#playbold

It was always going to be Royal challengers Bangalores batting versus the sunrisers Hyderabad . The Chinnaswamy stadium has traditionally been a batsmans paradise and it didn't disappoint this time . David Warner won the toss and chose to field first and I guess that's the one and only point he won . Chris Gayle who has a walk and persona reminscent of Undertaker from WWF walked out along with Virat Kohli - the numero uno of Indian cricket leading from the front literally , figuratively and metaphorically to the loud din of the trumpets at  Chinnaswamy stadium. Chris was done in by a Bhuvanesh kumar special which scraped his thigh pad and poked his stumps .. The undertaker made the long way back to the shed .. And then the ground reverbated with the chants of " AB , AB " . AB is quite popular in Bangalore for his batting pyrotechnics and the way he defies geometry hitting the ball all over the park is a sight for sore eyes . Kohli and AB launched into the sunrisers bowling .. Helped in no small measure by Nehraji returning back to the sunrisers shed injured in the middle of an eventful over. Spinners and Seamers ( if we can call them that in this format of the game ) were treated with utter disdain . Ab using the batting crease , getting his shape ,body balance just right whilst Kohli ran the singles hard and hit the big ones clean and straight . It was a batting display straight out of a movie - poetry in motion in the fastest format of the game . Kohli & AB set the foundation for a strong total allowing the rest of the players to come and express themselves . The pocket sized Sarfaraz khan ( yeah good things in life come in small packets ) capitalised on the opportunity , he expressed himself and how .. Bisecting the fielders & finding the gaps at will during the business end of the first innings taking the team total to 227. This format is extremely unforgiving to bowlers but spare a thought for mustafizur Rahman . It was his bowling guile versus the rcb batsmen with the wily bowler getting two wickets off consecutive balls with his change of pace This lad will do well on batting pitches with his versatility






The south paws - shikhar Gambhir and David Warner had to come to the party and freeload on the shots to chase 228. Shikhar was deceived by a straighter one from the spinner Pervez before he could get his eye in . David as is his wont smoked a few sixes scoring a quick fire fifty  but then a short ball bowled by arguably the best all rounder who can bat at any position did him in Holing out a fielder in the deep . Virat leading the challengers beautifully ... Fielding like a panther inspiring the challengers around him . He brought in the spinners , making bowling changes showing the same kind of urgency he displayed while batting . The leg & off spinners chawal & Rasool got into the act , getting hit for the odd four and sixes buying their wickets with a mean line on a batting wicket. 228 is always a big score to chase and with wickets falling in a hurry . The inevitable had to happen .. The sunrisers 
needed a big partnership and with wickets falling in a hurry it was always going to be difficult .. The sunrisers ended up losing  by 45 runs.

The Royal challengers played true to their motto in the first game of the 2016 season - play bold . Let the drum rolls begin .. 

Virat Kohli - you love him , you hate .. But you just cannot ignore him #wt20

This man with that perfectly manicured facial fuzz has taken the cricketing world by storm with his run scoring acumen.

Hairy issues aside , Virat kohli has made this World Cup t20 2016 his own . He came , he saw and he single handedly conquered .. well almost . He had a platinum run in this tournament and those intense and steely eyes gave us a glimpse of what he is really made of . The unbeaten innings of 55 against the Pakistanis on a rank turner in Eden Gardens was a case study for all batsmen on application. Another masterclass was to follow in the game against the mates from down under , a sublime 82 which had class written all over it . He played shots all across the Mohali ground playing the anchor role to perfection , pacing his innings like a marathoner and when it was time to deliver the counter punch hit  shots which the champion boxer Mohammed Ali would have been proud of . It was not just about fours and sixes but the way the scorpion ran his one's &two's like India's life depended on it speaks volumes about his fitness levels and mental alacrity. Finally the game against the West Indians at Mumbai where Virat once against paced his innings to the t scoring 89 odd runs playing proper cricket shots and picking gaps like an expert surgeon.He almost won this game for us with his batting and his one over as a bowler too but no balls and the West Indians had other plans on that fateful day.

