AJ's Alcholic Beverage Review: Vinicola,Goan Port Wine

Ah,the first alcholic gift i recieved was this bottle of goa's finest(since i havent had the rest).I was supposed to hitch hike this bottle during my industrial visit there but things didnt pan out very well.Eventually,Omi did get this bottle which i was longing for and now since it has reached my evil clutches a greed swifts into my conscience.The taste was like sweet posion when I first had it at Swati's place.The smooth luscious grape potion made me feel like I would attain immortality.
So this would be the perfect beverage to start my long path of the best of the booze available out here in India.
The packaging in the bottle is a complete negative score on 10 since cheap plastic is involved and it is a turn off at eyesight.
The must(grape juice)..(since Im a biotechnologist I like to show off what i learnt),is considerably saccharine as all the sugars arent broken down in to monosaccharides and then ethanol.Lay man terms its sweet,like juice.
But thats where the alcohol kicks in.It would be sweet per say,but those nasty organisms(Saccharomyces cerevisiae) who ferment the grapes leave behind as staggering 14 v/v alcohol,which is massive because the fermentation is hardly for a week or so.
So by the end of 3 glasses(depends on the persons capacity to withstand heavy amounts of alcohol) anyone can have some tipsy moments leaving him or her in a spin.
This wine is a hit among my female friends since they detest the taste of high quality wine as they find it bitter.(????).They can gulp buckets of rum,but they label wine as inferior.Alas!.theyre missing out on the high end of life,a real shame!
Any ways,as for the wine enthusiasts,this port wine manufactured by vinicola is a twist is the usual life of whiskey,beer,rum,vodka et al.
The best part is the pricing.Its available for 95,but with a little cajoling,Omi got it to 70 INR.
Yes Im not high.In senses complete,this joke isnt(lol)
Overall AJ would rate this as 7.5/10
A must try(better than cokes and pepsis for me).
Stay High

So long Suckers

Please dont get offended with the caption.The truth is that I have a major exam coming up and I need to prepare for it.Ill continue writing,but after my exams so expect a long hiatus.Hopefully it shouldnt be too long since Im liking it here,especially the headlines as it shows my creativity(how ever pathetic it is).Writing has become an addiction and trust me I have other addictive problems to fight.Hey whose thinking of Alcohol and Smoking,huh?Hold your horses before you start thinking of anything else.
To motivate the cause you can contact me at 9819992900* and I shall attend youre calls and sms'es.
And if you think my works are a load of crap and I should stop writing completely,then you can vote for me and message AJ Stop to 56432.
Forza Roma,One Love,Ciao
*Not my phone no.

Roma Vs Man United.And a whole bunch of crap in between

A year has gone by.Time has passed and healed my wounds of the worst night in my life.The Roman empire came falling down in front of my very own eyes and all I could do was gasp for breath and rub my eyes hoping I would wake up from this nightmare.Didnt happen though,because it was reality and my mailbox,orkut account was flooded with cynical remarks from united fans who had made me and my beloved club their laughing stock.Well I haven’t been able to get over that night.I was in Singapore and had stayed up all night anticipating a good result as we had a 2-1 advantage.
Before kick off Id met a zillion Asian Man Utd fans and had wished them luck.And since I was wearing a roma jersey throughout the trip they knew where my loyalties where.Im not explaining in detail about the game but Id planned to go to a pub in the hotel that was exclusively for united fans.Thank my stars!But nevertheless,that result was a fluke and my sweetheart destiny has rolled the dice once again.on my birthday,2nd October we went back to old Trafford to get revenge.We spurned a host of chances and Utd won the game,but this time I was less sore since we fought and deserved to win the game.The return fixture was of no meaning and just when I thought Id enough of the Man Utd-Roma fixture it comes back to haunt me again man!

Okay the real meaning to write this was to share my experiences of meeting up with people who have narrowed their horizons only to the premiership and nothing else.But first for all those who think that the The Premiership or as they call it EPL is the best league in the world, please stop thinking as you are making a mockery of the evolved cranial capacity in humans. If the premiership was the best league in the world then England would have sailed across their qualification for the euros.And I tell you within ten years the three lions will be hovering the line with the other british teams,its their fate which has sadly been sealed by the exponential rise of foreigners in their league. But,sadly the emerging crop of players ie the big players are all going there but that doesn’t mean rest of Europe doesn’t have any talent.Firstly,the clubs in England have no local lads representing their clubs barring few like Mark Noble,Steven Taylor but do the ‘epl’ followers in India know who they are?No,beacsue they are stuck up with Ronaldo,Rooney,Lampard,Gerrard and the bunch I don’t need to give names.For me the best player in my time,a certain Mr.Luiz Ronaldo didn’t not play in England which tells a lot.He is the best player Ive seen Live,along with say Zidane(I don’t like him too much personally).I don’t want to be a braggart and lsit names but personally I love the leagues in Italy,Spain.English Championship football is exciting for me but not the premiership.The players who I like currently in the premiership are-Phil Jagielka,Kevin Nolan and Mark Noble.


