HAPPY BIRTHDAY LATA MANGESHKAR!

On September 28, melody queen Lata Mangeshkar celebrated her 76th birthday. She was born as Hema Hardikar at Indore, Maharashtra. When she was 5 years old, Lata started working as a child-artist in several of her father's performances. Her first cinematic song was for the film Kiti Hasaal. Her father didn't want her to sing for movies, however, and the song had to be dropped from the film. Lata got her big break with the song "Aayega Aanewaala" from the movie Mahal in 1949. She sang most number of her duets with Kishore Kumar. Her songs were a rage from the 40s till date. "kitne ajeeb rishtey hai yaha pe" from Page 3 is a recent hit. She has received four Filmfare Awards, the Platinum Disc of EMI London, and many
others. At this juncture, I was trying to recollect my personal 10 favorite songs sung by her. And it took me more than an hour to select this. I am sure there might be better songs, but it is tough to select from the 1000s of songs that she has sung....

10. Bahon mein chale aao - Anamika.
9. Tune O rangeele kaisa jaadu kiya- Kudrat.
8. Ae dile naadan - Razia Sultan.
7. Rimjhim gire sawan - Manzil.
6. Kabootar Jaa Jaa - Maine pyar kiya.
5. Yaara Seeli Seeli - Lekin.
4. Tere mere milan ki ye raina - Abhimaan.
3. Tujhse naraz nahi - Masoom.
2. Tu Jaha Jaha chalega mera saya - Mera Saya.
1. Aye Mere Watan Ke Logon - Album

Where did the deer go?

CARE-LESS

Yes, happens...........

It Is Not Over Yet!

Just when things seemed to settle down between Ganguly and Chappell, here comes a bomb. It seems Chappell had sent an e-mail to the Indian Cricket Board, stating that he does not want Ganguly as team India's captain, and that he is mentally and physically unfit. More.

Marooned

A scene from Khamam, a place 225 km from Hyderabad. Rains and floods have claimed 58 lives and many have been rendered homeless.

Mosquito? No probs man!

A South Korean phone company, SK Telecom, claims to have encoded a software called Anti-Mosquito that one can install in high-end mobiles to get rid of mosquitoes and pests. According to the company’s Internet site, the software programme works on the principle of producing sound in the range of 16000 Hz to 20000 Hz which is beyond the audible range of humans, but can be heard by members of the animal kingdom, mosquitoes included.

The software company’s website states: "The sound produces an undesirable effect on mosquitoes and other pests thus restraining them from flying." The added bonus is that the software can be downloaded free from the Internet. The programme file size is only 96 kilobytes which does not take up much memory space. After downloading the software from the net, one can transfer the programme file using data cables or Bluetooth devices on to mobiles and install it.

However, the programme is only compatible with phones which are Java powered (or are Symbian phones). The "mosquito repellent" software can be used in Nokia, Samsung and Sony-Ericsson phones in which Java-based software is used.

Various reviews of the product have said the software actually works - it does not kill the pests but stuns them. And just in case you are wondering what’s next in line regarding pest control through electronic means, some sites claim to be developing software to control other house pests like cockroaches and rats.

VISA!

Part-2

This comes as a sequel to the article on Saurav Ganguly and Sania Mirza, both of whom had a bad day yesterday. Sania lost to the Hungarian Melinda Czink 0-6, 6-4, 6-4 at the WTA Sunfeast open, while Ganguly played a miserable innings, scoring 16. All these lead us to the point that a peaceful and cool mind is required to bring out the best in us. People who were after Sania's attire must have been happy now. Ganguly's case is too not much different, though the issue seemed to ebb for the present. But it might take a while, before they come out of this.

Rita -- No. 3

Hurricane Rita, the Category 5 hurricane has grown more turbulent, becoming the third most intense storm in history, after Hurricane Gilbert in 1988 and the Labor Day hurricane of 1935. Rita has now attained maximum sustained winds of 265 kph.

The latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center predicted Rita would likely hit Texas on Saturday, but anywhere from southwest Louisiana to northeast Mexico.

President Bush has declared states of emergency in Texas and Louisiana.

Oh No! Wrong Place!