When you look at Virat Kohli in the cricket field .. He is passion personified .. Quite like a gladiator , loving the idea of a challenge in a battle and he will go the whole hog  in spirit and mind to achieve the impossible .This man with his touch , timing and class  can make you win matches from any situation and in this World Cup when the entire nations expectations are on you , he delivered and how bringing his A game to the table . Let's chew on some numbers to get an inkling of what he was all about in #wt20 2016

273 runs in 5 games
Average-136.50
3 half centuries
Strike rate of just under 147
Nominated as Captain of ICC world T20 team of the tournament
Nominated as ICC World T20 men's player of the tournament


Enough said.. I like that glint in Virat's  eyes in the midst of a cricket battle which says "you never win the silver , you only lose the gold "


Sent from my iPad

God In Colours

Its always nice to talk to a Poet who goes by the Nomenclature of Dr Bhupati Kumar Das and he has a penned a book of poems which is aptly titled " God in Colours" which is quite relevant at all times.

Below is a conversation with him where i had a few questions and he patiently answered it!!! and if you want to know more you could always click on the hyperlink below

https://www.facebook.com/godincolours/?fref=ts&__mref=message_bubble

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1. “God in Colours” is a very profound name. How did you come up with a name like this?

In this book ‘God in Colours’, I wanted to explore the various facets of God – the various nuances,

the oft- changing flavours, the evolving images and the conflicting interpretations. The Vedanta

wisdom which says, ‘You are the cloud, You are the rain, You are the healer, You are the pain’, has

influenced and overwhelmed me regarding the concept of God quite early in my life. I feel one must

have faith on a power superior to human spirit and endeavour so as to make the process of

journeying through life work. The image of my God takes root in this context. God is one and above

all. Only the interpretations vary. God to me is benign, benevolent and beneficent who, in the

ultimate sense, symbolizes the powers of love, peace, happiness and bliss. I like to visualise God as a

good human being. He is supreme and yet has feelings like love, hope, anger, alienation, sympathy

etc. More importantly, my God also fails sometimes. This image of God helps me keep faith in

humanity. So I thought how do I name the book of poems which reflects all these varied emotions. I

toyed with the idea of naming the book, ‘glimpses of god’, but ultimately, on deeper thought, settled

on the name,‘ god in colours’.

2. What do your poems deal with?

From my childhood, I was comfortable in creating pictures of moods and sensations in simple English

words. My random thoughts and feelings have often found expression in the form of poetry as I feel

the overwhelming urge to capture them in words. More than two decades ago when I wrote my

early poems, the perennial theme in my work were love and life. Love is a universal feeling which

gives a person strength to face ups and downs in life. Life is interesting and exciting because of the

rewarding relationships formed during the journey of life – no matter whether it relates to a

relationship of ‘a mother and a child’ or ‘a girl and a boy’ or ‘a wife and a husband’. I have examined

and dealt with various forms of love in my poetry – love for the country, love for the parent, love for

the son, love for the beloved, love for God, love all encompassing. Then as I matured over time, my

poems started capturing a whole range of emotions in life – hope, frustration, anger, love,

spirituality -  as well  as various facets, manifestations and ambiguities of mystical nature. My poems,

therefore, depict various visuals of human life and living and carries soft notes of love- waves.

However, I am little uneasy with close rhymes in tight structure. So my poems are free flowing, open

and very often without rhymes though a central thread of rhythm runs through them always.

3. One notices a lot of pathos and angst in your poems? What is the reason for it?

As I live life deeply, emotions and feelings have a permanent role in my psyche. The rat- race to

achieve the best in the school and colleges that I went through, considered to be amongst the best

and subsequent high pressure life in the upper echelons of corporate world only heightened these

feelings of restlessness and frustrations and left an indelible mark. My humble creative urges arising

out of these experiences found expression in the form of poetry which refreshed my soul in times of

despair and from which I derive great peace of mind. For me, poetry works both as an artistic outlet

and a therapeutic medium.