Okay this the fun part,people who don’t read football read this if you’ve not understood anything above.And please start following the beautiful game.

My Experiences with Indian Football Fans(of the Epl to be precise)

My gujrati friends are all Man Utd fans.Firstly tell call them Man YUUU.This one gut who I met across the road the other day.
“Areey Hi Ajay bhai,su che?Toti jersey.Good,where did you get it from?”
I replied instantly “My dad had been to Rome”.
He smirked and said “What yaar,Roma lost 7-1 to Men U.(Yes he said Men u).Men U is the best club in the world.”
I interrupted “But Milan are the champions of the world”
“Huh,Men U won na something,some cup,it comes in the ad.Cristiano Ronaldo is the
Best striker,what he hits goals, he’s the dhoni of Men u”

I gave him a slip since I almost burst out laughing.

When euro 04 was going on,My physics prof was lamenting about how david beckham doesn’t score these days.When I told him,hes a right winger and creates goals for the strikers and his job is to make goals,not score them he had a clueless white face similar to this dude.Man these guys get cricket also in between.Times had compared the Indian cricket team to Real Madrid-Los Galacticos.What losers.


Anways,when id been to Kerala,me and my bro were watching a Chelsea game(since hes a fan and I had nothing better to do) at a hotel,in a common game room or something. They were two kids cousins I presume who had come befor us- one would be 13 yrs and other 16-18 yrs old. The older guy asked me
“So whose youre favorite player?”
My reply was instant “Daniele De Rossi”
‘No in the Epl”he was taken aback.
Coming to his rescue quickly was the younger kid who seemed smarter among the two and trust me that dude was lucky because he was just about to get a lashing.
Which club do you support he asked.
Roma my reply.
After that the words he said are still embedded in my head and I swear I could have killed him there.
“Yuck.I mean Im sorry”
He just called my Roma Yuck.What nerves does he have sob!
They are a good club he said as if I didn’t know.Totti,Mancini good players.
Immediately the other dude who lost the spotlight came back and barked “Mancinis goal
In the champions league was awesome.Which team was it,yes Lion,German champions.”
Disgustedly I said “Thank you”
The younger kid started “But Chelsea are the best club in the world.They can win anything.They have legends like Cech(???),Drogba(???).”
I had to make a exit unfortunately as I parted I advised him Money cant buy you everything,son.But may be he was too young to understand sarcasm,or was he?I don’t care.But the wise old dude was also telling about how Charles N’Zogbia used to play Right Back and he was predominatly right footed.Lucky none of them got hurt.


My good friend Laxman Singh Hada who I was to kill is as ignorant as anyone.He supports Liverpool and gets me Roma jerseys,infact he was actually going to print one in his name – Laxman 8.
Luckily that didn’t happen.The other day he was asking me about Euro 08.
“Clubs are not participating.Like World cup right?What about Brazil,Argentina?
I was going to lose it “Laxman only European teams.”
“Oh! Yes I know you want toti and plus ill go early to Bangkok(he gets the jerseys from there) since there will be a lot of people wanting Rooney 9,Beckham 7,Owen 10 England NT shirts”
I calmly replied again “Laxman,Tottis retired and England haven’t qualified.”
Shell shocked he replied”What,England not there.Sob Sob”
It was like Id announced that some national tragedy had struck.

I don’t argue with Arsenal fans. I don’t want to. Because they are the least English club among the so called big four. Chelsea were the first team to roll out an all non-english 11 in the field but Arsenal are carrying the flag forward.

Ive met few Spurs,Everton fans but not as funny as meeting some one who just shows off for the sake of it. They talk about their clubs as they were born in England. Ok, I wasn’t born in Rome either but the passion running in my blood is right up there.

