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Krishna, Dharma, and the Mahabharata I Thought I Knew

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Krishna and Arjuna at Kurukshetra When I was growing up, I used to listen to so many stories from our epics and mythology—whether it was reading Amar Chitra Katha books or listening to my paati narrate tales of bravery and valor, the purpose of the divine, and the importance of adhering to dharma. Stories of Shiva and Vishnu found their way into my life through various forms. As a child, it was fascinating to see the power wielded by the Gods. And the message I took away was very simple: if you are devoted to the Gods, no harm can befall you. The Mahabharata, Ramayana, Nala-Damayanti, tales of Muruga and Ganesha, Draupadi, the Pandavas, the Kauravas—the army of characters was endless. To say they fascinated me would be a big understatement. I have read the Mahabharata many times, through various authors, and listened to many narrations of it. Every single time, I walk away with a new meaning. Kri...
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Varsham - A neat movie

Being in US, one might not get to watch English movies, but Telugu movies, you get in abundance. I happened to watch the Telugu movie, Varsham , which is a Trisha starrer. Not an out of the world movie, but good enough to spend two and a half hours without boredom! The songs were certainly catchy and no wonder did it become a musical hit. I don't want to talk more about the movie and in any case, I am planning to keep my reviews short in future. With the number of movies I am watching everyday, I guess I have lost the patience to write pages and pages of the same old stuff about movies!!
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BCCI selection committee a big joke!

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Anything in the world makes logical sense but for the selection committee of the Indian cricket team. Kiran More guffaws and grins as if he is going to talk something wise for the first time in his life and almost invariably answers the media with a clownish, indecipherable and a worthless comment with absolutely no sense of maturity. Sourav Ganguly is dropped from the squad for the third test at Ahmedabad against the Sri Lankans and More attributes it to developing a squad for the future. Ok! Everything sounds fine! What does the selection committe do after a week? The BCCI president Sharad Pawar meets every Tom, Dick and Harry to set things right and finally Lo and Behold, Sourav Ganguly finds his place in the elite squad to Pakistan. Now how does More defend himself : We need stability in the middle order! Oh my God! Can it get worse? What a remark! The richest sporting body in the world selects a team to an all-important tour of Pakistan based on the whims and fancies of a ...
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If

My all time favourite poem and certainly, Kipling's most famous poem! A poem to get me out of the dumps! This poem was written by him with his only son in mind who he lost to war. He has carved a masterpiece that will be there for generations to come! If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you But make allowance for their doubting too, If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or being hated, don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise: If you can dream--and not make dreams your master, If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build 'em up with worn-o...
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Why does she still sing?

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Listening to the song Tere bina zindagi se koi shikhwa from the movie Aandhi, one gets transported to an ethereal world. This song is rendered to perfection by the melody perfectionists Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar . The song has that enchanting appeal and one can compare the contrast in the songs of today's cinema. I have listened to this song innumerable times, and each time, the song renders a new meaning and neatly fills my heart with solace. This album has awesome tracks sung by the duo. The track Tum aa gaye ho is another piece that can take the listener to dizzy heights. Gulzaar's lyrics makes it a perfect combination of a great musical. Fast forward to today's cinema. Lata Mangeshkar renders her voice to some meaningless movies like Dil to pagal hai, veer zaara, mohabbatein and other terrible movies. Lata's hoarse voice makes us wonder where has she lost that wonderful voice? Obviously she can't render the same perfection in today's musical. What...
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Back to blogs!

After a rather hectic fortnight of exams and projects, it is time to spend the holidays with books, movies and blogs. Not that I was missing out on the movies. I have watched quite a lot of them since the purchase of the Pioneer home theater system. Its been quite a list of movies. The Apocalypse now Basic Instinct Sholay Ram Balaram Teesri Manzil Jaanwar City of God The Bourne Identity Hyderabad Blues Iris The Legend of Bhagat Singh and with many more to come... All in all, a good fortnight that I am looking forward to!!!
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Lara and Tendulkar

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On a day when one of the world's best batsmen, Brian Lara faced yet another delivery from one of the world's best bowlers, Glenn Mcgrath, history was meant to be rewritten. The fascinating duels between these two has been a treat for the billions of viewers worldwide. It is a different matter that Mcgrath has dismissed him most number of times in Test cricket(15 in total) and it is altogether a different issue that Lara has dominated the Australian bowling attack many a times in the past decade. It is sheer destiny that Lara had to break Allan Border's record for most test runs in Australia against Australia, and by clipping Mcgrath for a single on the onside. Lara's feat today is a result of his stylish dominance over almost all bowlers in the world. The class and style evoked by the master is evident by that stylish backlift when he pulls the fast bowlers through the on-side piercing the gaps with ease. Lara can be attributed to have been gifted with a priceless sense...
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Eden Gardens clean bowls India

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A big match in Eden Gardens, Calcutta is generally a moment to savour. But what happened on 25 November, 2005 is really hard to take. Most of the Indians would like to forget what happened that day not because of the terrible all-round performance by the Indians but because of the way the crowd pulled its weight in South Africa's favour. Come on! One can't support the opposition just because your state player is not playing for the country. The truth is Sourav Ganguly did not deserve a placed in the one day squad going by his current form. Current form! He has been going through a bad patch for the last two years. What more does he expect from the selectors? But, what does Calcutta do? It shows its disappointment by ridiculing the home team and applauding the visitors. There is definitely nothing wrong in applauding the opposition's performance but why turn hostile to a team that you have been supporting for the last how many ever years. It is a funny story. Calcutta turns ...
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