9 Down 2 To Go

I can’t believe I am at this stage of my life now. I wouldn’t be surprised one day if the strangers passing by me on the street start asking, “Why aren’t you married yet?” and tell me “YOU NEED TO BE MARRIED!” with a thick Indian Accent. Why this crazy obsession on marriage! As I start hearing some of the horror stories, the only feeling that’s gripping me these days is, marriage is probably not the right way to go. Almost all my friends call me to complain (that’s putting it in mild terms) about married life. I hear people say things like, “I wish I was still single” or “I would have done that in a heartbeat if I was still single”. Don’t give me clichéd statements like, “You won’t realize it until after 5 or 10 years down the lane”. So what if I am single when I am 40? I promise I won’t blame any of you for it!
Recently, I feel people just get married to fight off boredom in life or fear of being alone. Once you are close to the big 3-0, everyone starts feeling like they can’t be alone anymore and it just follows a preconceived pattern from there. Once you get married, you get bored of each other in a couple of years and decide to have kids. Some people don’t even wait; the guys just let their swimmers loose like Michael Phelps and wait for the inevitable to happen, like it’s some world record to be broken. After the first kid and all the sleepless nights that come along with it, they wait precisely for 3 or 4 years, or for the next Olympics to start so they can begin breeding again. It’s hard enough with one kid and imagine life with two kids. Where is the time for you and your so-called companion? I was also one of them, but right now I don’t feel like I need someone to share my life with. I am not in a position to follow this pattern. As if there aren’t enough people telling me to get married, my dad’s side relatives have joined in to have some fun. They keep sending me emails like, “Believe in Jesus and he will find the right girl for you!” When exactly did Mr.Christ start running a matrimonial service? There are more chances of a Hispanic guy named Jesus finding me a girl.
Despite all the things that I mentioned here, I am not against getting married at all but I can’t get married just for the sake of it and hope for it to work. I am starting to feel like marriage is totally overrated. Age doesn’t matter, at least in this country. After all, isn’t this the land of opportunities ;-)? After all this, I might do a 180 degree turn tomorrow and decide to get an arranged marriage or fall head over heals for someone. Again, it will solely be MY decision. When that happens, I am sure every single one of you will be there to say, “I told you so!”. Watch me give a damn then!

P.S: In case you are wondering, what the hell the title is about, the numbers refer to my close friends.

WHO killed my favorite actor?

