Life Etc Etc

There are books which you read and then there are books which make you read them and change your life. Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari's (Rajaji's) Mahabharata belongs to the latter category. Mahabharata introduced me to the joy of reading books as a kid and today I couldn't have picked a better topic for my 25th post. I cannot describe what a pleasure and honor it is to extol the virtues of this classic book during this holy festive season of  Makar Sankranti . Mahabharata by C.Rajagopalachari The story of Mahabharata is as old as the mountains and has been retold several times. Mahabharata by Rajaji however stands out in my mind because here is a story which is spiritual yet not religious, is thought provoking yet not preachy, is compelling yet not tedious. The story left an indelible impression upon me for several reasons which are: Rajaji uses extremely simple language to convey some of the finer aspects of the saga. I was 10 years old when I read Mahabharata ...

The road to my 25th post had to go through Vera Cruz . Nothing fuels one's imagination quite like a rivalry between two evenly matched foes. As a kid I often wondered who would win if Superman squared off against He-Man and Batman took on Spider-Man. The quest for engaging rivalries and unique match-ups took a life of its own when I discovered sport. Who would win a rematch between Pete Sampras and Roger Federer ? Can Manny Pacquiao KO Floyd Mayweather ?  Will Justin Gatlin ever outrun Usain Bolt ? Whenever a match-up lived up to its potential (See Bibo V/S Kumar ) it became a memory to treasure. Magical rivalries however are not limited to sport and comics alone they have a unique place in movies too. Vera Cruz takes that rivalry to a brand new level by pitting an ultra-aggressive Burt Lancaster against an ice cool Gary Cooper  (both of them incidentally are in the Top 25 actors list of AFI ). But before going into the intricacies of the film we should explore the backg...

The time has come to induct another class of cricketers into the most meaningless hall of fame of them all. I was planning to postpone this induction to the new year but South Africa's epic blockathon  a few weeks ago triggered some painful memories. So without any further ado here are certain performances which will definitely up your BP levels and go down in the history of cricket as some of the most disgusting sporting fails . Kris Sricant : Before Sanath Jayasuriya and Virender Sehwag destroyed bowlers,  Kris Srikkanth  walloped them with the sort of a brutality that was never seen before. So complete was his mastery that even the most fearsome bowlers didn't escape the brunt of his bat. Who can forget the six he hooked of Andy Roberts  in the most important final of them all. But even greatness can wane with time, come 1992 the hero of 1983 was a pale shadow of himself. The confidence was absent, the technique was inconsistent and the reflexes were non-e...

Some roads you choose and some roads choose you. On a rainy Saturday afternoon the road led me to Salar Jung museum , the crown jewel of Hyderabad's vintage glory. The monument (Credits: Wikipedia) I had visited Salar Jung musuem before but I couldn't pass up on the chance to revel in history and marvel at the collection of one Mir Yousuf Ali Khan, Salar Jung III . The Man As soon as I entered the main block (the museum has 3 separate blocks) a sense of familiarity guided me through the maze of rooms and I was immediately lost in the lap of history. The only thing missing was a Salar Jung museum app(most museums in the west already have apps) which I could have easily downloaded from the Play Store . The app in turn would have laid out the map of the museum before me, guided me through various rooms and would have also given me an audio commentary for some important exhibits. The technology constraint notwithstanding I spent more than half a day at the museum an...

More than two decades ago a 5 year old boy (yours truly) found himself in Abids which was certainly then the microcosm of Hyderabad. Abids in the 80s <Courtesy: OkaTeluguAbbayi > The occasion was a family outing to Zamarrud Cinema. And we are stepping out for not just any movie my friends, my parents decided that nothing less than the Raj Kapoor blockbuster Chori Chori was good enough for us. To be honest I wasn't exactly enthused about watching a black and white film of a bygone era even though the movie had all the credentials of a classic. But that was before I saw Zamarrud, the theatre where the movie was being played. Nested in the heart of Abids, Zamarrud was the perfect amalgamation of Hyderabad's old world charm and new fangled ways. Zamarrud was not just any theatre, it was one of the first air conditioned halls in Hyderabad, a premiere cinema hall which used to host the best of what the film industry had to offer and the place to go for Hyderabad...

Two teams punch their way into the Most Painful Performances in Cricket Hall of Fame  with their sheer misjudgment and lack of direction. Our dual inductees into the Hall of Fame share many similarities and their rivalry goes a long way back. These teams are guilty of burdening us (the fans) with two embarrassing sporting fails on the World Cup Stage. Without any further ado lets talk about the back story which intertwines these Hall of Fame inductions. The year was 1996, school was just about to finish when news arrived that Sri Lanka were 1/2 (read that as two wickets for one run) in the all important World Cup Semi-Final against India. That news was like nectar to my ears, I immediately rushed home, only to find that  Aravinda de Silva  had steadied the ship with a magical innings . Aravinda's fearless stroke play along with Roshan Mahanama's  resilience set India a testing but perfectly attainable target of 252 runs. Flashback India lost Sidhu's wicket quit...

The contest season is well and truly underway here in Toastmasters and this year we once again have a talented field of speakers vying for the foremost honor in public speaking. As an active contestant over the last few years, I have not only seen many success stories but have also seen quite a few trip ups which could have been avoided if only people knew what to watch out for. So here are a list of myths compiled using all my toastmasters’ experience which should probably help a contestant avoid a potential pothole. Have the audience in the palm of your hand <Courtesy:  Alexandre Pellaes > Myth 1– Current Trending Topics are a sure shot way to success : Let me admit picking up a hot issue definitely grabs eyeballs for starters but it’s the conviction with which you convey the argument that ultimately matters. One line of approach which attracts audience to such speeches is a personalized example. Let the audience know your perspective and then support your reasoning ...