Im a bit psychotic.I scared a laborer who was wearing a SS Lazio shirt.Poor guy for him it was piece of cloth protecting his skin,but for me it was madness.
I almost ran over a guy who was wearing a Nike Totti 10 shirt.Why?Because Totti is with
Diadora now.

The whole point of writing this was cos I was feeling frustrated at the state of my life,since the lega calico d’italia doesn’t get the same respect as the premiership.
But when is started writing I divulged into God knows where and in the end I got 4 pages of words. I was exasperated with myself at the end of the day as my eyes and fingers were bearing testament to the non stop typing. But for Roma,Ill give my everything.Ive become so sleepy that I have no track of what I’m writing.ill edit and post latewr on.No its ok im posting it as it is.Im talking to myself,Im stopping now.

On april 9th I await the fate of my Roma.One result can shut the mouths of millions of Man Utd fans.And the whole population in large who follow the Epl.

Till then,forza Roma!!!!

Sleeping Giants:The Story of the mighty who have fallen down

What is a sleeping giant? In simple terms a club that has achieved glory in the past and are presently languishing in the league underachieving due to various reasons from financial irregularities or scandals or any other reason.Or a sleeping giant can alternatively be a club with all facilities,a decent crop of players but yet not able to compete with the dominant teams in the league.But really,the tale of the downfall of the mighty clubs from the past is what catches the eye. Its always sad to see a top club from the past not able to compete in the highest levels.Fans reminiscent of the old glory days as they shed tears now in the present thinking that the history books were filled with their clubs name.The theory is simple,rival clubs improvise and grow bigger as the blasts from the past slowly but steadily fall down and are unable to emulate the heroics from their golden eras. A very surprising thing is that the clubs termed as sleeping giants have a huge stadium(barring a few) but more importantly a huge fan base.What went wrong with these clubs?Which clubs are sleeping giants will be the top rated question.Lets highlight the clubs in Europe where the best football is played that is in England,Italy and Spain.The English clubs have a huge tradition and the premiership is the most watched league in the world.And because of the popularity ,massive number of fans and excellent stadia we find the highest number of underachieving clubs in this part of Europe.Almost immediately the club which comes in everyones head has to be Newcastle United.The Magpies have been consistently disappointing the Toon faithful especially after the sacking of Sir Bobby Robson.Atleast he had brought the club in the top 6 consistently.The 90’s is when Newcastle came very close on winning the silverware but after that they have never even been near it.They have probably one of the best stadiums in the world-St. James’s Park and the turn out is amazing as the Geordies come out every time their team plays,although in their defence they do generally have injury problems to their star players. A lame excuse for a club with heavy investments and also a decent transfer activity as their capture of Micheal Owen shows there is no lack of funds.But the chopping of managers and injury crisis have seen the biggest club in the north east part of England stoop to an all time low as they finished 13th.But under Big Sam,they hope to better things around this season and build for the future.Another top clubs with a lot of money and underachieving has to be Spurs.The north London club were expected to break in to the top 4 this season,but they have disappointed so badly that they lie currently near the foot of the table.League founders and 1983 Champions League winners Aston Villa are also one of the sleeping giants.But the club with glorious past surely didn’t have the fundings in recent seasons but with Randy Lerner’s arrival villa look to reclaim their old glory days.The take over by millionaires in recent times will help some of the clubs,but old giants like Nottingham Forest,Leeds United,Preston North End are in dire straits and have no immediate chance of even playing in the top flight.Moving on to Italy, where we find the clubs here which were big in the past in a condition worse than any of its English or Spanish counterparts.Starting of with the seven time scudetto winners Bologna who are currently degrading in Serie B. They were Serie A regulars,and they have fallen miserably and the club cannot digest their current position.Napoli FC,Parma AC have all gone through financial irregularities with the latter atleast playing their brand of football in the country’s top flight.Napoli came up from Serie B last season are looking good this season,as they remind people the association of Diego Maradona and Napoli FC. Genoa,the oldest club in Italy had a freakish time around more recently as they were relegated due to match rigging scandals.Yet they had Real Zaragozas top marksman-Diego Milito and sold him to his current club for an amount of 3.2 million pounds.More astonishingly, they paid River Plate 8.5 million pounds for Argentinian Lucaino Figueroa,surely a record for a lower league club.Currently they are back in Serie A for redeeming themselves but expect a mid table finish for the Rossoblu.
Our final destination-Spain; where the first rank for the biggest under achiever in recent times goes to none other than Atletico Madrid. Not as popular as their next door neighbours,the 9 time la liga winners should have performed much better than what recent history shows.With one of the biggest Stadiums in Spain-Vicente Calderon this season they were expected to do much better.They lost their best home grown talent and talismanic skipper F.Torres but they strengthened their squad with Diego Forlan,Simao,J.Reyes over the summer along with full time international players like Maxi,Leo franco,Pernia etc.But somewhat like Tottenham hotspurs,Javier Aguirre’s side have failed to even win a match.They have to start playing well soon,otherwise even reaching the uefa cup would be difficult this time around.Atletic Bilbao another sleeping giant barely managed to escape relegation last time around.The 8 time la liga winners will surely hope on avoiding the drop this time around with an all Spanish squad and the return of Asier Del Horno.Clubs like Deportivo la coruna who used to do well along with other old time giants have definitely been hurt by the teams that have risen in recent times-Sevilla,Zaragoza,Villareal,Getafe.

