ChinmayC Blog

If you are here in Goa Inox Festival campus with no managerial duties assigned you better enter into one of the theatres. Else you face the noise which you can still savour with lots and lots of beer glasses and other food delicacies. The Goan music bands are playing full blast, the mega monitors of a local cable channels are emitting noise in terms of pop, fashion, cuisine and a series of unending star interviews. There is no escape! Come out of the campus and you confront the carnival blazing just opposite on the banks of the Mandovi river. It's all fun no doubt, but if you are one of the film purists who want the typical film festival ambience then you are in troble. You also need tickets to enter theatres with proper seat numbers. You are alloted maximum of five tickets on your delegate or media card. The good old days of carefree enjoyment are gone. There is also tight securtiy all around which is of course the utmost necessity. Today being the first anniversary of 26/11 terro...

IFFI GOA--2009 Dear Friends! We are off to Goa for the coverage of the 40th International Film Festival of India, Goa-2009(IFFI) from 22nd of November and will be back by 5th of next month. I will try very hard to keep you posted from Goa amidst expected hyperactivity. But if I fail to do so which is not at all ruled out please enjoy Goa and the rest! Meantime, the first test between India and Sri Lanka ended in a draw thanks to the lifeless pitch at Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. Such pitches made for four and sixes are robbing the game of its inner charm, tension and glorious uncertainty. Rid the game of big money!

Once upon a time A was working as the boss of the office. A had B as its right hand and C as its left hand in terms of trust and confidence. Thus, B and C cornered all the favors and attention of A . D was the most desperate of the lot. It had major responsibilities and being harassed by A at every step working was just nightmare. D was fine with B and C , but that did not help getting A 's attention. But just as it happened, one fine morning B and C fought bitterly over an issue and the whole office reverberated with their most foul most loud howling growling and brawling. A was dismayed and was so grievously affected by B 's reporting of the incident that A banished C to the desolation ward. Right hand got the upper hand naturally but the left hand got lost. Vacancy created for favors. Since D happened to make one or two good remarks earlier in regard to B it got instantly selected to the vacant spot. D started getting all the attentions and favors now from its ...

Team India did prosper temporarily under the positive energy of skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and started winning matches against all odds. They became strong contenders for the No.1 ODI team. But traditions of generosity, ability of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, how not to win and so on have been becoming too strong for Dhoni. Against a depleted Australian team they had shown true colors of generosity by restoring Australia's confidence, bringing them back into contention and finally gifting the series to them. Team India had successfully snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in the first, fourth and the fifth one day internationals. In the sixth today they taught precious lessons in 'how not to win'. In the first game Team India got into a winning position thanks to a tremendous rally by the bowlers batting. Needed 9 runs from 6 balls and if you are considering No.1 spot you have no business to lose from that position. In the fourth game they made a mess of...

Team India was poised for performing a hattrick beating Australia for the third consecutive time at Mohali, India yesterday and for becoming the number one ODI team. Indian Skipper MS Dhoni won the toss surprisingly elected to field. Why? All the external factors that inflicted earlier skippers have begun to haunt Dhoni too. Factors like pitches, weather, dew and so on. Positive cricket does not need all these--it means batting first and setting a 300 plus target. Dew or no dew such a total is always a challenge. Yet, Indian bowlers did extremely well to get the Aussies all out for 250. After a blazing start the old Indian story of over cautious progress unfolded. Barring Sehwag who rarely lasts long enough for a win, all batsmen trying to ensure a win dug themselves in unnecessarily and perished thanks to such negative tactics. Hello Dhoni, play your natural cricket and never ever listen to past Indian skippers. A huge opportunity had been mauled, spoiled and lost. The ruling combine ...

A new entrant to the bubbling news agency was sent on an errand by his boss. When the boy got back it was past lunch time and he was ravenously hungry. He crossed over to his desk in the crowded newsroom and opened his bag. To his horror the lunch box was missing! He was sure his mother gave him the box in the morning just like any other day. He went on searching desperately as his pangs grew louder and louder. How could it happen? Just disappeared into thin air? Just not possible. Or had his mother forgotten? He was about to ring up his mother when his boss trudged up to him smiling benevolently. 'It was excellent!' the boss belched out contentedly handing over the lunch box. He knew for sure the box was empty. His pangs of hunger now turned into seething anger spreading from the hair roots to his toes. How he wished hitting out at the big belly presented tantalizingly before him. But he had to break into a distorted grin. He is new and promising. How could he risk the editor...

My 14 hour shift of duty on counting day yesterday proved to be a memorable one as the end result was decisive and good. The ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Coalition came back to power for the third consecutive term. They captured exactly half of total assembly seats of 288--just one short of simple majority. Congress did better than earlier and NCP did okay despite a few hurdles. In the backdrop of some serious problems like internal security post 26/11, farmers' suicides, long hours of load shedding, inflation and so on performance of the ruling coalitions was not quite outstanding, yet they have been voted back to power. Well, voters had no viable alternative with the main opposition parties failing to provide concrete strategies and mostly indulging in a mindless game of allegations and more allegations. Secondly, the near majority verdict effectively prevented horse trading which was looming large due to large number of dissidents and independents with the po...