Monday, March 28, 2005

Life After iPod

Image hosted by Photobucket.comBusiness 2.0 prophesizes the next generation of blockbusters from Apple based on the iPod. A Wireless iPod and an iPod that plays video are virtually on the cards for a launch. There's also a nice photoessay on the shape of things to come.

Thursday, March 10, 2005

The Blue Mug

Watched "The Blue Mug" at Rangashankara yesterday. And it was fabulous, so much so that I'll prob'ly watch it again when I get a chance.

At its centre, four characters constructed bits and pieces of their past as they remember it... significant and insignificant moments - which sprung to their minds as they speak... collecting glass from broken bottles at the sea shore as a little girl, ubiquitous delhi family gatherings complete with the lassi, watermelons, bhuttas, being stacked up at the top of a cupboard by the teacher, playing jehangir in a college play... ordinary, embarrassing, strange, funny, tragic and inexplicable incidents... sometimes even struggling to separate the truth from fiction in their hazy memories.

Then there was the story of Joginder Chauhan, a man of 40s who was "stuck in 1980", as a permanent memory dysfunction left him adrift on a perpetual stream of present moments, while memories of himself and his family from twenty five years ago clung to him with the clarity of the present. The character of Joginder was so brilliantly played by Ranvir Sheroy... the unrefined language, with the typical touch of punjabi felt so very very genuine, it was absolutely incredible that this person who I knew as a smooth Channel-V VJ was playing the role. Unforgettable.

The other actors - Rajat Kapoor (of Monsoon Wedding and DCH fame), Joy Fernandes, Vinay Pathak (another Channel-V VJ), Sheeba Chaddha and Niloufer - were fabulous in their roles as well.

Tuesday, March 01, 2005

Brilliant Win!

On the frontpages today - Sania Mirza pulled off a remarkable turnaround to beat US Open champ Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-2 in the second round of the Dubai Open

Sania started off on a nervous footing and was 0-4 down in a blink. She fell and hurt her left ankle in the third game, then was a point away from dropping her fifth straight game in the first set. Faltering in her serves and struggling against the painful injury, Sania looked on course to a timid defeat.

And then began the dramatic turnaround as she banished her nerves and decided to go for the shots. Sania played solid attacking tennis and hit some brilliant winners to catch the Russian cold, and won all of the next 6 games to take the set 6-4.



By then Sania was on a song, the painkillers had started working, the crowd was boisterously cheering her on, and the world number 7 was under pressure. Sania traded breaks with Svetlana at the start of the second set, then broke her twice again. Serving for the match, she slipped to 0-40, but climbed back with two forehand winners, saved two more break points, reached match point with a backhand pass, and then forced an error to seal the match in the most befittingly dramatic fashion.

She will now meet Jelena Jankovic of Serbia in the quarterfinals. You know who my money is on.