il buono, il brutto, il cattivo.

The title seems a bit awkward isn't it? Its actually the name of an

epic Italian film..what is its english version.? Any guesses.??

Some days back, I and my friend were going through the IMDB site

checking the ratings of different movies.While going through the

page of the movie"THE GOOD,THE BAD AND THE UGLY",

(hmmm.. you got it, this is the English version), the above Italian

thing appeared and it enticed me to use it somewhere in my blog.

Moreover, I was thinking of writing something about cricket..but

i was in a dilemma what should I write of it? Everyone knows

everything about it. But look at the hand of time. India's early

exit from T-20 World Cup made my job easy.

I thought why not combine these Italian and Indian pieces and

come out with some interesting stuff. The Good, the Bad and

the Ugly and the Indian cricket team. It sounds really funny.

coming to the good part----

Everyone does it, so do I, i.e. we all(barring a few) love watching

cricket, be it be test matches, ODIs or 20-20.and we follow it

religiously. And I have been doing so for the last 15 years that

too with full dedication and devotion. But the single reason for

this has been Sachin,the man with a magic wand. It is the

Sachin connection that makes us sit glued to the idiot box

(as they say) for hours together.I just can't imagine cricket

without Sachin.This is the man who aroused in us the passion for

gully cricket. Thanks to Indian cricket for gifting us with such

a genius. We cudnt have asked for anything better.Thanks again.

My love for Sachin is eternal..I am very superstitious when it

comes to the moment when Sachin bats. the sitting position

that I assume when he begins his batting remains the same as

long as he stays at the wicket and I have experienced it

umpteen times that a minor modification in my position or

slightest surfing of channels between the overs leads to his

dismissal, and whenever I have tried to amend it, some

unavoidable circumstances force me, and I feel helpless.

SORRY SACHIN,BUT i REALLY LOVE you a lot. The pace

with which the heart pumps blood when he is at the crease,

is beyond the reach of a doctor's stethoscope.

The elegance with which he bats, I simply am fond of it.

But the most heart-breaking innings of Sachin has been his duck

against the then not-so-mighty aussies during a supersix

encounter in 1999 world cup.

bad part----

I dnt like when Sachin is ignored. Grrrrrrrrr... I dont like it.The

T-20 WorldCup victory will always be a happening thing in the

annals of Indian cricket but for the Sachin fan club all around, it

was never a chill pill just because there was no Sachin in the team then.

Everybody talks about whether Sachin is a match-winner or not?

They say Sachin fails in crucial matches and finals..

Why do they forget that it is this Sachin who helps them reach

the finals..and it is him who initiates it with his delicate drives

and tactful leg-glances. Start of an innings is as important as

its finish and his innings since time immemorial has been aiding

the so-called match winners to finish it up for India.It will be a

sorry-state of affair if I go on defending him.

But for you out and out critics of Sachin,

www.sachinandcritics.com would provide you the necessary

cure from your typo of dyslexia.

What will happen when the pied piper of the team calls it a day?

The very feeling leaves me dumb and nerveless..

Oh God just fulfill his dream of winning a WORLD -CUP before the

legend bids adieu to all Sachin addicts. This would be the befitting

swan song for the one and only Sachin. So, 2011 is the year to

watch out for..

and now the ugly part----

this is meant for the players,BCCI,media and above all the people

of India.

I dnt know what is the problem with the cricket lovers.. why are

they not empathetic enough. A team cannot win all the times..

there has to be up and down.. Haan sometimes it hurts, but it is

then when the team fails to deliver as professionals just like in

the ongoing T-20 World Cup.

The loss would definitely serve as a lesson for Dhoni. Dhoni,you

forgot to do the groundwork properly. You probably thought

that each and every stroke of yours would prove to be a

masterstroke. Its good-bye time for LadyLuck now.

Rather than working hard in the nets to fight back their nemesis

of short-pitched delivery,your team indulged themselves in

shopping.

Shame on you and your team, the way you surrendered in each

and every match,you people horribly lacked professionalism.

