Reshammiya on auspicious day of 6/6/6 and Reshammiya will be popular till eternity. It's your right to fight against the dark side, so please sign the petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/please_dont_let_us_rot_in_hell_for_rest_of_our_lives . Once having enough signature, we will forward it to the dark lord for reconsideration of his agreement. Remember your and future generations' future depends on you. Let's awake our generation. Together we can and we will make a difference.

PS:- This was really a poor attempt at Satire when half-asleep. Now that I am reading it again, I realise it and now I'll roll back and go back to Reshammiya following with my room mates.