Exasperated by online bullying!

No, I am not being bullied online, by people at least. I am being bullied by two companies which have off late become an inherent part of the daily routine of millions of people around the world - Google and Facebook. What's with these authoritarian attitude towards these new, so called modern interface updates? In spite of near universal backlash and negative feedback, these two giants are sticking with their new interfaces like a stubborn three year old. Whatever happened to "the customer is the king"? When the primary users of these services are completely against the new looks, then why are these service providers hell bent on imposing them on us? I had been "reverting back to the old look temporarily" on Gmail for many months now, but now Google has preyed upon my account with the new look. I was horrified, utterly dismayed to see that the only savior, the option of "reverting back to the old look temporarily" had been taken away from me today when I logged in. I can't even bring myself to stay on Gmail for more than 2 minutes since the switch. I instantly expressed my indignation on facebook, but that wasn't enough of an outlet. And as soon as I came here to unleash my tirade, I was greeted with a bar "Blogger is getting a new interface in April. Update now". Yeah! What way to kick me when I am down, Google! But a new interface on Blogger or google+ or any other surface doesn't affect me as much as that of Gmail. I start my working days with opening my gmail account, a ritual I believe most people who spend their day working on a computer follow religiously. Especially Grad students like myself, and that too a Bioinformatician. Now I dread the prospect of staring at this hideous new interface, where I can see only one of the two - my chat list or my carefully managed labels - at a time, one has to strain to differentiate between read and unread mails, and what not! I am seriously considering switching to my now defunct Yahoo mail account, cause that is what these companies thrive on - the belief that people eventually get used to whatever you impose on them. Facebook has made a habit out of it, introducing horrible changes again and again over the past couple of years, and people do get used to it. Hundreds of complaints about the new look on Google's feedback group all elicit a cautious, unapologetic, polite response from a Google representative, offering videos and links to aid people in getting adjusted to the new look, and totally ignoring the actual feedback - that the new look SUCKS and we want out of it!

I am just dreading the day the much dreaded and detested Timeline catches up with my Facebook profile. maybe that's the day I'll start getting more productive, and drastically reduce the hours spent on staring at my Gmail inbox, chatting or facebooking.

The wait was not Endless!

If there is a celebrity I am cuckoo over, it has to be Shania Twain. And no, this is not a tribute post or anything, there is enough written about her out there for anyone interested. Its just a celebration of her return with new music...... well not new technically, as its a cover version of the classic duet, "Endless Love" by Lionel Richie and Diana Ross - dubbed by Billboard as the the greatest duet of all time. frankly, I never cared for this song, or any of Richie's earlier stuff. In fact, I can positively say that I hate one of his most popular hits, "Hello". But I like him a whole lot more now, for coaxing Shania to do this. And needless to say, I think this one surpasses the original in every possible way. Now eagerly waiting for her new album, though I am skeptical, because this would not be produced and co-written by Mutt Lange. He might have been a scum of a person, but his compositions were definitely a big part of Shania's success, and it remains to be seen if she can deliver the same quality of music on her own, which made her one of the best selling female singers of all time with just four albums.

The video has a quintessential Shania-esque feel to it, and the vocals by both hit the right notes, with Shania slightly edging Lionel with her passionate rendition.

Sania ka Swayamvar....... for a doubles partner?

Its the Olympic year, and after its best ever performance in 2008 with a gold and two bronze, India has been gunning for an even better show at the ultimate sporting event. And these hopes are not entirely misplaced, if the top of the table finish at the 2010 Commonwealth Games is any indication. The Shooters will be the flag bearers of medal hopes like always, but will get tough competition from the Boxing Contingent, Archery, Wrestling and Badminton. However, another event, which might not be too high on the Common Man's medal-hopeful list, is Tennis. The Indian men have always been a potential threat in the men's doubles circuit on the ATP tour, but what brings Tennis into the limelight this year is the introduction of the mixed doubles event at the Olympics after a long gap.And the Indian players, most of all Sania Mirza, strongly believe they are contenders for a medal in this event. This might very well be the case, with both Sania and the men (Paes, Bhupati, and Bopanna) doing considerably well on the WTA and ATP circuits respectively.

