Om Shanti Om - Worth watching

This is my first movie in Singapore. I went to movie with slightly lower expectation after my experience with earlier Farah Khan movie "Main Hoon Naa", but I was completely amazed watching this movie. Shahrukh steals the show with his acting and comic timing, Deepika looks fresh and glamourous. Other actors have done decent job to cop up with Shahrukh. Last but not least, a huge applaud for Farah Khan, she has really improved significantly after her first movie. Right from start of the movie till the end where titles are shown there is no where that we get bored in the movie.

The movie starts 30 years back (1970s), and roams around a Bollywood junior artist Om Prakash Makhija (Isnt it funny name) dreaming of making it big sometime. Love of her life is a super star Shanti Priya, who is already married to Mukesh Mehra, an opportunistic and selfish movie producer. Mukesh has to get rid of Shanti as she is an obstacle for his Hollywood ambitions. Om dies trying to save Shanti, and reborn as a son of another superstar Rajesh Kapoor. The second part is more or less borrowed from Karz, but with few twists.

Although the story is not new, there are enough surprises and amazing dialogues that you will not have chance to find any flaw in the story. Go and watch this very well packaged movie with superb acting, well timed comedy, rocking music, glamour, masala and of course Shahrukh khan. The best dialogue I liked in the movie is "Enna Rascalaaaa .. Mind it". So do watch the movie "Mind it".

My Sisters Wedding

We were talking in the office this morning about people that we can share anything with, people who will listen and not judge, and most of the group talked about therapists and support groups. I didn't say much, but I kept thinking of the one person in the world I can talk to about anything, and that is my sweet little sister Dolly.

It really says something about a person when they can love you and accept you, warts and all, the way she does. While I falter and tend to see the warts, she sees the person. She would not say that she is perfect, but she has mastered the art of loving people unconditionally without comprising her principles in a way I cannot say I have. She says that she just wants to "be good to other people and listens to all the things they say" and I believe she truly strives to meet that gold standard in everything she does.

Day after tomorrow she is getting married and would leave us all for good. She is going to Sweden and this is the first time she is going away from home and family. I hope she gets all the happiness in the world.

Thank you, Doll, for being not only my sister, but my friend as well. I love you!

My New Look

My New Look



I am always scared of trying something new. But I dont know why I am doing lot of experiments with my hair. Many have seen my long hair short hair head tonsured etc.



This time its straight hair. I was not really aware as how much pain I have to go through to get this hair straightened and maintain them. I had to sit for more than 5 hours in the saloon. Now after getting this hair straightened I cant really do or comb my hair as I want. There are lot of check points which the barber has given me to take care. Lets see how many days this will stay.



Now coming to appreciations to this new look. There are lot of people who said it was pathetic, there are people who said I look like Tom Cruise (did they really say that), some said I look good in this hair cut than the previous one, some are ready to cut my hair while I am sleeping etc.



Anyways guys lets me know how my new look is.

For all Sachin Bashers

A strong reply to Sachin’s Bashers…



When many people say how many of Sachin's hundreds have come for a winning cause, I decided to check the Cricinfo stats and here are the results.

Out of the 41 hundreds, 11 hundreds have gone in vain.

I will try to analyse each of them.

1. 137 off 137 balls Vs SriLanka at Delhi in 1996 World Cup.
India scored 271/3 in 50 overs. The only other 50 score was from Azhar. SL made 272 in 48.4 overs. Manoj Prabhakar had 4-0-47-0. He also opened in the innings with Sachin and scored 7 of 36 balls.

2. 100 of 111 Balls Vs Pak in Singapore- Apr 96.
India 226 all out in 47.1 overs, When Sachin was out score was 186/4. Pak had a reduced target of 187 from 33 overs.

3. 110 of 138 Balls vs Sri Lanka In Colombo - Aug 96.
Again India 226 for 5 in 50 overs, Only other 50 score from Azhar (58 of 99 balls).Sachin has also bowled 6-0-29-1, the second most economical bowler and the only wicket taker (SL were 230/1 in 44.2) of the match next to Srinath. 7 bowlers were used by Azhar.

