India is out of the T 20 World Cup and the whole country is in mourning. Captain Dhoni’s stock is at an all time low and he is being severely criticized by the experts and the layman alike for his poor tactics. In order to reduce the overwhelming anger directed at him he has blamed the world cup debacle on post IPL parties, saying that the players were fatigued because of staying up all the night, well if indeed it is true, which I think it is not, why didn’t he raise this issue with the concerned authorities during the IPL. He is simply giving silly excuses to save his skin. The fact of the matter is that India played pathetically in every department of the game; batting, bowling and fielding. It was extraordinarily consistent in defeat losing all the three matches in the super eight stage, the only team to do so. , quite a feat indeed.The players did not seem motivated enough.

Cricket is a team game and it is not right to single the captain out for criticism. But when the team wins it is the captain who is praised and applauded and when the reverse happens he gets brickbats. While most of the players didn’t perform well, let’s analyse how Dhoni performed as a batsman. He scored only 149 runs in five matches, 29 being his highest. So he not only performed badly as a captain but also as a batsman. In fact under Dhoni’s captaincy India has not performed well in the two of the three T20world cups, and even for the famous first world cup trophy we should be thankful to Misbah Ul Haque for that miscued shot., for had he succeeded in clearing the fence , the story would have been completely different.

Dhoni gives his best only in IPL matches, he leads from the front, uses correct tactics to defeat the opponent, performs well as a batsman ,as evidenced in the just concluded IPL, while in the international T20 competitions his magic deserts him. Do post your comments.

“Just suspended. Wait - we have just begun. Had a restful day. Been in the spa all day. Much needed rest.” Lalit Modi tweeted after being suspended from the post of IPL commissioner. But despite his false bravado one thing is clear that he is no longer the poster boy of Indian cricket. The politicians he hobnobbed with not so long ago ,now treat him as pariah ever since income tax sleuths began investigating charges of money laundering and host of other charges in the IPL. His political friends have ganged up against him because they want to save their skins for they too have reaped rich dividends from the money spinning Indian Premium League. I must admit that I am happy with Lalit Modi’s downfall because he tried to malign the clean image of Shashi Throor ,one of my favourite politicians by making the ownership pattern of Kochi IPL team public on twitter, of which Throor, being a cricket aficionado, was a mentor. Sunanda Pushker,Throor’s close friend had a 5 % sweat equity in Rendezvous Sport World, a partner in the consortium which bought the Kochi team. He did not make the ownership pattern of any other team public. The media and opposition parties accused Throor of being corrupt, saying he had invested in the team through Sunanda. Ultimately he had to resign from the union cabinet. Throor says that his name will be cleared because he has not committed any crime and I trust him, so do innumerable people.

When a lot of muck was being thrown at Throor ,Modi must have been very happy ,patting his back for having successfully plotted the former’s downfall, I wonder what he is thinking about his own fall from grace, I wish I knew. Any ways i am sure Throor will make a comeback in the union cabinet. He is a dream politician who is intelligent, suave, articulate, well read .honest, and of course good looking. We need more politicians like him. I have read in the papers that he is going to marry Sunanda,I wish him all the best.His girl friend is undoubtedly very beautiful.

Sooner rather than later a film will be made on the meteoric rise and the spectacular fall of Lalit Kumar Modi,.Which hero will be best suited to play him? I am unable to decide. Suggest some names guys

With the spectre of Ayesha Siddiqui no more hovering over them ,Sania and Shoeb will tie the knot on 15^th of April in relative peace. According to media reports Ayesha’s family has been paid more than 5 crores,some even suggested 15 crores but I think the latter figure is exaggerated, to buy it's silence.Anyways, not a single person have i spoken to is happy about Sania and Shoeb’s marriage.They are either angry, accusing Sania of being unpatriotic ,or sad, predicting that this marriage will not work, or disappointed, saying she has chosen a wrong man.I belong to the third category. She could have found a far better match for herself.,but then it's her life ,she must be having very strong reasons for doing so. How did Shoeb made her fall in love with him? Here is my take on it.

Sania is beautiful, famous, and ,of course rich. There must be some compelling qualities in Shoeb that drew her to him. After all the groom to be has dated a bevy of beauties in his colourful past. Since he is well versed neither in Urdu nor English, my guess is he would have bowled her over with his rustic Punjabi, i dont put it past him to have thrown few romantic lines from some b- grade punjabi films at her.Some girls who are brought up in a sophisticated environment find rustic men irresistible. He might have even serenaded her by singing some Punjabi folk songs,before you guys start raising your eyebrows in annoyance, he could be quite a good singer.

