Tuesday, June 15, 2010

When I realized what I was capable of!!

Another Hiatus & Im back again!! 

Being a language trainer was something I had always thought was not my cup of tea. I had time & again shyed away from this art. Not because of the interest, but ppurely doubting my abilities as a trainer.

I was told that one has listen good to teach good. Well, if that was true, I had lost the battle in the first stage. I had never been a good listener. "Selective Listening" is what I had done all long. There were enough nervous moments awaiting me as I was thrown into the untested waters of teaching.

Taking up the challenge,I started German (undoubtedly the only thing Ive learnt well). Taking a cue from the people who taught me the language, I told myself to make the classes look as funny & as interesting as possible. Just 4 classes old & there was a shocker awaiting me. Everyone was interested in the class & particularly my teaching was appreciated.

Under the advice/guidance of my best friend, I took up corporate teaching which turned to be a fascinating experience. Credits to my friend who accompanied me throughout the program. And with the friend by my side, there was enough support driving me. "KUDOS". Corporate teaching has its fair share of fun. And with a rather comical person training them, there was no dearth for fun & laughter, tossed with good learning.

Yet another training program, again thanks to my friend for having referred me into this. This time in the neighboring state of Andhra Pradesh & to make things worse, it was a womens' engineering college. Standing in front of around 75 women who speak a language alien to me & teaching them a language alien to them was definitely embarrassing at times. This was undoubtedly one of the least satisfying for me as I had to cater to a set of people who were yet to come out of the School-Mode of teaching. Not heeding to their ways, I decided to play to my strengths, which was making the sessions funny & interactive & try gaining their attention.

All these thoughts are being sprinkled here as I sit here in this college realizing what I'm capable of and behind me were girls writing their german exams. 

"You are a pretty good trainer Vivek" Said a voice inside me. 

Simple and Interesting is how I make my life & thats precisely how my style of teaching has been. 

Getting tons of accolades from students & the college people, I was getting ready for my last day there. As I would soon be embarking on the most important journey of my life. And something I've been craving for years now. "EUROPE".


Sunday, February 7, 2010

Check out Save Our Tigers | Join the Roar

Title: Save Our Tigers | Join the Roar
Link: http://gotaf.socialtwist.com/redirect?l=-827259853099610302821

Friday, February 22, 2008

SAURAV "DADA" GANGULY -- IN STATS


Full name : Sourav Chandidas Ganguly
Born : July 8, 1972, Kolkata
Age : 35 Years
Major teams :

India, Asia XI, Asia XI, Bengal, Glamorgan, Lancashire

Batting style : Left-hand bat
Bowling style : Right-arm medium
Height : 5 ft 11 in
Education : St Xavier's College

Some felt he couldn't play the bouncer, others swore that he was God on the off-side; some laughed at his lack of athleticism, others took immense pride in his ability to galvanise a side. Sourav Ganguly's ability to polarise opinion led to one of the most fascinating dramas in Indian cricket. Yet, nobody can dispute that he was India's most successful Test captain - forging a winning unit from a bunch of talented, but directionless, individuals - and nobody can argue about him being one of the greatest one-day batsmen of all time. Despite being a batsman who combined grace with surgical precision in his strokeplay, his career had spluttered to a standstill before being resurrected by a scintillating hundred on debut at Lord's in 1996. Later that year, he was promoted to the top of the order in ODIs and, along with Sachin Tendulkar, formed one of the most destructive opening pairs in history.

When he took over the captaincy after the match-fixing exposes in 2000, he quickly proved to be a tough, intuitive and uncompromising leader. Under his stewardship India started winning Test matches away, and put together a splendid streak that took them all the way to the World Cup final in 2003. Later that year, in Australia, an unexpected and incandescent hundred at Brisbane set the tone for the series where India fought the world's best team to a standstill. Victory in Pakistan turned him into a cult figure but instead of being a springboard for greater things, it was the peak of a slippery slope.