Kamalhassan - The name that used to make many of us look up and wonder what he is up to now, has apparently gone missing since the release of Kuruthipunal, way back in 1996. Thinking back, I find it hard to point out when I became his fan or even why. As I was watching Dasavatharam, I was searching for my favorite actor, but I couldn't find him. I do not mean that in a complimentary way. Sure, the movie was entertaining and not as bad as some people seem to think it is but I really couldn't see the Kamalhassan who donned 4 different roles just with the help of a beard, whacky sideburns, an accent and some amazing variations in body language, in MMKR. These days he has to resort to prosthetic makeup, amateur graphics and Jackie chan to even promote his movies. What he doesn't realize is, we as fans and non-fans, only expect the simpest of movies from him, like Thevar Magan. For me, that is the best Kamalhassan movie ever, with an original storyline and a neat screenplay without any flaws. Nayagan will always be a close second, because it wasn't really a complete Kamalhassan movie.
I still remember the days when I went to watch Die Hard with a Vengenace twice, just to see the trailer of Kuruthipunal. The trailer itself was so thrilling, and made you sit up and take notice. One of my friends from Peter's Colony, who is a big Rajini fan said, "Ot**, K.S.Ravikumar soo*** madhiri padam eduthurukaan da (referring to Muthu), Kuruthipunal chance-a ille da". It gave me so much confidence that Tamil Cinema is in good hands and it's going to go places. Of course, I could get tickets for kuruthipunal at the counter easily during the second week and tickets for Muthu were hard to get even outside the counter. Somewhere after that, the perfectionaist in Kamalhassan died. Hey Ram and Virumandi are indeed good movies, but they really weren't simple by any means. They were contaminated with his own idealogies and principles. That's when I realized Kamal can never make a movie as a neutral person. Have you noticed, in every movie of his, there has to be a peeing scene or a supposedly comedy scene where he/someone else gets hit in the crotch? If that's going to be your trademark, then it ain't going to help you get any critical acclaim.
I watched Salangai Oli pretty late, like probably 10 years ago. I couldn't belive the fact that he did not get the National Award for that. The scene where he does Bharathanaatiyam, Kathak and Kathakali for the same two lines of the song is enough to say what kind of an actor he is. Who hasn't cried watching Moondram Pirai? Sridevi dominates throughout the movie and then in the last 5 minutes, Kamal shows everyone why he got his first National Award. If anyone here brings up Indian as one of his best movies, I will definitely put my foot up your ass for saying that. I watched that movie in Satyam theater with my "baalya snehidhargal", Karthik, SP and Balaji. When the lights came on for the intermission, I was wondering what the hell kind of a movie is this and I heard Balaji say to Karthik, "He will definitely get a National Award for this movie". I didn't say a word and Kamal did win a National Award. I remember Kamal once saying in an interview, "If mediocrity is our standard, then we will never make high quality movies". Well, Mr.Kamalhassan, mediocrity is present everywhere in your movies these days, please don't make it a standard. I want a movie like Kuruthipunal and Thevar Magan. All I am saying is, keep it simple, instead of talking about Chaos Theory and Butterfly effect! I am already hearing that there's going to be a whole bunch of graphics for his next movie Marmayogi and it only makes me nervous.

Cheerleaders and 20/20

My buddy Shiva and I had a very insightful conversation about why cheerleaders look so out of place in cricket, despite the best efforts of Mr.Mallya and the Washington Redskins cheerleaders to make it look as sexy as possible. Here's what I think. American football is the manliest sport you can ever see in this world, with super-sized muscles and testosterone oozing out of every 10 yards on the field. When you watch something so manly, you tend to look for something that complements it, like for example, cheerleaders. They perfectly complete the circle by providing the necessary refreshments in between the grunts, helmet clashes and the pats on the back. Now, if you take Cricket or Soccer, it's not as testosterone-based as football, barring the headbutt by that French soccer player in the worldcup final. The manliest diplay I have ever seen in cricket is Venkatesh Prasad showing the dressing room to Aamir Sohail in the quarter finals of World Cup 1996. So, when you put a bunch of cheerleaders in the gentlemen's game of cricket, no matter where they are from, it only makes it look like a cheap stunt to get some attention.

Ninaithale Inikkum.

Bell bottom, thongu meesai and step cutting. That's Kamalhassan in Ninaithale inikkum. If you thought that was funny, then add Rajinikanth, sporting a french beard, as the guitarist with a compulsive stealing habit and you have the deadliest comedy combo. Can you even imagine Rajini calling Kamal "rascal" and "thalaivare" among the numerous "va da"s and "po da"s today? The movie can be easily classified as belonging to the MUSICAL genre, but it's a mix of comedy, drama, and of course musical. To even think of a musical band like this based in Madras/Chennai sends chills down the spine. Rajini clearly plays second fiddle to Kamal throughout the movie, but you can clearly see Rajini stealing the show in many scenes with his comic timing and the ability to take over Kamal in the form of a solo song. Kamal should have seen it coming. No wonder Rajini is always the unanimous No.1 and Kamal will always be the deserving challenger to the No.1 spot. Jayaprada was so cute with a boy-cut hairstyle, reminding me of my ex. The "Engeyum Eppothum" song is much better than the remix, without the jarring beats and the unwanted lines replacing that best part of the song. I think this is the best tamil movie to watch when you are drunk (or not). FUN is the only word to define this movie. I hope they don't remake this evergreen movie and spoil it.

