Well, GRE material seems to be having the better of my bed! With so much material, I hardly had place to sleep…

PS: This image is just an indication of the mess that I am making and not of the amount of study I am doing for the GRE

Well, since I am too lazy to write, I thought would put in a pic atleast… Breakfast courtesy Maa, Anda full fry recipe courtesy Aditya

Well, I happen to blog after more than a month and exactly a year and a day since my fateful visit to D OAK Academy. My GRE is on 28th July, postponed once. Preparations are on and hence no time even to come online let alone blog. I will be back blogging once GRE is over…

Well, I am a dilettante in the true sense of the word. Though I

have been a good drawer I have been never been able to paint

well, I do draw on bits of paper sometimes. And yes I did manage

to clear elementary level drawing exam!

This time I have finished drawing what my friend had started and

it came out really well. I really liked it!

Can u guess the things drawn by two different people?!

And yes, Drawing Analysts are welcome to analyse!

- * -

Genre: Comedy Marathi Drama

A good review in the newspaper prompted me to see this drama. However, it turned out below par. The most frustrating part of the whole drama was that there were only three actors. The story line was a catchy one with a last year engineering student desperate for a girlfriend out of frustration, fear and peer pressure. He along with his friend employs a “Hitch” strategy or “Partner” strategy (for Hindi movie bluffs). But no such motif would be complete unless there is anybody to portray the girl. Those incidents would have brought a real charm to the drama. “All interactions were left to the imagination.” quotes Aditya.

The only other character is a roommate of one of the guys. The typical take-it-all roomy, nonchalant and a member of “Sanghatit Yuva SAngh”. Though the character appears hilarious, the freshness is fleeting. And the jokes keep repeating.

The end though highly improbable in real life, was predicted, simply due to lack of other characters. Even that appears slightly stretched and fails to revive the smile on one’s face.

Some one-liners were really good, but not much pertinent. The theme essentially required a circumstantial comedy act than a witty one-liner one. And one felt that the topic was stretched too far with limited characters with just two people doing almost all the talking. The music between scene changeovers was really eclectic but irritating.

Though I had a good laugh, I would recommend otherwise. My enjoyment can be easily attributed to my jaunty nature or to the fact that I had just earlier laughed till my stomach ache over some really stupid scenes from the great ‘Tashan”.

Worth a watch if you are an engineering last year student and a still single hostelite. Perhaps you would associate with the characters a bit and enjoy the play.

Overall: 2/5.

I have been very busy and very lazy over the past few weeks. One of its important consequences being that I was not at all particular writing my blog. Sincerely, I missed writing. And so I am writing on Monday, rather than on a particularly wasted weekend.

The weekend holiday kicked off in German style with me spending almost an hour and a half washing my bike. With no laptop, I could hardly study. Then came the IPL shock. Chennai lost to Royals in a thriller match. It went to the wire, and just the last over made all the difference. And then I rooted for Mumbai to win (So that Chennai could make it to the semis :P) but even they lost.

Sunday was a lazy day. Saw an amazing Monaco Grand Prix with F-1 guru Aditya (pls write a long post on it so that i can conveniently link it here ). I was really annoyed at Kimi for spoiling Force India’s chances of an almost dream finish. Also felt really sad for Sutil. I believe for once, Malliya’s golden touch seems to have deserted him.

Also saw the marathi drama - Signal. I was the only one who kept on laughing! The review is here.

Sunday was a good food day. Punjabi in the morning and amazing Chicken, Pasta and Mango desert at Aditya’s place!

I had another verbal brawl.

Also played lot of AOE and a new game IMPOSSIBLE CREATURES, courtesy Aditya.

I remember that I did some GRE words.

Lots coming up in this week. IPL semi-finalists to be decided. Lots of cricket matches going on :P. French open beginning. It is my most watched Tennis tournament purely because of the time in the day i get to see it live.

I have got plenty of project work and also a Paper presentation coming up. Really enjoying my English class and trying to get rid of the ‘shtas and the shpas’ . Also have to see LOST, read H2g2 book 4, Shantaram. Also have some catching up to do with old friends.

Till the next blog, Cheerio!

PS Apologies for not updating the IPL pages. An update and detailed analysis is due after the completion along with detailed stats.

I have been really busy the past few days and haven’t had time to blog much though have a lot to say! Hopefully I will be able to take out time this weekend.

P.S. This blog is intended for my own satisfaction. For the reader its value may be zero and he/she may skip it. Of course, if you have not stopped yet, you are as much free as I am busy.