For me, life is a voyage to be experienced in totality. Life has so many different facets, so many

different ways of driving home a message. To live a healthy and enriching life, one has to be capable

of tasting life in full – through ups and downs in all its contours of hard emotions and stark realities. I

am quite philosophical about life and death. To me the concept of death resides in the very basis of

living. Therefore, one must have faith on a power  superior to human spirit and endeavour so as to

make living meaningful.

In reality, I am an eternal optimist though at times the optimism is tinged with melancholy,

disappointment and despair. I strongly believe that one should never give up hope in life. In fact, one

of my earliest poems is on ‘hope’. It goes like this – i wait for / the tomorrow / that would bring /

hope and laughter / to me / when that tomorrow / turns today / the illusion called hope / runs away

/ i would run after it / stumbling but not falling / someday i would run faster / and catch it / the

hope.

For me, life has a fair share of disappointments, frustrations, agony and sadness. So, unless a person

is inspired by something beyond the boundaries of everyday -living, life may degenerate into a

mechanical walk-across from birth to death. I believe, living life is much more than that as it

normally celebrates the triumph of human intellect and spirit.

So my poems reflect the emotions experienced through this entire process of living life. Writing

poetry has been a rewarding experience for me. For, it has provided me a medium for sharing my

feelings, inner thoughts and general life perspectives.

4. One notices that you have written a poem on the September 11 Bombing. One line lingers

“tragedy and sorrow have no nationality and no colour”. Tell us about it.

I wrote the poem “September 11, 2001” on the very night the twin- tower terror attack took place.

The poem was published on the cover page of English Daily, “Sentinel” on September 13, 2001. My

wife was travelling in USA that time. When I saw the pictures of deaths and destruction on the twin

towers of New York in the TV that evening, I was worried, angry and sad. While waiting for the news

of the well-being of my wife, I did not realize how the night had passed and in those agonizing

moments, I penned the poem.So I know how much people suffer on such instances of mindless

terror. Pain is experienced in the body and sufferings in the heart. And body and heart are same for

everybody irrespective of caste, creed and colour. Tragedy and sorrow have no nationality and no

colour as tear tastes the same and sweats of fear smell the same of all the people in the world.

5. Your poems reflect what society is going through!

I believe literature including poetry can mould the society. ‘Literature is a mirror of Society’. A poet’s

or a writer’s dreams, ideals, hopes and aspirations, thoughts and feelings, experiences of life – all

these put together, when articulated, make literature. And hence it mirrors what is happening in the

society or in the civilization. As someone said, ‘no man is an island’. The air he breathes, the sound

he hears, the ambience, the voices, the dreams he has – all are linked to society and finally all these

produce literature either in prose or in poetry form. So the input or the raw material is society and

the output is literature. In that context, my poetry also becomes a faithful mirror of life which

reflects the concerns and thinking of contemporary social milieu. I only hope my poetry would bring

back the new generations to written work of poetry and prose who, as someone said, are paralysed

for words without the comfort of a keyboard, to appreciate the beauty of love, life and nature.

Spectre....and the lack of it

James Bond - I have come to kill you
Villain - I thought you have come to die
James Bond - it's a matter of perception


Everything has a sell by date .. But James Bond.. It's a matter of perception and that's what was running in my mind through a blocked nose and a noisy neighbour who was munching on her Black Forest cake ..she was bribed by her mom so that big momma could watch Daniel Craig strut his stuff in sharp tailored suits. Bond movies are all about moments and one expects the start to set the pattern but it just didn't work for me .. The sound track overlapped the opening sequence and it just didn't provide the thrill which earlier bond avatars provided. The topography of the locales were top notch but then if you are going for a bond movie .. You expect the best and some semblance of a story . The story attempts too many things and one finds mention of characters of previous movies in this spectre which is not a bad thing but it also takes focus out of the primary plot . I was looking out for Monica bellucii and her appearance was like that kiss which could have lingered a little bit longer if bond was not in a hurry to put his best foot forward and jump onto another continent ." M " has a pained expression throughout this movie and "Q" with his sardonic lines and his penchant for creating all things fast and furious creates the car which can go for 0 to 60 in 3.2 seconds and I was thinking of a Suzuki shogun which could do the same in our Indian roads . Speed thrills but the car chase sequence .. fell flat. One of the villains who looked like a machine dressed in pin stripes for a strange reason reminded me of Big Arun Lal ( yeah that cricketer who was stuck in a time warp and could not do " the back to the future journey " ) and that hand to hand combat between him and Mr Bond in the middle of the train journey was like a drum roll for WWE minus the hyperbole.

