Life Etc Etc

 Where? About 400 kms from Hyderabad. Gandikota fort overlooking the gorge over Pennar river What is it? A picturesque fort on top of a gorge steeped in history and relevant for multiethnic communities. Plaque detailing the history of Gandikota fort What greeted us within the fort? We made our way into the fort through a majestic entrance which was constructed wide enough for the royal elephants to march in. The majestic entrance of Gandikota fort Gandikota's own version of Charminar and an ancient prison house were the next stops on the journey. Charminar - Gandikota fort version The ancient prison house - Gandikota fort Then, the magnificent Madhavaraya temple with its awe-inspiring gopuram and resplendently carved pavilions emerged. This temple is an excellent example of Vijayanagara school of architecture.  The spectacular Madhavaraya temple within the Gandikota fort   Vijayanagara school of architecture - Madhavaraya temple pavilions Next stop was to the Gandikota go...

In a nutshell A plodding whodunit which takes its own sweet time to set things up but doesn't quite deliver the punch at the end with its reveal. Plot  Miss Marple returns to a favorite childhood spot, Bertram's hotel, to experience the nostalgia of the bygone years. The hotel's guests include Miss Marple's gregarious friend Selena Hazy, absent minded Canon Pennyfather who's making his way to a conference in Lucerne via London, hypervigilant Colonel Luscombe accompanied by his precocious ward Elvira Blake and tabloid friendly socialite Lady Bess Sedgwick who always seems to have a knack of generating headlines. While Miss Marple does take great pleasure in the comforts of the place she also quickly comes to sense that there's something sinister going on behind all that external facade. While a motley group of characters is permeating Bertram's hotel, the city is being terrorized by the daring thefts of a criminal gang which has evaded the police by skillfull...

In a nutshell A delightful whodunit set during the Christmas time with some compelling performances, brisk pacing and a happy ending. Plot   Sam Donovan ( Dennis O'Keefe ), an insurance investigator sets off for a small town to delve into the suicide of one, Roger Philips, who by all accounts was an extremely unpleasant man. On the way there he runs into Anita Weatherby ( Barbara Britton ), daughter of a wealthy banker in Philips' town, Stu Weatherby ( Art Baker ). The two hit off instantly and Sam makes plans to visit the Weatherby family once he's done wrapping up the Philips case.   Dennis O'Keefe and Barbara Britton <Credits: Cult Cinema Classics > Upon arrival Sam calls upon Sheriff Larry Best ( William Bendix ) to clarify the details of the case only to find all his inquiries being thwarted. Through the evasive replies, Sam learns that no weapon was recovered from the victim's side and the coroner who could have thrown some light into the circumstances o...

We all heard the idiomatic phrase that one should end the year on a high . But what does ending on a high really mean?  Does it symbolize wrapping up the year with a brilliant accomplishment? Does it relate to closing the door on something which has been bothering you for a very long time? Does it involve managing your health and finances extremely well? Does it point to a family milestone? Or Does it involve finding that sweet space in your life where doing less is more? Well, the short answer is 'Yes' and 'No' to all of the above.  <Courtesy: Kateryna Hliznitsova> If you have answered 'Yes' to any of the questions above then congratulations on completing a worthy year. You have every reason to celebrate. If you have answered 'No' to all of the questions above then fret not . Welcome to the majority! We are all in the same boat. In this marathon called life, not every year bears the fruit we desire or deserve. But the real question to answer is wh...

I wanted to start off this blog by sharing a beautiful piece on Cricinfo about the redemption arc of Deepti Sharma . If it was South Africa who denied us a place in the semifinals four years ago we paid them back in kind by lifting the world cup trophy. This however was not a resounding performance by any means, there were concentration lapses, nerves and also moments where the pendulum genuinely swung the other way.  Here are some prime examples: Radha Yadav's gigantic no-ball which brought down the target by 13 runs (two consecutive sixes of the no-ball and the free hit) in just one ball Deepti dropping a straight forward chance at midwicket of Dercksen   Jemimah Rodrigues shelling a sitter of the dangerous looking Nadine de Klerk Shree Charani's final over jitters as she offered 10 runs (5w, 1w and 4) on a platter to de Klerk  But we still won chiefly due to the tandem of Deepti's guile and Shafali's guts. Deepti more than made up for her drop by knocking over...

India chased a world record total of 338 to sprint past Australia in the semifinals of the 2025 World Cup. Out of 157 chases, 92 resulted in victories for India.  So this run chase should have been a cake walk for India, right?  Wrong!   Why? Let's take a look at India's successful chases over the last 15 years. Trend line representing India's top 10 successful chases before the semifinal win Until the  2017 World Cup final,  India had chased a score of over 230 only once Until the victory in the semifinals, India's highest ever successful chase was 264 against Australia in 2021. This was also the first ever time that India had chased a total of over 250 against any opposition It remained their only victorious chase over 250 against Australia until this semifinal win  Out of 92 victories for India batting second, only 20 (~22%) involved chasing a score of 200 or more Including the semifinal win, India had chased a score of over 250 only 4 times in their e...