Get Set for the BIG Final

Biggest final of cricket tournaments in recent times is finally here. It can’t be better than this. We have reached the final phase of the inaugural edition of ICC Twenty Twenty cricket world cup. India v/s Pakistan tie on Monday, 24^th of September 2007 is being eagerly awaited by the cricket fans all over the world.

India came into this tournament as the youngest team with not much experience in the ODIs or in the twenty twenty international (TTI). And there were not many expectations from them. But they have performed amazingly well beating the likes of South Africa and Australia. Pakistan with its share of controversies till the beginning of the tournament too was in a similar position as India. But they have also managed to beat top teams like Australia and Sri Lanka.

Manner in which the two teams have progressed in the tournament is worth noting. India v/s Pakistan clash in the league stage was the first real test of nerves for these two teams. It resulted in a tie and then India won the bowl out 3-0. First super 8 match for India was against New Zealand and when every thing seemed correct to setup an Indian win, kiwis put on the breaks on the Indian juggernaut to win the match by 10 runs. But then those 2 spectacular performances set the tone for the Indian juggernaut to role on. India won against England mostly on the batting prowess riding on the 12 ball fifty by Yuvraj Singh. And against South Africa it was bowling and fielding which made their mark. South Africans who did not loose a game till then in the tournament choked to pressure and bowed out of the tournament. Semi final against Australia saw best of all three – batting, bowling and fielding which was on display in the previous two matches. If in batting Yuvraj Singh repeated his heroics against England then in bowling RP Singh against South Africa was replaced by Sreesanth. Pakistan on the other hand won two crucial matches, one against Sri Lanka, who were riding high on the batting exploits of Jayasurya on most occasions and another against the biggies Australia. Beating Bangladesh in the last super 8 tie was just a formality. New Zealand and Pakistan have been semifinal buddies on couple occasions now. I remember the same fate New Zealand suffered in the 1999 cricket world cup semi final in England against the same team.

Two exciting finals featuring India and Pakistan are,

• 1986 Astralasia Cup final at Sharjah - This match was won by Pakistan courtesy Javed Miandad hitting last ball of the innings off Chetan Sharma for a six. This is still fresh in the minds of cricket buffs.

• 1998 Bangladesh Independence Cup at Dhaka - Here in the best of the three finals India won the first one, Pakistan the second and India won the third final chasing record total 314 thus winning the cup 2-1, thanks to Hrishikesh Kanitkar for hitting that crucial boundary.

Thus the Monday match going to be an exciting contest typical of India Pakistan contests. This final match has an unusual trend of Australia not playing. In recent times virtually every final of the tournament Australia played had their name in final game but not here. Welcome change!

Coming to Twenty twenty cricket, purists may rub it off as base ball version of cricket, but honestly this has renewed interest among cricket enthusiasts who are otherwise tired of the laborious tests and one-sided ODI encounters. And this has even found new fan base. Main factor here is the time constraint. Match getting over within 3 hours. Well, that is duration you would watch a Hindi or any regional language movie in India. If the match goes well it is similar to watching good movie otherwise it is not a movie worth watching! With world being so competitive and in fast lane, cricket can not be left behind. Twenty twenty cricket can be seen as logical extension of ODI format. And in the long run this is definitely going to replace ODIs. Forget tests, who would want to waste his whole day just to decide who the winner is. Some say the climax of one day matches are rare to see here but we have seen some of the best moments in India v/s Pakistan, India v/s New Zealand, England v/s New Zealand, India v/s Australia to name a few in this tournament already.

India v/s Australia saw the best of both teams but in the end India won the battle of nerves. This is rare to see, Australia buckling under pressure. This might well set the tone for the upcoming ODI series against them in India, first one being held on 29^th September, 2007 in Bangalore. Australia saw their first upset against Zimbabwe in league and then against Pakistan. But then Aussies have come out from dearth of situations but this time Indians took the better of them.

Predicting the winner in a final has always been difficult. For me Indians start as favorites simply for the intensity with which they played the last three games against England, South Africa and Australia. Pakistan’s win against Bangladesh was unconvincing and the semi final against New Zealand was a cake walk. But still final matches bring out the best in teams (since Australia is not playing!!) so you never know who the ultimate winner is.

Regards
Raveesh

Tulu Academy now in Kerala too

It was indeed a proud moment for Kasaragod Tuluvas when Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan inaugurated Tulu Academy on September, 2007 at Hosangadi, Kasaragod. Tulu Sahitya Academy in Mangalore, Karnataka has been functioning for the last 10 years encouraging literary works in Tulu language. Hope to see the Tulu Academy in Kerala to contribute to the revival of Tulu literature.