Rita follows Katrina

A new hurricane threat is hovering over the US again, this time tropical storm Rita, which was nearing hurricane strength over the Bahamas and is expected to reach the US Gulf Coast by the weekend - less than a month after the unprecedented devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Rita is expected to concentrate its fury on Louisiana, or head further west toward Texas. The storm was headed late Monday toward the Bahamas, with peak sustained winds near 115 km an hour. Rita is expected to strengthen by Wednesday to hurricane force. It would be the season's ninth hurricane and is already the 18th named storm.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Philippe was east of the Leeward Islands in the eastern Caribbean on Monday and moving north-northwest.

Some days are like that!

Unfortunately unfortunate!

New twists are getting added to the saga between Sourav Ganguly and Mr Greg Chappell by each passing day amid growing speculation about a rift in the Indian cricket team.

Today, there was a revelation that it was Ganguly who had asked Mr Chappell about his frank opinion as an "elder brother" on where he stood in his career, which was later twisted as if he had been asked to step down as captain of the Indian team.

The source also said it was "disgraceful" on the part of Indian captain to have "manipulated public opinion" as he, and a few of his men within the team, have been resisting to come out of their comfort zones and conform to the parameters of physical, mental and technical excellence which Mr Chappell and company have been insisting upon.

Anyhow, I don't think that the real thing will ever come out. There are doubts still about the happenings, based on the timing of his revelation (Just after he hit the century). All in all, not a good news for Indian cricket.

Turning on to Sania, it is unfortunate that a minority religious group has raised objections over her on-court attire. The Netaji Indoor Stadium, venue for the Sunfeast Open WTA meet, is crawling with police personnel, and gun-wielding commandos are constantly around star. We have to wait and see what implications these developments will have on her. Hope that she is not carried away with all these and is able to concentrate on her game.

Shalimar The Clown

At the release of his new book "Shalimar the Clown" at Asia Society in New York on Friday night is Salman Rushdie with wife Padma Laxmi.

Salaam Namaste - In Short

Overview: Overall, the film is okay, though it doesn't match with the pre-release hype. Following suit with the new-age, real-life movies like Dil Chahta hai, and Hum Tum, this one is a once-watchable movie, though not as entertaining as the other two.

Performances: Some great performances by Saif and Preity. Javed Jaffrey makes a good comeback.

Camera work and Editing: Excellent.

Photography: Set in Australia, is a visual treat.

Choreography: Not bad.

Music: When catchy Hinglish/English lines are the norm of the day, this one is no different. "What's going on," "My dil goes Mmmmm..," and the title song are hummable numbers.

Firsts: This is the first time I saw the lead actress of a movie dancing for a number, when she is 8-9 months pregnant.

Suggestions: No harm in watching this movie once, but please go without any expectations. And it is advisable to carry a few pieces of cotton, for it will shield you from the screaming and shouting during the second half.

Gandhipuram to Saravanampatty VIA Ganapathy

You start from Gandhipuram happily at 4:30 p.m., and by the time you cross the two signals it would be probably around 4:45. Then you see two people running, crossing the road, right through the middle of the traffic. You apply brake, they cross happily, and you start over once again after giving a due course of curse. You land up behind a queue of vehicles which is just moving at a snail's pace. You wonder what is happening and look ahead to see a 45C moving at 2.5 km/hour. Somehow you manage to overtake the other vehicles, curse the bus, and try to overtake it. And lo! it is not the fault of 45C, our hero is sitting in a bullock cart and happily cruising along, not at all worrying about the inconvenience caused to others. It is 4:55. You suddenly see the traffic at a standstill. You can recognize that you have reached Ganapathy even with closed eyes. You escape from there only to see that you are behind an auto that is moving forward. As the auto is about to cross a junction, you suddenly see a hand coming out indicating that he is about to turn (probably the guy forgot his way until then). With little bit of acrobatics, you somehow manage not to hit the vehicle, curse him, and move forward only to be halted by another two people crossing the road. "Look to your right, then to your left, then again to your right before you cross." At least that is what I know I should do before crossing roads. Now here you see them crossing the road as if they have a stiff neck. Maybe they believe "anyhow that guy will stop, if not my family will still benefit with the insurance amount that they get after my life." You've just completed your third curse that you suddenly see a vehicle coming in your way (wrong side driving). Don't worry, again your acrobatic driving helps (and you pinch yourself to verify that you are still alive). It's 5:10 p.m. You reach Saravanampatti. And you thank God that you are still alive!

