Sunday, May 24, 2009

IPL too!

As IPl 2 comes to a close today, it's interesting that the last two teams last year, Hyderabad and Bangalore, are in the finals this time :)

We saw some good cricket this time, but in my personal opinion, both Pakistan and Australia were sorely missed. And not having the matches in India somehow robbed the tournament of the passion we saw last time... or who knows, maybe it was just the novelty rubbing off... And without Dada, KKR lost it's biggest fan (no, not SRK, me!). And without me, SRK too didn't attend any of the games... oh, guess I got something mixed up there.. anyways, I am sure you got my point...

The final is at 8 tonight, and I don't really have any plan to watch it. Yet.

One good thing came out of IPL being transferred - a super safe Indian elections!

And yes, my office group has started playing cricket on weekends... I need to start joining them, but my Goa contracts hasn't give me the opportunity yet :(

Movie Review: Gallit Gondhal Dillit Muzhra

Yet another comedy hit from Makarand Anaspure, the movie is set in a small Maharashtrian town and traces the "struggle" of the village boy Narayan to achieve his politicla aspirations while doing chamchagiri for both the local Sarpanch and the local MLA...

A good laugh, tends to get a little boring towards second half, though.

Casatta Updates



I love catching the characters on TV!



Zzzzzz... I love it when Sanam puts me to sleep on her shoulder!



See, I told you!!!



I am trained to use the bathroom...



...but sometimes the basin is more fun!

A Bike Takes an Auto!



Apparently, she was too tired riding around and decided to take a ride herself... on Law College Road, some time around midnight

Sanam with Rob from MAD TV

Britto's

Don't miss Britto's when you are in Goa. Anyone will tell you where it is, but if you are the type who doesn't like to ask - just watch out for it a hundred meters from the end of the road on the Calangute Baga beach.



Try anything and everything that used to move. Especially the crab-stuff prawns and the rava fry mussels.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Quote for the Day

Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan of the BJP today sent a clear message to the party saying "Vikas alone is Hindutva"!

Results from Andhra, Orissa and Bihar clearly point to what India wants - development, not divisive politics of caste and religion.

Interesting Times!

With the UPA coming back to power with a thumping mandate, the Left, SP and BSP out of the way of reforms and development, the stock markets reacted with a never-before rally, gaining more than 2000 points, a rise of 17%, before two successive upper circuits triggered off and halted trading for the day, first time in history. And all this in just one minute of trading!

The Indian stock market, in that one minute, has become the best performing stock market in the world this year.

While all this was happening, Sri Lanka also annouced the end of the 30 year old war with the LTTE, with the killing of Prabhakaran and most of this key leadership.

Will we soon see a similar rout of the Taliban? Are good days here again?

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Singh is King... and How!

As the results keep pouring in now, the trends are absolutely clear! The UPA is headed for a mammoth 260+ seats, almost 100 more than the BJP-led NDA, powered by 200+ seats for the Congress itself. Manmohan Singh has proved he's King, the only PM since Nehru to be voted back to power after a 5 year term.

As Naveen Patnaik and Nitish Kumar sweep their states of Orissa and Bihar, the verdict is clear. The Indian voter has rejected divisive politics and voted for governance and stability. Lalu and Paswan have been routed, Mayavati and her bahujan politics have been relegated to third position in UP, irrespective of the number of statues of herself she's got installed all over. The Left has got their lowest ever total in decades in Kerela and West Bengal, their shameless politics of blackmail given a strong thums down.

The Congress has cashed in on the strength of the Gandhi family, Sonia and Rahul's charisma and relentless campaigning turning into a strong positive tide in their favour. But for me, the winner has definitely been the performance and the clean image of our PM, Manmohan Singh, who's truly showed his worth! With many other strong, young leaders like Sachin Pilot, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Milind Deora, Priya Dutt and NC's Omar Abdullah, the country can finally look forward to a lot more involvement and power to the youth.

What did the BJP get wrong? Everything. Having Advani fly to Mumbai to try and make cheap gains out of 26/11, even while our soldiers were still battling, a few days after having publicly taken on the ATS and its chief Hemant Karkare, was symbolic of the depth the party has sunk to. From opposing the nuclear deal, to infighting between its own cadres, to the absolutely disgusting personal attacks against a man of the stature of Manmohan Singh, the BJP has proved it's complete lack of vision and leadership to run this country!

For me, this is a red letter day in the history of this country. Finally, truly, this country has grown up!

3rd Weekend in Goa...

My third consecutive weekend in Goa :) And no matter how many times I come, and how inconvenient or otherwise the journey is, it's just not enough!

Really looking forward to dry fry crabs, masala squids, and rava fry shinanyo at Ritz tonight :)

An Amazing Democracy... Maturing...

Elections 2009 have been an amazing step forward for Indian democracy... a mammoth exercise in the face of terror, a resounding success for the armed forces, for the election commission, for the politicians, and for the ever-maturing Indian voter.

Less than an hour into counting for half a billion votes, and results are already coming in for more than half the seats! Just an amazing testimonial of the maturity of this largest democracy in the world!

And the results... just stunning. Spoilers like Maya and Lalu getting routed, Nitish sweeping Bihar with his results of good governance, Left losing heavily after their politics of convenience. And most interestingly, the two main parties, Congress and the BJP, gaining heavily at the expense of the other smaller parties.

Still early hours... but with gains of around 40 seats, and a difference of almost 60 with the NDA, the UPA seems to be emerging the clear winner...