Roughly translated as “Who will watch the watchmen?”, I first came across this phrase while reading Dan Brown’s “Digital Fortress“. Since then, it has sparked a train of thought in my mind, to which I return to whenever I come across any reference. Over the course of time, I came up with an answer which satisfied me completely. It is an answer, which for me, has forever silenced any further doubts and speculation on the question. I decided to put it down here in the form of a short poem:

“Who will watch the watchmen?

And who will heal the healers?

Who will guard the guards?

And who will lead the leaders?

Who will cook for the cooks?

And who will help the helpers?

Who will raid the raiders?

And who will kill the killers?”

“THEY THEMSELVES. EACH OTHER. GOD”

The IPL ball is now in the middle of its innings and the shine has just started to fade. With I, not blogging about IPL for past few days, it certainly seems so. Even some of the matches were heavily one-sided. And with at least a match everyday, it is certainly taking its toll. It would have been so much better if each side were to play just 7 matches, 3 at home, 3 away and one match at a neutral venue, my home town Pune for instance!

However, at the end of the day, its Cricket and one cannot just let it stay away from you. Though I have not watched the matches entirely, I have completely followed the results and the performance of icon players and also the star performances. With my team, the Chennai Superkings losing two straight matches, it hasn’t been the most happy part of the tournament. Still, I decided to dish out an analysis of how the teams are performing.

Chennai Superkings:

They started brilliantly with four wins on the trot. The absence of Hayden and Hussey was felt in their fifth match. However, it was not quite huge as expected. The batting did reasonably well to get a formidable score but the bowling had no answer to Sehwag who stole the show. In the match against the Royals, Tanvir was the super performer. He got four wickets by himself, (the first two were a gift from umpire Asad Rauf), proving that his strange action is really hard to pick up.

So now MSD will have something to think about. Though the team is looking quite gelled it is missing some good players up the order. Fleming and Co. will have to deliver the goods if Chennai are to do well. Losing wickets at the beginning has brought down many great teams in all formats of the game and Chennai will be no exception to that. Gony deserves a mention here. He has bowled well and is a good prospect for the future. MSD will also like to focus on fielding and running between the wickets which has looked shoddy in the past couple of games.

Rajasthan Royals:

The surprise package of the IPL. They have emerged from being the written about underdogs to complete champions. With Shane Warne leading the pack both with ball and bat (he hit 16 off 3 balls to win the match!), the team has won five straight matches. Yousuf Pathan and Asnodkar have looked menacing at the top getting the team of to flying starts. Smith has made his presence felt and so has Tanvir (6-14 vs CSK) in a big way. Actually the entire team has performed and have given no headaches to Warne. Kaif, Jadeja, Watson, Munaf all deserve a mention here. RR are now favorites to reach the final if not win it. Aniket writes here on Warney.

Delhi Daredevils:

Look virtually unbeatable until their top order is firing. Once that fails, all is over. With a loss to KXI, another emerging team, they still looked pretty solid. However, the upset loss to MI has put focus back on their vulnerability. The middle order has not been tested and even the great McGrath and Asif have felt the heat of T20. They seem to have winning formula revolving Asif, McGrath and Sehwag, Gambhir. Once it is broken they can easily be defeated. However, it is not that easy as it sounds and thats why this team is 3rd.

Kings XI Punjab:

This team is on a roll. Having one five matches on the trot, the team is certainly living up to its expectations. Again, team is heavily based around the foreign players like Sangakkara, Hopes and Sarwan. Yuvi has done well in parts while Pathan is the leading wicket taker now. Good mix of experience and youth. They have looked good but certainly not unbeatable. They look all set to making it to the final four.

Kolkata Knight Riders:

After a glorious start, this team seems to have lost the ability to win. Brendon McCullum is being sorely missed. Ganguly is looking passe. With an under-performing captain and inexperienced side, the team is looking down the barrel. Ishant, too seems to have lost his venom. Hussey and keeper Saha have kept matches alive. It only seems a difficult task from here just to get into the final four.

Mumbai Indians:

After a disastrous start i.e. losing first four games, they seem to have found their ground at least for the moment. And an inspired win over then leaders Delhi will certainly boost their morale. Pollock has taken on the role of captain wonderfully well. Bravo and Nayyar have performed. Jayasuriya yet to play a long innings. Bhaji banned and Sachin yet to play means that MI has never fielded its best 11 players. Hopefully, the costliest team in the IPL will continue its good run.