HAPPY ONAM!

1st TEST, DAY 3

India have reached 413/6 with Ganguly batting on 59 and Pathan on 20. The man out today includes Laxman (after scoring a brilliant 140), Yuvraj for 12 and Dinesh Kartik for 1. For Zimbabwe, Mahwire is thus far the successful bowler with figures of 3 for 92.

1st TEST, SECOND DAY

India have reached 88 for 1 at lunch on day 2, after bowling out Zimbabwe for 279. At least this time, the men in blue did not have to toil much to take the last wickets. Pathan was the most successful bowler with figures of 5 for 58. Zaheer took 3 for 74. Taibu was the top scorer for Zimbabwe with an unbeaten 71.

Sehwag was the only man dismissed in the Indian innings. He was out for 44 (from 49 balls). Gambhir is still there at the crease with an unbeaten 41.

Ashes Back to England!

At 6.15 on Sept 12, the Australian captain handed over ownership of cricket’s oldest and most treasured prize ---- The Ashes to England. It is more than 18 years since English cricket last celebrated this feat, when Gladstone Small caught Merv Hughes in the deep at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 28 December 1986, and today a nation rose to its feet once more to applaud a team that it has every right to be proud of.

Bad light had forced the players of England and Australia from the pitch, making it a rather soft and touching way for such an intense, hard-fought and brilliant series to end.

Kevin Pietersen, who scored a quite brilliant 158 here to take the fifth Test out of Australia’s reach, and ensure England retained their 2-1 lead in the series, will grab the headlines. Without him the Ashes could have been making their way back to Sydney with Ponting and his Australian team-mates.

But every member of Vaughan’s dedicated and vibrant young side should be looked on as a hero. Andrew Flintoff has been a colossus, inspiring Vaughan’s charges on every occasion they were in trouble, yet at some stage in this astonishing series each of the 12 players used by England has contributed to the team’s success.
Even Paul Collingwood, playing in his only Test of the summer, batted for 71 minutes with Pietersen when England looked as though they might yet blow it. It will take some time for these players to realise just what they have achieved during the last two months, or come to terms with their new-found status. Indeed, their lives may never be the same again. But during the next few days each of them can sit down and reflect on taking part in the best Test series that this great sport has ever seen.

Roared on by a fervent crowd, England batted positively before they were finally bowled out for 335. And it was fitting that the truly magnificent Shane Warne should take the final wicket in his last Test on English soil. The presence of the game’s greatest-ever bowler has only heightened the appeal of this series, and when he had Stephen Harmison caught at slip it took his tally in the series to 40. Warne did not deserve to be on the losing side, but the fact that he was had been largely down to the batting of his close friend Pietersen. He may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but, boy, can he play. And the manner in which he handled the pressure here highlighted what a wonderful future he has in this England side.

Well Done Sania!

Sania Mirza got her rewards for making it to the last 16 at the US Open as she propelled herself to a career-high 34 in the latest WTA rankings. Sania jumped eight places after she added 134 points at Flushing Meadows, which took her aggregate to 888.75 WTA points.

1st TEST BEGINS

At a time, when the debate is over Zimbabwe's test status, the first cricket test between India and Zimbabwe began a few minutes ago. Zimbabwe won the toss and has elected to bat. At the moment, Zimbabwe are 42 for 1, having lost the wicket of Brendan Taylor who was dismissed by Zaheer after scoring 13.

This is Chappell's first Test as the Indian coach and Ganguly is captaining his 48th Test today, which puts him ahead of Sunil Gavaskar and Mohammad Azharuddin for having led India in the most number of games.

Lexically interesting words

Longest word without a vowel: symphysy.

Word with most vowels: counterrevolutionaries.

Words with most consecutive vowels (5): cooeeing, miaoued, miaouing, queueing.

Smallest word with all 5 vowels: eulogia, miaoued, sequoia.

Longest word with no repeated letter: dermatoglyphics.