Before signing off I must admit my mouth is watering at the very thought of the delectable dishes that will be served to the guests at Sania’s reception.I wish I were one of the invitees.Koi gal nhi ji,I would attend it in my dreams. Do post your comments. I am looking forward to hearing from you.

The incident I am going to write about took place nearly 45 days back. It was a cold and dreary morning in mid February and I was going to prepare my breakfast when my mother called me, worry writ large on her face,saying that Ali bhai, her brother and my mamu, had not reached Safoli from Lucknow even after 24 hours,though the distance between the two is not more than 100 kms. I was not really worried because I knew him well but to show amma that I was trying to locate him I tried to contact him on his mobile but none of my calls were received. Amma grew more worried after he didn’t answer the phone but I tried to assure her that Ali mamu was fine and that he would reach Safoli soon, and before she could say anything more I dashed from her room to the kitchen because I was starving.

Ali mamu had come to lucknow to meet his younger brother, he stayed at his place for two days before leaving for home at 7 in the morning,despite the fact that a light drizzle was falling at that time.When he didn’t reach home our relatives became anxious and tried to reach him on his mobile but he didn’t pick it up ,it turned out that he had locked it in his almirah, something only he could do.

As hours ticked by without any trace of him amma and my khala started panicking imagining the worst, and started making frequent visits to the toilet, worry does this to people,it upsets stomach, I have first hand experience of this. Anyway nobody had lunch. It was decided that before lodging an FIR it would be better to search for him privately.My uncle went to several police stations in Lucknow to informally inquire about any accident about an unknown man,but fortunately no such accident had been reported at any of the police stations that day.My cousin went from one hospital to another ,he even visited the mortuaries just in case but THANK GOD he was not there. It was 6 in the evening when we were going to lodge a missing person FIR when word came that he had been found in Safoli.One of my relatives had spotted him getting a shave at a barber’s shop.

Everyone felt immense relief that finally their ordeal was over.Ali mamu, instead of going to Safoli had gone to Allahabad and Banaras. As expected everyone was furious with him for his irresponsible behavior.My aunt scolded him for not informing any of his family members about his whereabouts ,and amma was beside herself with anger, even I was angry with him as I had skipped my lunch.

Ali mamu, after leaving his brother’s place had gone to Qaiser bagh bus station from where he boarded an Allahabad bound bus .He reached there at 1 pm and visited many historical buildings including Khusroo Dervaza, High Court and Sangam. To reach the point where the three rivers Ganga,Yamuna and Sarasvati are believed to meet Ali mamu hired a boat for 35 Rs ,he also spent 35 Rs more to buy coconut and sweets to be offered at the sangam (the point where three rivers meet) At the sangam tha Panda,the religious priest asked him his name, without batting an eyelid he said Satya Prakash. The panda asked what his gotra was he hurriedly said Agarwal ,which is a caste not a gotra,but still he allowed Ali mamu to offer the coconut and sweets to the Sangam. Mission Allahabad accomplished he hopped onto a bus heading towards Banaras at 9 pm.

The weather was bone chillingly cold when Ali mamu reached the holy city of Banaras at 1 am. He tried to find a room at some hotels but couldn’t get one as all the rooms were occupied. Tired, he headed towards Banaras railway station which was crowded even at midnight. He bought two old newspapers and slept on them till 4 30 am. As he wanted to witness the Kashi Vishwanath temple’s famous morning aarti he reached temple’s premises five minutes earlier and bought a small Mala of flowers and khutiya but a monkey snatched these things from his hand. He met an Austrian couple at the temple who was very impressed with his English and even gave him their email address. I can understand how hilarious it would have been; my mamu talking in English with Austrians. I can not stop laughing at the thought of it. Then he saw the aarti and the famous ghats.He returned to Safoli at 5 pm from dehra express train. And guess what, he travelled without ticket.

