As Australia marched into the semifinals of the World Cup cricket ’07 as the “ONE” & only team with an unbelievably unbeaten record yet again (the last time they lost a WC match was way back in 1999 vs Pakistan), it almost looked as if everyone else has resigned to the fate. Just have a look at the way the Aussie juggernaut has steamrolled the other 3 teams already in this event:

· South Africa: They amassed a mammoth 377 against one of the best pace attacks in the world, eventually winning by 83 runs.
· Sri Lanka: They routed the hapless islanders by 7 wickets in an utterly one-sided encounter.
· Newzeland: Now this was one team which had blanked the kangaroos handsomely by a margin of 3-0 in the last series before WC ( an awesome feat by any standards indeed). And it is horrible to contemplate what happened to them??? They were crucified by 215 runs in the last Super Eight match!!!

It’s no longer a contest anymore. It is a case of Total annihilation, complete decimation & absolute destruction of the opposition in all respects.
It’s the Power of “ONE” unleashed…

They say that sport is a great leveler. But let me ask you some questions:

How many times have we seen “ONE” tennis player from Switzerland win every single match, against every possible opponent, every single time, day in & day out?
OR
How many times have we witnessed “ONE” formula one driver winning every single race on every single surface & then every championship year after year after year?
OR
“ONE” golf player stamping his authority again & again & again!
“ONE” soccer player beating innumerable defenders to score an impossible goal!
“ONE” basketball player breaking all NBA records once & for all!

They also say that GOD is invisible! But in my opinion, these are the blessed times when GOD himself or herself decides to play on earth by entering into the souls of the mortals. There may be people who won’t agree with me, but then how do you explain these inexplicable achievements with a logical & rational school of thought? The fact is that you simply can’t do that!

Because there are certain things which are better left unexplained or if these have to be explained somehow, then we will have to believe that there are times:

When Roger Federer can’t hit a shot long or into the net, however hard he may try… When Michael Schumacher can’t slow down his Ferrari or take a wrong turn even if he wants to… When Tiger Woods can’t control his eternal magnificence even if he desires so… When Pele can’t pass the ball to a wrong player or hit wider of the goal post even from the half-line… When Michael Jordan can’t fail to shoot even from the farthest point of the opposite side of the court…

These are the times when “ONE” species ( be it a team or a player etc.) rules the kingdom of sport!

Now coming back to cricket, if this is what awaits the Proteas in the semis against the mighty aussies, then even the almighty can’t help them out, bcoz then they would be up against the GOD themselves. Then the lanka-kiwi match would only be fit for the runner-up position indeed.

But only time will tell whether or not the GODS decide to play again…
& whether or not: The Power of “ONE” is unleashed yet again…

The last semester in college for me has been different from earlier SEVEN in more ways the one. There are 4 rules, one has to follow:
First: You don’t study…
Second: You don’t let others study too (in the rare case if anyone wants to)
Third: You keep reminding everyone of the first two rules…
Fourth: You never ever break the first three rules.

But then what the hell do you do, especially when you are a hostel resident?

Well either you can sleep & sleep & sleep even more…
Or you can join the HBO MOVIE CLUB!
HBO refers to the Hostel Box office.

So I decided to go for the later option & since then it has been a roller coaster ride during this never-ending movie fest. One of my dearest friend is the organizer of this fest, in which movies are screened almost everyday, irrespective of any time frame, there is no difference between a.m & p.m whatsoever. The only thing that matters is: Quality.

A brief glimpse:

It all started with the Matt Damon & Leonardo Di Caprio starrer, oscar winner DEPARTED, to the movie which brought down the sales of diamond all over the world: BLOOD DIAMOND, then to the amazingly hilarious AMERICAN PIE series, a disappointing sequel FINAL DESTINATION-3 ( I was hoping for a much better one), a mesmerizing showcase called THE ILLUSIONIST, a new 007 in CASINO ROYALE, watching LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL for the umpteenth time, the Brad Pitt starrer SEVEN, horror movies like SILENT HILL & THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE, to scintillating thrillers: THE RECRUIT & SPYGAME.

For a change, few top-notch hindi movies also made it to HBO. From the oscar nominated WATER to Nagesh Kukkunor’s (My favourite Bollywood director) awesome twosome: 3 DEEWAREIN & DOR. I also remember watching OMKARA during exam nights.

Now I come to the most exhilarating season of the movie fest, where every movie seemed to surpass the earlier one. Just have a look:

From one of the most sensational thrillers I have ever seen: MINDHUNTERS, to one of the greatest movie of all times SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION… From the Brad Pitt’s electrifying FIGHT CLUB to the longest & most incredible movie of this fest SCHINDLER’S LIST…
& last but not the least: From the most unique movie of HBO: THANK YOU FOR SMOKING to the latest movie which was screened, a movie which moves in a flashback all the way, a movie which we had to pause after every 10 min., so as to keep pace with it, a movie which you can watch any no. of times & still enjoy it, a once-in-a-lifetime extravaganza: MEMENTO!!!