Turkey-Mushroom Meatball

It's been quite a while since I cooked anything substantial. I have been too lazy to cook for myself since my mom visited me and then I was forced into an entended vacation in India for 2 months. Do I really have to explain what those things do to a single guy in the cooking department? Today I decided to make something good/deep fried/fatty to go with my 6-pack. Here we go:

Ingredients:
Ground turkey - 1 lb
Onion - 1
Mushrooms - 15 small ones (stem removed)
Gram Flour(Kadalai maavu) - 3 tsp
Ginger paste - 1/2 tsp
Green chilli - 4 small ones
Red Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Curry Leaves
Cilantro
Salt - appropriate amount

Chop the onions, green chilli, curry leaves and the cilantro really fine. Mix the ground turkey with the gram flour, the chopped ingredients, ginger paste, chilli powder and salt. Now we have a meat paste. Make balls (NO, not those balls!) with the mushrooms by rolling them in the paste until the mushrooms are completely covered. Here comes the best part: Deep fry these balls in medium heat until they become brown (a little on the darker side) in color all around. You can enjoy them with Maggi hot and sweet sauce or if you are the intense kind, with the chinese chilli sauce. OH BOY, it almost tastes illegal!

Never thought I'd live to see this day.

Z Khan b Ganguly 3 (8b 0x4 0x6) SR: 37.

13.1 Ganguly to Khan, OUT, cleaned up, Zaheer missing the line completely for off stump to be pegged back and Ganguly runs off in celebration and Ponting runs towards him and the two embrace ... now thats a sight, eh?

Now, imagine Steve Waugh instead of Ponting. That would have been a sight! The inaugral game of the much hyped and the highly anticipated IPL turned into a joke for the Banglaore Royal Challengers against the Kolkatta Knight Riders. They were royally screwed even before they started chasing, just by one man, Brandon McCullum. I can totally imagine Rahul Dravid walking up to him at the end of his innings and ask, "Thambi, nee saayangalam enna tiffin saapitte?". Cricinfo reports that the Chinnaswamy stadium was at it's full capacity. One should appreciate Vijay Mallya's business tactics in bringing the Washington Redskins cheerleaders for his team, but the same cannot be said about the captain's tactics. Who in their right minds would make Rahul Dravid and Wasim Jaffer open the batting in a 20/20 game, especially when they are chasing 222. Heck, I wouldn't want them to open even in ODIs. But then, who else could have opened? No one in the Bangalore team can exactly terrorize the oppostion bowlers. And, is that the same Sunil Joshi who used to play for the Indian team? Shouldn't he retired by now? I wouldn't be surprised if I see Sujith Somasundar in the next game. It's hard to describe McCallum's innings. Is it a display of pure power hitting or a mere collection of a bowler's nightmares in the form of a batsman. Whatever it was, I am sure Shahrukh Khan is a happy man. Now, I can't wait to see Mr.Dhoni, Mr.Muralidharan and a certain Mr.Hayden in action.

HOW?

Dei Karthik, how did you manage to get to 100 posts? I completed 4 new posts (including this one) and yet I have only 32. NAASAMA POGA!!!

Lost lunch

When I joined Avichi Higher Secondary School in Virugambakkam for my 6th Standard, I had no idea that my dad put me there just because he couldn't afford to pay the fees for a private school. I don't mean any offense to my dad, in fact if I had known, I would have dropped out of school and gone to work to save my dad from any embarrassing moments. Dramatic statements aside, this post is really about the hardships, if I may say so, that I went through from the late 80's to the early 90's. Those days, spending 30 minutes in a bus just to go to school was considered as an act of bravery. To add to it, I had to carry a lunch basket (plastic koodai) with a tiffin carrier and a water bottle that keeps the water cold for a long time. My mom would never compromise when it comes to food. Despite my begging her several times that I would just take a single tier tiifin box, she'd force me to take the 2-tier carrier, which had 'kozhambu' on the top level and white rice and some poriyal or kootu or varuval (fish or chicken) in the bottom level. My classmates would start drooling over my lunch bag the moment I enter the classroom as they soon learnt that there is always something fresh and hot in the small tower I carried, as opposed to the dry idlis and the lemon rice that they had in their bags. If not anything, my mom's cooking helped me make some new friends. By the time I managed to convince my mom that I am old enough to stop carrying separate lunch bags, I was in my 10th standard. Oh, to justify the topic, I would forget my lunch bag in the bus and get down. There were times when I didn't even realize that I lost it until the lunch bell rings. Good ole times!

