In view of all the facts all I’d say is that Supriya Sule and Sharad Pawar are lying through their teeth about the bid for Pune IPL team. And that is a foregone conclusion. Thankfully, the bid was inconsequential, though it remains a matter of ethics and truthfulness. And if that be the case, didn’t Shashi Tharoor resign for the same reasons- ethics and honesty? And he resigned despite there being no direct proof of the fact that Sunanda Pushkar was being paid Rs 75 crores on his behalf. Well, if Mr Tharoor still had to resign on those counts by the same yardstick so should Mr Sharad Pawar. And that seems to be the whole game plan- of CONGRESS.

Posted on June 6th, 2010 under India calling. Tags: A Raja, bid, Congress, DMK, Gandhi, IPL, Pawar, Sharad, spectrum. Comments: 4

After the mess created by IPL I’d thought of moving on but the arrogance of Dhoni has made me revisit this issue. The man’s previous successes seem to have gone to his head. It was downright insulting to hear him smile and say that he didn’t care for people protesting against him in the streets. May I remind him that these are same people who were on the streets for more than six hours in Mumbai to welcome him and his team when they won the T20 World Cup. And at that time this guy lapped it all up. If he and his team deserved to be felicitated then they very well deserve to be kicked this time for having played like shagged out bunch of idiots, which they all seemed to be after all those parties and what happens after the parties. They never complained then and they can’t complain now. And no, I’m not exactly going to mind my language.

Posted on May 13th, 2010 under India calling. Tags: Anand, Arnab Goswami, Bhajji, Dhoni, IPL, party, T20, team, Times Now, World Cup, Yuvraj. Comments: 14

Before I talk about the controversy as such I would just like to extend my heartfelt sympathies to Sachin Tendulkar for having lost in the finals to Chennai Super Kings, who without a doubt were a better team in the finals. Nonetheless, full marks to Sachin for giving his best despite being injured. UMMMM!!! Actually, I would deduct one mark from it for him not walking after Dhoni took his catch which was disallowed by umpire Rudi Koertzen and which replays proved was supposed to go Dhoni’s way. It goes to prove that we are all human, Sachin included. Still, kudos to Sachin for doing his best. Unfortunately for him and his team, it was not enough. Not on Sunday.

Posted on April 27th, 2010 under India calling. Tags: Congress, finals, IPL, JPC, Lalit, Modi, Pawar, Praful Patel, Sachin, tendulkar, UPA. Comments: 1

Let there be no doubt that as things stand today Congress is way out of their comfort zone where they were quite comfortably ensconced after the elections in May 09 when they cruised to victory and all kinds of myriad parties ranging from SP to RJD to even BSP fell head over heals over each other to extend support to them. Every Tom, Dick and Harry said that with this kind of support UPA II is going to sail through in their next term. They said that with the left parties off their back they could now go full steam ahead with economic reforms and BLAH BLAH BLAH. Well, since then things have indeed turned on it’s head or so it seems and we are now reaching the stage where the drift is quite palpable.

Posted on April 25th, 2010 under India calling. Tags: BJP, Congress, drift, IPL, Left, Mamata, NCP, Praful, Tharoor. Comments: 5

Sachin won the toss and elected to bat first. Positive attitude. He’s opening the batting with Dhawan….

Ist over- by Praveen Kumar. Great over. Sachin seems cautious. Dhawan edgy.

2nd over- by Dale Steyn. Sachin has gone after scoring two boundaries. Big blow to Mumbai. Bangalore nose ahead. Nayar joins Dhawan. Steyn Clocking 145 kmph plus….

Posted on April 21st, 2010 under India calling. Tags: Bangalore, IPL, Mumbai, Semi Final. Comments: 5

It is now amply clear that Shashi Tharoor indeed lied to all of us. The very fact that Sunanda Pushkar has reportedly given up her stake in Kochi team implies only one thing. And that is that she has done this at the instance of Tharoor. Otherwise why would she give up Rs 70 crores so easily? Even if she’s very good friends with him why would she incur such a huge loss? Just to save her friend? Bull crap. Nobody gives up 70 crore bucks to save their friends. Whom are we kidding in any case? Unless, of course if the money was not hers to begin with. In that case I’d agree that she has given it all up when Tharoor told her to do so. And I’m pretty certain about this. It’s not just me but even his own party colleagues in Congress who did not believe him.

Posted on April 19th, 2010 under India calling. Tags: Congress, Cricket, IPL, Lalit, Modi, Tharoor, tweet, twitter. Comments: 9

Shashi Tharoor has this uncanny habit of getting into trouble all the time. His personal character and lifestyle has been under a scanner on more than one occasion in the recent past. It would not be wrong to say that he did try to influence the bidding and allocation of IPL teams in the current imbroglio. It is also amply clear that his close friend and possibly would be wife Sunanda Pushkar has been given a stake in the Kochi team on his instance. Give and take, again. Quite frankly, Tharoor is yet to learn how to live and behave like a minister in the central govt. He may be a very learned person but his personal conduct has left a lot to be desired. And let me tell you that that’s an understatement. Tharoor has to be reigned in, period.

Posted on April 15th, 2010 under India calling. Tags: BJP, Congress, Cricket, IPL, KKR, Kochi, Lalit Modi, Shashi, Tharoor. Comments: 13

I rather liked the “Amul Butter” ad where they call IPL as “Injured People’s League” what with many key players in all the teams having injured themselves in one way or the other. My sympathies with them, especially their moms if they are recuperating at home. I very much connect with them as I have had a very own, little injured people’s league at home. Though the person injured is having a tough time but the one looking after them has it even tougher. And lately I have experienced it so many times that I can call myself a veteran at nursing injured people or rather brats.

Posted on March 30th, 2010 under AUTHOR'S DIARY. Tags: bandage, chocolates, heal, hugs, injury, IPL, kids, smile. Comments: 2

The kind of support SRK has drummed up in the last few days is not exactly to his credit. What his supporters have failed to appreciate is that what he said was absolutely inadvertent and at the spur of the moment. After having said this when Shiv Sena picked up those lines there was no way he could’ve retracted his statement without losing a lot of face not just in the country but abroad as well. And losing face means losing money as his movie My name is Khan is due for release shortly, which is anathema to a businessman like him. Pertinent to mention that Shahrukh’s Red Chillies Entertainment is also involved in this movie. Secondly, if he really wanted Pakistani players to play in IPL he would’ve bid for them in the auction but he didn’t.

Posted on February 5th, 2010 under India calling. Tags: Amir, Bollywood, Cricket, IPL, My name is Khan, player, Shiv sena, SRK. Comments: 12