Me Me Me....

Sandy@24

2006-04-29T14:40:00.000-07:00

http://community.webshots.com/album/549932409GCqMcS

Intercity

2006-02-12T09:26:00.000-08:00

I've never travelled so much by train in my whole life as I did in past six months at IITB. Most of it toggling between Mumbai and Pune on weekends. I was introduced to Intercity by a friend passing out, as the fastest carrier between the two cities...no wonder I fell for her immediately...then the affair continued for months...and still going on steadily ;) To the extend that once I went to and fro in a single day!
Some things become so much a part of our life that you can't see beyond them. On odd occasions when I fail to get a reservation, I go standing but take another train...every minute of the 2:15 hrs journey from Pune to Mumbai is a treat in all respects. Well not all....hmm...so here ends the good part of the story.
I have a few complaints....it's so hard get a reservation for this queen of deccan...gives a lot of hard time...to my bro :P...and why on earth some of the most repellent human beings are sent into my compartment!...the bus experience has been pleasing in that respect...anyway as the best things in life are desired by everyone...so is case with this poor speedo...with hoards of people on board, the general bogies offer the most disgusting scenes on the surface of mother earth...it would be easier get a seat in the parliament than in Intercity general dabba...well...seasoned commuters like me are trained for that with some dhakka-bukki techniques...but otherwise its no less than a miracle if you end up getting one....but if you do, then nothing like it! You have 2 hrs full of entertainment....the unending quarrels of the fellow passengers standing in the passage, in doors, and in every possible cubic centimeter...the pheriwallas take immense pleasure in making rounds of the whole train for innumerable times....by now I know most of them by face...and some by name! chikki at Lonavla and vada-paav at Karjat allows a few more of these train-crawlers to get in. Last one, Intercity runs 15 mins slower than usual these days...not cool :(
Well, having shown the good and bad side of it, I just wish for a few more sisters of this Super Express....heard this somewhere....'The Burning Train'?...remember the multi-starrer....Dharmendra, Jeetendra, Danny....anyway, they could be named Intracity, Velocity, Univer-city....ok...I know....I stop right here.

Rang De Basanti

2006-01-29T09:34:00.000-08:00

This is my first post since I joined IIT. I would be lying if I blame it on the workload, but somehow it just didn't happen. Blogging was also on my 'New Year's Resolutions' list, but that too couldn't generate enough thrust. I'm not among those bloggers who don't even need a topic! I blog in a rather conservative manner, which I know is not what blogging all about, but still. Anyways, here I am, back in business.

I have been increasingly frustrated with the kind of Hindi movies being produced these days. To add to it, I find a sizable population which claims that these are indeed good films. Well, may be I'm on the wrong foot, but I hated Bluffmaster, Apaharan was ok, and Kalyug surprisingly turned out to be the best among the lot. Still, I was counting heavily on Rang De Basanti and gladly it was worth every penny...a must watch for every Indian or any youth in a state of confusion over his role in life.

The story of Bhagat Singh has been told enough number times by the Hindi cinema. So, my reaction to scene 1 was, 'ohh...not again!'. But I was wrong. Never before was such a fitting analogy made betweeen the past and the present. Though it plays with the same old toys of corruption, politics, religion there is an element of novelty and urgency in this flick. A slap to the 'Chalta hai' attitude commonly observed everywhere in India. Also, an eyeopener for the crowd who firmly believes that 'Is desh ka kuchh nahi ho sakta', by adding to it, 'until you do something!'. To sum up, the message was loud and clear, 'Be A Rebel'.

MIT Weblog Survey

2005-07-06T04:29:00.000-07:00

Contribute!
To know and let others know the statistics of blogging.
Link via Atul.

Five Point Someone

2005-06-20T07:33:00.000-07:00

I bump into the right books at right time! Just when I finished reading 'Angels and Demons', the Pope died! Not that I am pleased with it, but still the timing was perfect...I'm a bad man! Anyway, now just when I'm on the verge of entering the II of T, I got this book 'Five Point Someone'. A book by an IITian, about the IIT (actually about what not to do at IIT!), but definitely not for IITians only...I bet anyone who has been to school/college/or the great IIT itself, will not put this book down without finishing it! Well the plot is not totally out of the world, in fact at times it feels like a typical teenagers-type hindi movie...but just the tag "IIT" makes it that special and of course the simple but superb story telling technique by the author blows you away!
IIT has always been a black box for those who haven't been lucky(?) enough to be a part of this "system"....the only thing that the world knows is, it produces the finest of talent in India...but after reading this book you get to know the "how" part of it!
Looking forward to "Five Point Someone", the film. I wish I could play Hari! Are they still casting for the film? Kidding, of course! Let the actor in me rest in peace for the good of society....I think I should stop right now before I give some more crap. Let me finish by giving no less than nine point something to the book!