Love

What happens to you when you fall in love? Is it just the hormones at work, is it really much more than that? Is there really anything more than physical attraction to love? Just because two people can live together, tolerating the nagging, the smells and the hairy bodies (both men and women), does it mean they are meant to be together? IMHO, it's all about the physical attraction that makes us sacrifice and compromise on everything else, whether it's a girl or a boy, a man or a woman, a dude or a chick. Dare to disagree?

YOU started it!

It may be hot, humid and conservative (atleast it used to be). It may boast of the stinky koovam as the next best thing to the Marina Beach, but hey, that's where home is and we don't START beating up people the moment someone says Water and Karnataka in the same sentence. I am glad I am from Chennai.

What's in a name!

I am so thankful to my dad for marrying a Hindu woman, despite coming from a devout christian family. I have heard the weirdest of names on my dad's side. When I say weird, I am talking about the combination of the first, middle and last names. Yes, they have all three names. Usually Tamilians don't realize they really have a last name until they come to the U.S. We always have our father's name as initial(s). I am sure if my dad had married a Chrisitian Nadar woman, I would have had a name like, Paul Pandiyan Ponnudurai or Praveen Joy Jacob. I don't have anything against those names, but my roomies in Norman would have had a field day with a name like that. I have cousins with names, Emerson Brittus Tamilarasu and Sobers Solomon Devasagayam. The culprit in the case of the latter, atleast for the first name Sobers, is my dad. He was a big fan of Gary Sobers - an all-time great of West Indies cricket - and he made sure that his nephew had his name. If you are wondering why there is a Hindu name sandwiched (or on the side) between two English names, it's all due to the fact that they are all converted chrsitians, probably converted 4 or 5 generations ago. They let go of the Hindu part but they still cling on to the Nadar part, which can be blamed for all the crazy permutations and combinations of names. Let me finish it off with a little secret: I was also smothered with a long name when I was baptized in a church in a remote village called Kalunguvilai in Thirunelveli, hoping that I would turn into a choir boy one day. Any guesses?

En thalai kodhum un viral ponadhenge
En imai varudum un swasam sendradhenge
En vizhi thedum un uruvam enge
En udal thedum uyirum ENGE?

Take that, Aussies!

First things first. Aren't you really glad they put an end to the tri-series? I mean, it's really tiring to even watch that many matches before the final. Now, coming to the main event, KUDOS to the boys. For once we can call them boys, including Sachin (his voice, DUH!) without the exclamation mark. I really didn't think Dhoni could pull this off with a bunch of youngsters. Being a fan of Ganguly, I was a little upset that he was chucked out of the team to pave way for some relatively unknown players. I was secretly hoping that India would lose so we can see the GOD of offside back in action. Well, I guess all good things need to come to an end. I am sure Ganguly was sitting with a towel on his head as India entered the finals.
There was clearly a difference, compared to the Indian teams of the past. The fielding was better, the running between the wickets was better, and when was the last time we saw an Indian team with bowling as it's main strength. It will definitely be interesting to see what happens when Zaheer Khan comes back to the bowling lineup. Overall, they proved that they belong at this level and that it was no fluke. Dhoni was Mr.Cool as the captain. He did the right things at the right time. He also led from the front and showed them all how to bat when things are not going your way. That's not the typical Dhoni I have seen before this series. Of course, thank goodness Sachin was back in form when the team needed it the most. Can you imagine, he'd have close to 60 centuries just in ODI's if he had converted all his 90s into 100s? WOW, I mean, WOW! Those so-called critics, including Sanjay Manjrekar should just shut up and look for a different profession, if being a critic is indeed a profession.
And what's with Hayden calling Harbhajan an obnoxious weed on the radio? He also said, "I don't see them winning any matches!" HELLO!!! You should know when to shut up. Also, someone needs to tell Symonds that he is not special like he thinks he is. Have you ever seen him walk back quietly after getting out? He has to stare at the bowler or say something to him and then cries to the match referee that he is hurt by the bowler's comments. Here's something Symonds needs to memorize: What goes around comes around (and bites you back in your ass)!You know what? None of it matters now, because they are the ones with a huge L on their foreheads.
Finally, GOODBYE Gilly, we will definitely miss you! You even managed to make us laugh in your last match.