Royal Challengers Bangalore:

The ‘test’ side never looked in contention and never will be. Winning just two matches, one a very close game, they have at least lived upto their reputation. And winning against the Deccan Chargers was I think the highest high they will have. Dravid is looking all lost and Kumble, incongrous. Players leaving has hurt their already less fire power. They will be playing for pride and the Kingfisher Fair Play Award. I have no hopes from them…

Deccan Chargers:

The DISAPPOINTMENT of the tournament. just proves that matches are not played on paper. Won just the one match which I got see live. They have all the big names: Gilly, Afridi, Symmo (now gone!), Gibbs, Vaas, Styris but its just not happening for them. VVS has got runs at the top but at an uninspiring pace. The only real good thing is the coming up of Rohit Sharma who has looked really good at the crease. Good for Team India. Overall, they have the strength on paper, just have to bring it into practice. Bowlers will have to perform well and batsman to play longer innings otherwise the DChragers (or Dischargers) wont stand a chance.

POINTS TABLE IN BRIEF: as of 06-05-08

1. Rajasthan Royals - 10 points off 6 games
2. Kings XI Punjab - 10 points off 7 games
3. Delhi Daredevils - 8 points off 6 games
4. Chennai SuperKings - 8 points off 6 games
5. Kolkata Knight Riders - 4 points off 6 games
6. Mumbai Indians - 4 points off 6 games
7. Royal Challengers Bangalore - 4 points off 7 games
8. Deccan Chargers - 10 points off 6 games

For latest point table on Cricinfo

As of now, the top four teams in the table are the ones which are looking good. With a 4 point gap in between the top four and bottom four, it will be difficult for the bottom guys to fill it up. Still lots more cricket to be played. And one thing that is emerging is that Any team can beat any other team on their Day. Thus, their is no reason for any team to lose heart. And after the final four are decided, it wont be wrong to say that every team will have equal chance of taking the title.

Also,

Star Performances in IPL

Performance of Icon Players in IPL

Well, I have never been much of a poet myself though many of my friends have come with their brilliant pieces. The reason for this I believe, lies in the type of poems I like i.e. ones with a good rhyme scheme. This poem here will be in contention for the universes worst poetry ever and will warrant a revision of the entry for the same in a future edition of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy which would normally run as:

“Vogon poetry is of course the third worst in the Universe.
The second worst is that of the Azagoths of Kria. During a recitation by their Poet Master Grunthos the Flatulent of his poem “Ode To A Small Lump of Green Putty I Found In My Armpit One Midsummer Morning” four of his audience died of internal haemorrhaging, and the President of the Mid-Galactic Arts Nobbling Council survived by gnawing one of his own legs off. Grunthos is reported to have been “disappointed” by the poem’s reception, and was about to embark on a reading of his twelve book epic entitled “My Favourite Bathtime Gurgles” when his own major intestine, in a desperate attempt to save life and civilization, leapt straight up through his neck and throttled his brain.
The very worst poetry of all perished along with its creator Paula Nancy Millstone Jennings of Greenbridge, Essex, England in the destruction …”

So here goes nothing:

Awake at 3oclock in the morning,

Coz something stupid went into my eye.

And this line is just here coz,

I found a rhyming word in ‘why’.

Rhyming words are what I never seem to have,

So I will put in “Bye, Bye Miss American Pie”

And because I love reading Agatha Christie,

I will put in “A pocketful of Rye”.

So, on this fateful and sleepless night,

as GRE words doing am I,

But Yoda would say “GRE words doing I am”

How did I think about him and I wonder why?

Was it then a coincidence yesterday,

that I should come across a lullaby,

Written by an Android, Paranoid he may be.

‘&’ that I heard “Zaphod just this guy…?

Was it also a coincidence then,

That I came across a pie chart of pie?

Or that I could answer a quiz question,

Concerning both Isaac Asimov and Helen of Troy?

Now as I look out of the window,

Into the not so dark and not so starry sky,

Never have I thought so many rhyming words,

How did I think about them and I wonder why?

Doesn’t any poet find rhyming words difficult,

Or to everyone do they easily come by?

And do they have choice to make,

Whether to rhyme with “bee” or with “buy”?

And perhaps I am inspired to write this,

After reading the blog of this limerick loving guy,

And/or after reading this short poem by another friend,

Who gave a lecture, which introduced me to the cricketer CB Fry.

Rhyming words I have thought of many,

They include dry, my, cry, try, die, lie, even fungi and rabbi,

How to put them into lines,

I will think, till then BBYE!

Now I will put down my pen,

The magnum opus complete and the mind rested.

I don’t think I will write again soon,

Till I have so much time to be invested.