Why does anybody have to be a sex symbol??!!

I am at awe, looking at the huge number of articles doing the rounds on entertainment channels and the entertainment section of the news papers regarding Amrita Rao shedding her 'cute next door girl' look and trying to become all raunchy and hot. Why? Is it so necessary that she or for that matter anybody have to become a sex symbol to survive in bollywood? Lets talk about the greats of the contemporary bollywood times, Kajol, Madhuri, SriDevi, Tabu..where they all sex symbols?? Take the ones who were actually known as such actors, Rekha for example, how many do admire her today? A handful and they only know her for her raunchy looks and sexual assets and acting. Even today when she is called upon for a guest role in a movie or on stage at any event, she has to do something which explicitly depicts sexuality to draw the craze of the audience, but on the other hand if you take kajol, sridevi or madhuri for that, the mere use of their name draws a huge cheer from any crowd.

The latest sensation Katrina was also amazed in an article a few days ago in the TOI, when she was referred to as being sexy. Her quote was, "Sexy me? I'm pretty!". Nobody wants to be known as a sex symbol or as a person who can gain favour by showing skin. But, it has become the latest trend in bollywood, The more skin you show, the more you are recognized, spoken about and more are the offers which come your way and slowly your paycheck starts getting bigger. Looking at it this way, can this be labelled as 'legal public prostitution'? Isn't it just that? Where is the censure board in here? Weren't they appointed specifically for this reason to curb such unruly values and beliefs developing in the entertainment world? For one, I agree that even I enjoy this stuff, but there is a limit to all...too much of anything is too bad and it has taken this form today because of the huge amount of unnecessary hype behind Amrita Rao.

One girl drawing so much attention just because she has shown more skin in her latest flick. This could even be a publicity stunt by the actor itself, but the main thing I am trying to attack here is the belief that unless you are considered a sex symbol, you don't get work and don't get paid in bollywood anymore. People, this is what I have focussed on in my previous articles also. The media and the entertainment world is moulding us into cheaply hypnotised sources of money. We are being drawn into their clutches more and more and they gain manyfold. We need to wake up and question this and try and save ourselves from completely becoming addicted to this, that the censure board, the legal authority which it is also would have no power any longer to prevent this, just because we won't let them to. We are the ultimate power but we are falling victim to an intelligent and cunning system of projection without our knowledge. They are killing us very softly and gently, we won't realize until we are dead.

Champions Trophy - 2009

The ultra-lucrative Champions Trophy 2009 to be held in South Africa in September, just got a whole lot more exciting with the prize money pool bumped up to over US $4 million, an-almost four-fold increase over the 2004 and 2006 editions of the tournament.

The action begins on Tuesday 22 September with hosts South Africa in action against Sri Lanka in a day-night encounter at Centurion Park (the location for the women's world cup final of 2005) and it will end with a day-night final at the same venue on Monday 5 October.

The Groups

Pool A - Australia, India, Pakistan, West Indies
Pool B - South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, England

GROUP STAGE

DATE----------TIME (IST) ----VENUE----------MATCH

Tue, Sept 22------6pm----------Centurion---------SA vs SL

Wed, Sept 23-----6pm----------The Wanderers ---Pak vs WI

Thu, Sept 24-----1pm----------Centurion ---------SA vs NZ

Fri, Sept 25------6pm----------The Wanderers ---SL vs Eng

Sat, Sept 26------1pm----------The Wanderers ---WI vs Aus

Sat, Sept 26------6pm----------Centurion ---------Ind vs Pak

Sun, Sept 27------1pm----------The Wanderers ---NZ vs SL

Sun, Sept 27 -----6pm----------Centurion ---------SA vs Eng

Mon, Sept 28-----6pm----------Centurion ---------Aus vs Ind

Tue, Sept 29------6pm----------The Wanderers ---Eng vs NZ

Wed, Sept 30-----1pm----------Centurion----------Aus vs Pak

Wed, Sept 30-----6pm----------The Wanderers----WI vs Ind


FINALS

DATE----------TIME (IST)----VENUE----------MATCH

Fri, Oct 2--------6pm-----------Centurion----------A1 vs B2

Sat, Oct 3--------6pm-----------The Wanderers----B1 vs A2

Mon, Oct 5-------6pm-----------Centurion---------The Final


Local Time: Day Games: 9:30am (1pm - IST), Day-Night Games: 2:30pm (6pm IST)