Tulu Sahitya Academy is working towards introducing Tulu language as one of the third languages in schools in Karnataka from class 6^th onwards. It has organized Tulu Utsavas outside Karnataka – in Surat, Vadodara in Gujarat this year. Kudos to its efforts.

First Tulu work as per available records is ‘Tulu Mahabharata’ written in 13^th century. Other Tulu works include ‘Tulu Devimahatme’ (15^th century), ‘Tulu Bhagavata’, ‘Kaveri’( both 17^th century). First Tulu-English dictionary was compiled by Reverend Manner in 1886. In 1979, Govinda Pai Research Centre in MGM College, Udupi started its ambitions project : ‘Tulu Lexicon’. It was an 18-year project with research on speech forms of different dialects, special vocabularies used for different occupational activities, rituals, socio-religious occasions and folk literature in the forms of paaddanas, kabites, folk songs, proverbs and riddles.Third volume of the trilingual lexicon – Tulu-Kannada-English was released in 1995. The Tulu lexicon has been awarded the Gundert award for the best dictionary in India in 1996.

On the film front, last year saw the release of Tulu film Kadala Mage which received well by the Tuluvas. This year Richard Castalino’s Badi received the award for the best film in regional language by the Karnataka State Govt. Expecting to see some more films in the near future.

Regards
Raveesh

Related Links :

http://www.hindu.com/2007/04/20/stories/2007042016160500.htm
http://www.hindu.com/2007/08/09/stories/2007080959630300.htm
http://www.hindu.com/2007/09/04/stories/2007090451660300.htm

Mathad Mathadu Mallige – Film Review

This is the film based on one of the problems faced by our country or rather her people today. But then this is not one of those boring documentaries, but a good commercial movie. After a long time, Vishnuvardhan and Suhasini have acted together in a Kannada film. This is as well the come back film for veteran C R Simha. With right people in the right roles this film has come out good.

Film revolves around the struggle of a farmer, Hoovaiah(Vishnuvardhan) of Jenukoppa village against the evil sketches of a multinational company. Problems and dilemmas of the people of Jenukoppa begin when the government is about to give mining license to a multinational company. People are in a dilemma whether to protect their land or get the money by selling their beloved land. But Hoovaiah is firm in his stand. He knows motive behind the MNC’s moves and he is well aware of the hardships faced by people around the world due to such companies. This reminds us of the recent happenings in India involving MNCs. Politicians’ corrupt nature and govt officials’ exploitation is well depicted here. There is then the pain of the people who lose their land for money because of this. This reminds you of the recent incident in Nandigram in West Bengal. When the public litigation case against the mining filed in High court is unattended, Hoovaiah decides appeal in the Supreme court. Voilence casts its shadows on the village by then. On the other end Hoovaiah starts Satyagraha against the mining which had already started. In the end with Supreme Court’s stay order in place, Hoovaiah wins the battle. This concludes that however worst our system has become, there is still hope in our judiciary. This has been proved several times in this country.

Winning combo of Vishnuvardhan and Suhasini has done the trick here once again. It is yet another milestone film for the badman of Kannada industry today, Rangayana Raghu. Komal, Mandya Ramesh sizzle in comedy scenes. Though a small role in the end, Sudeep has done justice to his role. Director Nagatihalli Chandrashekhar breaks his earlier tradition of choosing love stories and new faces and gifts a very good film to the Kannadigas. His research is evident when the protagonist speaks of the statistics of the people affected by the MNC invasion all over the world. Another highlight in the film is the role played by media. With TV and FM culture mashrooming all over the country, this has been depicted in this film. Big FM and TV 9 are film’s media parterns. This shows beginning of the era of real commercial gains in Kannada films.

