I rolled through the pages in this blog and was trying to find out how I have been gibbering around over the 2 years of writing. I noticed I have written very few posts about football, though about 5 hours of my day in general go by reading through football columns/watching football/discussing football with colleagues and friends. That came as a surprise to me. What was even more surprising was the fact that I haven't written about my love for Manchester United much either. For people who don't understand the seriousness of that thing, the depth to which my love for that Football Club goes can be understood by the fact that I am devising a strong plan to convince my future life partner to think of Manchester as a honeymoon destination. A trip to Old Trafford on the itinerary of course!
Manchester United became one real obsession for me because of this guy from school, who is coincidentally rubbing his shoulders against co-Man United fans at Old Trafford right now. Paul Scholes was the star of the then United team that he was vouching for. He showed videos and gave boring lectures about his genius and other such things.(the choice of the word boring is not a surprise because for a 'not-yet-a-football-fan', these lengthy sessions are sure act as sedatives.) But yea, I became a fan soon enough and went around shouting: my favorite player was Paul Scholes.
I know it is not any occasion to talk about Scholes right now since the time is not too right viz. he has not just hung his boots or won the ballon d'or or something of that sort recently. But his masterclass is the main talking point after the curtains went down for the all exciting Premier League season 2010-11. Ferguson selected the same front six - Valencia, Fletcher, Scholes, Nani, Berbatov and Rooney - for the opening-weekend clash with Birmingham last August. But Scholes yesterday didn't look like the Scholes then. A lot of media love-in is being bestowed on our 35 year old master. Paul Scholes for Player of the year? is a question that doesn't become too irrelevant. More so after having witnessed how Ryan Giggs won it last April after just 12 league appearances. In my opinion Scholes looks the best player in the league when he plays. But the thing to worry about is the fact that he starts only half the league games in any season. 38 in the last two combined - statistically. He hasn't featured in the tried and tested 4 man midfield games against top opposition. That's a fact I have to agree, but he is definitely a "pass master" like SAF put it after Monday's match. No doubting his vision and skills.
Scholes was an unused substitute in United's first loss last season against Burnley. He then returned to the starting line up for the ensuing weekend's match at Wigan. Which United won. 5-0. Go figure. Ok, after I have hyped up so much, I know what you are driving at. He cannot tackle and he has seemingly never realized that he cannot. Those are the two bad things about him. But which other English player in the last twenty years has controlled and decided games form the midfield better than Scholes?
Paul Scholes for Player of the Year!!! Anyone???
P.S : My blog clearly demanded some space for my favorite footballer and here I go. This one is for posterity. I'd definitely look back at this one after his career at United.
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
Friday, 6 August 2010
Ipdi than irukkanum nu sollala...Ipdi irundha nalla irukkum nu solren....
Continued from part 1......
Ila, Anbu, Shri, Arul....All wazz well....It was a really joyful experience for all the four in each other's company. Hyderabad was turning out to be a nice outing for the four till Arul and Shrikanth had a nasty blow with their job taking a sudden twist. Life became tough. They had a top level management change suddenly. The change was for no good and Arul, Shri were not able to be their own self. Police vela avangaluku torture aga aramichiduchi (Their policeman job started taking a toll on them). They could not be the ilankandru's (young saplings) they used to be. They started looking for a change.
They wanted to move out of Nizam's city which was no longer peaceful with them. Anbu and Ila were trying to clear government examinations for their promotions at the same time. The four tigers started looking out for missions elsewhere. By this time Shri had taken an important decision in his life. He decided to put a full stop to his endless extravagances with Swathi. This figure (the case in point) started showing her true colors. Tea kadai chaais got promoted to coffee day outings. "Leaning on bike under a dysfunctional lamp post and chatting to glory" affairs improved into long bike rides. With petrol fares raised every full moon day in this country, these developments were not easy to bear with. Shri chose to run a long distance gilfosica so as to cut down on expenses.
Arul and Shri started going out on the roads with the IVVTP (Ilam valibargalin Velai thedum padalam) motto...Ila followed suit. He was bored of the same assignment day in and day out (mosquito smashing and seat warming). Ila found a new assignment which looked promising in the 'filling of purse' matters. Anbuchelvan was tired of those promotion exams in which he could not get even half of the pass mark. So, Anbu followed Ila and jumped into the FoJHB(Fraternity of Job Hunting Bachelors).
Nothing drastic till here. The thing that has been hyped up to such a level in these two posts came when "Late a vandhalum latest aa vandha" Anbu got his new assignment outside Hyderabad. There came a point in time when the Tamil Tigers Eelam had to disintegrate. Alas, Anbu was moving out of the team. He was moving out of the team that made him look formidable. He was moving out of Hyderabad. Yes, now we have the climax.