Till last year, there were hopes for all the singles and doubles events, but with Somdev literally out of contention due to an injury since the beginning of the year, and Sania's singles ranking showing no signs of defying the law of gravity, it all boils down to the doubles. Sania, after showing initial promise in the singles with a career high ranking of 27, has now quickly settled into the Indian habit of being a doubles specialist. She's had a remarkable run with Elena Vesnina of Russia since exactly an year ago, when they won the Premier level Indian Wells event. Since then, she has won 3-4 doubles titles (13 in all), been to a couple of grand slam finals and semifinals in both the mixed and women's doubles, and has remarkably broken into the top 10 (currently ranked 7). She understands that she needs to be ranked in the top 10 in doubles or top 64 in singles to participate in any event, and with singles looking like a distant possibility, she has decided to focus entirely on the doubles this year, and skipping singles WTA tournaments, to maintain her top 10 ranking, which will be difficult, as she's defending a lot of points from last year. However having made it to the SFs in both the doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open, a win at Pattaya, and couple of other SFs, she's in good nick, and could easily maintain her top 10 ranking till June. This will allow her to play in both the women's and mixed doubles at the Olympics. But the prospects of a doubles medal are severely hampered, as there is no other Indian girl even close to international levels, and it would be tough to see Sania and her prospective partner top the pre-quarterfinal appearance by her and Sunitha Rao in the 2008 games. Hence, in interview after interview, Sania has reiterated that the mixed doubles is the best chance for India to score a medal in Tennis.

On the men's side, its all messed up. Paes and Bhupati, the Indian express, got back together last year with an eye on the Olympics, and did a pretty decent job. On the other side Bopanna was working up a miracle with Pakistan's Quereshi. Hence it was a shock when Paes and Bhupati decided to split at the end of the year, causing a split in the other team too. Now Bhupati has teamed up with Bopanna, while Paes is playing with Stepanek. Bhupati-Bopanna pairing seems like an obvious shut out of Paes from the men's doubles event, which is ironic, as Paes is the highest ranked Indian, and has had a fantastic year, winning the Australian Open doubles and runner up in the mixed doubles, and doing pretty well in most ATP tournaments. On the other hand, Bhupati and Bopanna have not lived up to their individual potentials as a team, and have just managed a single title recently, with Bhupati not even being in the top 10.

Though its not the players who decide who gets to partner whom at the Olympics, Bhupati and Bopanna playing in the Men's doubles seems like a foregone conclusion. So for the mixed doubles event, its a problem of ek anaar, teen beemaar for the AITA (All India Tennis Association).

IF Bhupati and Bopanna play in the Men's doubles, it would logically mean that Paes gets to partner with Sania in the mixed doubles. This may not sound so bad, as Paes does pretty well in most of the grand slams wit different partners, and they have won the Doha Asian Games gold together, but that was in 2006. However, Sania and Bhuapti have played in the mixed doubles of grand slams frequently, winning the Australian Open, and finishing runner up and a SF appearance this year. So they ought to play Bhupati with Sania in the mixed doubles. So far, Sania has been discrete, as have the men, leaving the decision making on AITA. But one gets a feeling this one will be a tough nut to crack for the AITA. Lets see, who walks away with the prize?

Limitless

Perseverance has no limits, as I found out today,
it only has meaning, if you never go astray.

Keep chippin' away at the stone,
even if it don't seem to move an inch,
cause you never know when,
you are just a push away.


If you give up prematurely,
you ain't never gonna know the whole story,
and all you would be left wondering with,
is what could have been?

Got a problem? Form a Committee!

The nation has been rocked recently with the news of three BJP MLAs in Karnataka caught watching pornographic clips and photographs on a mobile phone, whilst exercising their "duties" in one of the so called temples of our democracy - the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. Not even the fiercest advocates of free expression or free will would argue for this shameful act - do it in your house, in your bedroom, fine! But the legislative assembly! C'mon!! Even a teenager with raging hormones would know not to indulge in such liberties in a public place, leave alone THE state legislative assembly!!!! And we thought watching images of politicians dozing off in the Parliament with open mouths, throwing shoes and mikes on each other, scuffling and slapping, was proof enough that we are being governed by a bunch of immature kids, who have no sense of responsibility to the country whatsoever. But what the heck, we are the ones who put em' there, aren't we?

So anyway, the ironic twist in this incident is that it involves MLAs from a right-wing party, associates of which have taken up the "honorable" task of moral policing in our country, by going after couples cosying up in parks, vandalizing shops and terrorizing couples on Valentine's Day, attempting to chastise women for dressing up "inappropriately" or going to discos and pubs. Yes, its the very state where women were beaten up for going to a disco or bar (not really sure what was it), by members (oh sorry, I believe the word is hooligans!) of the "Sri Ram Sena" - a right wing group which has taken upon itself the burden of preserving Indian culture, tradition and values in this particular state of Karnataka. And what's more, the main miscreant in this "porngate" once gave a statement implying that women who don't dress appropriately invite rape. I wonder if he was checking that theory out? His laughable justification for this act, according to an article in The Hindu was that the video clippings had women dancing and they were raped by four men. He said, "Palemar told me such things happen abroad in rave parties. Since the House was discussing the Malpe rave party, I watched it...... Just watching it is not a crime." Tell me if this doesn't make you laugh out loud, you know, once you overcome the burning indignation at the stupidity of that statement. To top it all, he "rules out" resigning over the issue. The party has condemned it, isolated itself from the incident and says it was a personal act by the MLAs and not representative of the party. Though it is true, but for a party that demands the resignation of a different Congress leader every other week, its shameful that it refuses to suspend these three offenders from their posts, leave alone the party!