& many many more…

And its still not over… with a month still to go (till may end), there is still ample time for more such blockbusters… But out of all these my pick of the best 5 (not in any specific order) is:

Departed , Blood Diamond , Shawshank Redemption , Mindhunters & Memento.

Whats your pick guys?

PS: Well I would be very much interested in knowing whats your pick of all these??? & if you can recommend any more blockbusters which could be screened in HBO??? Reply soon… only one month to go…

One of the best things of being a part of chemical 2k3batch of TU (formerly known as TIET) Patiala is tha tyou get to do a lot of things that students from other branches can only dream about! Take for example theno. of so called “industrial trips” that I have been apart of. The no. stands at 5 as of now. And when youthink that some students can’t even think aboutorganizing let alone going to even a single trip, thisindeed is a big number. Infact, it is a TU record! We“chemchiz” have been to NFL nangal, a brewery inSolan, Nestle, shreyans paper mill during the courseof the last three years. The one thing common betweenall these trips was that each one of them was more enjoyable than its previous counterpart. So thebiggest challenge of our fifth trip to McLeod Ganj waswhether or not we could yet again have a fantabolous time. And take my word for it that this time we surpassed all our expectations!!!

The big difference was the fact that our junior chemical batch was also along with us this time & thatmade this trip all the more memorable. Actually officially we were supposed to visit a food industry named shivambu, but like past trips it was just a formality as this again was a “fun trip” instead. We left for this amazing journey at around 6am fromTU. The private bus was a video coach & unfortunatelyit started with never-heard-of & intolerable Punjabi songs. Moreover both senior & junior batches were busyin their own groups & I wondered what lies ahead?

Ourfirst major stop was at the anandpur sahib gurudwara,where we all took the blessings of the “wahe guru” forthe ensuing journey ahead. We reached the industry indistrict Una at around lunch time as was expected. Andthis is what we did there: Drank mango & pineapple juices made by them, then had a sumptuous lunch afterwhich amidst loud yawns, most of the tired souls wentto sleep in the comfortable sofas there. So much sothat the industry guys had to serve us tea to wake usagain. Then we had a whirlwind round of the industry in a record time of exactly 40 min.!Then we left for dharamshala & henceforth the most interesting part of our voyage began.

Now “antakshari”is one game that everyone can play & in this case itserved as the binding glue between the two batches.The contest was intense with both sides singing onesong after the other & so on… The whole group was nowenjoying. It first started drizzling when we reachedour hotel & then the clouds bursted during dinnertime. Everyone had a sound sleep of 3-4 hrs that night. Because we wake up at 5am again the next day &left for the “valley of hills: McLeod Ganj”. Thescenery was enigmatic, mountains were majestic & the whole atmosphere was magnificent. Our firstdestination at McLeod Ganj was the “Dall lake” &everyone was busy capturing each & every moment ontheir cameras, mobiles, digicams, handicams & what not!

And then we had the thrill of our life. Next targetwas the waterfall & the road leading to it was nothingless than a trekking experience. 2-3 times we had almost decided that we can’t go any further because itwas almost impossible to do so without risking one’slife!!! But the sight of the wonderful waterfall keptall of us going… & finally we reached there & what asight it was???

An out of the world experience which mesmerized everyone of us. The place was simply stunningly beautiful, the water was icy cold & all ofus had gone berserk at this sight. It was 2 hours ofpure & uninhibited fun & frolic…Then we had our last stop at the Dalai Lama monastery& after doing some shopping we were on our way back.This time though the journey was even more fascinating. Kudos to our hosts, we played games likeKoffee with chemchiz, Dum shiraz, song dedication &Intro time!!!

The best part was that now there was no demarcation between juniors & seniors, everyone wasenjoying now with everybody else…Finally we reached our college again at around 1am,with everyone exhausted not because we had traveled around 16kms in hills for around 7-8 hrs but becausenobody of us had ever dreamt that we were going to have such an electrifying trip!!!

And for those who think that its all over now… justfor your kind information that we all are now planning “A trip to vaishno devi”!!!

And I assure you that we will have even more funthere…

Till then good-bye…

One of the dictionary meanings of “spectacle” is: An unusual or unexpected event or situation which attracts attention, interest or disapproval. And “spectacles” also mean glasses.

