Ban 3-Idiots

Considering the spate of suicides which has assumed alarming proportions, it would be wise to impose a temporary ban on the screening of 3-Idiots, which ostensibly is the reason for students committing suicides as the film has one suicide and another attempted one. I am sure film fraternity will jump in alarm at my suggestion, but that seems to be practical at this juncture. Art imitates life or life imitates art. Well, when life imitates art, the consequences are unintended

India labour to beat Bangladesh

India huffed and puffed their way to a victory in a game which they had to win, after their stand-in captain made a foot in the mouth statement at the start itself, leaving the team red faced in the first innings. Quality of cricket is getting pathetic day by day.

Erich Segal

Erich Segal dies at 72, the first of the writers to take their final journey this year. I have not read his monumental "Love Story", but will definitely have a dekko to understand the fascination people had with this work.

SCMM 2010 in a PERSONAL BEST

Successfully completed my 6th Mumbai Half Marathon in a PERSONAL BEST time of 2.25.56 hours today. The race started with a melee today at the starting point, and I started with a good pace and kept at it till about 9 kms mark after which i started sagging a bit. from Mahalakshmi race course onwards, the sun was directly affecting the runners and the pedder road climb took a heavy toll on the legs. Passed the magificient african athletes at about that time. The marine drive stretch also took a heavy toll and i started walking to the count of 30 steps each time to recover my energy. From just before the turn into V.N. Road, i started again strongly, and kept at it without stopping, slowly increasing my pace all the time. At the flora fountain turn, i was determined to run strongly to the finish and i started accelerating my pace all the time and from about 200 metres to the finish, i started sprinting strongly to finish strongly in a good time of 2.25.56 hours. If i had not taken those walking steps, i could well have finished under 2.15 hours, which was the target.

South Karnataka

Had been to South Karnataka on a temple pilgrimage from week ending 6th June to 11th June 2009. Covered Kollur Mookambika, Murdeshwar, Dhareshwar, Idugunji, Shringeri, Dharamstala, Kukke Subrahmanya, Kateel and Udupi. Total distance covered in excess of 1000 kms. The scenery was breathtaking throughout the entire journey starting with drive from Kundapura railway station onwards. Dense and thick forests along the way all throughout was absolutely breathtaking. Udupi was a busy town, though other places where we halted for the night viz. Kollur and Kukke Subrahmanya left a lot to be desired. Power situation is absolutely poor in these parts. Food was no problem and in fact it was scintillatingly delightful. Karnataka is a mystery left to be discovered by one and all. It was indeed beautiful. The drive up to Shringeri was breathtaking and Shringeri itself was a delight in itself. What beautiful facilities have been created there a mix of the old and the new, the heritage stone temple being almost mystical. Kukke Subrahmanya was a surprise because there were book stalls inside the temple complex itself which is a new attraction for me. Picked up Gandhi's autobiography for just rs.95/- only. Got some more books from Udupi, there were some three small stalls where we purchased lots of books that we do not get otherwise in Bombay. At every place food was served free in the temple complex itself. The method of serving food was unique in all the places and the innovative methods adopted for serving at a time, more than 1000 persons deserves to be patented. Murdeshwar had a breathtaking statue of Shiva which was about 23 foot in height and near the Arabian Sea. There were other statues as well, which was an absolute wonder.

The Cry of the Halidon

Just finished reading "The Cry of the Halidon" by Robert Ludlum. It probably is one of Ludlum's worst effort, because he does'nt manage to hold the readers' attention. It is not his usual riveting, fast paced thrillers. Goodreads review 2/5 

Golden age of cricket - no more

Letter sent by me to the Times Crest Edition today

Refer to Ayaz Memon's article on Saturday's Crest edition, page 20, probably the golden age is just past us now. Where are the bowlers of esteem, bowlers who could take wickets on any track, bowlers whose name spelt fear, people like Glenn McGrath, Allan Donald, Shane Warne etc. Cricket has completely become a batsman's game now, with bowlers not getting any help from flat tracks. Also too much cricket in one form or another has taken the mystique away from some performers. Bowlers who could have made a difference are perenially injured, like Brett Lee, Shoaib Akhtar, Shane Bond etc. In my view the Golden age of cricket has gone away never to come back. Statistics don't make a golden age, the beauty of the game has been lost.