Longest word with letters in alphabetical order: aegilops.

Longest word with letters in reverse alphabetical order: trollied.

Longest word that can be typed with the right hand alone (on a qwerty keyboard): phyllophyllin.

Longest word that can be typed with the left hand alone (on a qwerty keyboard): devertebrated.

TYPEWRITER (10 letters) can be typed using only the top row of keys on a standard keyboard.

FICKLEHEADED and FIDDLEDEEDEE are the longest English words consisting only of letters in the first half of the alphabet, each being 12 letters long.

Beijing and Fiji have three dotted letters in a row.

Here are some examples words containing double letters, for each letter of the alphabet: AARDVARK, ABBOT, ACCENT, ADD, FEED, OFF, EGG, WITHHOLD, SKIING, AVIJJA, BOOKKEEPER, ILL, IMMUNE, ANNOY, HOOP, APPLE, HUQQA, ARRAY, KISS, LITTLE, VACUUM, SAVVY, SLOWWORM, WAXXENN, CUBBYYEW, and DAZZLE.

HONORIFICABILITUDINITATIBUS is the longest word consisting entirely of alternating vowels and consonants.

Review - Aashiq Banaya Aapne (Ullu Banaya Usne)

Yawn! Yawn! This one from director Aditya Datt can be best described in one word as "SICK." Same old triangle love story (story???), Two guys A and B, and a girl C. A and B loving C, C loving A, B betraying A, winning the girl, A revealing everything, A and C living happily. It should not have taken more than 15 minutes to write the script for this film. Emraan Hashmi, as usual, looks horrible. Sonu Sood shows some promise, as is debutant Tanushree. The skin show might do some wonders for her career. Music by Himesh Reshamiya goes well with the standard of this film (Never ever buy a CD - even if someone gets you for free). The film fails in all departments - direction, screenplay, acting, music, editing. Dialogues put you in a fix - whether to cry or to laugh.

Bottomline: If you have some grudge against anyone, this is the best opportunity. Take him/her to this movie.

Full Credits!

Mahesh Bhupathi and Daniela Hantuchova won the mixed doubles title at the US Open, when they easily overcame Katarina Srebotnik and Nenad Zimonjic 6-4, 6-2 in the finals at Flushing Meadows in New York on Thursday.

Final Introspection

Since making their one-day debut in 1974, India have reached 43 one-day tournament finals, lost 24 of them - nine of them under Sourav Ganguly’s captaincy - and won just 17 titles.

India’s latest defeat in a final came yesterday when the Ganguly-led side went down by six wickets to New Zealand in the Videocon Triangular Series at Harare. After being 155/2 in 25 overs, the men in blue could not capitalize on the good start.

India made their one-day debut against England on 13 July 1974 at Leeds. Since then, of the 43 tournament finals, India have lost 24 (55.81 percent) and won 17 (39.53). They shared two titles – the 2002 Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka at Colombo and the TVS Cup with South Africa at Dhaka in 2003. Both could not be completed due to rain.

Ganguly, who took over captaincy after Sachin Tendulkar resigned in 1999-2000, has an unenviable record as India’s one-day captain vis-à-vis finals, having lost nine of them.

The lone triumph under his leadership was the 2002 NatWest Trophy, which India won by beating England in London, prompting an excited Ganguly to take off his shirt while celebrating the win at the Lord’s balcony.

The Kolkata-based player is the world’s ninth most successful - and India’s No. 1 - One-Day International captain in terms of overall winning percentage. Ganguly, who has played 279 one-dayers, has led India in 147 matches, winning 76 of them (51.70 per cent) and losing 66 (44.90). Current Australia captain Ricky Ponting leads the table with 76.24 per cent (77 wins out of 101 ODIs) and only 16.83 per cent defeats (or 17 matches).

India have shared only two one-day titles in all these years and both times it happened under Ganguly’s captaincy. Rahul Dravid, Mohammed Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja and Sachin Tendulkar are the other captains who have lost One-Day International finals since April 1999.

Under Jadeja and Dravid, India have lost two finals each, under Tendulkar and Azharuddin one each and the rest under Ganguly. But there is an interesting paradox to Ganguly’s captaincy, when it is viewed in terms of overall success percentage.

