So the Pakistani players were not bought at the IPL 3 auctions! Does that become an issue of ‘International Concern’ where their External Affairs Minister has the audacity to say that “They will get back at India”?!!!
Let me first mention where my thinking comes from and the facts as I know them-
1) IPL is a very private enterprise. There are corporate houses involved who are shelling out millions of dollars with a business plan to make profit over a planned period of time. Cricket is a only a medium to achieve that purpose.
2) This time there was uncertainty over the availability of Pakistani Cricketers owing to which while the corporate players i.e. the franchises formulated their plans they decided to go for investments (read players0 that would have no uncertainty and thus made their choices.

3) As per these choices the ‘Australian’ and ‘Pakistani’ players were left out as at the time of decision making and consultation process, the said purchases did not guarantee ‘Return on Investment’.

4) And most importantly every franchisee had only limited number of seats to fill in so just because the Pakistan cricketers were made available last minute they could not have spent a few million dollars more even if franchisee's wanted to play good hosts!!!

Thus even without getting into the history of damage caused to us by Pakistan it still seems a perfectly valid development to accept.

However looks what's been made out of it-
"I have phoned the sports minister of India and recorded a protest over the unjust and discriminatory treatment meted out to the Pakistani cricketers," sports minister Aijaz Hussain Jakhrani has said to the media!!!
Their Interior and External affairs minister Rehman Malik was seen on television this morning talking with anger and vengeance about- getting back at India!!! (I hope he did not mean getting back to India!)
Our very own media channels were seen spitting their sensational concerns at the cameras last night over how unfortunate this incident is for Pakistan and the spirit of the game!!!
(Isn't Mallya taking care of the 'spirits' of the game?)
Now, I am not a one who takes out his hatred dagger the moment Pakistan is mentioned but I am very consciously aware of the damage that country is causing us and blatantly ignoring our various grave concerns. For them to think of ‘giving it back to us’ because a private business decision did not go in their favour is ludicrous to say the least...also for me to expect Pakistan to understand that fact is also a little naive! But alas...!

The painful part in this circus is our own media channels who seem to achieve a low moral ground with each passing day! None of the news channels bothered to highlight the fact that some of the Australian players too were not picked up owing to the very same reasons!! None of them attempted to explain the business nature of the league to our ignorant neighbours! And of course none of them had the strength of character to ignore the entire exercise of stupidity!!!

Apart from the fact that the Pakistani players lost out on earning a lot of money there is nothing more dramatic to it...especially for Pakistan who has to save its face on far more crucial issues.

And lastly, Please note- Pakistani cricketers were denied permission by Islamabad to play in the second IPL edition last year due to growing political tensions with India after the November 2008 attacks on Mumbai!!!

Should’nt we be protesting for first they sent terrorists and killed us, secondly they refused to co-operate in the investigations, then their players snubbed our IPL 2 and now they are threatening to get back at us!!!

And what does the ‘I’ in IPL stand for anyways??

HOCKEY IS OUR NATIONAL SH(G)AME!

It was always a known fact that hockey was the foster child of our cricket loving nation. The players not being paid and training under not the best facilities is nothing new hence in a way I’m glad that the present furore by the players has raised some dust over something that had started to become a way of life.
The pathetic nature of the Hockey administration is further exposed by the manner in which the ‘officials’ (Read: people with right political contacts) are handling the issue.
It’s a perfect scenario where one finds it difficult to figure out whether to cry at the misery of the situation or laugh at the buffoonery!!
For instance after having failed to provide any logical explanation for the awkward situation the board finds in where the national players are sitting out of practise two months before the world cup and the board claiming that it is poor and has no money and also cannot arrange for it, the players were asked by the Hockey India (HI) president- A K MATTOO- to choose between money and love for the nation!! Now how corny is that?
Should not Mr. Mattoo pay the best players their due if ‘he’ loves the country? Contrary to that he is threatening to field an entire new team in the WORLD CUP if the players don’t give up their demands and surrender meekly to the board!! So it would be fair to say that Mr. Mattoo loves his country so much that he does not mind the country loosing face in a tournament of world cup standards by fielding a second rung side!! And wait... we have yet not debated about the fact as to how is asking for rightful dues a mark of not loving one’s country??! Never mind.
Last night the President of the International Hockey Federation glared in the camera in a news talk show and ranted how the players will not get any sympathy from anybody in the international hockey playing community before he threw away the mike and walked off!! Ah! Now that’s going to make you look good Mr. ADMINISTRATOR? Shows how thoughtful you can be!
If I mention here, the other cases of disputable selection criteria and the condition of the training camps, I shall be only making you’ll read what you all already know... so let’s simply come to the moral of the story which in this case is- THE PLAYERS SHOULD BE PAID and please don’t bull shit by saying that you have no money!!!
And of course...the poor administrative skills and lazy attitude was always your hallmark now please don’t get corny by degrading ‘love for the nation’ feeling! Spare us please and pay them!