Justine time!

2005-05-10T00:27:00.000-07:00

She's back! and just-in-time...with the French Open just two weeks away this German Open title is just the right platform for Justine Henin-Hardenne to claim the grandslam...and she's already the favorite...repeat of the memorable 2003 performance would be a treat to watch...although injuries are still a concern for her...hope she overcomes them....way to go Justine!

Time to re"tire" Bridgestone?

2005-05-08T22:54:00.000-07:00

This has been discussed a lot in the past, in the F1 community....why Ferrari (and Jordan...if anyone cares!) stick to the Bridgestone rubber when all other teams race with Michelin? The reason to raise this issue now is the double tragedy Schumi had to face in yesterday's Spanish GP...he was going great guns until then...strongly holding on the hard-earned second position...when one of those rear tires was damaged...he had to force his car into the pits to get it replaced...as if this wasn't enough, in the next lap the front tire deflated putting an early full stop on his race and on Ferrari's only hope, with barrichello struggling to get back into form...this is not the first time this has happened..tires have always been a problem area for ferrari, for many seasons...but the heroics of the ferrari crew have overshadowed the influences...but this season being not so good for ferrari, every little thing counts...and after this race, tires will be the front runners!

The Return Of The King!

2005-04-24T21:04:00.000-07:00

He had a dismal run in the first 3 races...even the premature introduction of Ferrari's new baby F2005 didn't help...to add to that, he had a disastrous second qualifying session resulting into 14th position on the starting grid of the Imola track...given the circumstances, no one would have ever imagined a podium finish for Michael Schumacher...but he did it!! The 2005 San Marino GP witnessed a great comeback by Schumi and Ferrari as well...thanks to some brilliant strategy planning by the ferrari crew and a gutsy effort by the King himself! had Alonso not just managed to hold him back, this race would have been remembered as the greatest comeback win ever...but that was not to be...the disappointment on Schumi's face during the post-race press conference said it all...he can settle for nothing less than a win, can he?...the rare mistake he commited in the qualifying session was on his mind all the time!...quoting him, "If not for that, this would have been a perfect day for us"...not to forget, a dream run for Fernando Alonso...with the third consecutive victory he looked all set to be the next champion...but now on, one thing will always be at the back of his mind...the tiger is roaring again!

A Non-playing Cricket Star

2005-04-11T21:28:00.000-07:00

You might be tempted to think that I'm writing about "Dada" Ganguly...but NO...there's hardly anything to write about him than whether he prefers chips or sandwiches, sitting in the dressing room! This is about a guy who lives on cricket...quite literally! but doesn't even step a foot on the ground...well enough of plot-building....i'm no Dan Brown!....this is about Harsha Bhogle, the most celebrated commentator, TV anchor of our times...why the hell am I writing about him now? well...one fine day I switched on the TV to get glimpses of my favorite morning time TP...a program telecast on ETV marathi called "Sanwaad", a celebrity interview show, hosted by Raju Parulekar, a writer, journalist....my favorite interviewer, other than Harsha himself...will write about him sometime later...yaa...so Harsha Bhogale was on the show! As you must have guessed by now that it was a Marathi interview!!!...was a treat to watch him speak fluent Marathi, considering he's from Hyderabad...i found him very agressive during the i/w...not quite known for this...as he himself stated that on his own show he tries to be as modest as possible because he himself is just a mediator between the viewers and the stars themselves...hope certain individuals like Siddhu, Shastri are listening! anyway it was nice to hear about his journey as a commentator...among various Qs asked to him was "What is so diff about Indian cricket than the Aus?" he said..."people won't like this answer much but its the same as the diff between a Merc and an Ambassador car!" he put most of the blame on the "system", the admins, the poor state of domestic cricket...spoke quite strongly against the commercialization of cricket....another Q asked to him was about should cricket be restricted to just test matches...I discuss this a lot with some of my cricket buff friends...was glad to see that Harsha had the same opinion as mine....He supported existence of all forms of cricket...said 20-20 should be introduced in a big way! his logic behind this was let the viewers make their own choice!...in the end he was asked about the emotional struggle between he as a cricket lover and a commentator...he accepted honestly that it gets difficult sometimes to control when india is not doing well...but he's got used to it now...well many more things were discussed during the show...can go on writing...but must take a commercial break now and get back to work :)