4. 143 of 131 Balls Vs Aus at Sharjah, Apr 1998.
This was chasing under lights. The qualifying match before the final. The whole world knows about this match. Still one interesting point, when Sachin was out India were 242 at 5 at 43 overs. Target was 276 in 46. Still India finished at 250/5 scoring just 8 of the next 3 overs. Great performance by Laxman and Kanithkar indeed.

5. 101 of 140 Balls against SL at Sharjah in Oct 2000.
Indian score was 224/8 in 50 overs. (No other 50 score). SL got 225/5 in 43.5, Sachin also bowled 5-0-22-0, better economy rate than everyone except Srinath.

6. 146 of 153 Balls against Zimbabwe at Jodhpur - December 2000
India made 283 / 8 in 50 overs. Sachin was the last man to be dismissed, score was 235/8 at 46.3 overs when he was out. Agarkar and Zaheer Khan propelled India to 283 in the last 3.3 overs. When Sachin has scored 146 of 235 in 46.3 overs, you can guess what the other 8 great batsmen were doing against the World class Zimbabwe attack. Second Highest scorer was Zaheer Khan with 32.
Zim got 284/9 in 49.5 overs. Agarkar bowled the last over. Sachin also got 6-0-35-1

7. 101 of 129 Balls Vs SA at Johannesburg - Oct 2001
India got 279/5 in 50, Ganguly made 127 of 126 balls. When Ganguly got out, the score was 193-1 in 35.2 overs. Sachin was the last man to get out at 263. SA got 280 in 48.4 overs. Sachin bowled 9-0-51-0, second best in economy rate next only to Agarkar (10-0-45-1)

8. 141 of 135 balls Vs Pak at Rawalpindi , March 2004.
India were chasing 329 and were 317 all out in 48.4 overs, 8 balls to spare. No other batsman made even a 50 (when chasing 300 ) and when Sachin was out, India were 245-4 in 38.4 overs. They needed 85 from 68 balls with 6 wickets in hand.

9. 123 of 130 Balls vs Pak at Ahmedabad, April 2005.
India made 315/6 in 48 overs (48 over match), again no other 50 score. Second highest was Dhoni 47 of 64 balls, (third highest was extras - 39). Pak made 319 in 48 overs. The three quicks (Balaji, Nehra and Khan went for 188 runs from 26 overs between them taking only 2 wickets). Sachin bowled 6-0-36-1. No Harbhajan and no Kumble.

10. 100 of 113 Balls Vs Pak at Peshawar , Feb-2006.
India were 328 all out in 49.4 overs. Pathan and Dhoni got 60 each. When Sachin was out when India were 305-5 in 45 overs. Managed only 23 in the last 5 overs.

Pak scored 311/7 in 47 overs and won by D/L method. Could have been anybody's game. Sachin did not bowl.

11. 141* of 148 balls vs WI at Malaysia .
India made 309 /5 in 50 overs. Sachin was not out. Pathan was the only other 50 scorer. WI made 141/2 in 20 overs and won by D/L method. Again could have been anybody's game.

In the other 31 instances India has won 30 times and once there was no result.

Now, please think again when you say sachin's 100s were in the losing cause and that he is not a team player.

It is a fact that for the entire 90's India played International cricket with 1 player and 10 jokers.

