Mr. President, My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist

The line has been said so many times in the movie. The directness with which SRK makes this point, is such trademark-ish of him.
Its very much like a short punch line like 'Be No Evil' for Google (are they??). But it makes more impact than any number of hard boiled intellectual debates, going to make.
Well, that has been SRK always. So, this is the better stuff he ought to do, more often. Thralled, Enthralled am I. its a bit filmy (read bollywood). But its really good. His best ever?? Yes may be. DDLJ comes close. just close.

Well, now some thing exciting. Exciting to me(maybe). I don't know how people watch cricket. How they conclude. Whatever I saw, from that, this collapse was a high possibility since morning. Morning session was a real tussle. Just like first round of boxing. And India were 1-3 or something. But score line was deceiving. India just did not get technical points. Simple.
It was coming. The batsmen were never allowed on auto-pilot. That's what Oz do all the time.
Many edges, misses. So, if you think that the 2 sessions were dominated by SA. I think you are not getting the 'subtle' game that the test cricket it.
That does not take away anything from the fact that 2 batters got deserving hundreds or our bowling troubles are not there (interconnected??).
They are there. But the fact is, our bowling does hold its own. Jugad, is the most amazing and the best word here.
So where this match is going. Any secretes? We are going to win. Except, for some extra-ordinary bowling. the chances of that are bleak. Only as much as of Sehwag making us to win first match(I said on that on day 2).
Alright, for now we have come from behind, equal. And that's the character. Don't loose hope. Don't write us off. We are NO 1 by jugad and probably we will be no 1 by 'Jugad', Oz will replace. Soon.

Post-Mortem

Well, everything went pretty to script. We did loose by an Innings, we did not bat out 4th day.
SA were too good. Or may be still are too good. For us. But there is a character of Indian team. Every time we went down, we came up higher. So, don't write us off.
Its difficult to see good things in adversity. But if one really looks in the hindsight, had we have batted first.
I dont know about Badri, but Vijay is here. Talent-wise. He played the best bowlings and always got out himself only, except Styne in first innings.
Again, you can see, why we are going to be struggling travelers. Dhoni. Not good enough batsman for really quality bowling. I dont know if anyone has noticed he still need to prove his test batting credentials. I remember only one Hendingley match saving innings by him.
Gambhir is also suffering against express pace. But, he should be back. Sooner or later. Suddenly, with Dravid and Laxman out and Gambhir not scoring ( highly unusal), ot batting looks mediocre.
But still the testimony of batting quality of India. Sachin late-cut-ed Styne. How good is each single run he scores. So beautiful.
Ah. we will come good. its a matter of time. They caught us sleeping.

Oh My God

No doubts, I am buying Stynes and Morkels. Alright, the balls that got Vijay and Sachin out were very very good. Very Very good. After such a looong time, we are seeing very high quality bowling.
So we need a tear away bowler. you see, Zak holds his own. But genuine pace is soo destructive. Ishant bowls 135Km these days. Major reason for his ineffectiveness. He used to be good. He needs pace.
Wait, Styne. After 'the name is Bond' Shane Bond, I am seeing this quality for the first time. And what's better? He is not fragile. Lovely.
No mjaor fault of batting. Its not that we don't have good batters. They are exceptional. But it was rusty. Just rusty. they are just not used to this good bowling. never mind. They will come good. This match, next match or maybe down under(this time I mean SA).
Ah. No major hope to save the test. Honestly, if not for some thing exceptional, we may loose by Innings. trust me. We are in for 'humiliation'. LOL. We will come good, sooner or later.
Ok, I'll be very happy but I dont see we bat out tomorrow. Again, I am not discounting India for one bad day. But invariably, our miraculous match saves have come on a good opening. And we are two down now.
Good things- Badri and Murali. They just don't seem out of place here.
bad things- SA showed how bad a bowling machine we are. Needs new parts than mere oiling. Gautam is not comfortable yet. And if you take Dravid out. He is supposed to be the player. Sachin averages 28 against SA at home. With 2 50s and zilch for hundreds column. Dhoni needs more years as a test batsman. He is Stephen Waugh sort of thing. And get Sreesanth man. He is as unpredictable as pakistan but he is the future bowler.
And one exceptional thing- Virender Sehwag, against every conceived theory of batsmanship, bats better to all the better bowlers on planet. Mendis on prime, Murali considering retiring, Styne who else. He has got fools faith. And he is amazing.

Hey, I am getting serious

And thats the bad part of it.
Almost disbelieved,it was fairly accurate. Zak, Prince and Duminy.
I don't know. Its hard to estimate the power of self-destruction of both teams.
Both side have equally good batting and there is a strong possibility of 0-0. Well, unless they are not put into a dust bowl or on a green top.
That does not mean we are getting on to a draw here. No. But only SA can win. And they only can loose. We need to see how good are Stynes and Morkels are in India. Its not discounting them but I am being like an investor who wants to see the company perform a bit before putting his money.
We'll see about that. We have got Saha instead of Rohit. Likes of Rohits, Duminys and Marshs are just bound to come good, sooner or later.
We'll see tomorrow but if India does not open well, it'll be VERY difficult to save the match. Leave or include 80% Sehwag factor, still the best India can do is to DRAW.
Enough for now, to be frank India can save the match 50%. Ishant finally is fine. Take him to SA or OZ, he will be a better bowler. Don't play him in One dayers or t20. 50% chance of draw is due to SLOW turn, the commentators talked again and again. Basically batsmen are having enough time to re-adjust. But one factor is needed to be seen is bounce. If it becomes unpredictable. SA will win.