The second heroine who went by the moniker of Madeleine Swan had a thing for glitter and for a doctor she had a glum expression throughout this ordeal ..I would have loved to see more scenes of bond with Money Penny and she was right on the penny with her colour coordinated outfits . This movie could have been much more but alas .. And now that man - christoph waltz who can charm you into drinking milk   Was a match for Bond but it left a lot to be desired . He could waltz his way to your heart with his diction and impeccable dialogue delivery but his screen time was blown to smithereens literarily , figuratively and metaphorically

This bond movie could have been much better ...Its time for the original Caveman in a suit to brush up his act and save the world and it's adopted brother again

Mr bond it's been nice knowing you .. I will see you when I see you

What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger or stranger !!

What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger or stranger !!!

An eye for an eye makes the world blind ..so said a kind gentleman who knew a thing or two about non violence and the art of law. NH 10 is that kind of hell's highway you wouldn't want to drive in any season or for any reason .The credit lines of this raw visceral movie starts with the backdrop of the murky Gurgaon skyline interspersed with the kind of intimate conversation one has with a loved one . The two key protagonist who go with the nomenclature of Meera and Arjun are the kind of individuals one would warm up to quite instantly .. Meera read -ambitious , knows her numbers well can pack a punch in her presentations and doesn't take no for an answer while Arjun is a charmer who does take some time in apologising ,is affable and impulsive with an ego to boot which leads to a situation in this flick where there is no going back .This slick thriller takes up the issue of honour killings and binds a taut crisply edited story around it. There is violence and loads of it in this brave venture and all kinds of blunt instruments are used to good effect. Jaisi karni waisi bharni takes a totally different meaning in this dark and gory nightmare. The grasslands of Gurgaon look like badlands and the houses there though large have a very eerie like existence and you identify with the lead characters from the word " go". Anushka Sharma brings gravitas , intensity and just that kind of ballsy attitude which can make one fidget with a pen nervously ( watch out for that scene between her and a cop travelling in the middle of a night and that aforementioned pen ) . She is brave , courageous showcasing her survival instincts to the "T" in her role which is the most promising and one can't help holding her , hugging her during her moments of despair and sheer helplessness. Deepti Naval has a small role and it's quite dissimilar to her chamko act in one of her retro movies .. Yeah she plays a Sarpanch who is hard of hearing and it shows. The supporting cast of actors do a good job as you start hating their very existence as the movie progresses

This movie is a thriller to the core and let's just say .. It's shot really well in locations one can sense and smell and it doesn't leave a good after taste as,it reflects the world around us and you don't really know who is stuck in a limbo .. The cities or the villages .. More power to Anushka Sharma to co produce a movie of this nature .. It requires more than just financial muscle to make something of this nature ...Yeah like I said an eye for an eye makes the world blind ..it's worth a Dekkho and much more than that