ಮಾತಾಡ್ ಮಾತಾಡು ಮಲ್ಲಿಗೆ - ಚಿತ್ರ ವಿಶ್ಲೇಷನೆ

ದೇಶದ ಜ್ವಲ೦ತ ಸಮಸ್ಯೆಯೊ೦ದರ ಮೇಲೆ ಕಥೆಯೊ೦ದನ್ನು ಹೆಣೆದು ದೃಶ್ಯ ಕಾವ್ಯವಾಗಿಸಿದ ಚಿತ್ರವಿದು. ಹಾಗೆ೦ದ ಮಾತ್ರಕ್ಕೆ ಇದು ಸಮಸ್ಯೆಯೊ೦ದರ ಕುರಿತ ಸಾಕ್ಷ್ಯ ಚಿತ್ರವಲ್ಲ. ಬದಲಾಗಿ ಸಿನಿಮಾ ಶೈಲಿಗೆ ತಕ್ಕನಾಗಿ ಮೂಡಿ ಬ೦ದಿದೆ. ಹಲವು ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಬಳಿಕ ವಿಷ್ಣುವರ್ಧನ್ - ಸುಹಾಸಿನಿ ಜೋಡಿ ಒ೦ದಾಗಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಹಾಗೇನೆ ಬೆಳ್ಳಿ ಪರದೆಯಿ೦ದ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ದಿನ ದೂರವಿದ್ದ ಸಿ ಆರ್ ಸಿ೦ಹ ಮತ್ತೆ ಬಣ್ಣ ಹಚ್ಚಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಒಟ್ಟಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಒ೦ದು ಉತ್ತಮ ಕಥೆಗೆ ತಕ್ಕ ಕಲಾವಿದರ ಆಯ್ಕೆಯಿ೦ದ ಚಿತ್ರ ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ಮೂಡಿ ಬ೦ದಿದೆ.

ಜೇನುಕೊಪ್ಪ ಎ೦ಬ ಹಳ್ಳಿಯ ಹೂವಯ್ಯ (ವಿಷ್ಣುವರ್ಧನ್) ಎ೦ಬ ಹೂ ಕೃಷಿಕನ ಬಹುರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಕ೦ಪನಿಯ ವಿರುದ್ಧದ ಹೋರಾಟದ ಕಥೆಯಿದು. ಬಹುರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಕ೦ಪನಿಯೊ೦ದಕ್ಕೆ ಗಣಿಗಾರಿಕೆಗೆ ಸರಕಾರ ಪರವಾನಿಗೆ ನೀಡಲು ಮು೦ದಾಗಿ ಹಳ್ಳಿಯ ಜನರಿಗೆ ಊರು ಖಾಲಿ ಮಾಡಲು ಆದೇಶ ನೀಡಿದ೦ದಿನಿ೦ದ ಹಳ್ಳಿಯ ಜನರ ಸಮಸ್ಯೆಗಳು, ದ್ವ೦ದ್ವಗಳು ಪ್ರಾರ೦ಭವಾಗುತ್ತವೆ. ಜನರ ಮನಸ್ಸು ಒಮ್ಮೆ ತಾವು ಒತ್ತಿ ಬೆಳೆದ ಭೂಮಿ ಮೇಲೆ ಹರಿದರೂ, ಮತ್ತೊಮ್ಮೆ ಭೂಮಿ ಮಾರಿದ ಮೇಲೆ ಸಿಗುವ ಹಣದ ಮೇಲೆ ಹರಿದರೂ ಹೂವಯ್ಯ ಮಾತ್ರ ತನ್ನ ನಿಲುವಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಸ್ಪಷ್ಟ. ತನ್ನ, ತನ್ನ ಜನರ ಭೂಮಿ ರಕ್ಷಣೆಗೋಸ್ಕರ ಸರಕಾರವನ್ನೇ ಎದುರು ಹಾಕಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲು ಮು೦ದಾಗುತ್ತಾನೆ. ಅವನು ಬಹುರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಕ೦ಪನಿಯ ಹುನ್ನಾರದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ಅರಿತಿರುವವನು. ಈ ಹಿ೦ದೆ ವಿಶ್ವದ, ದೇಶದ ಹಲವೆಡೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಇ೦ಥಹ ಕ೦ಪನಿಗಳ ಲಾಭದಾಸೆಯಿ೦ದ ಆದ ಅನಾಹುತಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ತಿಳಿದಿರುವವನು. ಇದರಲ್ಲಿ ಈಗ ದೇಶದ ಹಲವೆಡೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಜನರ ಕೆ೦ಗಣ್ಣಿಗೆ ಗುರಿಯಾದ ಹಲವು ಯೋಜನೆಗಳ ಛಾಯೆ ಕ೦ಡು ಬರುತ್ತದೆ. ರಾಜಕಾರಣಿಗಳ ಧನದಾಹ, ಸರಕಾರಿ ಅಧಿಕಾರಿಗಳ ದೌರ್ಜನ್ಯಗಳ ಚಿತ್ರಣ ಇಲ್ಲಿದೆ. ವಿಶೇಷ ಆರ್ಥಿಕ ವಲಯಗಳ ಹೆಸರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಭೂಮಿ ಕಳೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳುವವರು ನೋವು ಇಲ್ಲಿದೆ. ಪಶ್ಚಿಮ ಬ೦ಗಾಳದ ನ೦ದಿಗ್ರಾಮದ೦ಥ ನಿದರ್ಶನಗಳು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ನೆನಪಾಗುತ್ತವೆ. ಉಚ್ಚ ನ್ಯಾಯಾಲಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಈ ಸಮಸ್ಯೆಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಹಾಕಿದ ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ಹಿತಾಸಕ್ತಿ ಅರ್ಜಿಯ ವಿಚಾರಣೆ ಸರಿಯಾಗಿ ಆಗದಿದ್ದಾಗ ಸರ್ವೋಚ್ಚ ನ್ಯಾಯಾಲಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಅರ್ಜಿ ಹಾಕಲು ಹೂವಯ್ಯ ಮು೦ದಾಗುತ್ತಾನೆ. ಅಷ್ಟರಲ್ಲಿ ಹಿ೦ಸಾವಾದದ ಕರಿ ನೆರಳು ಈ ಸ್ಥಳದ ಮೇಲೆ ಬೀಳುತ್ತದೆ. ಮತ್ತೊ೦ದೆಡೆ ಹೂವಯ್ಯ ಉಪವಾಸ ಸತ್ಯಾಗ್ರಹ ಪ್ರಾರ೦ಭಿಸುತ್ತಾನೆ. ಕೊನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ನ್ಯಾಯಾ೦ಗದ ಮಧ್ಯ ಪ್ರವೇಶದಿ೦ದ ಸಮಸ್ಯೆಗೆ ತಾತ್ಕಾಲಿಕ ಪರಿಹಾರ ದೊರೆಯುತ್ತದೆ. ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆ ಎಷ್ಟೆ ಹದಗೆಟ್ಟಿದ್ದರೂ ನ್ಯಾಯಾ೦ಗ ತನ್ನ ವಿಶ್ವಾಸ ಉಳಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತದೆ. ಇದು ಇ೦ದಿನ ಹಲವು ಪ್ರಕರಣಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಸಾಬೀತಾಗಿದೆ ಕೂಡ.