So one fine morning while attending a lecture in college & sitting on one of the last benches (a must for a final year student), I realized that not only the words of the teacher were creating confusion in my mind but even the writings on the blackboard were blurred! It was time I had an eye check up. The result: a power of –0.25 in both eyes. Not very bad for sure. But somehow the idea of wearing new fashionable spectacles was ingrained in my mind, partially as a result of most of my friends having good looking spects already & also because I desperately wanted to know how I looked like in them! So from that day onwards these “spectacles” of mine have created quite a “spectacle”. Just read on to find why?

A group of boys & girls are waiting for the next lecture to commence outside the lecture room in college.

Mr. A (with an incomprehensible look on his face): This is impossible!!!
Miss B: Hey what happened?
Mr. A (pointing towards me): Any guesses who is this guy coming towards us?
Miss B: My goodness! Don’t tell me that he is jitin???

Before Mr. A can give his opinion… another guy barges in…

Mr. C: He is Jitin Sharma for sure but what the hell is he wearing?
Mr. A: Looks like some sort of WELDING GLASSES yaar!!!

The whole group breaks up into peals of laughter… & this unfortunate soul (me that is) has almost joined the group now…

Mr. D (pointing to a chair in the room): Cum on jitinda just weld this chair… it is broken!
Miss B (in an uncontrollable fit): haaaaa… haaaa… haaaa… stoppppp!!!
Miss E (joining on this fun riot): On a serious note, I think jitin should be made the CEO of CWC ,i.e, C welding corporation (actually that first C word is uncensored, sorry!) So when are you coming for campus recruitment here? And…

Before Miss E has the pleasure of announcing the package that CWC should offer… it’s the turn of others to have their share of the cake…

Mr. F: NO NO NO! you all are wrong… he is our new masterji!!! Now everyone get ready masterji will take our attendance starting with me… Present masterji!

Finally the mute character in this whole discussion (me again) gets the chance to speak…

Me: Its too much yaar! Do I look so weird in these spectacles???

And then hoping to find some solace from his best friend Mr. G…

Me: What do you say G? Don’t I look good in these???

Mr. G: Well now that you ask me dear… these spectacles are indeed funky no doubt! Actually I was just contemplating which one of these would fit you better: IT professional or a fashion designer from Milan?

Me (proud of himself & with an air of satisfaction around him): SEE all of you… Mr. G is absolutely correct!!! I prefer to be a…

But before “Me” could finish… the icing on the cake…

Mr. G: Waaaaaaait!!! There is a third option also & that would fit you perfectly yaar… You remind me of BUGS BUNNY!!!

And now even all the laughter champions combined can’t generate more laughs than these!!! Even “Me” has a smile on his face…

What a spectacle!

24 years is a long period of time, considering the fact that personally I have not reached that figure as yet! “1983” was the golden year in the history of India in general & cricket in particular. When the Kapil Dev led vintage Indian team did the unthinkable of beating the mighty Lloyd XI in the World Cup finals. Somebody once quoted:
“Cricket is by chance & hockey is by dance”.
And 24 years back, we took our chances & henceforth the crowning glory. The Heaven was indeed with the Gods!!!

Come 13 March 2007, & the search for that elusive WC begins again. Though cricket is a game of shocks & surprises, still one can safely assume that the no. of teams: 16 are only for statistics. For when it comes down to listing the title contenders, we have 8 teams vying for the title: Amazing Australia, Enigmatic England, Indomitable India, Never-say-die Newzeland, Pulsating Pakistan, Super South Africa, Scintillating Sri lanka & the Wonderful West Indies.

At the start of the year, it looked as if it was a foregone conclusion that the Aussies would have a cakewalk in this cricket mahakumbh. But much to almost everyone’s relief, this no longer seems to be the case, especially after “A series of six shocking losses” for the defending champs & the tournament is wide open. England is a rejuvenated lot, Newzeland are on cloud no. 9 after blanking the kangaroos 3-0, Pakistan are as always the unpredictable lot, South Africa is the most consistent of them all & my favourites for the title, Sri lanka come along with their “chuppa rustam” tag, & the hosts can never be underestimated especially with inspirational leader Lara at their helm.

So this leaves us with the million dollar question: What about the Men in Blue???

Well Dravid may not be a perfectionist when it comes to captaincy, Sehwag may be woefully out of touch, Dhoni is not at its riveting best, Irfan is no longer regarded as the next Kapil & so on…

But the point is this: According to Kapil paaji himself this Indian cricket team is much superior to those 1983 fanatics in terms of talent & has the potential & the ability to go all the way. Ofcourse its easier said then done, but with Sachin slowly but surely coming to his majestic best, Ganguly: the man on a mission, Yuvraj & the younger co. ready to put all they have got. There is indeed a glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel & maybe just maybe when the curtains fall on this grand saga on 28 April, the Heaven is indeed returned to the Gods after an agonizing wait of 24 years.

GO INDIA GO!!!