#IndvSA #Mauka

There was this amazing ad that caught everyone’s attention – no not the #dettol ad – the Star Sports IndvPak #Mauka ad. And after India fantastic win, its 6-0 against Pakistan for India. This of course sparked hundreds of memes with the character looking solemnly at his box of fire crackers. Star Sports has been quick in releasing the second Mauka ad – the one with #IndvSA. Watch it here

After the euphoria to maintain the record against Pakistan, it’s time to break another record. Thanks to this #Mauka ad, everyone interested in cricket (and not) know that India has played SA thrice in the World Cup. And never won.

Here’s something more –

1. In all the WC matches vs SA, India have batted first
2. In Melbourne, where India play SA, India have had 8 wins out of 18 innings
3. 3 have come batting first, 5 batting second
4. In Melbourne, SA have 7 wins out of 9 innings
5. All of them have been batting second

Stats suggest that SA’s strength clearly is in chasing – at least against India in WC as well as at Melbourne. Ditto for India at #Melbourne. And since India have never played SA at Melbourne, so there’s no record of these teams performance against each other at this ground.

Statistically speaking, if we want to make most of this #Mauka, we need to bat second. We do have a good chasing unit – some of Kohli’s best performances are chasing, Dhoni is a great finisher – betweeen these two, on a good day – we can make it. But statistics don’t really matter when it comes to the game. The better team on that day will win. Yesterday, we were the better team. Will we be the one on next Sunday?

Masterchef

When I was in college, beyond us regular bhed-bakri gang who wanted to join either engineering or medical, I had a friend Yash Amin, who wanted to be a chef. Strange to us then, why would anyone want to do that. But, that was his passion, and I believe today that Yash is a very successful chef, who has worked wonders in kitchens in India and abroad. A toast to you pal!

Which brings me to that unfulfilled wish of mine, to be a chef. Ah, what joys! I wasn’t really a foodie growing up. Matter of fact, I would find reasons to avoid food, firmly believing that food was a unnecessary indulgence and one needs to have just about bare minimum to survive. Regardless, my mother, who is the best cook in the world [and I can take on anyone who challenges that :-)] persisted in her efforts of spinning out fantastic, simple dishes which would eventually turn the tide. I owe my love for Indian recipes to my mom. Add to that, my wife has managed to introduce me to a whole new world of continental dishes. Imagine this, I had never even eaten pasta till I was married, never eaten anything that passed by a mushroom and salad meant cut cucumber and tomatoes! Ha!

Anyways, post marriage, in trying to do my duties as a helpful husband, I discovered that I actually loved cooking. Yes, I had cooked earlier, before I was married, but that was when there was a need or mom was away visiting relatives. But I never cooked when leading a bachelor life in Bombay pre-marriage. With Megs, I not only discovered that I like enjoyed cooking, I also love experimenting.

I used to make some regular staples with a limited experimentation earlier, a chicken curry, or anything with eggs. But now that I find myself hooked on to Masterchef Australia Season 2 for the past few weeks, I have tried a bit of experimentation and met with moderate success. And once I started reading Samar Halarnkar’s blog, the passion re-ignited. I love the way he speaks about spices and I agree with him wholeheartedly, when he says that making your own garam masala is far more exciting than picking up the readymade variety. It just takes the dish to a whole new level.

This week, I intend making a barbeque chicken recipe. Everything except the chicken will be made by me. Bon appétit!

LSD:

Its a world of new cinema. Kaminey, Ishqiya, Love Sex Aur Dhokha and the real India. Love and sex is an integral part of this India. A bolder India. With Big Boss, Indians discovered mass voyeurism. We tuned in every day to watch this game of a bunch of nobodies fight it out, sling mud at each other and have some entertainment that one would generally not do publicly. LSD uses this to pluck out three stories from what could be anyplace in India and gives us a mix of experential and new world cinema.

Except the strange opening, the film works beautifully. Adjusting to the wierd camera angles isnt too much trouble thanks to likes of Bigg Boss and Emotional Atyachaar. The narrative is tight for the three segments and the completely unknown cast adds to the believability. The dialogues are something that one hasn’t heard too often on film. Its the lingo of the aam aadmi. Among the three stories, the one that remains in the mind is the second. Its something that is completely refreshing and relatable. The first one is predictable a la Manohar Kahaniyaan.

Its a good experiment. It remains to be seen how people react to this experiment. For one, the two college girls sitting next to us couldnt figure out for about 25 minutes into the movie why the camera was shaking so much. There you go!

Aman Ki Asha – WTF?

What does the Times of India really want to achieve through the “Aman ki Asha” initiative? Beats me. It is rather silly that the newspaper which claims to be India’s best and biggest, does not understand that getting a bunch of artists, cricketers and page 3 people will not solve any issue. Yes, we want peace, but one has to get realistic.

The issues do not lie with the people. The “aam” aadmi does not care about the peace with Pakistan, he worries about his next meal. He does not care about the ghazal singer from Karachi, he wonders about why is Ajmal Kasab still alive. The real issues are on the political front. No amount of people’s movement, if that ever happens, will serve any purpose towards peace. Yes, The “Times of India” can vie for another award (in journalism or social advertising), like they did with Lead India and the Teach India campaigns. But even the campaign looks unconvincing, defensive, and non committal in its targets.

Many issues remain unanswered. Should we forget and move on? What does TOI have to say about the firing across the border which occurs almost everyday? And what about the likes of Sarabjeet? And will it get the Jang Group to pressurise the Pakistani government to finally come clean and accept the attack on Mumbai?

Wet dreams, TOI. “Aman ki Asha” just feels good, doesn’t achieve anything. And yes, it soils you.

Awards!

I love awards. Totally, and absolutely. I would be lying if I say that awards don’t mean a thing to me. I love to stand there on stage, taking my little token /trophy /certificate anything that pats me on the back and can then adorn my shelf! I love the recognition that come with it, and the glory that I love to bask in. It’s fantastic. It motivates, invigorates, and pushes me to do better.

 

In school, I always wanted to be the one going up on the dias and taking any award. But there was too much competition then. In college, I kind of lost out, with my focus being on other things. And then, with work life in Mumbai, I am discovering the ways of getting recognition. Three in the last one year. Makes me feel good. Very very good. I hope this goes on, he he he…..

 

And now, I somehow find myself enjoying the glory that Slumdog Millionaire has got. I have not seen the movie, nor do I find it compelling to do so. Maybe one day I will. Maybe I won’t. But, it’s good to know that it is a product that most people love. Yes, it’s not an Indian movie, it’s only about India. Only? That’s one word to be used carefully. Anyways, there are people who say that the Oscars are not the greatest recognition for Indian artistes. But my dear friend, it is recognition. And, on a global scale. Its an award, that some Indians got NOT because they were in the “foreign film” category. It’s a recognition of their talent on the global network.

 

Jai Ho!