Eye Opener for Sachin's Critics

Must must read for sachin critics::eye opener



This is what we hear from most of SACHIN'S CRITICS
1.Selfish
2.Scoring Against weaker Oppositions
3.Failing in pressure situation

Little Info about this

1.Selfish

Well Records are meant to be broken and if Sachin is breaking them critics[haters more rightly] can't digest them..
One of the incidents people mention is regarding his 194 knock against Pakistan..some said it was slow knock..agreed it was a slow knock by Sachin's stature,but if it is compared with one of the knock with Dravid...this will not look as bad it seems..
Tendulkar- 194 runs in Multan with a strike rate of around 54
Dravid- 217 runs in oval with a strike rate of around 46

I m just taking one example to tell that Dravid's natural game is to hold the one end and let the others to dominate..in Multan Sachin changed his gears and holded one end and he let sehwag to dominate..played Rahul's role in that innings. Now this is called team game.. but people call it slow batting and selfish... Sachin always said Team's win is more important than personal landmark..He proved this statement in that very test by taking Moin Khan's wicket off the last ball of the 3rd day..That Ball was beauty!!Wasn't he happy at that moment??? Since Sachin is the most senior player of the team so he can't throw his wicket just to prove critics that he is still a master blaster...[he is still scoring at brisk rate in onedays]..People forget his fast scroing Centuries against world class bowling



169 [201 balls] against South Africa in 1997 at Capetown
92 [120 balls] against West Indies in 1997 at Bridgetown
155 [191 balls] against Australia in 1998 at Chennai
79 [ 85 balls] against Australia in 1998 at Kolkata
100 in 123 balls against NewZealand in 1999 at Wellington[he scored 113 runs in that inning]
155 [183 balls] against South Africa in 2001 in Bloemfontein



There are many other breath taking innings in tests from 10dulkar.
But everyone please note this down..Sachin is the Only Batsman in Test Cricket who scored 3 Centuries wid a SIX
179 - 6 off Walsh[I remember it was a hook shot] against WestIndies in 1994 at Nagpur
124 - 6 off Min Patel[off spinner,straight down the ground] against England in 1996 at Birmingham
113 - 6 off Wiseman[off spinner,straight down the ground] against Newzealnad in 1999 at Wellington
Critics says he plays for his records and centuries..Now just look to this..

One Day
Centuries- 40 [out of 40 centuries India Won 28 times and lost 11 times,1 century in a rain affected match]
11 centuries gone in Vain..
Half Centuries- 73

now here is that intresting part



out of these 73 half centuries Sachin got 28 scores of 80 and above
in these 28 scores if we take out the innings in which he was not out [coz of over completed or target chased ]
he was 5 times not out in such innings
so now lets talk about remaining 23 innings
Can u believe he has 10 scores of 90's??? If these 90's were converted in 100's the stats looks likes this
Centuries-50 ODI centuries... and look he holds another record for those who have so much fuss about playing for records..
getting out highest numbers of times in 90's in ODI's ..just coz he wanted to score for the team and not for the his personal records he got out 10times in 90's

Test
Centuries- 35 [12 in which India won,15 in dead tests,8 in lost tests] lone warrior in tests which India lost
Half Centuries- 41

Intresting Part
12 scores of 80+
6 scores of 90's convert them in 100s..he will pass 40 centuries in Test Cricket..sad for critics he played for team and thats why couldn't converted these 90's into 100's
2.Scoring Against weaker Oppostions
This can happen in India only..
People remembers 152 against Namibia and forgets 98 against Pakistan in WorldCup
People remembers 248 against Bangladesh and forgets his 7 centuries against World Champions Australia [4 in their own den]..
Only one century against Bangladesh and share the honour of scoring test century against each test playing nation wid Dravid,Ponting and Garry Kristen...No one talk about other 3 batsman scored centuries against Bangladesh..then why the fuss for Sachin??


Test
Australia - 7 Centuries [4 in Australia], 2 of them at the age of 18 in 1992
Bangladesh- 1 Century [Unfortunately his highest score in Test Cricket]
England- 6 Centuries [4 in England],
NewZealand- 3 Centuries [1 in NewZealand]
Pakistan- 2 Centuries [1 in Pakistan]
SouthAfrica- 3 Centuries [all three in South Africa]
Srilanka- 7 Centuries [4 in Srilanka]
WestIndies- 3 Centuries [ 1 in WestIndies]
Zimbabwe- 3 Centuries [ none in Zimbabwe]