And OZ showed yet once again. How the things are ought to be. They play to win. All matches. Every match. From every situation. They are so bullish about it. There is a thing to be learned. To approach life.

A Time to test myself

To my amazement, I have got it right so many times. Its just predictions so maybe at times, you are bound to 'predict' wrong. Ah..
India is playing SA and who is the favorite? There are too many similarities between the teams about the way they themselves go vertigo. Ahh..
Smith says India favorite. Lets see. Batters?
Prince is not in good form and so is JP Duminy. We have Badrinath and Vijay. If something terrible does not happen, we are not going to miss Dravid for a large part (as this is India only) and we are actually better missing YV. Both battings look impregnable but so often they do themselves in. So nothing to choose really here. Except that they have not got Sehwag and Dhoni. Rest, India match man to man except tailenders.End word- Neutral.
Bowlings: In India, we need to see how effective Styne and Morkel are going to be. Parnell.. They might open with him as he is the swing bowler they have. One thing is for sure, despite the pace, if these people do bowl back of length, reputations notwithstanding, Sehwag will chop them. They need to bowl fuller here. they have got only one reliable spinner,Dumniny. if the pacers don't bowl well, Harrises will be taken for a ride. Another factor is I am not sure how good these people bowl reverse swing. Looking at India, Ishant is giving hints of form. Zaheer is going to be No 1 pacer from both sides. So, if Ishant does not bowl wayward or rather hits proper length, India will be fine. But again, he can be the weak link. I think if SA does not attack him from the outset(consider track also), they are stupid. Best way to get rid of Ishant is to hit him out.

chapter 2 tomorrow maybe

What is this Marathi thing in Mumbai And I am being really boring

I have been there. For a weekend. My cousin who is a reporter for a TV channel, has got the Cab, Driver. So part work and a lot of fun. First day we had our very awesome lunch @ BCCI office canteen. Its MCC on Marine Drive. In the evening, it was cool air blowing from the sea and i said we get a beer. Cousin said not anywhere around. I stopped a taxi and asked. It was near. We got and had real fun till midnight. Mumbai is sometimes so cool that at 12 it was just like 10 of Delhi. Maybe Early.
It started next day. He showed me all sites related to 26/11 and took me to Irani cafe where they used to have tea while covering 26/11. we were going around Mumbai and I saw a strange thing. Every shop has its name in Marathi also. Along with English. It was different and I believed it should have be like that. In Hindi belt, people have inferiority complex for Hindi. You go to Punjab, they respect Punjabi and Kannadiga proud Kannadda. Yeah, at least they are not ashamed. So, it was good. Cousin told that it was done due to Raj Thakare, who threatened all showroom owners to change billboards and signboard to include Marathi also. Ahh it temporary relief.
While my cousin, is a bit(understatement) aggrasive, he said it was right. But in opinion, though it gave a good feeling but the way it was done, was not correct.

It may seem banal. I accept. But often we people dont think enough about it. What Thakareys are doing, gets a lot of support in Mumbai. Make no mistake, a lot of people support them. Except Hindi media or English Media that despises them. Ahh.. Maybe this is one of the ways to make things work in the country. The thing basically they are saying is not wrong. I take their point. Mumbai is a lot different that Delhi. There is fight for everything. If you think Delhi is over crowded, visit Mumbai. So basically they are saying that outsiders should not be allowed, anymore. Persians, Gujrati communities have always been the most prosperous communities their alongwith ubiquitious Pujabis also.
What these people are targeting is the Local Maratha Man who, has never been rich and hence never called the shots for anything in the city, despite being the majority there. So, the card they are playing is based on basically the inferiority complex of the local population. I am stretching it too much and getting away from point.

Its banal, its trite. but its correct. The way these so-called greats have taken basically shuts down the door for the debate. Doubt is a better choice than false sincerity for the democracy. its becoming mob-o-cracy. Agree or we'll beat you. Its just like Taliban without Kalashnikovs. Our country is seriously low on social IQ. I find these people and the people who are following them stupid. Maybe they are not really stupid. Actually its India and maybe I do not understand how to survive in the country. Our democracy is just 60 years old and maybe after 50 years, we can expect some sort of sincerity from the 'awaam'.
The problem with Congress has always being laid back. Or maybe British Inheritence of Divide and Rule. For that, they keep ignoring this very hazardous campaign. It pisses me off.
This way, our country can not go on. People have this strange belief that maybe things will work out. I am telling you that maybe this

IT HAS BECOME VERY BORING. LOL. So cut it.