I AM A FARMER!!

There is definitely more to gaming then simply passing time and enjoying the moment. It is connected with your personality, your frame of mind and thus your dreams and aspirations. For hence you get attached to some games far too aggressively and find some escape in their virtual world.
Right now that world of mine is in the fields!!! I am a farmer who judiciously cuts his crops when they are ready to harvest, Plant them carefully such that i would be able to attend to them before they go bad and also enjoy selling them and then carefully managing the funds so that i can develop my farm better!
Facebook is no more now a social networking platform where in i send friend requests or chat... it is a place where i farm!!!

I don’t know what it is... maybe I want to set up an office of mine that I conduct leisurely, at my pace and do a good job of it...or maybe i just want to own a farm away from all the noise that the city makes or maybe i am just an escapist who likes to plant trees without dirtying my hands!!
As of now i am enjoying being a farmer!!! ....so much so that i even wrote a random post on my blog dedicated to Farmville!!!

3 IDIOTS MAKING A FOOL OF THEMSELVES? WHY??

Raju Hirani and especially Vidhu Vinod Chopra were known for a very methodical and clinical style of film making. Hence when the rights to the novel '5 Point Someone' were bought, it felt good to see them keeping their consistency. Further when an Aamir Khan joined the duo the project seemed that much more 'perfect'! So what went wrong between the trio and Chetan Bhagat??

After the fiasco between the makers and the author- Chetan Bhagat- regarding the credit or rather dis-credit issue, i re-read the novel to form an opinion and discovered for all logical purposes that Chetan Bhagat should have been given the credit he was asking for!!!

Here's why....

1) Characters: Aamir(Rancho)=Ryan, Madhavan(Farhan)=Hari/the narrator and Sharman(Raju)=Alok...all character traits match perfectly so there is not much change here at all!

2)Book: Alok's family = Film: Raju's family- same setting/ paralysed father, cribbing mother, unmarried sister and extreme poverty!

3)Book: Alok sommits suicide= Film: Raju commits suicide- the situation has been changed...that is why it is an adaptation and not a translation!!

4)Book: Ryan's intro at a ragging session where he stands up for himself= Film: Rancho does the same!

5) Book: Alok's appearance = Film: Raju's look- same!

6) Book: First sequence after ragging scene is the 'defination of machine sequence'= Film: same sequence heavily 'inspired by the book'; again an adaptation but the premise is from the book!

7)Book: 3 friends ridding together on a scooter through Delhi roads= Film: yes, same!

8) Book: Farhan studies cross legged at desk and Raju at the study table = Film: yes same!!

9) Book: Ryan is known to give 'Anti Education System' gyaan = Film: Aamir's character- Rancho- is called Baba Ranchordas for precisely the same reason.

10) Book: The satirical manner of introducing Alok's paralysed father, crying mother and unwed sister is retained to the 'L' in the film- s(h)ame to s(h)ame!

11) The tank on which the guys meet for drinks and chilling in the film is what is an institute terrace on the 9th floor in the book!!!!

12) The dowry for Alok's sister wedding in the book is to have a maruti 800 and the same goes for Raju's sister in the film!!!

13) The book is narrated through the character of Hari which in the case of the film is Farhan! same character, same narrative tone!!

14)The heroines brother in the book commits suicide due to fathers high expectations which is revealed at the end of the book for until then it is mentioned as an accident- ditto in the film!!!

and lastly...(for i still have 50 pages of book to read!!!)
15) The title 3 idiots was supposed to be 'Idiots' which Raju Hirani did not get because it was taken by someone else! You cant help notice a scene in the book (pg 199) where the three characters are repeatedly called- IDIOTS!! for their acts...thus inspiration is possible and too coincidental to be otherwise.

I fail to understand why the makers have so vehemently denied any similarity beyond '5%' between the film and the book. After all it was always an adaptation and not a copy so it was never meant to be a page by page translation. The screenplay has got a lot of variations and Abhijat Joshi and Raju Hirani have done a wonderful job but the primary premise which is the most toughest part of any writing process has definitely come from the book. Why else would the rights be bought and 'bonus' be paid????

My space of fame!!-

I made a short film three years ago based on a O'Henry short story...by the time the film got made the changes were so much that less than '5%' of similarity remained but it had helped me set the premise and hence i credited it as-

Story- O'Henry;

Adapted to Film by- Amey Nadkarni!

It can be done thus!...and of course O'Henry had no idea about this endeavour of mine and neither would he have given a damn for he passed away in 1910!! Still you got to do what you got to do!!

Also as Chetan Bhagat said- My publishers pay me royalty every month but they don't put their names as writer on the book!