After the spat with Greg Chappel & being sacked out of the Indian Team, Dada did what he could do best. Get back to the nets & practice hard & work on his fitness. My earlier blog focussed on the sensational comeback of DADA, this will further focus on the fantastic 2007 he had.

After the early exit from the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies, Team India headed to England for a 3 test series & also a 7 match one day series.

Dada had a quite test series with scores of 34 , 24, 79, 33, 37, 8, along with 2 wickets to his kitty.

In the ODIs that followed DADA & Sachin once again proved why they are THE BEST opening pair in World Cricket. DADA scored 3 fifties to continue his good run and also snapped up a few wickets. During the series, DADA made his 300th ODI appearance at Leeds. The 300th ODI was a special one as DADA won the MAN OF THE MATCH award for his all round performance.

Next came Pakistan to India & the series saw Dada smash record books. Dada scored his first ever Test Match Century in front of his 60000+ home crowd. As DADA said, "IT WAS A PRESSURE OFF HIS SHOULDERS." .

The first test match at Delhi saw DADA the bowler take over DADA the batsman. With the conditions perfect for his style of bowling, Dada snapped up 3 crucial wickets.

Rameez Raja would call the corridor of uncertainty as "THE CORRIDOR OF SAURAV GANGULY"

The second test at kolkata was Dada's 98th Test Match. A century at home ground was due. But not anymore. A stylish, & yet subdued Dada scored a magnificent century in front of his fans. At 12.55pm on December 1, time stood still for a moment in this laid-back eastern city. When Sourav Ganguly pushed Danish Kaneria just wide of mid-off and ran a single, hands aloft in the air, the 50,000-strong crowd at Eden Gardens had finally witnessed something more than a decade in the making. All through his career Ganguly has had a sense of occasion, an uncanny knack of claiming what is rightfully his.

The third test at Bangalore, Dada's 99th test match was even more classy & successful. Relishing the bangalore wicket Dada
not only managed a rescue act with Yuvraj Singh But in the process also scored his FIRST EVER DOUBLE TON in Test Cricket. He made a solid 239.

Dada & Yuvraj made 300 runs in just 65.2 ovs at a run rate of 4.59.

The roof of Chinnaswamy stadium developed cracks with cries of DADA..DADA.

In the process, he also shared a 179 run partnership with Irfan Pathan.
Very deservingly, he was awarded the MAN OF THE MATCH for the 3rd test & also was THE MAN OF THE SERIES. He attributed the success to batting at No. 4. "I got to bat at No. 4 in this series and it helped me. I have batted lower down the order for a lot of time and Rahul [Dravid] used to bat at No. 3 and Sachin [Tendulkar] came at four. As a result, I had to bat at five or sometimes six and I missed quite a few hundreds because we did not have wicketkeeper-batsmen like Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik earlier. These guys support people batting at five or six. But me and [VVS] Laxman suffered in terms of getting hundreds" Said DADA

2007 has been his most successful year statistically & the numbers showed them all. In 10 tests, he scored a mammoth 1106 runs at an avg of 61.44. The highest score being 239. In Odis he scored 12 fifties & also completed his tally of 100 ODI wickets.

To sum up, let me bring in all possible statistics of DADA in the year 2007, which I would call THE YEAR OF THE ROYAL BENGAL TIGER.

TESTS IN 2007.

MATCHES RUNS AVERAGE HUNDREDS HIGHEST SCORE
10 1106 61.44 3 239

ODIs IN 2007.

MATCHES RUNS AVERAGE HUNDREDS FIFTIES HIGHEST SCORE
32 1240 44.28 0 12 98







Saturday, January 5, 2008

BILLA—THE STYLE ICON ARRIVES


It was one of the most anticipated movies of tamil cinema in recent times. Ever since the day it was announced that AJIT would be donning BILLA, the role immortalized by SuperStar RajniKanth a couple of decades ago, Expectation was at its peak. The entire film industry was waiting with bated breath to see AJIT rise as BILLA.