ವಿಷ್ಣುವರ್ಧನ್ - ಸುಹಾಸಿನಿ ಜೋಡಿ ಎ೦ದಿನ ಲವಲವಿಕೆಯಿ೦ದ ಅಭಿನಯಿಸಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಸುಹಾಸಿನಿ ಗ್ರಾಮ್ಯ ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಮಾತಾಡಿದ್ದು ವಿಶೇಷ. ರ೦ಗಾಯಣ ರಘು ಕನ್ನಡ ಚಿತ್ರರ೦ಗದ ಪ್ರಮುಖ ಖಳನಾಯಕರಾಗುವ ನಿಟ್ಟಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಮತ್ತೊ೦ದು ಹೆಜ್ಜೆಯನ್ನಿಟ್ಟಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಕೋಮಲ್, ಮ೦ಡ್ಯ ರಮೇಶ್ ಹಾಸ್ಯದ ಕಚಗುಳಿಯನ್ನಿಟ್ಟಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಪುಟ್ಟ ಪಾತ್ರದಲ್ಲಿ ಕಿಚ್ಚ ಸುದೀಪ್ ಗಮನ ಸೆಳೆಯುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಹೆಚ್ಚಾಗಿ ಪ್ರೀತಿ ಪ್ರೇಮದ ಕಥೆಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಒಲವು ತೋರುವ, ಹೊಸ ಮುಖಗಳನ್ನು ಆರಿಸುವ ನಿರ್ದೇಶಕ ನಾಗತಿಹಳ್ಳಿ ತಮ್ಮ ಎ೦ದಿನ ಸ೦ಪ್ರದಾಯ ಮುರಿದು ಒ೦ದು ವಿಭಿನ್ನ ಚಿತ್ರವನ್ನು ಕನ್ನಡಿಗರಿಗೆ ನೀಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಹಾಗೆಯೇ ಚಿತ್ರದಲ್ಲಿ ನಾಯಕ ಮು೦ದಿಡುವ ಬಹುರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಕ೦ಪನಿಗಳಿ೦ದಾದ ಅನಾಹುತಗಳ ಕುರಿತ ಅ೦ಕಿ-ಅ೦ಶಗಳು ನಿರ್ದೇಶಕರ ಶ್ರಮವನ್ನು ತೋರಿಸುತ್ತವೆ. ಚಿತ್ರದ ಇನ್ನೊ೦ದು ಅ೦ಶವೆ೦ದರೆ ಮಾಧ್ಯಮಗಳ ಪಾತ್ರ. ಇ೦ದಿನ ಟಿ ವಿ, ಎಫ಼್ ಎಮ್ ಸ೦ಸ್ಕೃತಿಯ ಹಿ೦ದೆ ದು೦ಬಾಲು ಬೀಳುವ ಜನರ ಚಿತ್ರಣ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಅಡಕವಾಗಿದೆ. ಚಿತ್ರದ ಮಾಧ್ಯಮ ಪಾಲುದಾರರು ಬಿಗ್ ಎಫ಼್ ಎಮ್ ಹಾಗು ಟಿ ವಿ ನೈನ್. ಹಾಗಾಗಿ ಕನ್ನಡ ಚಿತ್ರರ೦ಗಕ್ಕೆ ಈಗ ನೈಜ ಕಮರ್ಶಿಯಲ್ ಟಚ್ ಬ೦ದ೦ತಾಗಿದೆ.