Kumble, The Match Winner

2005-03-22T21:28:00.000-08:00

It needed someone like him to break my blog-laziness ;)...not many players of this divine game can carry the "match winner" tag for such a long duration...in fact, calling someone so raises many eyebrows...."is sachin a match winner?" is one of the hottest topics of some endless discussions....but kumble's ability as a genuine match winner is beyond any debate...well someone might crop up the discussion about his fielding or performance outside india...blah blah blah...many would even go to the extent of saying that he can't even turn the ball...well who cares as long as it crashes into the stumps! I still remember his short stint in a test match when he bowled wearing a bandage!....now that says something about his dedication...with 460 wickets already under his belt he's destined to be remembered as one of the greatest bowlers of all times...hats off to him!

Chequered Flag

2005-03-07T02:51:00.000-08:00

As the 5 red lights went off, the long-awaited 2005 F1 season got under way! new teams, new rules, new machines...and as if to add to it, Schumi the great was at 19th position on the starting grid, a rare sight indeed...but it felt nice, for some reason! not to forget, our own Kartikeyan, ready for his first ever GP...stage was set for an exciting journey of 57 laps...and it did turn out to be a pretty good race...not really very eventful...but overall a grt start to the season...mixed luck for Ferrari...with F2005 still in the garage, they clearly lacked the firepower...Barrichello still managing to make it to the podium! Schumi had a bad day at work...Heidfeld made way for his premature exit from the race...anyway, kudos to Fisichella for doing the most of an hard earned opportunity...he did everything right to win the battle...well, the war is far from over...lets wait and watch, what's in store at the Malaysian GP.

And the Oscar goes to...

2005-02-27T19:50:00.000-08:00

I'm writing this while the ceremony is still on! I was watching it live on TV, but had to leave early for work...and that too on a monday morning...and I had a bit of cold too :(...life plays games! anyway...this time on, the only award I really cared about was the animation category...very tough competition, I must say...I had watched all 3 movies and loved each one of them...The Incredibles, Shark Tale, Shrek 2...Incredibles made it!!!...aptly I guess...the other thing to notice was the sheer elegance of the ceremony...everything looked so systematic and beautiful..not to mention the gorgeous ladies...Halle Berry looked stunning...it's so much in contrast with what I saw at the Filmfare awards function day before...things were so messed up! there was total lack of coordination between the presenters, anchors, recipients...ppl dont even care to remember their lines well...just highlights the gap between the Hollywood and the Bollywood!

Kiwis, what a bunch of rowdies!

2005-02-20T22:00:00.000-08:00

It was all happening at the Wellington cricket ground...alas, it wasn't cricket! Things were being thrown at the aussie fielders in the deep...water bottles, golf balls, eggs and what not...players were being abused and spat on...the ground was in a shabby state...kiwis left no stone unturned to give them a real hard time fielding...the astonishing part was, this was happening when NZ had made a grt comeback to put the aussies on the backfoot...thanks to the outstanding knocks by Hamish Marshall and MacMillan...skipper Ricky Ponting was furious, to say the least...he made Billy Bowden dance around (even more!) to get things in place...and finally, to no surprise, kiwis failed to get the last few runs, playing some uncalled-for shots and handed over the match to OZs! well, hooliganism in sports is not a new thing...people do sometimes get carried away with emotions...but it only corrupts the real spirit of the game!

'Black' magic!

2005-02-14T22:57:00.000-08:00

After seeing the highly disappointing, over-hyped, Subhash Ghai made 'Kisna' last week, I went for 'Black' with minimal expectations...also 'Devdas' had made me a bit apprehensive about Sanjay Leela Bhansali movies...but I must say I was totally overwhelmed by the superb performances in the film...so hard to believe that it's a bollywood movie...Amitabh, Rani, the 'little' Rani everyone is just too good...I wonder how ppl offer some very mediocre roles to the likes of Amitabh in the usual 'masala' films like Boom, Major saab, ab tumhare havale...and what not(and of course how he accepts them!)...anyway this is an absolute must watch, don't miss it!