And what did Ajit do? He did in style. As Billa, he set the screens on fire. Ticket reservations touched an all time high for an Ajit movie & the OPENING was sky-rocketing.

AJIT for sure deserves a pat on his shoulders for having the guts to remake a RajniKanth starrer. Not everyone can do that.

BILLA is definitely one of THE BEST in Thala’s movie career. Never before have we seen AJIT so stylish, so suave with such debonair looks. If there was some one who could have done BILLA, Its AJIT!!!

With Billa, Ajit has re-defined STYLE in Tamil Cinema. Right from the Armani Costumes to the Accessories, Everything was PERFECT.

STYLE ICON is an understatement for Ajit Sir.

Ajit as Billa was menacing with his looks, walk, speech & behavior. Each & Every frame was sculpted so beautifully.

Credit must be given to Mr.VishnuVardhan for having played to Ajit Sir’s strengths. Not giving him lengthy dialogues & instead making his mannerisms speak for themselves was Master Class!!!

Another technician who has been instrumental in taking the movie to greater heights is the cinematographer NIRAV SHAH. His camera angles were just top notch. With Super 35, He has literally toyed with everything he had. The lightings for Billa & Velu were excellent & also matched up well with the mood of the film.

Mrs. Anu Vardhan has been one of the pillars of the movie. Her costumes have been the talk of town for quite some time. Ajit Sir & Nayan looked absolutely stunning & so did the rest of the cast.

VISHNU VARDHAN—The man behind the success of Billa. Perhaps one of THE BEST directors in the industry right now!! His screenplay was jet fast & there was never a dull moment in the film. His rapport with fellow technicians is amazing & it is very much visible in the outcome.

Yuvan & Editor Sreekar Prasad have done their job perfectly. The songs are chart busters & all mobiles are ringing in Billa tunes. My Name Is Billa & Vetthalaya Pottendi being the pick of the lot.

Finally coming to the Hero. Our own THALA, AJIT SIR. Man..Where does this man derive his Class, Charm, from!!! Ajit Sir has an amazing screen presence & has once again proved that he’s amongst the best in the business.

As BILLA, the subtle, sober Don & as Velu, the lively, happy go lucky guy, Ajit Sir has shown his Class once again. He literally transformed into the characters. His style & professionalism is mind blowing. And with BILLA, he has proved that he is THE MOST HANDSOME guy in the industry.

I cannot think of any other actor doing Billa with much ease & élan than Ajit Sir did. He has done complete justice to BILLA is his own style.

The rest of the cast & crew have been apt & have done their job well.

For fans like me, BILLA is treat, a festival to celebrate. A time to bask on glory.

For Tamil Cinema, It has got a new meaning for the word “STYLE”.

For all those who’ve spent their time criticizing THALA, GO..GET A LIFE!!!

To end this, its gonna be CAN CAN!!!

Monday, March 19, 2007

Ajith Kumar - The Ultimate Star



Some love him, Some hate him. Some love to hate him. Some call him a man with headweight, Some call him the most kindest man ever. Whatever people call him, We call him THALA, THE ULTIMATE STAR.





Ajith Kumar aka Ajith born on May 1 which is no coincidence for the hardwork & determination of this man. Tell the name "AJITH" anywhere & the immediate reply you get is SELF-CONFIDENCE.

A man with no cinema background, no godfathers to push him in, Ajith has really come a long way. Starting his carreer with a telugu film "Prema Pustakam" in the year 1992, slowly & steadily he built his carreer through hits like Aasai, Kadhal Kottai etc.

A part of the industry which was initially awry with his aryan looks then came to terms on seeing his performance. His first solid hit was Aasai hten followed by the blockbuster trend setting KADHAL KOTTAI. It fetched the director a national award for the best movie. He continued with his love stories & did successful movies like Aval Varuvala, UnnaiThedi & Kadhal Mannan. He also shared the screen with other actors like Ullasam with Vikram, Anandha Poongatre & Unnidathil Ennai Koduthen & with Parthiban in Nee Varuvai Ena. He also acted a movie each with Prashanth & Vijay.