Anbu Malargalae...

If this picture had a mouth (and may be a couple of eyes), it would cry out loud a la Nayakan Kamal, for being abused so much by me and my friends. This picture has resided in everyone of our hard disks, emails and now features in our Orkut photo albums. I decided to take this oppurtunity to be the first one to put this in a blog post, before someone else from the group gets this idea and takes away the honors.

The first one from left is Shiva aka shivudu. Whenever I show this photo to any of my gal pals, they would just drool all over him. Yeah yeah, my stomach is burning and there's smoke coming from my ears. Happy? He is a video game freak and I try to compete with him online, say once in 2 years. We had our share of good times (NO, not in Bheema/Brokeback Mountain style) when we were roomies. When it comes to long drives, he is the best wingman anyone could ask for. We once drove from Norman, Oklahoma to NYC to attend an interview at Bloomberg and then to Chicago for an interview at SBC, all in a matter of 4 days. By the way, it was only me attending the interviews and he was just here for moral support :-)

The second one is the person who disturbingly calls himself parupps. Enough of me!

Next is Ramanan aka ramsoi, who always gives me the feeling that we have been roomies forever, of course in a good way. He is the one who taught me that icecream shouldn't be eaten in small bowls but in buckets (I am sure you can see the effects of that on me in the pic). He calls himself a happy-go-lucky kind of person and I can't agree with it more.

And then there is Ajai aka jo, who is a gadget freak. He has to have the best of everything that is related to technology. I think he has locked his life into one of the gadgets he owns like how the villains in vittalaacharya movies have their lives in some parrot that lives seven seas and seven mountains away. I didn't know I was his best friend until his parents told me when they visited me in Chennai. I was like, 'OK, that is news for me!!!!!'

That 'out-of-focus' aasami is Bharani. He is the odd man for various reasons. He is my close friend since the Sathyabama days. I found it hard to come to terms with the fact that I am actually friends with such a brainy dude, when he causally showed me the paint-like tool he had created in DOS. Mind you, this was way back in 1996. In my opinion, he hasn't done enough justice to the talent he possesses, YET.

There are two other people who are not in the frame, but present at that time. They definitely deserve more than just a honorary mention. Meenakshi, who took this evergreen photo, prefers to stay behind the scenes all the time. He is too good a photographer and an avid fan of Ilaiyaraja's music. The last person who missed out on being a part of history is Chand. Like Bharani, he has been my close friend since my college days. We always end up fighting over silly matters, but we have managed to stay as friends through thick and thin. He introduced me to the exciting world of Raja Masala 5 years ago and I am still addicted to it. We can relate to each other on numerous things like Masalaboard ;) and "Ennadhu, Mahathma Gandhi Sethutara?".

This picture was taken in March 2002 during the spring break and it was one of the memorable times ever, thanks to Brian Lara Cricket-2001.

Thanks Meenakshi, for this wonderful moment, which MIGHT never happen again!

AAAHA... kavidhai kavidhai...padi!

Kadhal tholvi enakku mattumalla
en veetu kannadikum dhaan
dhinam en bimbam adhil azhugiradhe!