That’s football for you-where you have to really fight hard to remain on top,but you never really can predict anything.The mighty have fallen,giving a chance to new superpowers; yet they are trying hard to come back to where they were.They are definitely giants in the game but their time of uprising and revival will only be seen in the future.Some of the clubs have had positive things going around for them off the pitch and are hoping for a bright future if not silverware whilst for some its looking like there is no way back.Football can be cruel sometimes,so either the clubs could come back to life or always remain a sleeping giant. Whatever happens, only time will tell.

Damn Malus!$%&*&!@

Ok this is not like the recent happenings where I support a community but after n number of incidents i loathe the Malayali Community.Come on,these fat,hairy bastards can care a little bit more especially for people of the same ethnic group.The article Breathing space didnt get published only because of one guy-Mr.Menon.In this scenario there were two Mr.Menons-Me and the other Mr.Menon at Raheja park.All he had to do was give a green signal,you can read the article there isnt anything remotely profane about the rahejas in the article,in fact Id heaped praises.But that silly mongrel barked in a accent rich with coconut oil-"sorie yi caaant give permission.u ave to go to main aufice in beeekayysee".Ya right,I was going to go half way across for a slam door on my face.It was such a simple task,just read the article and Ill make any change you want.Dont waste my time he yelled,this time.I asked politely again but he rebuffed and I was forced to leave in pain. I got a letter from my editor and courageosly came back for a second shot but to no avail.(avial for malus).
That guy was the most stiff,egoistic jackass Ive ever seen.I pity his wife and kids.
Wife telling Mr.Menon-"Sweetheart can we make love tonight"
Mr.Menon-"Podi Pulle,poita BKC office n permission adka,pine nokam"Lol

Breathing Space

In the present fast paced world where do people head to take a breather? Working on clamped up schedules, the only place where people find solace these days are none other than our very own ‘mall’ down the road. The place for recreation and may be for an evening walk too has changed and it is not surprising that the number of malls might be slightly greater than that of parks and other recreational open spaces. Barring a few parks in plush locales the parks are shoddily maintained and the concept of spending some quality time around lush green trees and pure air has totally vanished. As for the fit brigade of people there are some joggers parks here and there, but mostly they prefer their swanky gyms with sophisticated tread mills and for those who don’t hit the gym; they use the roads as their jogging track. In this concrete jungle, it is essential that the few open spaces can be tapped up by the BMC and developed as a park or a garden. One of the recent parks that has come up is opposite inorbit where there has been shrewd utilization of open land, and although there was a slight delay the residents of the goregaon-malad belt near inorbit have their very own park! The work done is impressive considering this was previously a dumping ground and the park is much bigger than what it seems at first glance.Local resident Sanskar Jain says “This is a pleasant treat for all of us.Our area did not have a garden and it was about time we had something like this.I like to hangout with my friends in the evenings here and you don’t know how time passes by”.There is a separate jogger’s track with a wide variety trees and shrubs surrounding it and an array of beautiful flowers crowning the sides of the walk.”It wasn’t easy jogging on the backroad as the surface is uneven.But because of this park,jogging is fun,as I just plug my i-pod and start running”says Omkar Shibad another regular at this park. It’s truly out of the world as you feel lost in nature’s beauty. Benches and grass meadows are a welcome treat to families who come with their children-a sight which is so encouraging as the kids these days are attracted to gaming arcades.The security guards usually have their work cut out as there are maximum number of visitors during the weekends and holidays.”Generally,new complexes that have come up have their own gardens but it doesn’t match up to the size of this one.I go to both my society’s garden as well as this one”quote from another resident in the area. Attracting the young and the old this park should be taken as a benchmark for the foundation of new parks, as people don’t mind paying a minimal entry fee for some peace and quiet.There is also another garden opening up near this one so things are looking bright.The local residents who use the back road for their morning walks and yoga exercises are thoroughly enjoying this experience and if properly maintained the spirit of public parks will live on and it rightly should.