Although India continue their pathetic record in tournament finals, their first title triumph came in the best possible manner - the 1983 World Cup at Lord's, when Kapil Dev’s team beat the mighty West Indies by 43 runs. Within 10 months, India won the Asia Cup in Sharjah (there was no final but only league matches in this tournament). Then Sunil Gavaskar’s side won the Benson and Hedges World Championship of Cricket beating Pakistan in Melbourne on 10 March 1985. Within 20 days of that victory, Kapil Dev was holding aloft the four-nation Rothman’s Cup in Sharjah. That was India’s best phase in one-day cricket during which they won four titles in 21 months.

Yuvraj saves India’s day

Yuvraj Singh hit a fine century and played a knock of controlled aggression to help India avoid shame and overcome a gritty challenge by Zimbabwe, resulting in a four-wicket victory in the Videocon Cup cricket triseries. He was adjudged the man of the match for today’s game just after the match in which his partner Kaif played the same role.

Earlier Zimbabwe put up a healthy total of 250 but their bowling proved inadequate as the Indians overhauled the target comfortably in the final round-robin match. But not everything was going as per plan for the Indians. They were reduced to 91 for five at one stage. Virender Sehwag (12), Sourav Ganguly (2), Rahul Dravid (6) and Mohammad Kaif (8) could not do much, thanks to some sprightly fielding and purposeful bowling from the zimbabweans. Then came the wonderful knock from Yuvraj, who shared a 158-run sixth wicket stand from 140 balls with Dhoni, the best sixth wicket stand ever for India in One-Day Internationals.

The Punjab left hander, who had posted a hundred in a triseries in Sri Lanka last month, also crossed the 3,000 mark when he was on 36. In all, he faced 124 balls and hit 12 fours and a six. Mahendra Singh Dhoni proved he can bat with a calm head too as he lent support to Yuvraj with an unbeaten 67 off 63 balls and notched up the winning runs with his third six of his innings off Blessing Mahwire.

Earlier, India won the toss and elected to field. With Pathan, Nehra not in the side, RP Singh and Yadav had the task of opening the bowling for India. Skipper Tatenda Taibu led from the front with a 97-ball 71 while Charles Coventry top scored with 74 with seven fours and three sixes.

At the end, all is well that ends well. For India to put up a match against the Kiwis, its top order should fire in the finals. Rahul Dravid's out of form is definitely a concern, so is Ganguly's. If they too fire, an exciting match is in the waiting.....

Top 10 dialogues from Bollywood

I feel the following are the Top 10 dialogues from Hindi movies of yesteryears:


1. "Main tumhaare bachche ki maan banne waali hoon."
2. " Jug Jug jiyo beta "
3. "Is ghar ke darwaaze, tumhare liye hamesha ke liye band hein"
4. " Agar Maa ka doodh piya hai to saamne aa."
5. " Tehro! Yeh shaadi nahin ho sakti !"
6. "Kanoon ke haath bahut lambe hote hein"
7. " Khabardaar jo mujhe haath bhi lagayaa .."
8. " Ab hum kisi ko muh dikhaane ke layak nahin rahe"
9. " Mai tumhaara yeh yehsaan zindagi bhar nahin bhoolonga"
10. "Nikal jaa mere ghar sey...


Hope I haven't missed any important ones..... Of course, Hindi movies have come a long way from these now....

LG launches B2050 GSM handset in India

LG Electronics has launched a new trendy phone that is compact, lightweight, and comes with a streamlined design display. This Triband phone has 65K high resolutions color display, multiple alarms, voice memo, MMS etc, and also comes with GPRS facility for high-speed wireless Internet and data communication.


PRICE: Rs. 5000/=

What can you expect here?

Hi! You can expect anything and everything under the sky here including latest movie reviews (Hindi, English, Tamil, and Malayalam), an insight into any new products launched in the market, writeups on the good and bad side of our society, sports roundup ....... the list goes on.........Let me stop here for today with a sigh of relief ---Indian cricket team finally winning a match against a team other than the likes of Bangladesh & Zimbabwe. But whether they will sustain this form in the finals is another question. Let's wait and see.......