P.S: Sorry Karthik, I couldn't resist posting it.

nee ennai vittu pirindhavudan
pirandhadhu sogham mattumalla
indha kavidhaiyum dhaan!

Thyagam seyyum oli vizhakaga nee
nadamaadum kallaraiyaga naan
meendum ennai pudhaitha edathileye pudhaithu vittai!

Rajini - THE REAL BOSS

I wouldn't be doing justice to this blog if I didn't write about Sivaji. I have loved many Rajinikanth movies in the past like Baasha and Padaiyappa just for his style, despite being an ardent fan of Kamalhassan. If not for anything else, I knew I could watch Sivaji for Rajini's style. I haven't seen this much hype for any other movie as long as I can remember. As I settled down in a seat in the fourth row, this guy who had driven down from Wyoming to watch this movie, thrust a handful of shredded paper into my hand to throw on the screen when Rajini appears. I thought, YEAH RIGHT, like I am going to do this! But when Rajinikanth turned his face towards the screen, I just did it (Mannichidu thalaiva!). What can I say, I was in the moment!!!
The movie was all Rajini, right from the title card to the ending credits. He looked atleast 10 years younger and refreshingly handsome with his new look. The first half was funny with Rajini's antics to get the girl, combined with Vivek's one-liners and his usual ways of mimicking other actors. Both of them even manage to do a Vadivelu, all in good spirits, I hope. My favorite was of course when Rajini says after taking a dip in a tub full of Multani Matti, "Ippo paaru, poi kazhuvittu chumma Kamalahaasan maadhiri varen". The way Vivek makes fun of all the younger heroes trying to emulate Rajini is a bullseye shot not only for the Simbus and Dhanushs, but also for the Vijays and the Ajiths. Rajinikanth's style is just unbeatable in this movie too. Yesteryear tamil actor Suman has been pulled back from the telugu land to play the villain. He has done a neat job in the age of loud villains with long hair. Shreya as the heroine has played her part to perfection both as the homely girl and the glamor girl.
The second half got serious as expected with Rajini getting rich with just one rupee and using all the money to do good deeds. Well, atleast he didn't do it in a single song like his other movies. Rajini as the Mottai Boss was too stylish (obviously). The songs were actually pretty impressive on the screen. The art direction was amazing. Imagine this: A whole bunch of fat men with Rajini's face drawn on their pot bellies! Creativity at its ridiculous best!!! Overall it was pure fun, if you leave the logic in the parking lot. Once again Rajinikanth has managed to show that he is the real boss when it comes to Tamil Cinema, no matter how many younger actors lurk around calling themseleves the next Superstar. And please Mr.Director, stop extrapolating things at the end of the movie and showing that India had become a super power in 2020 without any corruption whatsoever. It's not only impractical but also impossible, atleast the corruption part, whether you do it sincerely, to make yourself feel good or to impress the audience.

Credit Cards, Points, Cash back and whatever

Points points points... wherever you turn, it's points! Is it just me or does everyone feel overwhelmed by this sudden surge in attracting credit card consumers with points or cash back rewards? As a seasoned veteran in the art of maxing out credit cards, I have to say that I am really disappointed about losing a whole lot of points, just because it's a relatively new concept. If someone gave me a point for each dollar I spent on my credit cards when I was a student, I would exactly have - well not exactly - but roughly 20000 points. Where are the credit card gods when you need justice? Where are the pre-approved mails when you badly need a credit card with 0% APR for balance transfers? OK, that is a little off-topic! If it's not the points, then it's the cash back rewards. Correct me if I am wrong, wasn't there a period when credit cards were considered a luxury or a status symbol, way back in the 17th century or something? Now, the credit card companies are giving us cash back? Talk about marketing strategies! I used to think that the credit card companies get their money only from the interest amounts and used to wonder how they would make any money with people who pay their balances in full each month (NOW, which one of you called me a dummy, huh?). And yes, now I know the merchant also gets charged for each transaction. Looks like I have to change the topic to "Credit Card for Dummies" if I keep writing in the same vein. Did you really know that American Express card does not guarantee payment to the merchant if the consumer defaults on payment? THAT IS CRUEL! Ok, I will stop. I swear this post is about the points and cash back rewards.