TAEK-WONDER

The two combinations-An ancient form of Korean martial arts which originated years ago; a country where martial arts is in a nascent phase. The two combinations do not go well together but this martial art form more popularly known as taekwondo is slowly but steadily making its mark in our country. Taekwondo is the Korean national sport rivaling karate, judo and is becoming increasingly popular among the masses. Many don’t know but at the Busan games in Korea, Surendra Bhandari won a bronze medal for taekwondo, at a time where it was an unknown entity. As it’s a form of martial art it inculcates self-discipline and also builds your self defense and concentration. But what’s the connection between taekwondo and the Mumbai suburbs? Head down to andheri (w) near 7 bungalows-The Renaissance club. One of the few places where there is quality taekwondo training under the guidance of Mr.Laxman Singh Hada.”It’s been 16 years since I am training in martial arts and its just an honour teaching the young kids form whatever ive learnt during this time”chirps a confident Mr.Laxman. Mr.Laxman is a national gold medalist in taekwondo and has represented India in the SAFF games.Hes earned a black belt from Korea and has coached at NIS-Sports Authority Of India.So what has happened to the sport of taekwondo is the last decade or so?He aptly replies”The times have changed considerably.There is a lot more happening in the area of taekwondo and karate today and its just great to see a sport which was so nascent now becoming something big.And taekwondo is just going to become increasingly popular with time”. Armed with an impressive CV,he is the founder of Champion Fighting Arts Academy at the Renaissance Club and gives professional training in martial arts. Taekwondo being his passion, he aims at spreading the game of taekwondo in the city and also at the national level.A buoyant Mr.Laxman says”People are not aware of taekwondo, but the situation has improved since the past 5 years or so.Slowly but surely more people are taking martial arts seriously and its quite amazing to see the response Ive got.Im sure that the club is accessible to the residents of versova,7 & 4 bungalows and even lokhandwala.I hope to scout and nurture as much as talent I can from this belt of the suburbs as there are quite a few number of people enrolling.The age group Ive got now varies from 8 -9 yrs to almost 35 yrs age.Im very optimistic about the future” A qualified referee also, he participated in the 2005 Taekwondo World Open in Vancouver, Canada. But after 16 years of kicking and punching he’s now mainly focused on grooming the talent at his academy. He’s also in talks with several schools about including taekwondo in the extra curricular activity section for the children.”Yes,I do hope this happens.Like other popular sports in school like football,cricket and basketball I hope to see taekwondo too,but it’s a dream nestled in the future and me and my team of trainers are taking small steps to achieve it”says Mr.Laxman whilst signing off .How popular taekwondo becomes is a question which can only be answered as time goes on, but with such zealots like Mr.Laxman around promoting the sport, we can surely expect our kids to become ninjas in the near future!

Im the Boss

Some of the write ups here are the ones that have failed to make the cut at the westside plus office or goal.com office.To tell you the truth,the folks at WSP were running helter-skelter after reading my write ups since I constantly cricticize the suburbs,and theyre supposed to promote it!
My editor has the patent dialogue on her lips"About sports again.Ajay cant you think beyond sports?
But this blog is my haven.Im the editor,I can post anything.HAHA(Feelin' Good).As i lay back,reading my own posts and feel a joy which is beyond any happiness that Ive ever got from my 20 year stint in this planey.
Jeez,Im in depression,that explains the over-eating and i have too much time in hand it seems.See i started blogging,playing the guitar,eating,watching TV,eating,sleeping for 10 hours,eating,writing for people again(im supposed to study),eating,eating junk food..aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh stop me from eating food

Do Roma Need A Roman?