90+
96 against Srilanka at Banglore in 1994
92 against West Indies at Bridgetown in 1997
97 against South Africa at Mumbai in 2000
90 against England at Banglore in 2001
92 against England at Nottingham in 2002
94 against Pakistan at Mohali in 2005


Intresting Part
He scored runs in all parts of world..There are three types of wickets u generally found in Cricket..Fast and bouncy Pitches like in Australia,South-Africa,NewZealand,WestIndies,Spin tracks in India,Srilanka,Pakistan,and seeming tracks like in England. Today people talk about Ricky Ponting...now check this out
contd
Sachin's and Ponting's average at their own home soil is above 55 so nothing to discuss this here,but the real part starts now
Sachin's average in Australia 54.15 , 4 centuries
Ponting's average in India,12.28 , no centuries

Sachin's average in England 71.60 , 4 centuries
Ponting's average in England 42.63 , 3 centuries

I am taking records for these countries only bcoz.. rightnow,best fast bowlers are from Australia,best spinners are from India,Best Seamers from england[as there is no choice bcoz only england have such pitches]
Anyone can take easily tell who played gud cricket against best attack on all kind of pitches...


One Day
Australia - 7 Centuries + 1 score of 90's
Bangladesh- 0 Century
England- 1 Centuries + 1 score of 90's
Kenya- 4 Centuries
Namibia- 1 Century
NewZealand 4 Centuries
Pakistan- 5 Centuries + 4 scores of 90's
SouthAfrica- 3 Centuries + 1 score of 90's
Srilanka- 7 Centuries + 3 score of 90's
WestIndies- 3 Centuries
Zimbabwe- 5 Centuries

90+
90 against Australia in 1996 at Mumbai
91 against England in 1997 at Sharjah
95 against Pakistan in 1998 at Dhaka
93 against Pakistan in 2000 at Hobart
93 against SouthAfrica in 2000 at Nagpur
93 against Srilanka in 2000 at Dhaka
98 against Pakistan in 2003 at Centurion
97 against Srilanka in 2003 at Johannesburg
93 against Srilanka in 2005 at Nagpur
95 against Pakistan in 2006 at Lahore


Intresting Part
Only 5 Centuries against minnows like Kenya ,Namibia[non test playing nation]...and Kenya was the semi-finalist of the world cup'03 10 scores of above 90 against only test playing nations...now can anyone tell me how is he selfish?? 34 times he scored more than 80 and couldn't reached 100..If he played for his records..he could easily scored 100's all of those scores above 80's ...
3.Failing in pressure situation19/07/2006 08:51
ODI

Won Chasing Target
M R H AVG 100s 50s
Sachin- 101 4397 134 58.62 13 23
Dravid- 72 2124 109* 49.39 2 19
Ponting- 77 2670 124* 53.40 4 17

In Quater Finals
Sachin- 3 210 141 70.00 1 0
Dravid- 2 57 48 28.50 0 0
Ponting- 3 118 46 39.33 0 0

In Semi Finals
Sachin- 7 232 83 33.14 0 2
Dravid- 4 28 58 42.66 0 1
Ponting- 5 71 37 14.20 0 0

In Finals
Sachin - 36 1487 134 47.96 4 9
Dravid- 23 690 103* 34.50 1 3
Ponting- 33 1217 140* 45.07 2 6

All Finals
Sachin- 47 1954 141 46.52 5 11
Dravid- 30 943 103* 37.72 1 5
Ponting- 41 1406 140* 40.17 2 6

In Series Won
Sachin- 127 5548 186* 51.37 19 26
Dravid- 76 2645 153 42.66 2 22
Ponting- 177 7245 145 47.98 18 45


In Test
100's in Tests India Won - 12
100's in Tests India Lost - 8
100's in Test Drawn - 15

Holds the record of maxium number of 100's for loosing team...That means a lone warrior..Thats why once Indian Cricket Team was called as ONE MAN ARMY!!!!