Andham ki naa johaaru

It is in Telugu...well for the lot who understand it!!

aakasham lo chandrudu enduku
nee andam lo vennela undaga
vinadaaniki sangeetham enduku
nee navvu lo sarigamalu undaga

thene teepi enduku
nee maatallo maduraalu undaga
inkokka devudu enduku
naa hrudayam lo nee gudi undaga

aasvadinchataaniki prakruti enduku
nee thodu lo anthakante haayi undaga
bathakadaaniki vere kaaranam enduku
nee prema lo swargam undaga

Finding yourself..the purpose of life

There are so many things to love in this world, the love of a husband or wife, the love of a girlfriend or boyfriend, there is a material love, there is an obsession which people call love, love of food, love of freedom, love of obscenity, everybody associates love with everything, but why is it that we all finally end up in discernment about our love with just one thing? Why do we get so fixed we don't understand the difference between love and obsession and we start defining our obsession as love? It is no longer what it actually started off to mean. Love is something that is to give us untold happiness, but why do we still stick on to that one thing which is causing us so much pain and still define it as love, why do we categorize it as something you cant let go your entire life. You start feeling crap like my life has no meaning without that one thing. Is this what this world thinks of it? Has every mind in love become so result-oriented you get so obsessed you go to the extent of wanting to destroy it just because you couldn't achieve it?

Well, many of these questions are unanswered, atleast not by me alone. I might no be so experienced in life, but, can't we be rational enough is what I ask myself at every point in life. Life is too long and too beautiful to be stuck on just one thing is what I feel. I agree it takes time for every mind to break out of something, cos, as every great person would say, hopes and dreams are what define mankind and differentiate us from animals and other living creatures and places us apart as the dominant species on this planet. But, can we let our own characteristic ruin us? Dreams are thwarted, but only so that we see new ones. Why doesn't everybody relaize this? That is how our entire species has evolved and are we loosing the base of our evolution as we evolve more?

Love is something which you can say in these simple words as, "Love is something which fills me, defines me and makes me what I am and where I find my ultimate goal of living....finding my purpose". The day one realizes this and starts towards that goal, the word pain would no longer need a meaning in any vocabulary or language. I have embarked on a journey, considering the civilization around me a wilderness, where I am looking for my salvation as a human being, to find my ultimate love and realize my purpose. The day I am proven wrong, I shall come back here and write otherwise. But, it is a dream and it is not wrong to dream. So, is it wrong for me to help others also dream...to find their ultimate purpose in life??

The only laws of nature which are true!!

If anything can go wrong, it will

If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the FIRST to go wrong

If anything just cannot go wrong, it will anyway

Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse

If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something

Nature always sides with the hidden flaw

Mother nature is a bitch

Law of Thermodynamics -> Things get worse under pressure

The Philosophy -> Smile . . . tomorrow will be worse

Quantization Revision of these Laws -> Everything goes wrong all at once

The Constant -> Matter will be damaged in direct proportion to its value

The Law of Research -> Enough research will tend to support whatever theory

Rule of Accuracy -> When working toward the solution of a problem, it always helps if you know the answer(Corollary: Provided, of course, that you know there is a problem)

The Ultimate Truth -> No matter how perfect things are made to appear, all the above laws will take effect and screw it up

The crowning glory of the houdini of tennis!!