The Giallorossi are battling out in three competitions for some much needed silverware as the latest gossip mulling over the capital outfit runs around the streets. Rumor has it that the club is facing a prospect of a takeover by Americans, since the mother company of the Sensis –Italipetroli has huge debts. Takeover, the fascinating hobby implying a great commercial value made famous by none other than Mr. Roman Abramovich when he bought Chelsea in 2003. Chelsea were labeled as one of the many London clubs to merely fill up the numbers in the premiership, but Mr. Russian billionaire has changed all of that. Apart from making Chelsea a silverware winning team, the money he has churned out of the team is enormous making it a selling product in the market. From then on, it caught the fantasy of other rich boys and there were numerous takers for football clubs. Manchester Utd,Man City, Liverpool, Villa, Portsmouth , West Ham are some of teams that have seen takeovers, some amidst the displeasure of fans, but the turn of fate some teams have had among the lot is fairy tale stuff. As the takeover mania dies down slowly in the British Isles it proceeds to the peninsula down south. Serie A has some big clubs with rich owners the examples of the Milans, Juventus etc. Clubs rich in tradition and the Italians have great pride for their clubs, the owners and the football they follow as religion. Now when we talk about Roma we talk about a club that has all the ingredients to win major silverware yet they lack something. 1 or two players may be, the availability of extra funds may be, that could lead them to mount or dominate the league. It could all change with the takeover. It isn’t as easy as it sounds because for Italians nothing matters more than their pride. Seeing their beloved clubs in the hands of foreigners could spark riots in the streets of Testaccio. The Roman public are hard to convince or please and the football team has come under the wrath of the public many a time. But the scene in the office at the Olimpico is not as merry as it looks. The Sensis risk huge losses which would be indebted to the football club and it could lead to such an unsurprising story which has happened before in recent history. Parma AC’s story is a chilling reminder of how things can go really bad in football. Rocked by financial irregularities in their mother company Parmalat, the club was forced to sell their top players so that they could avoid administration. Parma are not going to reach where they were in the foreseeable future. Even clubs like Fiorentina, Napoli and Lazio have been hit by crisis storms and have just managed to pull through. The American takeover could be a savior in disguise to the lupi and most importantly could make them stronger contenders for silverware. Roma have not purchased big name players recently and often you hear Totti egging on this fact. The days when Roma bought Batistuta or Nakata at sky high prices could come back and the football club could take many forward strides.

The take of the locals on this story is that takeovers happen merely for personal monetary purposes. But Mr. Roman Abramovich has showed that money can build a strong team and with the right man in charge silverware can be won. At the end of the day it’s on the Sensis, as they’ll take a decision in the best interests for Roma and its fans. Goal.com wants to know what you think. Should the loyals of the curva sud stick with the Sensis during their rough times or swallow their pride and allow a foreign invader to rule their beloved club?

Missing: Local Sporting Heroes

The demise of the Indian Hockey team in Chile has been documented well enough, causing a furore among the masses as all of us shake our heads in disbelief and lament about the situation as we work, have a cup of tea or hang from trains! Hockey’s fall from grace doesn’t come about as a major surprise as the failure to qualify in a major tournament was bound to happen. But for the people who have closed their ears and eyes till now with their sporting circle dominated by a single sport-cricket it’s a sign of how inferior the game has become compared to their the almighty sport. The team at Chile didn’t do as bad as they are showcased. Plummeting Mexico by a score line of 18-1, they narrowly lost to Great Britain 3-2. But in the finals, they lost to them. Qualification is tough and the average person is acting flabbergasted. Why? They haven’t seen the team play even on TV, but they are the first to come and point fingers at some lads who have played their heart out. The facilities are bad, officials are corrupt and unfortunately they are the ones having the highest powers. Indian hockey has been in dire straits since a long time now, but their highest low unfortunately came at a time when cricket is at its all time high. That is the reason may be for the stick that the hockey team has received. Beating Australia is the past, the IPL is arriving in full swing and within a months time, billions of cricket lovers would be glued to their TV sets watching cricketers slug it out for the sake of money and for a game of cricket too. The IPL seems to be the final nail on the coffin not only for hockey but for all other sports in India. The failure of the PHL, or even the I-league for the couch potato is a chilling remark to all the sport broadcasters as the Indian couch potato asserts where their priorities lie as far as watching sport on TV is concerned. Hockey has been inflicted by three great losses recently. The first one, obviously the disappointment of not making it to Beijing. The second one - Viren Rasquinha retiring in his mid-twenties and pursuing a management degree. A midfield general, his retirement surely magnifies the great slide Indian Hockey or rather Indian Sport is taking which has to be resurrected before it’s too late. Well the third is fictional yet true as Cricket has hijacked India’s screen coach and its theme song-Chak De! As if we weren’t sure that cricket is the most popular sport in the country. The IPL will definitely boost the morale of youngsters taking up sport as realistic profession but what about the other sports lurking in the dark? It’s a frightening thought if our city doesn’t produce good sportsmen or women in any other sport. Mumbai has seen some prolific sport personalities in the past, but the talent coming through is incredibly low as to the huge number of kids who play sports in schools and colleges. The city has a pool of talent and huge potential but many aspiring hockey, football; badminton players are left disillusioned seeing the apathy of the respective games. Parental pressure or pursuing education apart, there isn’t enough money or fame in these games causing many to bring a premature end to their short stints at schools and colleges. Although the city has only one astro turf for hockey, things are changing swiftly. The infrastructure is improving slowly yet steadily enough and pretty soon there should be noticeable changes. Mumbai has good tennis courts at the Bhupathi Academy and Tennis is catching up with the urban youth. Football’s market value is rising exponentially and it’s a big hit among the teens. Sadly despite having two clubs in the I-League the city lacks a decent football stadium, while, cricket has three (including the new D.Y. Patil). The new Mumbai FC has got an overwhelming response to their trials and football is one sport that is surely earmarked for future success. But, the city has to been more generous in giving the nation players in Athletics, Basketball, Badminton, Table Tennis et al. All these sports deserve their fare share of importance and we the people have to be unbiased when it comes to following a sport and supporting the youngsters who want to make it big in these games. Otherwise we have only ourselves to blame and no one else. The foundation of a strong sporting nation has to be laid now. We have an enormous strength of man power, let’s utilize it and not hang our heads in shame when our hockey team or football team fails to make it big. Even young girls should be encouraged to take up sport. It was highlighted well in a recent bollywood flick, but the torch seems to be fading away in a heavy mist of Cricketing Glory. Cricket has seen bad times too; when the nation is outraged with the team’s performance; but when the good times come in, people forget about everything else and cricketers cash in to leave their fellow countrymen wondering what they have done wrong to endure such a horrendous fate. Imagine if MS Dhoni, captain of the team had continued playing football! Would he be as big an icon as he is today? You’re guess is as good as mine.