In 1999, Ajith shook the entire Film Fraternity & made everyone look upto him with his film VAALI, which remains on the best films in tamil cinema. The movie enjoyed a superb bull run at the boxoffice for around 270 days. The film made AJITH an overnight star & proved people that he can do kind of a movie. He is also reffered to the HANDSOME MAN OF KOLLYWOOD & the above picture is a good example for that.

Then he followed with continous success like DHEENA, CITIZEN, POOVELLAM UN VAASAM etc. His recent blockbuster VARALAARU is another feather to his cap & brought out another acting dimension of his.

Apart from being a superb actor, AJITH is a Formula 3 driver & has shown his class there too. He is such a good gentleman that he sends a flower to even his strongest of critics. He enjoys a tremendous fanbase across the country of nearly 58000 fanclubs, which the actor has converted in social service clubs. He runs the MOHINI-MANI foundation through which he runs the PLANTING OF TREES movement.

Truly a multi faceted personality.

He has inspired me throughout & has inspired a millions across here. His never say die attitude is something that people all across admire in him & aspire to be like him. His generosity is out of the world & his commitment is something that we must look upto & take a leaf out of it.

He has an exciting array of films lined up for release & it is sure that he will continue his magic at the boxoffice.

No Wonder he is called THE KING OF OPENING.

As an ardent fan of THALA, it was my long wish to publish a blog on him. Its happened now.

A tribute to one of the finest actors in Tamil Film Industry & A TRUE GENTLEMAN.

The best way to finish this is with the all time favorite punch line THALA POLA VARUMA!!!

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Saurav Ganguly-The Cindrella Man Of Modern India


Saurav Ganguly- Not many would have expected him to make such a fantastic & one of the best comebacks of recent times.As a die hard fan of DADA, I expected him to make a comeback just like millions of fans across the nation did.


Those who have seen the movie CINDRELLA MAN would relate the movie to Saurav's fantastic comeback. It was a movie about the life of a man who was dumped by his own people & how he won all the odds & again became a champion boxer. The same has happened to DADA too. He was thrown out of the team & it is his sole grit & determination & hardwork that has earned him a place in this team.

An Indian team that was struggling in South Africa was strengthened by the arrival of Saurav for the test series. He smashed an unbeaten half century to script a fantastic comeback. Since then, The PRINCE OF KOLKATA has gone from strength to strength. Then came the ODI series against the WestIndies which saw DADA plundering the Windies bowling attack. He did extremely well in the entire series. Nest came the series against SriLanka which saw DADA win the MAN OF THE SERIES award for his superb performance. The same series saw Saurav Take a blinder of catch to dismiss Sanath Jayasurya At Goa. He proved everyone that he's still fit & has a lot to offer to Indian Cricket. His shot selection was superb & was at his sublime best.

This was enough for DADA to prove everyone that he's still the best man of Indian Cricket & also to make his critics eat humble pie. As expected, The ad agencies made a beeline to him with some of the biggest companies wanting to make him their brand ambassador. One of them being PUMA, The German Apparel Giant.

He was an automatic selection for the ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP in the WestIndies, where he continues his good form. He made a cautious yet steady 66 against Bangladesh.
Millions of fans are hoping that DADA will continue his good run & make BIG runs in the forthcoming matches.

We must salute this champion cricketer for his determination & take a leaf out his book. He is a real tiger & has inspired me throughout my life & will continue to inspire us throughout.

Rahul Dravid once said, "On the off side, first there is god, & then there is Saurav Ganguly".
Its time we change it, "On the off side, there is DADA & no one else".

Hail the ROYAL BENGAL TIGER.

This is my tribute to a man who made his way into the team & carved a niche for himself & a role model for millions in the country.