60 years of Freedom

Tomorrow India turns 60. Somehow the importance attached to these ‘round figures’ like 25, 50 or 60 refuse to die. Anyway that is the world looks at it. Suddenly the achievements in 60 years become important when a nation turns 60, no matter what it has achieved in last 59, 58 or say 53 years.

Any way progress is not a destiny but a journey in itself. The so-called developed countries, have they stopped advancing their progress, No. Whenever we talk of progress comparisions are always made against those bench mark nations. Are we justified in this? A nation can not call itself developed unless the basic necessities of every citizen are met. We don’t just want to be Super power in the world, but a nation where all citizens are treated equal and have the basic amenities. The current economic boom has resulted in more cities, more employment opportunities but also the rift between the haves and have-nots has increased. As the nation turning 60, I would like to see my nation as developed yet caring for all the sections of the society in the days to come.

Third in the List

Monty Panesar lbw b Kumble 9 (42)
Yet again it was an LBW, which got him the honor of being the third highest wicket taker in test cricket. My previous post on Kumble had mentioned that presently he is the highest wicket taker in the form of LBWs in tests. Now the top 3 places in all-time highest wicket takers list is occupied by spinners: Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Anil Kumble. Now Kumble has 564 wickets from 117 tests in his kitty. With the last day of the third test between India and England remaining, opportunity is waiting for him to swell this collection by another 5-6 wickets, there by enabling India to win the series 2-0 against England. It has been a amazing turn around in terms of records of taking most wickets in test cricket. Previously it was all dominated by speedsters like Richard Hadlee, Kapil Dev, Courtney Walsh. But now all the three places are with spinners

Talking of Anil, it was not only with the ball he had contributed to the game in this match, but with bat too. It was heartening to see Anil Kumble score his maiden hundred in this test match. He had four fifties to his credit earlier. On couple of occasions he had come close to scoring a hundred. First time it was against the South Africans (88) and then, against the Lankans (75). But somehow the three figure mark had eluded him for a long time. This also earned him the dubious distinction of being the cricketer to take most matches(117) to score his first hundred. Previously this record was held by Chaminda Vass. Interesting to see that none of the recognized batsmen scored a hundred in this test match, though three of them came close to do that – Dinesh Karthik(91), Sachin Tendulkar(82), M S Dhoni(92). Dhoni’s dhamaka was a treat to watch on Friday. It made clear that why he was made the 20-20 Indian team’s world cup captain. It would be great to see all the hard hitters in world cricket battle out in the 20-20 version of the game in South Africa.

Its still a mystery why Dravid chose to bat again when he could have enforced follow on the hapless English. A lead over 300 runs was enough to make the opposition follow on. But now with 52/0 on the board and only 3 sessions left in the last day it would be interesting to see how the Dravid marshals his resources to widen the series victory margin. England need another 444 runs with a minimum of 90 overs with the run rate touching 5 runs per over. England win is a very distant possibility but an Indian win can not be ruled out. Hope to see some good cricket on the last day at Oval.

Regards
Raveesh