The Face of Desperation

When Ranbir Kapoor was announced to be the face of FIFA in India it gave me a mixed feeling of joy and sadness. Joy because Indian football needed a voice or may be a face,sadness because it just shows that still football is considered unpopular in India despite recent steps taken in the forward direction. Ranbirs venture hasn’t been thrown in the page 3 limelight yet as none of the glamour papers have showed any consideration to the rising stars’s endorsement of FIFA. Endorsement yes,as our nation tries all its might to ‘promote’ the most popular game in the planet. Football needs no introduction or promotion to some of us, who have been following football passionately over the times but yes for millions who have cricket filled in their souls, they need to be stirred, Also they need to remind themselves of other sports in the nation.. A Bollywood star roped in might just be the final card that The AIFF and FIFA play to get football as popular as cricket. Don’t get me wrong football is popular in Goa,Bengal,Kerala etc. Also the urbane youth are aware of the Premiership. But sadly they know a Ronaldo, or Rooney or Lampard but when asked about our national team players they laugh and and use the same profane sentence- the Indian football team?Do we have one? Indian football is not popular enough in the nation to say the least.beacuse when it comes to cheering the national team it always has been cricket. And it looks like it always will be because of the initiation of the IPL. Goal.com spoke to Mr.Lalit Modi and he mentioned about a concept similar to the IPL for football. But the AIFF was just about to launch the I-league- the new improved league replacing the NFL. Zee sports bought the broadcasting rights, but due to unavailability of the channel in many regions,the marketing of the I-league got a mixed response. When I happened to chat with Mr.Bobili Vijay Kumar,national editor of sport,Times He had mentioned this unique idea of the I-league was bestowed upon the AIFF long back by Espn-Star. In fact they even showed some of the games if you remember. Their only condition was that the account handling should be transparent,but some senior officials declined the offer. And immediately espn pulled out the plug from the deal. This incident surely shows us the money laden nexus happening behind our backs.During that time the growth of football in India was stagnant and it continued for a long time. Any which ways after a matter of years after this incident atleast we got to see the games of theI-league and the national team on our TV sets without any hassle. It may be noted that with the rise of popularity of the Premiership among the kids,is when our officials realized that Indian football could be marketed as a commercial product after all. People have slowly started raising question marks over the lack of money being pumped in other sports. Sepp Blatter has visited India many times now always citing the enormous potential in our country. Facilities for players and coaches are improving and recently the AIFF has taken many right steps for ensuring the future of football in India. Im dreaming of the day when people go 40,000 seater stadia and watch their team play or when I can buy Mumbai Fc or Mohun Bagan merchandise without any trouble. Till then, Ranbir Kapoor is a knight in shining armor and using his popularity lets bring football some respect in the nation,respect which the game deserves. After that the glory days will surely return.