Melbourne - the place to be in

" if you want to have the best coffee .. Sip it up in Melbourne city not for nothing is it known as the coffee capital of the world " .. That's the first salvo I heard from a friend who was a student development officer with Sydney while I was in Aussieland for a professional cum personal reason. They say too much coffee is not a good thing but then when you get a coffee which is a concoction of soy and dandelion one is never enough...and everyone irrespective of physical proportions wears black .Black is the colour to be seen in Melbourne city and if you see red shirts walking the streets , don't be startled .. They are city volunteers with a wealth of information on their finger tips who will point you to the next available block. If you like dancing and are passionate about music .. Streets here have musical names and while the rest of the world goes digital , there are about 50 vinyl record stores around Melbourne.like the popular saying goes there are no free lunches in the world , well to tweak it a bit .. There are no free tram rides in the world but in Melbourne there is one tram which is free .. The maroon city circle tram. I walked into a post office here to send a post card and I was pleasantly surprised .. You can buy flowers .. Now where have you have seen, smelt and bought flowers in a post office. Street art surrounds you everywhere here , Melbourne's cobbled stoned lane ways are plastered with graffiti and pencil art. Australia's sporting giant , the Melbourne cricket ground can seat more than a lakh people comfortably .. In short a sporting stadium where you could fit a city in. This is a city where residents get right of way in the city centre-a large portion of Bourke street , the shopping Mecca in the heart of the city has been a pedestrian and tram only mall since 1983. The queen Victoria market is full of old world charm where you get cheap strawberries and feta cheese in the same breath. The soapbox on the state library lawns is always open for whenever wants to come in.One can always venture into a pub on a week night for some performance poetry. I love cycling and I was in for a big surprise .. There are 670 kilometres of bike paths which could get one to Canberra with 10 Kms to spare. The penguin parade on Phillip Island is a parade one should never miss for a couple of reasons - the drive to the Philip Island and

the freedom with which the penguins are allowed to indulge in their habitats makes for a really cold 

spectacle .. One thing that distinguishes Melbourne from other cities is that the average man or woman on the streets will say that the arts and cultures are the unique selling points of this city and everyone here is really proud of what Melbourne is as a place and what it offers to all and sundry. So what's your Melbourne quotient ( MQ)?

Run for your lives

I was looking forward to world environment day on 1st of June 2014 with wide eyed excitement for a plethora of reasons . I tip toed out of my teen batti flat before daylight could strike  ( yes the tube light takes a long time to light up quite like when lightning strikes .. You are still waiting for thunder to come and deliver its yeoman services) without waking up the missus and the Teri meherbaniyan meets Marley sunshine who were snoring in synch snuggled in their blankets which had seen better days . The chowkidar was dreaming  of momos  , zeenat aman and amitabh bachchan singing their version of " pyar mein dil pe Mar de goli Lele meri jaan " till He was shaken out of his musical stupor by yours truly and suddenly out of nowhere he puts his hands together and does a namaste which might indicate that he had seen a lot of rajshri movies and must be trolling alok nath on twitter. Pleasantries exchanged with the night watchman and off I was zooming away in my Japanese vehicle to the ergonomically located Mother Earth store in inner ring road dumlur . The Mother Earth store was a Bustle of activity with the strong women folk taking charge and how .. Organizing a run is no mean task , you have to push people out of their comfort zone ( literally and metaphorically) and the weather in Bangalore does not really help.. But it was inspiring to see the women folk ( more power to you) taking charge and really kickstarting the event. The volunteers , the support groups and the paparazzi were in full attendance to support and complement the run for trees event and from the looks of it it was a sure shot winner.  It was an awe inspiring moment to see kids who were barely eight years old standing shoulder to shoulder to ladies and gents who were in their twilight of their life . There was a humanitarian purpose behind this run which ensured that for every runner who registered  ,a tree would be planted on his / her behalf . I was totally taken in by the wide array of colours which were displayed from head to toe across the event - psychedelic , neon, flashes of red engulfed in sea of white t shirts  which had " run for trees  flashing at you from all four corners. The sense of relief a runner gets when he or she completes their run and also goes on to ace it is to be seen to be believed .. Yes it truly was a Forrest Gump  meets bhaag milkha bhaag run .The awards distribution was a " you don't win the silver but lose the gold" moment with the loudest cheers reserved for all the participants and yours truly getting into his act of working up the crowd using his own brand of mojo and kinetic energy.The event ended with photo op sessions, selfies and cheerful bonhomie with a " I will see you when I see you moment "

Love,life,luck and loads of laughter,

Shekhar vijayan