More Intresting Part!!!!!!!!
Often said Sachin gets fail at crunch situation...Well 1st we must admit that when Sachin on the crease Win is sure...As soon Sachin gets out..the situation becomes crunchy!!! Sachin is out,now who will win match for us?? Dravid ?? or Sehwag?? or Yuvraj?? Or Ganguly?? No one sure who will win match for them...
So bcoz of this thing Teams targets Sachin as the most precious wicket...
Nasser Hussain introduced Negative lines for Sachin Tendulkar to stop the flow of runs when he is on wicket!!!
Local umpires also involved some times to help their team against Sachin Tendulkar,espeically Australians!
Some incidents striking in my mind...I think Sachin is the player who got out maximum numbers of times bcoz of bad or wrong decision by Umpires..I m producing those incidents only which I remember,there may be many other too

1. 92 - out of a NO ball from Frankline Rose against West Indies in 1997 at Bridgetown..Remember India lost the test just by 38 runs..U can just imagine how much that bad decision effected the result of the match!!!

2. 83 - Out of a NO ball again..[don't remember the bowler] last test in WestIndies in 1997.Draw Test.

3. 67- LBW off Crains..last test against NewZealand in 1999, was not out coz the ball pitched outside the legstump.Match Drawn

4. 61 - caught at forward shortleg,bowler Shane Warne.against Australia at Adelaide in 1999.. the ball touched the thigh pads and Umpire Darel Harper gave him out.. India were 107 for 4 when Ganguly joined Sachin and they put on 108 runs for the 5th wicket..

5. 0 - LBW bowler Macgrath..against Australia at Adelaide in 1999,same test, nothing more to say..Everyone remember that FOOLISH decision

6. 52 - LBW bowler Shane Warne,Umpire David Shepherd,against Australia at Melbourne in 1999, were chasing 356 as a target on the fourth day.

7. 45 - LBW bowler Macgrath,UmpireIan Robinson,against Australia at Sydney in 2000, the ball seemed to hit him too high and was going on leg stump, In that very over,Tendulkar had pulled a short one from Macgrath for two,and hooked the next two for boundaries,and a ball later punched the fast bowler back past him for the 3rd four of the over


8. 16 - caught behind off Waqar Younis,against Pakistan at Perth in 2000, it was must win situation for India to qualify in the final , scored 16 runs of 9 balls,hitted 3 fours in one over of Waqar Younis and 1 off Wasim Akram on the fastest pitch of the world,India were chasing 260 odd runs...

9. 0 - LBW bowler Gillespie,Umpire Bucknor,against Australia at Brisbane in 2003 funny thing is that the bowler not applead for the LBW... MR.Bucknor gave the decision of his own

10. 0 - caught behind off Lee,against Australia at Melbourne in 2003,ball touched the thigh pads and umpire given him out.
11. 54 - caught behind,Umpire Bucknor,against Pakistan at Kolkata in 2005, I think we all seen that decison, theball was not near to his pad,gloves,helmet,arm.. no where...

There may be so many other incident like this...Teams like Australia taking help from the umpires to stop Tendulkar... the 1999-2000 tour of Australia proves it..
THIS IS THE ANSWER TO ALL WHO HATE SACHIN TENDULKAR "GOD"
HEY CRITICS is that ENOUGH OR STILL U WANT

And the last thing is that Sachin played 11 years [1989-2000] in the era where his own team mates involved in match fixing.. So despite of his brilliant knocks we failed to win the match just bcoz others not contributing ..You can win ODI's just with your own batting but u can't win test matches wid one innings bcoz test played for 5 days its a 4 inning game..Still Tendulkar's record in that era is Awesome.. and remember The awe of opponents was as great as that of crowds. But the finest compliment must be that bookmakers would not fix the odds - or a game - until Tendulkar was out.

How was Year 2006

I’m sitting here at my office and getting bored. Today even my boss is out of office so thought I shall not work and do some time pass. The whole day I watched test match between India and South Africa. India didn't really do well. Today my friend Rahul is leaving to USA. So I will have to leave home early to meet him. I am just waiting for an installation to get finished so that I can start home.