HEADLINES

Headlines Today- From the TV and Filmi WorldPS-these are the effects of watchin too much Television
-Roadies is all set to have their own TV channel broadcasting the show 24x7.it'll have everything including making,voted out etc with info on the personal lives of raghu,rannvijay,bumpy,willy.Also the producers are giving it a new look by hosting a pre show like you see in before cricket or football gameswhere a host presents with a bunch of analysts and pundits!Harsha Bhogle has been approachedbut he has stiff competition from Charu Sharma.As for the pundits its my buddy Sanko who is the malepundit,the search for the female analyst is on and if youre beautiful and sexy contact 9892402464(raghus moblie no.)
-Nivedita Basu has won the award for the most creative,creative head.In the serial Kucch is Tarah she has lifted charactersfrom Bhool Bhulaiya ie Monjulika and made her Natasha whilst Geet from Jab we met is the brother of the main lead Kanyas love interest.Interesting creativity.While Akashdeep Sehgal entered the record books for acting with his eyes closed.
-Dil Mil gaye is an inspiritaion for animals confirming that they can make it big on Tv.Jijamata udyan is witnessing a freedom movement.
-Babul ka aangan flys the flag for indian soaps.Why?Cos,the lead couple were arguing thattheir first kiss should be after they get married.Take a ride in a time machine and go back to 1445.
Filmi Khabar
-Kareena Kapoor lost 3.4591 kgs in a span of 30 days,14 hours,23 mins and 7 seconds.
-Mallika Sherawat doesnt want to fly with normal puublic not even buisness class.Why?Cos maidsare hard to find these days.and she doesnt want to give competiton to the sakhubais.
-Shahid has made it to the A-list of actors who charge over a crore for their services.Ie nt for acting,but dancing at weddings of unknown strangers.
-Neha Dhupia wants to act(hahaha) in serious films.Ya moving from semi porno to serious roles.Her next movie is with Emraan Hashmi;o) -Sanjay Gupta is suffering from an illness.He cant make original movies,he just has to make remakes ofKorean,Brtaislavian or American movies.So hes just employing directors to make movies for him.1st it was rohit roy,apoorva lakhia and now suparn verma.Cine-goers pls watch his moviesfor sympathy sake.Cos after watching his flicks you must just end up meeting him in the Hospital.
-rakhi Sawant had donated her silicon implants to chartity.Now she wants em back.Not for her,but for herboyfrnd since he lacks balls.(this is what we get to see in primetime news channels.)
thats it for the headlines.now moving on to weather and sport.iLL BE BACK FOR MORE

My date with the crab

Im going to die soon,cardiac arresst is passe im surely goin to get cancer.3 years ive been dealing with the most carcinogenic chemicals known and unknown to mankind.Minute quantities are enuf to form a malignant tumor you knw,and ive been playing with buckets.All those colrful dyes,ninhydrin et al man.I got sprayed with ninhydrin the otehr day and didn knw acrylamide was neurotoxic until i opened my journal.Not my fault cos the teacher whose supposed to knw plays with acrylamide as its clay!what about Mutagens?That could be fun in my own world as i could be one of the X-men,but this is the real world.Oh i almost forgot,i spread radiation by keeping the UV light switched on for too long.Talk about homicide,cos everyone who enters the lab takes a life-ending risk.And i wonder...What about our predecessors?They could have spread radiation before we even entered this god for saken place.As i make my much taled about exit from this filed and college i carry with me nothing but nerve-wrecking,life-threating spores eventually fruiting to necrosis.PS-I forgot to tell you the dust and cemet we had to endure from fyjc as the bloody college is still under renovation...If youve read this and youre not from my class..haha...Grazie

I Start

By public demand i have started taking my writings public.(d'oh what a stylish start up).In my dream last night,my friends praised me for my exquisite writing skills and advised me to start blogging,cos it would be the first step to my stardom as a full time writer.Darn them,i know they want free helicopter rides when i become rich.Anways all your comments and prasie are welcome.Cynics stay out otherwise i must infect youre pc with the worst virus discovered by nerdy hackers.Grazie(Thank you in italiano)