ChinmayC Blog

Kolkata , the city of joy (or was it?), is fast turning into probably a city of sorrow. First, the Dada of joy Saurav Ganguly was unceremoniously unbought by Kolkata Knight Riders for IPL-4. No other team considered him either. An icon abandoned. Now, Eden Gardens Stadium, the Mecca of Cricket in India, is on the verge of being rejected by the ICC for the Ind-Eng World Cup match on Feb 27. In fact, the ICC rejected it outright for non-completion of repair work by the set deadline. But Kolkata being what it is, the panic button was pressed in all possible high and highest centers of power. The ICC President Sharad Pawar had to give an assurance for reconsideration. But, things are in the balance. The reasons are really beyond understanding. How is it possible? When did you first come to know that World Cup is being organized in the Indian subcontinent? Must be long long back. Then how come possibly the best stadium of the country with the capacity of more than 80 thousand ardent fans ig...

Team India without Sehwag, Tendulkar and Gambhir nearly won the first ever ODI series in South Africa. First match was one sided with SA winning hands down. Then came the two suspense thrillers with nail biting wins for India. Team India leading the series 2-1. But then, disappointment. Not because India lost the next two, but because rains marred both with D/L method coming into play. Without the rains well, you never knew! The fifth and last one dayer today was again on the verge of being an incredible one. From a doomed position o eight wicket down Yusuf Pathan hit a breathtaking century and a few more lusty hits from him would have shaped the most mind boggling victory for Team India. This man Pathan has already become a terror for all the teams in World Cup starting next month. And, Indian bowlers did a tremendous job giving Team India a chance to win at least four matches. Good signals! On the minus, India batsmen could not rise up to the challenge. Okay without key three players...

Happy Bhogali Bihu To All Of You!

Self promoters are a fast breeding species of modern times prying on your creative wealth. Like parasites they take away all credit for your creative work. When they team up for mutual promotion they are the most potently dangerous one. A friend of mine told me such a story. My friend was assigned a job recently by his boss. Inspired by the trust he made a proposal and did everything possible on earth to make it a grand success. He chose his team taking colleagues with proven talent and the execution went off very fine and fulfilling. But when my friend presented the final product for approval his boss refused to comment on it and instead looked for his team colleagues and praised them unequivocally. My friend persisted in his efforts to elicit a comment and on his third try the boss while turning away said it was very nice. He was very hurt and perplexed. ‘Very Nice’ comment was not meant for him—the creative energy behind the project. Why? But, my friend being a simple sincere guy ...

Team India came very close to making history by winning the first ever Test Series against South Africa in South Africa. But they made history anyway, on two counts. First, they drew the first ever Test Series after four earlier series losses. in SA Second, Sachin Tendulkar achieved the half century of centuries in the first test there. Apart from these there are many positives that justified India as the No.1 cricket test team. Skipper Dhoni has never lost a series so far too. In 2010, drawn against SL, won 2-0 against earlier No.1 Aussies and 1-0 against NZ. Team India can now fight back from a position of weakness to either draw or win the series like in the Sri Lankan and South African tours. Now, what qualities should a No.1 team have? Learning from Australia’s nearly two decade long dominance of the top spot we already know about these qualities. Only, we can take a test of Team India’s No.1 attributes. Here they are: Team India… ·         N...

Respectful tributes to my grandfather whom I never met in this life, but his music kept him alive in me all my life. January 4, 1951. Assam lost a great poet, composer-lyricist, playwright, actor and freedom fighter Bauli Kavi Kamalananda Bhattacharyya. On his 61 st death anniversary he is remembered fondly by Assam’s intelligentsia, artistes and music lovers. Born in 1894 at Nagaon, Kamalananda Bhattacharyya did not have an easy life. Brought up in a musical ambience he lost his father at a tender age of 15 and being the eldest son the full burden of seven brothers and family fell on him. Fighting against odds he went to Cotton College at Guwahati and passed the pre-university course. But he had to come back home before pursuing higher studies. Again he tried for graduation and went to Calcutta, but could not complete and had to join a secondary school as a teacher back home to meet the growing domestic needs. But even that was not for long. Sensitive and a patriot at heart, Kam...