And then you start blaming IPL and fatigue factors,these are

the signs of sore losers. And Dhoni remember you are no Sachin,

so dnt take ur place in the team for granted.

Last but not the least,the blame game played by the players of

yester-years. Why do they come out with such reckless comments

once the team starts losing. And the media enjoys the coverage

of such interviews and columns. These people speak as if they

had won numerous matches for the team. Atleast the present

bunch of players have brought a sea-change in the attitude of

other teams towards India.

Anyways,where the men in blue are concerned the unexpected

always happens.

This is the story so far that brings out the good, bad and ugly

segments of our TEAM INDIA.

I forgot to mention one thing, just lend an ear to the soundtrack

of THE GOOD,THE BAD AND THE UGLY..You will realise how

familiar you are with the track.

Stifled Safari...

When the entire world is sleeping.. and parenthetically you are not

in that league,that is you are having sufficient time in your folder,

but circumstances act as anti-soporific agent ,then what can one

expect. The time aptly describes the period before the break of

the day and I was a victim to it a few days ago..

When my bread and butter of tomorrow is making a call for all

necessary documents, I had no other options but to proceed

towards my so-called Alma mater of tomorrow.

Even before the birds start chirping,the bus from my place

reaches Rourkela.The only question that was troubling me

prior that day (more specifically this Sunday) ki where would

I go,once I reach there because I don't have any room in the

hostel to claim for anymore and my future colleagues were to

reach there at 7 in the morning.

While the Indian students were suffering racist attacks in the

land of kangaroos,I myself was being traumatised in my own

land, that too on account of some trivial issues.Well one thing

that I could not digest was the victory of Roger Federer.While

the entire world was going gaga over his win, I was in the mood

of hitting some Federer's fan real hard. I desperately wanted

him to lose. Even many friends of mine have edited their orkut

stat message jst like this

"All hail Roger Federer." and

"He is FANTASTIC, He is FABULOUS, He is FENOMENAL,

He is FEDERER....." to quote some.

Perhaps the above man missed out some other F-words for his

favorite Federer.

Well I was in the midway of my journey. So I had to spent

around 3 hrs alone in a supposed unknown place that too before

dawn. I reached Rourkela at 4:15 in the morning.

Seeing the time,my sixth sense,as usual(except on the days of

important exams) chucked out a plan for me for the seemingly

endless hours to come.

I straightaway headed towards our very dear Ms. Mamta

Banerjee's second home i.e. the railway station. This is the

only place where life never ends.Seeing the rush around,

the pale face of yesterday was suddenly lighted with a

feeling of enthusiasm.I moved from one platform to the other

looking at different trains leaving in opposite directions

pondering about a blunder I had made at this place a few

months back(this one I will be sharing in my posts to come).

Then I sat and had a nice cup of tea. That was simply superb.

All hardcore coffee lovers, please try this out the next time

because the station is the NICEST place for a cup of tea

(rather a glass of tea).

Next when i heard my mobile ringing it was just 5:30..It was

a call from my sweethome. With another one and half hours

to go,I thought newspaper would prove a worthy companion

then. But to my disappointment all magazine stalls were yet

to surface.I thought of walking back to the bus stand where

my friends would arrive. But laziness crept in.

I then preferred the obsolete rickshaw over the ubiquitous auto

for this segment of my journey, just because I wanted the

PRECIOUS time to make a real fast move.

A ride in a rickshaw, this is something I got to enjoy again after

a real funny experience I had with one of my friends,probably

in this calendar year .( Mr. friend, Do you remember??)

But what am I doing sitting in a rickshaw? I am not an avid

appreciator of the graceful nature.But saying this I don't

disagree with the fact that one cannot escape the radiant sun

and the eternal wind.

But, wait, you haven't heard the end..

The icing on the cake for the morning was when I was found

reading a newspaper under a banyan tree, the place where

I had never sat even in my 4 years of engineered life.

(Remember the banyan tree at Sector-2)......