But the thing about all this that really got me worked up was the response of the speaker, which was to "form a committee" to investigate the issue and file a report by March 13. I mean .... What is there to investigate? What will the in-house "committee" do? Sit around, joke about the whole thing, have tea and snacks and go home? What else is there to do except suspend the three offenders, which the speaker can do, and make sure that they do not see the insides of the House ever again? The solution to every crisis in India, it seems, is to form a committee. Whether its riots, or a multi-billion scam, or something as trivial as this one - just form a Committee - or loosely translated as - buy time to subtly push everything under the rug. How many of these committees have ever actually led to an outcome? I bet if they were asked to answer this question, they'll probably set up another committee to probe this issue!

My Pick of 2011

Best Movie (Hindi) - Soundtrack , which unfortunately hardly anyone saw.

Best Actor - A close one between Rajeev Khandelwal for Soundtrack and Shahid Kapoor for Mausam. Saif Ali Khan for Aarakshan comes in at a close third.

Best Actress - Priyanka Chopra clear cut winner for 7 khoon maaf...

Supporting Role - Soha Ali khan too did a commendable job in Soundtrack.

Best Soundtrack - Rockstar a clear winner, with Mausam a distant second.Th year was pathetic as far as music is concerned.


Playback singing -

Male - Vishal Bhardwaj for "Bekaraan" (7 khoon maaf) & Angaraag Mahanta for "Jiyein Kyun" (Dum Maaro Dum). Or Mohit Chauhan for "Tum Ho" (Rockstar)?? . Or Shahid Mallya for "rabba" (Mausam)? This is a tough one!!

Female - Sunidhi Chauhan for "Aa Zara" (Murder 2) & Neha Bhasin for "Dhunki" (Mere Brother Ki Dulhan)

Most Refreshing movie / Best new director - Pyar ka punchnama - Luv Ranjan.

Song of the year - No, not Kolaveri Di!!! Though popular vote would go with the sorts of Dhinka chika etc., but my vote would go for Tum Ho - Rockstar. Though radio airplay would uggest it to be Saibo from Shor in the City.

Best Firangi Maal - I'm tempted to say Nargis fakri, but since I mean movies here, I would go with The Adventures of Tintin. Have not really seen any of those which make it to award ceremonies. Have only seen the likes of immortals, transformers, etc...


Band / Song of the year - Foster the people, Pumped up kicks.

TV show - Grey's Anatomy - especially the musical event of season 7.

Personality of the year - Definitely, one man who took the nation by storm - Anna Hazare.

Feel free to give your opinions in the comments.....

Baby they build you up, only to tear you down....

The title of this post is taken from one of my favorite tracks "build you up" by Nelly Furtado. I couldn't think of better words to describe thhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gife state of two of the most iconic female public figures of our country, at least according to me. Sania Mirza and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Hence I was mildly (and pleasantly) surprised to see Sania being included in the Teachers' Achievement Awards Club on Star World.

Most people in India would know who Sania Mirza is, what her achievements are. But then, why this kolaveri against her, I say? People love to hate her, Now. That was not the case when she first burst on the scene winning the 2003 Wimbledon Championships Girls' Doubles title. She was still relatively unknown then, but it was a HUGE deal, that a girl from India was even playing tennis on the international level, leave alone winning stuff!! Till then, Paes and Bhupati were the only contemporary tennis players people and the media cared about. Come year 2005, and she was all over the place! Recipient of a wildcard at the Australian Open, owing to winning a prestigious ITF tournament the previous year, Sania surprised the world by reaching the third round, and giving a good fight to Serena Williams, no one less, before going down. She had announced her arrival on the big stage in grand style, even though she had already done India proud much before, winning a host of event in the Afro Asian games and mixed doubles at the 2002 Asian games.

2005 was a star marked year, full of iconic landmarks for her, being the first Indian woman to win a WTA tournament, shocking top 5 players like Svetlana Kuznetsova, whom she again encountered in one of the most engaging matches I have ever seen, on Wimbledon center court in 2nd round, before losing 7-5 in the final set. A leading expert who was commentating said, "Sania Mirza, remember that name. We're gonna hear a lot more of it". In that one year, where she broke her own record to become the first Indian woman to reach the fourth round at a grand slam at the U.S. Open, she went from being in the top 300 to the 31st ranked player in the world. This was a remarkable breakthrough year by any standards, earning her the "WTA newcomer of the year award".