Burkha Dutt has been hit by an avalanche of criticism from the fans of Dr Zakir Naik who blame her for deliberately not giving the acclaimed Islamic scholar enough time to properly express his views in the 8th march edition of her weekly programme We The People . I respect Dr Naik a lot because he is a brilliant scholar of Islam and comparative religion. has a phenomenal memory, and the manner in which he clarifies Islamic view point and clears misconceptions about Islam,using the Quran authentic Hadith and other religious scriptures as a basis in conjunction with reason,logic and scientific facts but i think for the WeThe People fiasco he is himself to be blamed.Here is.why

The topic of disussion on the show was ' is popular culture stereotyping Muslims and the panel consisted of actors Shahrukh Khan ansd Soha Ali Khan,film directors Karan Jauhar and Kabir Khan,Islamic scholars Dr Zakir Naik and Maulana Asad Madni,Jamia Milia's vice chancellor Najeeb Jung and theatre personality Alique Padamsee.I tuned into the programme with some curiosity..I did feel that the panel was a bit crowded,comprising of eight people,the signs were ominous from the beginning. Though many of my relatives were quite excited about the magic Dr Naik was going to create on the show with his words but i knew he wont cut much ice with the audience because giving sermons and taking part in debates are as different as chalk and cheese,with the latter being not his cup of tea. The moment he started speaking in his sermon giving mode Burkha cut him short ,she had no other option as their was a paucity of time.Dr Naik should not have accepted the invitation to appear on the show as he could not have thrown much light on the topic of stereotyping of Indian Muslims. Perhaps he was too sure of his oratorical abilities,and paid a huge price for it.I just hope he has learnt his lesson well.In the end i would like to advice Dr Naik's fans not to judge Burkha unfairly.

Karthik Calling Karthik

Sidney Sheldon,had he been alive, would be pleased to see Karthik Calling Karthik,beccause of it's very interesting presentation of a psychological disorder.The plot is gripping and racy, and if you discount the first ten minutes,the movie's pace does not slacken even a bit right till the end. I saw Karthik Calling Karthik two days back and my advice to all those people wanting to watch a really good movie is that they should not miss it, because it's not the usual run of the mill movie,it's definitely different.

All the lead actors have performed well but it is the acting of Farhan Akhter which impresses you the most. He is getting better and better with each movie.The way he transforms himself from a submissive guy who is bullied by everyone including the office peon into a confident and outgoing one who does not hesitate to criticise his boss speaks volumes about his acting ability. Dipika has also chipped in a nice performance so have Ram Kapoor and Shefali Shah in the role of the boss and the psychiatrist respectively.

The music of the movie, composed by the trio of Shankar Ehsan amd Loy,is catchy, peppy and foot tapping and mercifully music composers have not used the voice of Farhan Akhter,who despite being a very talented director and actor, is an embarrassingly bad singer ,of course, in my opinion. uff teri ada is the most foot tapping of all scores when it was being played in the theater i felt like dancing, had Farhan sung it i would have felt like fleeing from the theater.Thank God it was Shankar Mahadevan.Javed sahab has penned some touching songs especially jaane ye kya hua.

Vijay Lalwani's direction is very good.He has very craftily handled a complex story .He deserves three cheers for this attempt. Hopefully he will continue directing movies of different genres.

In the end i have to make a complain to the owners of Inox multiplex Lucknow,there is very little space between the rows of seats,my feet still ache from being repeatedly trampled upon by people going to take their seats in my row. So please take note of this problem.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

India is on it's way to becoming an economic power-house. It's the second fastest economy in the world,is a vibrant democracy (despite many flaws) and is a largely tolerant and multi religious country. India 's growing stature in the world is making it's next door neighbour Pakistan very uncomfortable and it wants to destabilize India by carrying out terror attacks here. According to the investigating agencies the latest terrorist attack in which 9 innocent lives were lost was carried out by Lashkar- Tayyaba a Pakistan based terrorist organisation and they have a very valid reason to believe so. Just days before pune attack Abdul Rehman Makki, the brother in law of Lashkar chief Hafiz Syeed, had publicly warned India at a public rally in Muzaffrabad, the capital of Pak occupied kashmir that terrorist attacks will take place in the Indian cities of Delhi, Kanpur and Pune .Despite vehement denials by Pakistan political establishment that the pakistani soil is not being used for anti-India activities the truth is the terrorists are roaming freely in that country .There are terrorist camps in POK and other parts where recruits are given arms training by ISI personnel.As a practicing Muslim I FEEL ENRAGED THAT THESE SO CALLED JIHADI ORGANISATIONS SULLY THE NAME OF MY RELIGION ISLAM. Islam is totally against the killing of innocents. IT TEACHES PEACE AND FORGIVENESS. These terrorists are not muslims but the agents of Pakistani government

The Indian government's decision to restart the process of dialogue with Pakistan no matter how well intentioned it may be will not yield positive results because terror and talks can not go hand in hand. The best course of action for the Indian government will be to postpone the dialogue process until Pakistan stops sponsoring terrorism against India.

In the end i would like to thank ALLAH for making me an Indian and not a Pakistani. I have many close relatives in Pakistan and i love them a lot but i dont like their country.