Midday, 30th April 2007

The world cup is over and there's no hangover!

Nobody noticed how long it went, nobody remembers any milestones!

But everybody is waiting for India's next match

Haha! Crazy, cricket crazy country!

School Daze! Kopykatman, Sunday Midday 29th April 2007

Courtesy: Sunday Midday

YELLOW MACHINES!

This is the most boring World cup I have followed since 1983. Not just because India crashed out in the preliminary games or because Pakistan showed solidarity with brother India by leaving the tourney early. But the way Australians dominated the tourney. I’m a big fan of Australian cricket ever since 1987, when they were underdogs. It was a huge turnaround for this team under the great motivating leadership of Alan Border. Yes, for me he’s the MAN, who can take major credit for staging a revival for a team which was depleted and struggling.

If you can remember, in 1987 World Cup, they played fighting cricket against all the odds. And in that fighting phase, some truly gutsy players emerged who succeeded in taking the mantle from Border and moving the Australian cricket, a few steps forward. One of them is Steve Waugh. He contributed to the team with his little, gutsy innings and timely breakthroughs throughout the 1987 world cup.
If you compare the Australian team of 1987 with the current Aussie team, you will find more famous names now. But I still enjoyed their cricket in 1987 more than now. Probably because we love underdogs! And we have a tendency to back the struggling team. It’s also because, now the Australian team is dominating too much. They go to the field and destroy any attack and kill any trace of competition. It’s become a routine. What’s a game without a little bit of suspense!

They have become machines, YELLOW MACHINES! Cricket is still not a global game. It’s still a game which is played in places where British frequented and it’s still a game, dominated by very few teams. With that backdrop, we can’t afford to have one team killing all kinds of competition. A strong team which is susceptible to defeat is a treat to watch. Any game is all about fighting to win. If you remove that aspect from it, then it becomes a bore.

No doubt, Australians have raised the standard of the game beyond the reach of most of the teams. I hope other teams really catch up with them, before cricket fans completely betray the game. Till then let’s enjoy these YELLOW MACHINES!

Ever wondered why the God fails to answer our prayers?

Millions of Lankans prayed at temples, offered pujas. And more millions from India joined their neighbours in praying. Probably few millions from Pakistan also offered namaz!
They all prayed for Sri Lanka’s victory over Australia in the just concluded
Cricket World Cup final. But God betrayed them all! Australians still won the final to lift the trophy for the record third time in a row.(Only the West Indian team of 70s and early 80s could reach anywhere near this record!)

This Australian win is just unbelievable, if you look at the way they dominated the game throughout the tourney. Don’t forget, the tourney stretched to one and half month! It’s not any easy task. This is called CONSISTENCY! They just ignored the reputation of teams & players and just focused to play ruthless cricket. Amazing!

More amazing if you consider, they had started the tourney under tremendous amount of pressure, after losing the top rank to South Africa. And look at the team which replaced them at the top, South Africa! They struggled so much, even to reach the semi-final. And in the semi-final, they never looked better than Bangladesh! Sri Lanka can take pride for making it to the final and giving a fitting reply to the champions, in the whole tourney they are the only team which showed any prospect of defeating this Aussie team!

Now, do you still wonder why the God fails to answer our prayers?
I have a feeling that even the God bets on Australian team!
Haha!

Mahaa shaadi!

Sunday Midday, 22nd April 2007

Right to bear a gun or right to live?

How’s your MIND today?
Is it in your own control? Are you in charge of it?
Or are you a slave to it?

What will you do, when your MIND is not well? Do you get mad? Do you lose control? Do you feel like telling the world about your state of MIND?
If yes, then how do you want to tell? Harsh words? Abuse? Or just cry?

And what if you had a GUN! Would you prefer to talk through your GUN?
Yes! Some people do want to talk through GUN. For them using a GUN is a STATEMENT! An opinion, their opinion!

Violence is a STATEMENT! When your MIND is not in your control, you lose temper, you get violent and you feel like letting the world know, through your STATEMENT.
And when getting a GUN is as easy as finding a WORD, you’ll have as bizarre tragedies as VIRGINIA TECH murders.

Do you know how your day is going to be? May be. But are you sure, you’ll see through the day? Who knows, who has lost his mind and wants to use a GUN to make a STATEMENT! And what if he’s just in your way!

We are the craziest specie on this planet. The biggest advantage we have over other animals is our biggest enemy also. Our MIND! We can do miracles as long as our MIND is in our control. As soon as we lose control, the destruction is triggered.