On leave until Valentine's Day :)

2005-02-06T06:35:00.000-08:00

Well the title might be suggestive but my being absent in the office has got nothing to do with the day mentioned ;) it's just a study leave...trying to open the "GATE"...well honestly its hard to concentrate on the studies these days with such great cricketing action going on....SA vs Eng matches are turning out to be absolute thrillers...and pak although not able to win matches, putting up a good fight..thanks to the all rounders Razzaq, Afridi....indian team has severe dearth of such "real" all rounders...the last one I remember was Robin Singh!!....anyway looks like the India Pak series is gonna be absolutely grrt with pak coming back in form...eagerly waiting for it.
for now, back to studies...see you on Valentine's day...should be a normal working day for me, I guess :)

Lara Unplugged!

2005-01-27T20:06:00.000-08:00

If there's any place I want to be at this moment it's got to be the Australia...it's all happening there...hard to stay away from the action...Australian Open is reaching the climax...but the Aus-Pak-WI tri-series is no behind...it was a treat to watch Brian Charles Lara massacring the weak pak attack...Chanderpaul was the one who started it...but after he was out in a freakish manner it was King Lara all over the Adelaide Oval...he hit 5 spectacular sixes including a one-handed stroke!...reminds me of the great Viv Richards...the sloppy fielding displayed by pak only fueled the grt innings...finishing on 156 he put WI in a commanding position.

Marathon match

2005-01-26T20:08:00.000-08:00

Aus Open 2005...men's quarter-final....David Nalbandian vs Lleyton Hewitt... It was a marathon match...not just because it lasted for 4 hours 5 mins...but the amount of running number 3 seed Hewitt was forced to do by the Argentine was no less than a marathon..it was easily the match of the tournament so far....taking the first 2 sets 6-3, 6-2 Hewitt was all set to power into the semi-finals....but Nalbandian had different plans...he struck back with 4 consecutive breaks to win the third set 6-1...Hewitt helped the cause with unforced errors at crucial points...it was Nalbandian who dominated the match with his fiery forehands and drop shots till the score read 6-3, 6-2, 1-6, 3-6, 8-8...the stage was set for what could have been one of the greatest turnarounds in the history of tennis...he was desperate to take revenge of his defeat in the Wimbledon final three years ago...but he broke!...was it for the "Safin" acts by Hewitt or sheer pressure...he lost his calm...and cleared the way for Hewitt's semi-final clash against Andy Roddick.

Talking to a Mannequin?

2005-01-23T21:14:00.000-08:00

well everyone including me knows that I'm no Tom Cruise...but still for some reason I've had quite a few "admirers"...I've been asked umpteen number of times by known/unknown people "Do you work out?"...well I do, occassionally...but for god's sake, it has got nothing to do with the few extra pounds I have...few people even went to the extent of advising me "You should do modelling"...well I wonder what products I'll sell!
As it goes with the nicknames there is also a long list of "people-I'm-compared-with"...but the weirdest comparison ever was with a "Mannequin"...a non-living thing!...may be it has got something to do with my somewhat chiseled face...but still, a mannequin!!!...next one on the list is Jacques Kallis...this is the oldest of those I remember...well apart from the broad shoulders I have, I would say, not even remotely! then comes Milind Soman....this one is highly embarrassing, for both!...hope he hasn't burnt himself alive...next...Vivek Oberoi...hope this one was true...well I do have equally messy hair...but otherwise no chance!...one more....Abdul Razzaq...this is the latest entry....and I hate it..I mean who wants to look like Abdul Razzaq?...anyway...thanks guys for all this but I'm rather embarrassed than pleased!

Sheli learns to blog...

2005-01-08T01:15:00.000-08:00

well...finally I decided to succumb to peer pressure and sat down to write the first post on this blog. The name of this blog may sound a little weird but its my trademark phrase...I use it as frequently as ppl say hi hello...mainly to try and figure out what the hell the surrounding crowd is talking about...not that I am deaf but somehow I miss the point :( and stay hanged! my friends named me "Microsoft Shelke" for this outstanding ability! well for some reason people love to devise new nicknames for me...some of them are natural and acceptable...such as sandy, sheli, shelya at the most...but most of them are way beyond my imagination...take this, "radio shelke", "Bajarang Bhosale", "Jasoos", "Milind"...ohh my god! sound like Janice? :) that brings me to another thing which I can't live without besides my real friends...F.R.I.E.N.D.S...I'm a die-hard Joey fan...I'll be talking a lot about these 2...and last but not the least by any means....Cricket...
life would have been much much boring had it not been for this divine game...for me it's a religion, a passion, a way of life!
well...there's a lot more to talk about...movies, food, books, french, F1, dating...but for now I must say merci, au revoir!...who the hell called me "radio shelke"...I'll hunt you down and send you to Yemen :)...bye bye!