2006 followed, with 3 medals including a silver at the Doha Asian games, top - 10 wins. 2007 saw her ranking peak at 27 in the world, and from playing qualifying and wildcards, she went on to being seeded at the Grand Slams. From then onwards, there was a sort of familiar pattern - occasionally showing up in finals, semifinals, or quarterfinals of tournaments, bowing out in the first or second round at most of them, and increasingly better performances in doubles events. Though she maintained a solid enough level to remain in the top 100. It was only in 2010, her worst year possibly on the tour, when she ended the tear outside the top 100 (166) since 2004. This is no fluke or minor achievement. Sustaining at the top level in tennis is no cakewalk. So many high profile cases of burnouts - Jelena Dokic, Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters - to name a few. This year, she has again shown some promise, with a top 10 ranking in doubles and making it to main draws of major tournaments.

But once the downfall began, people got bored. So did the media. OF course, there was no story in the first and second round appearances. So, there was a shift in the target. Always in the news for her "bold" image, she was hounded over the flag issue, her tee - shirts with quotes, her nose ring, her dwindling performances. So at a time when India was hosting two WTA tournaments - Sunfeast open, and the one in H'bad/Banglaore, she decided to quit playing tennis in India. Could you blame her? People saw the dwindling results, and instantly attributed them to her public appearances in fashion shows, television ads and other endorsement deals. Comments on youtube videos, or any article on her on the Internet, went from being rude to downright derogatory and insulting. Now, people Loved to hate her. These were the very people who filled a 5000 capacity stadium, with additional 15000 outside - 80% of them not even knowing what tennis is all about, when she won the WTA tournament in H'bad. They were telling her to quit tennis and join Bollywood, because that was where she belonged. Is it her fault or ours? A testimony to that would be a plain google search of her name, and the suggestions, reflecting the top searches would throw up words like Sania Mirza hot, blue film, and worse. It wasn't she who was going to Bollywood. It was we who wanted to see her there.

In a nation where the only understanding of tennis was that it got us the first, and the only one, solo event medal at the Olympics through Leander Paes, it was the advent of Sania Mirza on the scene that took it to new heights. I am not talking of the previous generation - the Amritraj brothers, Ramakrishnan and others.For this generation, sure, Paes and Bhupati were well known and respected, but their exploits did not inspire youngsters to pick up tennis rackets. Her's did. Parents did not start enrolling their 3, 4 year old kids in Tennis Academies till she came along. She was the first major female sports star of our country, well at least after P.T. Usha. She introduced India to tennis. Which is a big, big achievement. I do believe that her contribution to tennis in India has been the greatest of all, as she made it popular. No one saw or cared to the see the injuries behind the downfall. As soon as the results went down, she was immediately branded as a publicity seeking, money minded celebrity with no talent - a girl whose forehand has been constantly rated as one of the best by her peers including the Williams sisters.

No one cared for the fact that she went through debilitating injuries to her wrist and had 3 surgeries before she was even 25. She was forced to stay out for months, in 2008 and 2010 due to her surgeries. In her own words, she could not even hold a fork to eat, leave alone a tennis racket. The long lay offs, and the longer time it took to prepare for comebacks, led to a fall in rankings - and respect of the public. The final straw was her marrying Pakistani cricketer, Shoaib Malik. I was dismayed to read comments like traitor, and other unmentionable things by those very Indians who hailed her as the future of sport in our country. The brand endorsements were called distractions. No one gave a thought to the fact that it was those that paid for the constant traveling, training and other expenses in the most expensive sport, in absence of any financial support from government agencies. It's sad to see that on her profile pages or match reports, it is people from other nations who are cheering her on, showing belief in her abilities while most of the desi comments are about her marriage, being a traitor, playing for Pakistan, or doing advertisements.

Being an athlete in India is a double - edged sword. You will be treated like a God as long as you are winning, but your houses would be stoned if you lose. Even cricketers go through it. But No one has had it as bad as Sania, who through no fault of her own, has lost respect. But she still soldiers on, back in the top 65 for a while and in the top 100 in 2011, ready to battle it out in 2012 yet again,which hopefully, remains injury free and sees some better results.

First we showered her with a demi-god status and later pelted abuses, fatwas and insults. But she has braved it all, and deserves respect all the more for defying the extremists who ostracized her for wearing short clothes (demand of her sport), marrying a Pakistani national, playing doubles with an Israeli national. People say that she got the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honour, and Arjuna award too early. But according to me, there could not have been a more deserving candidate for these honours, than this middle class girl from a minority community, who introduced a cricket crazy nation to tennis, inspired youngsters ad gave them hope that an Indian too can compete at the top level and rub shoulders with the Williamses of the world, and beat the likes of Martina Hingis. So even if she may never win a grand slam, or another WTA tournament for that matter, she has, I think already done enough to be a path breaker, an icon to look up to and at least be respected, and not insulted on public forums. So hopefully, 2012 will be an exercise in reclamation for her, reclamation of the respect and her rightful place in the sporting elite of our country.