The second the ball flew off a mis hit from Roddick's racket, the entire world witnessed the greatest tennis player in history jump in joy, filled with ecstasy, cos he knew he had achieved the highest glory every maestro would crave for - being called the greatest at his game and indeed it was an emotionally draining and a grueling battle which made the moment that much more special. After 4 hours and 15 minutes of a deadly fight between two gladiators, the moment arrived with just one moment's lapse of concentration and judgemental error. Federer had proved at this point, that it is all in the heart and the mind. He had not broken Roddick's serve in the entire match until that game, but he did it when it mattered the entire world to him. Roddick had challenged him all through the match, broken him twice and had toiled with him, but at the most important time, the champion showed what it takes to be called the best in the game. He hit Roddick back with everything Roddick had taken him thru the entire match in just one set. He pushed him to the fore, draining him till he finally broke down and gave the fed express one break point and Roger pounced on it. That is all it takes for a champion. One mistake at the edge, and he toppled Roddick over. That is how you define a champion's spirit.

The game's greatest, the cricket maestro and elite personell from the football regime and hollywood and the world over were also present to witness one of the greatest moment's in the history of the sports world. They all knew, it was a day on which even the calamities of nature couldn't stop the rampant force that is Roger Federer. At this point I should pay tribute to an awesome showdown by Roddick, his best match probably for his entire tennis career, who took Federer to the edge and almost toppled him. He had the entire crowd applauding for him, who chanted his name right from their hearts after his defeat also, for his magnanimous stature and forced him to stand up and acknowledge their love for him. His sportive spirit showed in his control of tears and true appreciation of Federer's achievement. He has earned a place in the hearts of millions, including mine which cannot be replaced for a very long time to come.

The crowning glory arrived in the form of the golden trophy, which Federer would treasure for the rest of his life. He held it high for the entire world to witness the greatest honor in any event, 'being called the best' there is. It was official and the world heard the echo of the term - the Fed express , the greatest tennis player in history. It was all but for these words which sealed this truth when the great legend Pete Sampras himself exclaimed, "If there is a greatest player in the history of the game, in my book I would give that honor to Roger Federer alone!!". Truly said, the whole world agree in one great nod of acknowledgment of the genius that is Roger Federer.

Save somebody...dig ur own grave???

A perfect example of the death of virtues and values on this planet, was showcased in the Roadies episode aired on MTV on April 07th, 2009. It was indeed hell down under, for everyone that day, especially a complete dick head and an emotionally surrendered Natasha. She would have rather considered a meteorite land on her at that spot and she died, rather than live the rest of her life facing the fact, her own goodness, led to her stupidity and to her final doom. U can't be emotional, when it comes to life deciding decisions, u gotta be selfish. This Natasha wud have learnt after having her ground ripped right from under her on that fateful day. Her eyes said the story. The words, "I am an asshole!!" would be ringing in her ears for a long time to come.

She was the mastermind of the game and it was pretty easy for her to understand that everybody was gonna go against Palak, but she got all emotional and wanted to give her a chance by bringing it to a tie breaker and may be get Paulomi to be voted out in the tie breaker, but lil did she knew she was gonna get F***ed. The tie breaker took a completely new twist. She wud have guessed it wud be only between those two, but RannVijay had other plans...This is why I love Roadies like hell!!!Its an awesome show...u just cant expect wats gonna hit u next, the voteout became a complete game of luck and to her horror Natasha was also involved. Well, she was given a chance and she was stupid in trying to save her friend's ass. But, wasnt it a lil evident that in these final stages, and the way the game has been going, it is indeed gonna be hell. At the end of it all, she faced the grave truth..she had to return.

She did realize at tat point, u have to first save urself, never ever think about nebody else, and she admitted being a dick head at that point but all to vain, it cudn't be reversed. When it mattered, she thought with her heart and ended up in being voted out. Had she been strong enough to go with her mind, she wud have been still thr. This reinforces my previous post, "Is being selfish the best way to be?" and now i can say confidently...The Answer is YES!!!