Okay, and, while I'm waiting for the installation to end and I leave home ...

As we get ready to welcome 2007, I'd like to take a quick look back at 2006, with a YEAR IN REVIEW.

I just wanted to memorize as what has happened in this year.

JANUARY 2006: I have decided that 2006 will be "my year of new things". My new year has started with a hike at my company. As it was a very nominal hike I wanted to resign the job but was waiting for the right time.

FEBRUARY 2006: I was very much excited as my H1 got approved and I would be getting ready for the visa.

MARCH 2006: That's right. I rock. I roll. I rock 'n' roll. I rule. This is what I thought before I went to visa. I got rejected and then started struggle at work and was totally dejected as I couldn't go to USA.

APRIL 2006: This was the month where I thought I will have to start afresh and go for a new job. I wasn't really confident if I could do it. I slowly started hating my job and my boss.

MAY 2006: Finally I gained some confidence and started going for interviews. I have attended many and have also went to Mumbai and Pune for offers. Finally to my wonder was successful in getting 5 offers in this month. Finally I decided I would join Intelligroup.

JUNE 2006: As we know life doesn't go the way we want it to go. There comes my sixth offer finally from CA. Immediately I resigned Goldstone. I got a very good offer from CA and proudly shown it to my previous manager. I gave a small lecture at Goldstone and finally on 21st June I joined CA.
Its all new environment new people so it was really exciting to work in such a place. Its a big company and I am going to work on the latest version of Business Objects.

JULY 2006: New place new work new people new manager. It was tough but was able to cope up.

AUGUST 2006: I was a bit low and also very happy as Kishore got his H1 approval and would be going to visa anytime.

SEPTEMBER 2006: Work was hectic and didn't really had time for anything else.

OCTOBER 2006: This is the month when Kishore got his visa. I am very very happy for him and at the same time very sad that he will be leaving me.

NOVEMBER 2006: This month was hectic at work. 2 projects have to be taken care. But then I enjoyed the work.

DECEMBER 2006: This is the month I guess I would say tough of 2006. Hectic at work, Kishore is leaving to USA, Rahul and Vijay came to India. I had real tough time to spend time for all these things. Bu then I succeeded spending time with friends, but I don't think I did justice to my job this month. Anyways thats how my year came to and end.

Guess what: where am I going for new year? I am going on a pilgrimage trip with my parents and family friends. Hope this trip on Godavari will be memorable as this will be my last trip with Kishore for next 2 years.
After going through all the months it sounds like I had a really boring year. But it wasn't boring. At all. We had a great time, didn't we? Oh, yeah--we had a great time.

Orkut Blocked in my Office

Orkut Blocked in my Office

In most companies in India currently ORKUT is being banned. The same is the situation with my company. Why and how is it justified?

1) People waste lot of time writing scraps for friends and posting in different communities.

2) Time is wasted by browsing through all the contacts of contacts, especially if you are guy you waste the whole day looking into girls profile.

3) With almost every other person logged into Orkut there is a wastage of bandwidth and company resource.

But do you think that Orkut is the only way that people waste time in office. I dont think this should be done. There are lot of ways and lot of sites where we can pass the time. It depends on the individual as how he has to manage his time in the office. I dont see any problem in someone using Orkut or Yahoo messenger in the office. It is justified if the reason is something like Security.Why the ban will not be successfull is because there are lot of proxy sites going around currently through which the access is still possible. Its difficult to block each and every proxy site. If one proxy site is blocked another crops up.

But in my office all the sites are blocked and I am not even able to use any proxy sites. CA security system and the firewall is too good.So the conclusion is why ban when there are alternative ways of accessing the same??But the funny part is I joined Orkut almost when it was started about 9 Months back and that time it was a craze in and around the world with not many Indian users. Today every Indian with access to internet is a member!! How slow we are in adopting to new technologies or initiatives, this is one good example