No more "paper tigers"

Originally uploaded by theiyer.

The Indian cricket team was once termed as "paper tigers" for their prowess on paper. But the victory in the first two ODIs against England (including the one today in Faridabad) has just proved beyond doubt that this indeed is a formidable team, with the batting prowess flowing down to No 10 too.

Look like Tendulkar might just have tough time getting a place in the team when he comes back from London after the surgery two months down the line.

But then Greg Chappell and Dravid seem to have no complaints, in the way things are shaping up, in the run upto World Cup 2007.

PS: Some rare snaps of the Indian team off the field...rare camraderie actually considering that Ganguly was actually around

It was nicely spooky "Being Cyrus"

beingcyrus
Originally uploaded by theiyer.

There were just three reasons which propelled me to watch "Being Cyrus":

1) it was indeed a long time since Suchi and I had gone to a movie and hence it became mandatory on us to watch one this weekend. Strangely, there was no other film really worth watching ("in our perception", lest someone starts throwing up names of movies)

2) the film is presented by Times Group (my ex-employer) and without saying, would definitely be maximum "bang for the buck" as their products always have been

2) finally, promos had an element of slickness and spookiness attached, especially the website www.beingcyrus.com. "Awesome" would be the word to best describe it - modeled on the lines of Times of India and ET e-papers

And, Homi Adajania's 2 hour odd long English movie did prove to be a entertainer with a taut screenplay, some refreshingly apt music (by Salim and Sulaiman..just dont know who they are) along with an unexpected climax.

The film has taken a magnified look at a Parsi family. In my opinion, Parsis in India are "konjam" (small in Tamil) confused lot - caught between time warps and cultures, groping to find their identity.

Thankfully, Saif proves that he can carry a film through on his shoulders, with a non-chalant attitude and has played the right amount of histrionics (unlike in the regular Hindi flicks). Obviously, being in the company of a star cast replete with Naseerudding Shah, Dimple and Boman Irani, he better have a rub-off effect.

The movie definitely would not be a box offic hit and might cater only to the top segment of the audience, which probably is well understood considering that it has made its rounds in international film festivals before hitting the box office. But it is definitely worth a dekko.

Flying the Good Times

Flying the Good Times
Originally uploaded by theiyer.

It was the first time that I got to travel by Kingfisher Airlines on my way back from Pune. To be frank, the usually staid three hour odd flight journey passed off in a jiffy despite the half hour stopover at Bangalore for half hour.

Truly King Class, flying the good times. Refreshingly different from Jet, Indian Airlines and Sahara, Kingfisher I am sure will change the contours of the aviation industry in the next couple of years.

The usual safety jig by the airhostesses is replaced by Yana Gupta performing it exclusively for you in the small screen in front of every seat. That set the tone for the journey. And Vijay Mallya in his la Bransonic image, welcomes the "guests" and says he has "instructed his crew" to take care of us. That guy really has got class. (you can reach Vijay Mallya at chairman@flykingfisher.com)

The cuisine was actually way better than Jet's. But the best part was the air hostesses's insitence that I eat something during the flight from Bangalore to Chennai. Despite my rejection, she kept egging me to have atleast a glass of juice. But then she gave up when I relented. Thats what you call "smothering" with hospitality. (Suchitra could not stop laughing when I narrated about this incident...). Be it the video and audio channels in the tv screen or the KF branding inside the plane, the experience was truly different.

Need to check out Paramount and Go Air now.

Memoirs of an Iyer in "Oxford of the East"

DSC00868
Originally uploaded by theiyer.

I was drowned in a deluge of nostalgia during my entire two-day stay at Pune ("Oxford of the East") last weekend. Why not, I was back in the city after a gap of 7 years. Reminiscing my Symbi MBA days in Pune in the Indian economy troubled times of 1997-99, I was wandering on the streets of Senapati Bapat Road and Shivaji Housing Society, trying to juxtapose the current topography with the past.

My frailing memory, which lets me down at the most needed times, was vividly recollecting the contours of the area where I used to reside and study as a young, out-of-college, middle class kid with dollar dreams.

Climbing up the ChaturShringhi Mandir (it was actually quite steep than I remembered), I was thankful to the almighty for what I am. The last time around I walked up that steep hill to salute the Mother, I was in the company of Thyagi and Varada. And i still have a photo of that defining moment of the three roomies on top of the hill during our last days at Pune.

This time around, I was staying in one of those posh apartments (in Baner Road) that have sprung up across the city, changing the city's skyline. And just a shouting distance away from that place was Sudaksh, a thick friend from Symbi days and one of the handful of my classmates residing in Pune. We were catching up on what had happened in the intervening seven years over dinner at "Arthur's Theme" in Koregaon Park (yes the very same area where Osho's Ashram is located). Koregaon was always an enigma to us - with a stream of vagabond foreigners lounging on the streets. We used to sit in front of the German Bakery to catch a glimpse of robe-clad foreigners in their own world.

Talking about food, I was able to gorge on Maharashtrian delicacies vada pao and batata vada. Bought some Bakarwadi for eating at back home.

Yeah, changes seem to be catching up with Pune. My institute has shifted to Hinjewadi (outside Pune) and the new batch of students in the Symbiosis campus seem really hep (rather anything would have been better than our batch). The new Pyramid megastore has just sprung up near my old residence. The roads seem to be clogged with burgeoning traffic and the student population seem to have gone down in proportion (after Manipal, Pune was always considered a student's haven).

Things keep changing and its time to move on. One thing is however clear, my dreams of setlling in Pune now loooks remote...the city just does not attract me anymore.

(The photograph above is the statue of RK Laxman's "The Common Man" in Symbiosis Vishwa Bhavan, SB Road, Pune)

Lok Paritran - A Ray of Hope?

paritrana
Originally uploaded by theiyer.

My loyalty for BJP seems to be coming in for test now. With the launch of Lok Paritran, its a litmus test for my loyalty during the forthcoming assembly elections in Tamil Nadu. Lok Paritran (www.lokparitran.org) is a new political party in the Indian political arena and is a brainchild of 5 young men which includes IITians.

On Sunday evening, it was probably their first ever public meeting ...at Mylapore's Ragasudha Hall - ideal locality considering that Chennai's intelligentisia reside here, but not the ideal location for a public rally considering that it can seat less than a hundred folks at a time.

I entered the hall with little scepticism about the number of people interested in this outfit's activities. To the utter shock of my amma, Suchitra and me, the hall was packed. Good sign. But then the people assembled seemed to be sceptical about the "new kids on the block" - whether they would stand the test of times or are they just a knee jerk reaction to "Swades" and "Rang De Basanti". Especially the "Perisus" (senior citizens in slang Tamil) who bombarded them with unnnecessary questions and suggestions. What was evdident from the questions thrown in by the audience was that everyone wants to be advisers and not volunteers.

Why can't people just allow these guys to get to down to work? They wanted to know their action plan and their stance on various political issues. Will they ever have the audacity of asking such questions to Jayalalitha.

Everyone seemed to be talking about them except media - check out the blog world and there are reams of blogs about them. Will they become like AP Venkateswarans and Subramaniam Swamys of the world..who Tamils had lot of expectations considering they were from intelligentisia..but then just merged with the crowd or have disappeared.

Too early to comment...I can just say "all the best" and believe they are a new ray of hope for India. Well they already have three primary members from my family. But whether we will vote for them...lets see...depends on the BJP candidate for Mylapore constituency.