Graphic Vulgarity - the say of the day??

Have we become so cheap as to being deemed by the entertainment industry to enjoy only graphic and vulgar comedy? Has the mindset of thousands been molded to the falling standards of comedy portrayed by the comedians and standup artists? It is very safe to say that the standard of comedy has fallen many fold in comparison to the classic comedians of the past and the limited comedy found majorly in movies only, for which audiences remember them till today. In today's world, everything has to be so cheap and vulgar, and only then it is deemed to be funny or it is ignored as a mere stupid pass. I would say people have lost the meaning of sense of humor, it can now be called 'a sense of vulgarity', the more the vulgar, the more the TRP ratings.

You take the movies of today and everything has to be related with sex and cheap double meaning situations and dialogues, and a very fastly growing trend of gayism, which has become the hot blow around. The large number of movies having such graphic comedy scenes and double meaning dialogues which have sprung up in the last couple of years is astounding. None of them would have made it at the box office, but still people continue making such blunderous flicks thinking this is what would please the audiences. But, from when did such cheap movies become the stay of tinsle town. The major culprit behind this would be the standup comedy shows where all people can think of is making fun of their wives, the hosts of the show or involving drunk figures, or underworld dons and their illiteracy, prostitues and spoilt kids. It is a grave reality and people draw humor from it. Audiences laugh to such cheap tricks, mainly brought about by stupid hosts of the show, who pump up tha adrenaline mentally unstabilizing the stupid audience on the show.

The award functions of today, the prestigious filmfare and screen awards especially of the previous 2 yrs saw some of the cheapest and most vulgar and horrible scripting, with the hosts going naked on stage to portray gayism. An audience of millions watching and still they r ready enough to portray such lowly behavior on stage. Firstly SRK and Saif wrapping themselves in towels, with Saif's slipping away all the time. Wonder if it had actually slipped off, it wud have sky rocketed the TRP ratings. In this year's star screen awards, the worst host pair of farah and sajid khan, went to the brink of iriitability. Sajid romaing on stage in a trunk, and mimicking the super stars of the industry. Well script writers now can no longer think of originals, they have become blank and now completely depend on only mimicking people, and making the superstars who work so hard to make that character a success, look like fools on stage. "You cannot make fun of a superstar on any podium...It nulls the effect of the awards he wins because of his hardwork"

Its time audiences understood, they are being manipulated and molded into cheap wrecks, by the entertainment industry and break out of it and try and restore sanity to our entertainment industry. It is so grave a thought, that all such cheap shows and scripts are justified by saying they are made for the audiences, and they all work for and are driven by audiences. It is high time we start developing some respect for ourselves. We are being manipulated and being held responsible at the same time!!

India Falter - Lack of Experience??

Were we right in drawing pride from the success of the young blooded Indian team in SriLanka?Were we too carried away by the colors of victory in the first 4 ODIs to not notice the major drawback in this lineup - "The Lack Of Experience", which was the reason for our defeat in the 5th ODI?It also showed today in the first T20 against NZ. Young blood, the vigour, the aggressiveness and all are fine, few of the major factors needed for victory, but the most important aspect of timely thinking, sensible play and situational batting...r we lacking that?It showed to be true in today's T20. Even the experienced players like Sehwag seem to not understand the importance of being at the wicket and pillar one end so the others could score around them. If it wasn't for Suresh Raina's knock and Harbhajan's sensible batting, we were in the danger of being bowled out for 120 in 10 overs with Raina stranded at the crease out of partners. They both understood the importance of a partnership, and had the others mainly Yousuf Pathan understood the importance of this with his power and with the kind of start and runrate we were cruising at, 180 or even 190 was on the cards. But, no one had the slightest instinct to even wanna survive..everyone came in with the mindset, "Blast out or Get out"..sheer madness prevailed.