Crazy! It’s more crazier because we have invented a destructive toy called GUN and made it available to CRAZY MINDS without any hurdle! The debate is gaining momentum in USA, over the right to 'bear guns'. There are arguments from gun-lobby to safeguard the BASIC right of every citizen to bear a gun. But what about the basic right of any human to LIVE! This basic right is in danger because any crazy MIND can lay his hands on a GUN and shoot helter-skelter, just to make a STATEMENT!

That crazy person can make his violent STATEMENT through any other weapon also. But the damage could be less. If the Virginia shooter had a knife in his hand, he wouldn’t be able to kill so many people. He would have been overpowered also.

Do you know that in the last one year, more Americans were shot dead/committed suicide with a gun than the number American soldiers who died in Iraq! The real WAR is at home, where each citizen is well-armed to kill anyone. He just needs a REASON! Any crazy REASON! For anyone who wants to ignore USA’s policy regarding gun-culture, let me tell you, Minal Panchal was our own girl. And there are millions of our boys and girls who are studying in American schools/colleges. And there are millions of our people who are a good part of America. And don’t forget we’re a global citizen! Anything that happens in any part of the globe will affect us more now, than ever before!

The Virginia Tech killing reminds me of an incident that happened in our own city, Mumbai, a few years back.
Do you remember this crazy guy?
This guy also lost his mind, and decided to make a VIOLENT STATEMENT!
He got down at Grant Road railway station and bought a knife and went to Gateway of India. The Gateway is a busy tourist spot on weekends.

There were two girls who were spending their leisure hours at the Gateway. And they never imagined that they will be a part of that crazy guy’s violent journey. That guy stabbed one girl in the stomach without any provocation! And she lost her life!

Just imagine, if that crazy guy could buy a GUN as easily as a knife!
That could have been the bloodiest day at the Gateway of India!

Just imagine!

Midday, 19th April 2007

If gun could think, it could have saved all those innocent souls who were shot down by a crazy kid in Virginiya Tech.

May all those little souls rest in peace!

Udhdhav Thackeray

Uddhav Thackeray faced the greatest challenge of his political career, when Shiv Sena went into BMC polls. With so many of the charismatic political pudaris in the fray, he stood no chance as a leader.

But he came out with flying colours(saffron?). He's still under the shadow of Sena Supremo Sr. Thackeray. But he made a mark!

Midday, 17th April 2007

Gandhi clan's new kid on the block, Rahul is more famous for his foot in the mouth statements, than trying to get into oversized Gandhi shoes!

Media is quite happy with this new kid as after Lalu they have found a new entertainer.

Rahul, makes statements and then the congressmen rush to explaining his statements and stand by him.

Kumaraswamy!

Karnataka CM Kumaraswamy is on hot seat. Literally!

As per the coalition pact, he has to vacate CM's chair to BJP, by this year end. Guess, what he did to keep his coalition partner away? Perform Yagna!

That's what the papers claim.
Not sure, the Gods will be able to keep BJP away!

Midday, 14th April 2007

Six months for killing seven people!

Alistair Pereira, who got away with little punishment for crushing 7 poor creatures by drunken driving.

Midday, 28th Feb and 10th April 2007

I just love caricatures!

It’s always fascinating to see how someone sees us. And isn’t it fascinating to see how a cartoonist sees us? If you’re sporting, it is fascinating. Otherwise it won't be amusing! You can’t hide your long nose(as in my case). You can’t pretend to be smart when you’re dumb(again my case? haha!) Cartoonists see them all! They'll reveal the REAL YOU in their caricatures.

But it’s great fun, if you can accept a little bit of masti!
Have you seen yourself in caricature? Try it sometime.

I love to draw caricatures. For people its just about seeing someone in funny drawings. But finding funny physical features in someone is no big deal. The real challenge is to peep into someone’s personality and discover a funny side. It’s hard, unless you know that person to a certain extent.

When I caricature celebrities, I have no choice, but to rely on the personality I see on tv or read in papers. I really don’t know them personally (In some cases, media bares every inch of a celebrity’s life!). But if you follow them keenly, it’s not tough to find a funnier side to any personality.

Here are some of the caricatures I have done. Some are done in real hurry to meet Midday’s deadline. Hope to post some of the better caricatures in the future.
(If someone wants to have his/her caricature they can mail their pic with email id on my id aaryaa24@gmail.com. But please don’t hurry! And I'll be choosy too, funnier the better)