tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55685672012-02-16T19:23:57.463+05:30... any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for theePrasannanoreply@blogger.comBlogger231100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568567.post-19951322900258613962009-05-02T11:26:00.004+05:302009-05-02T12:42:18.899+05:30

The Supreme Court has vacated the stay on trial (passed in 2003) into Godhra and post-Godhra riot cases. The SC has ordered the setting up of six fast-track courts in Gujarat to try the cases. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been given wide ranging powers including a say on appointment of public prosecutors, witness protection and in helping ensure a conducive environment for a fair

Prasannanoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568567.post-61501309537190967752009-04-14T12:28:00.003+05:302009-04-14T14:40:45.462+05:30

as Jerry Maguire tells Dorothy Boyd in that eponymous movie. Some personal developments, technology issues and sheer laziness have held me back. But with elections round the corner in India, I am tempted to keep recording my two bits on these polls. About time too given that the first phase of polling is just two days away.First of all I was hunting around for some good sources of election

Prasannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568567.post-58458564894442138732007-09-30T19:59:00.001+05:302009-04-14T12:27:54.749+05:30

Found a first rate blog entry on India's (test) captaincy conundrum - Dailycric. Got the link thanks to Mukul Kesavan's excellent blog Men in White.What of my own thoughts? Haven't had time to think through but I had some random thoughts following India's T20 win and the media reaction. I am just reproducing the views I expressed to a friend over email. Hence the blunt language.1. Dhoni is a

Prasannanoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568567.post-24320472689758646402007-05-20T14:01:00.000+05:302007-05-20T15:18:09.422+05:30

"After 17 years, I don't think I have a point to prove,", says Sachin Tendulkar after his 101 against Bangladesh in the first test underway at Chittagong. As both Cricinfo and DNA point out he does have a lot to prove.Consider that this is only his third test hundred in nearly two and half years and 18 tests. Two of these have come against Bangladesh and one against Sri Lanka at home. Going back

Prasannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568567.post-14091079149121702532007-03-18T19:59:00.000+05:302007-03-25T19:32:15.178+05:30

One day after I questioned the presence of some of the minnows, Sod's law required that I choke on my words. And Ireland proceeded to ram my scepticism down my throat. Mind you I was not questioning the abilities of Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, they being test playing nations. I had in mind Bermuda, Canada and Netherlands but after yesterday's matches, no one can grudge the presence of the so called

Prasannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568567.post-49908691274407912902007-03-17T18:42:00.000+05:302007-03-17T19:22:36.002+05:30

The imaginatively named 'Cricket World Cup' is underway and we already have one world record in place - Gibbs smashed six sixes in an over versus The Netherlands, Daan Van Bunge being the unfortunate bowler. Wonderful as the record is to behold - and some of the shots were pure violence - this just underlines the utterly banal nature of some of these matches. It is all well globalising cricket

Prasannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568567.post-36438716689146998342007-02-26T22:34:00.000+05:302007-02-26T22:47:29.313+05:30

Guru represents the return to form of Mani Ratnam after recent critical failures in hindi such as Yuva and Dil Se. Mani succeeds in blending style and substance, a balance he has not always got right in the post-Roja phase of his career. The strength of the movie lies in the script which manages to pack about 40 years in the life of Guru in a little under 3 hours. Mani's visual style is a big

Prasannanoreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568567.post-90420124442457641002007-02-16T20:57:00.000+05:302007-02-16T21:18:55.726+05:30

Mukul Kesavan in his own inimitable way provides his take on Aus's stumble in the second CB final and also lists the learnings from the other matches on the same day. I am not fully convinced about SA; their exceptional home record is flattering their prospects. But they are pros and can be expected to go about their business efficiently in the super eight stage. I still think that they will

Prasannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568567.post-42133262571094246552007-02-11T20:06:00.000+05:302007-03-11T21:42:40.090+05:30

This is a gem of a book. If someone out there hadn't heard the India story then he or she must have been in a cave the last couple of years. So one has to be careful before picking up yet another book on India. This one is similar in some respects to the ones out there (and ones which may be written). It has the usual stuff -about demographic dividends, the success of IT industry etc. But

Prasannanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568567.post-15922599801123587952007-02-11T19:57:00.000+05:302007-02-16T20:57:44.599+05:30

I didn't speak too soon. England completed a rain-affected (DL) win over Australia to win the CB tri-series, the first time Australia have lost in these finals in over 100 years, err 14 years. Didn't catch much of the match as it was constantly interrupted and I had to endure a painful India-SL match (which, India, true to form managed to lose), but still one heck of a performance from Freddie

Prasannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568567.post-1171107437047371542007-02-10T16:35:00.000+05:302007-02-10T17:43:19.636+05:30

England are one win away from completing the ultimate smash and grab raid in the CB series. After getting hammered throughout the (Aussie) summer, they sneaked into the ODI series finals and pulled off an amazing 4-wicket win over the Aussies at MCG yesterday. Collingwood did the star turn with the bat and in the field. While the Pom media have predictably gone to town with what is (only)

Prasannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568567.post-1138672453844036332006-01-31T06:34:00.000+05:302006-03-23T11:17:07.050+05:30

Saw four movies between last Thursday (Jan 26) and Sunday. Must be some sort of record (for me) outside of film festivals. Before I forget or memories of the movies become foggy, i thought I should put down something. So here goes short takes.Rang De Basanti: The movie had tall hurdles to cross. Although the promos were low key, the controversies and Aamir Khan's presence itself saw expectations

Prasannanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568567.post-1129989376241625452005-10-22T19:23:00.000+05:302005-10-22T19:26:16.510+05:30

Le Professor 56 years old and the Henry experience 186 goals old!Well it’s been a bit delayed between the last post and this one. The season’s been like that – a stop-start one that has not allowed teams or fans to get into any rhythm at all. Except for the RMF and however grudging, some credit goes to Loudmouth Mourinho for what he has done. But back to the topic of the day. We are about 50

Prasannanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568567.post-1127306697905259932005-09-21T18:13:00.000+05:302005-09-21T18:14:57.913+05:30

A last gasp win over FC Thun and a stroll against Everton represents a satisfying week for the faithful. With 2 wins on the trot, all outside talk of crisis has been banished. Mind you, I feel this is only temporary relief as any signs of wobble by the team and the media will only be too ready to jump on to the ‘Arsenal in crisis’ bandwagon. However producing results on the pitch is the best

Prasannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568567.post-1126691162979713492005-09-14T14:01:00.000+05:302005-09-14T19:01:17.316+05:30

As a gooner living in faraway Mumbai (that was Bombay earlier) I couldn't bear it any longer to see every Tom, Dick and Harry starting to predict the end of the road for Arsenal and no one to refute these sentiments to. From now onwards I will unburden myself as often as possible on the team's prospects and the games. And in true Arsenal spirit I expect the current bunch to bounce. Four games

Prasannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568567.post-1109250875088044572005-02-24T17:47:00.000+05:302005-02-27T20:51:33.040+05:30

Ten Thousand Miles Without a CloudTen Thousand miles Without a Cloud is Chinese metaphor for absolute clarity. It is the title of a book by Sun Shuyun, a Chinese filmmaker settled in UK. She travels more than ten thousand miles to retrace the travels of Xuanzang (or Hieun Tsang as he is known in India), A Chinese monk who lived in 7th century AD. The death of her father, an armyman, broken and

Prasannanoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568567.post-1085589272828298062004-05-26T20:43:00.000+05:302004-05-26T22:04:32.826+05:30

Yuva,Mani Ratnam's latest offering, is a bilingual movie with a sociopolitical theme. Lallan, Michael and Arjun are three men who meet on the Howrah bridge and whose lives are never the same again. The film has got an interesting narrative structure - it opens with this plot point and then rewinds to take a look at the lives of the protagonists upto this point. In typical Mani style the narrative

Prasannanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568567.post-1070031076398508742003-11-28T21:34:00.000+05:302004-05-26T20:43:21.946+05:30

Short takes on films that I came across in the Sixth Intl. Film Festival in Mumbai, November 2003 Women's Prison (Zendan-e-Zenan), Iran - Dir: Manijeh Hekmat A grim but touching tale about the bonding that arises between a prisoner and the jail warden in a women's prison in Iran. Based on actual facts the film chronicles the life in the prison over a period of twenty years. Having been exposed

Prasannanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568567.post-1063896413417415332003-09-18T19:21:00.000+05:302003-09-18T20:46:19.493+05:30

The Quiet American was first published in 1955 but it could have been written this summer as US ploughed a lone course in Iraq. Graham Greene has written a wonderful political novel. But this is something more. If the greatness of fiction lies in it being relevant fifty, hundred years after it was written, then The Quiet American is a great novel. Iraq is a far cry from Vietnam. The times in

Prasannanoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568567.post-1063811201489123482003-09-17T19:42:00.000+05:302003-09-17T21:06:52.500+05:30

Uncle Sam's dilemma Post 9/11 amidst all the outpouring of grief and sympathy for the victims and their families, there were a number of voices that expressed satisfaction, a kind of "they deserve this" or "Americans had this coming". And predictably the response from US was one of bewilderment and frustration. Nobody can understand such distasteful and heartless comments. Americans were even

Prasannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568567.post-1063117762907564252003-09-09T19:59:00.000+05:302003-09-09T20:09:39.710+05:30

Review of "The Pianist" A cynical way of looking at "The Pianist" is that its a clever and sureshot attempt by Roman Polanski to put himself in contention for Oscars. Given the odds against Polanski winning awards in America this looks plausible. Witness the success achieved by Spielberg with Schindler's List in bagging the Best Director award that he craved so much. However The Pianist is no

Prasannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568567.post-1059143688901819432003-07-25T20:04:00.000+05:302003-07-25T20:27:42.970+05:30

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Its a bit late in the day to do a review of Harry Potter - The Order of the Phoenix. But though I queued up on the first day itself and devoured it sooner than you can pronounce Dolores Jane Umbridge, I have been chewing a bit on the series as well as the fifth book. Where the fifth book scores is that it builds up the elements of the main Harry/

Prasannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568567.post-1057936416142596902003-07-11T20:43:00.000+05:302003-07-11T20:52:40.846+05:30

This first posting and every other posting (hopefully) will live up to the name of the weblog. I will strive to ensure that very little meaning can be made out of this blog. Review of Matrix Reloaded Keanu Reeves (Neo alias The One) and cyberbabe Carrie Anne Moss (Trinity) are back for more ass-kicking accompanied by Laurence Fishburne's Morpheus who has lost some of his supercool aura from the

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