It is time we sat back and dwelled on this very vulnerable weak link and stop riding on the luck factor, majorly thrown in by Dhoni's presence as captain or we could very soon be in a situation where crores of Indians would be breathing fire down upon Dhoni's men. We are a nation of sentimental fools, and even as players we tend to be blown away by the hype. But, a professional approach and a proper gameplan are to be made for each and every game, no matter who the oposition. Hope Gary Kirsten after today's defeat understands this and brings about a regime of discipline in this fiery and winning but only lucky Indian team and turn them into a completely unbeatable lot, cos we have the potential and it needs to be tapped and molded with the right ingredients.

A RAY OF HOPE & A WHOLE LOT OF FAITH

Well, they just don’t say, that things happen if they are destined to happen. Faith is what takes you over the line, and courage is what helps you get there, even though all odds seem to be against you and all roads leading to a dead end.

We started off the trip to tirumala with neither accommodation nor any darshan tickets, just having the hope things would work out because we had a few friends among us whose uncles and dads had very high reaches in the political realm. When we reached tirupati, we were a whole lot happy to see our friend who had come over from Chennai, indeed this happiness meant a lot, because without him a lot of what was to happen wouldn’t have been as beautiful as it was. The queue at the bus stand for darshan tickets had us overwhelmed, but there were alternate venues for them, and we decided to visit the others. All of them left us disappointed, and that was when we decided we would head up-hill and then see what could be done. Well, when would friends come in handy if not now?

The guy who was to arrange the things for us had an unfortunate incident, which prevented him from making the trip, and so with him not with us now, chances of things working out smoothly were a lot lesser. We called him up once we reached the top, and he made a few calls and voila, things starting to run fine, and before we knew it we had a room allotted to us. Wow, A nice start to the trip! We all were glad to have got our asses to rest and answer nature’s call, and in the meanwhile cells were ringing around trying to get darshan tickets for the same day, as we had our return journeys booked for that day night. As the turn of events were to go, everything didn’t seem to be running smoothly any longer. The absence of our friend started showing its effect, and now we were screwed out of getting darshan tickets. We were not going to get them so easily now. After a little discussion, we decided we would take the long way and go for free darshan. But, the crowd had spawned in a lot earlier than us and that way it would take us more than 8 hours before we could have a glimpse of the allmighty. Too long!

This was when our friend from Chennai spoke up and said he could try and do something. We were all ready to give it a try, before we took the deep plunge, so here were our hopes rejuvenating and we had by then put in all our faith on the almighty himself. We said to ourselves, “if it is his wish to have us in his abode, nothing can make it not happen”. The first call to his father was pretty unexciting, and we were just considering it a wild arrow, taking all the chances before giving up. But, then in a few minutes, everything started looking bright again. His father directed us to another friend of his, who had some really neat contacts at high places. And within a few minutes we found ourselves talking to the DSP. We were at awe, unable to believe the things happening around us, and within the next 20 minutes, we were in direct conversation with a policeman, who brought us our tickets for a VIP darshan. We completed our darshan and were blessed to be in the divine presence of lord Venkateswara withing an hour and a half. The whole run went so fine, we were very satisfied, our eyes wet with happiness as we walked past the radiant idol with clasped hands and mantras in our hearts.

We had started off with utterly nothing at 6 in the morning, and now by 2 in the afternoon, we had one of the greatest darshans of our lives, and were out of the temple on the way to collect the scintillating laddoos, the prashaad of lord Venkateshwara. Nothing else was on our minds then, apart from the happiness of the turn of the events and the ecstasy of having had such a wonderful darshan. On the way back to our cottages, thoughts flowed spontaneously and as we reflected upon the whole day’s happenings, where we had started without having anything, to getting a room and then starting off to take a long free darshan, and one phone call, to try our luck, changing everything within a matter of minutes, it indeed shows what I started off talking about...the divine grace would play its strongest hand upon you only if you had the utmost faith in it, and the courage to hope for the best to happen even in the gravest of situations, because of your faith in God.