So, now I am getting all kinds pre-approved credit card offers, like 2 everyday. Anyone who knows me well knows why I even have to mention that here. There was a time when credit card companies used to run with their heads falling off of their bodies (tried to translate "Thalai therikka odinaanaga!") whenever I used to apply for a credit card. When I see all these offers now, I say to myself, "Oh, now you want me to be your customer?" and then I think, "I have never been pre-approved for anything in my life!" a la Joey from friends, while my eyes get all glazed. One more time, coming back to the actual topic of points and cash back, Now one of my credit cards gets me 5% cash back on certain purchases. If you think I am not going to make full use of it owing to my previous experiences, then I am sorry Amigo, you are so wrongo! It's time for PAYBACK. No, not that stupid Mel Gibson movie! I really don't know if I did any justice at all to the topic, but who cares, it's my blog and I am doing some general whining here. PHEW, I justified the label for this post too! THAT'S ALL FOLKS!!!

WC 2007

I have been wanting to write about the very first edition of the Carribean World Cup, but there was always something or the other stopping me. First I wanted to write about that left arm spinner from Bermuda, Dwayne Leverock, but c2c knowingly or unknowingly stole the post right out of my laptop, hours before I started to write. I am not going to read his blog until I finish this one, so I don't lose the little enthusiasm I have left to write this one. Then, there was that little incident of Bangladesh upsetting India, well I woudn't call that an upset after seeing Bangladesh playing far better than India and Pakistan. There has been a constant nagging from my regular readers (2 to be precise) to put something on the blog and here we go.

When India was knocked out of the first round, I was desperately searching for another team to root for, to keep my cricket interets alive. Then came 'BANGladesh with a BANG' (get it? I can write lyrics for hip-hop), beating South Africa in the Super Eights aka SODHA eights, sparking some interest in an otherwise boring world cup. There is always a pleasure in rooting for the underdog, especially when your favorite team is not playing. You always want to see the minnows bashing the giants. When I say giants, Australia is not included as they belong to a completely different category, which experts are still trying to find a name for. I just hope Bangladesh keeps that fire in them burning all the time and not lose it like India. Then came Srilanka, winning all their important matches, without much fuss. When a team has a bowler, who can take 4 wicktes in 4 balls, you can always expect that team to make it atleast to the semi-finals. So, I started rooting for Srilanka as there was a realistic chance of them beating Australia.

On Saturday I woke up at 7AM (I can hear the collective gasp from the two people who are reading this) to watch the finals, only to be disappointed by the rain. Finally, when the match started, it was trimmed to 38 overs a side. That was the first blow. Whenever the overs are reduced, the team playing first only tries to score as much runs as possible. It wouldn't have made any difference in the way Adam Gilchrist played anyway. Heck, it wouldn't have made any difference to the Aussies even if it was a 10 overs a side match. That's the way they have been playing throughout the world cup. They can't even be termed as bullies, which would also be an understatement. They treat South Africa the same way they treat Bangladesh or Ireland. They don't just win, they totally demolish the opposite team, demoralizing them and making them think twice about playing cricket ever again. Once Gilchrist got going, I always knew, Srilanka was not going to win, barring a miracle innings from Jayasurya, reminiscent to the way he used to play in the nineties. And then, there was that stupid rain again along with light issues, leaving the players to grope each other in darkness. Finally, the best team won! Austalians are playing the game with so much power and dedication that it makes it boring to watch. I vote for Australia to play directly in the semi-final game of the next world cup, no matter how they perform during the time in between.

If ICC is looking for a way to reduce the number of matches in the next world cup, here is an idea: USE THE FREAKING RANKINGS to give first round byes to the first four teams or do something like that and please don't make the second round a round robin league. It took forever to get over. Is it really that complicated to find a way with only 12 teams?