Climax started like this : Anbu treating all and sundry in Hyderabad who were friends/friends' friends/mere acquaintances. As is the case with treats given by bachelors, the OH content started increasing. An interesting thing about these treats which are replete with OH content is that 'emosanal disucusans' start becoming a common feature. The team started feeling the after effects of Anbu's loss already. In general, a widely accepted opinion is that a team that looks like "Ila, Anbu, Arul and Shri" is formidable. But come to a team with Ila, Arul, Shri sans Anbu..Fail...It is no good whatsoever. The young saplings started getting weaker. But all was not over. The climax had a twist. When the rest of the team had just learnt to digest the fact that they would be one man less, they were struck by another massive blow. Politics played by Shri's immediate boss resulted in Shri being transferred to "thanni illa kaadu" (waterless forest). Shri was moved to another department. He was on his way to Chennai.
A team with a high potential had disintegrated. Now they were not just one tiger less but two tigers less. Anbu and Shri are in Waterless Forest (luckily the same waterless forest viz. Chennai). But that was not any respite. As I had told earlier, a team that looks like "Ila and Arul only" is not even close to formidable. In fact, grapevine suggests that Arul could also be on his way to some waterless forest very soon. That would make our lone fighting tiger Ila battle it single handedly.
Now, coming to why I chose that title.... I ain't saying the team should be separated. It would have been good if they had not disintegrated.
THE END....
How Ila will manage to survive, does not fall into the scope of this story. And the script for that one is in progress.
The Cast: (As Promised)
Pradeep Sekhar C as Anbuchelvan
Praveen Kumar D as Ilamaran
Manigandan Parthasarathi as Arul
Thiagarajan Ravishankar as Shrikanth.
Story, Screenplay, Direction : Pradeep Sekhar C
Stunts: Manigandan Parthasarathi
Visual Effects: Pradeep Sekhar C
Comedy Tracks : Thiagarajan Ravishankar and Praveen Kumar D
A "I am Kannan, Bachelor, Monthly 20 thousand salary" production.........
Ila, Anbu, Shri, Arul....All wazz well....It was a really joyful experience for all the four in each other's company. Hyderabad was turning out to be a nice outing for the four till Arul and Shrikanth had a nasty blow with their job taking a sudden twist. Life became tough. They had a top level management change suddenly. The change was for no good and Arul, Shri were not able to be their own self. Police vela avangaluku torture aga aramichiduchi (Their policeman job started taking a toll on them). They could not be the ilankandru's (young saplings) they used to be. They started looking for a change.
They wanted to move out of Nizam's city which was no longer peaceful with them. Anbu and Ila were trying to clear government examinations for their promotions at the same time. The four tigers started looking out for missions elsewhere. By this time Shri had taken an important decision in his life. He decided to put a full stop to his endless extravagances with Swathi. This figure (the case in point) started showing her true colors. Tea kadai chaais got promoted to coffee day outings. "Leaning on bike under a dysfunctional lamp post and chatting to glory" affairs improved into long bike rides. With petrol fares raised every full moon day in this country, these developments were not easy to bear with. Shri chose to run a long distance gilfosica so as to cut down on expenses.
Arul and Shri started going out on the roads with the IVVTP (Ilam valibargalin Velai thedum padalam) motto...Ila followed suit. He was bored of the same assignment day in and day out (mosquito smashing and seat warming). Ila found a new assignment which looked promising in the 'filling of purse' matters. Anbuchelvan was tired of those promotion exams in which he could not get even half of the pass mark. So, Anbu followed Ila and jumped into the FoJHB(Fraternity of Job Hunting Bachelors).
Nothing drastic till here. The thing that has been hyped up to such a level in these two posts came when "Late a vandhalum latest aa vandha" Anbu got his new assignment outside Hyderabad. There came a point in time when the Tamil Tigers Eelam had to disintegrate. Alas, Anbu was moving out of the team. He was moving out of the team that made him look formidable. He was moving out of Hyderabad. Yes, now we have the climax.
Climax started like this : Anbu treating all and sundry in Hyderabad who were friends/friends' friends/mere acquaintances. As is the case with treats given by bachelors, the OH content started increasing. An interesting thing about these treats which are replete with OH content is that 'emosanal disucusans' start becoming a common feature. The team started feeling the after effects of Anbu's loss already. In general, a widely accepted opinion is that a team that looks like "Ila, Anbu, Arul and Shri" is formidable. But come to a team with Ila, Arul, Shri sans Anbu..Fail...It is no good whatsoever. The young saplings started getting weaker. But all was not over. The climax had a twist. When the rest of the team had just learnt to digest the fact that they would be one man less, they were struck by another massive blow. Politics played by Shri's immediate boss resulted in Shri being transferred to "thanni illa kaadu" (waterless forest). Shri was moved to another department. He was on his way to Chennai.
A team with a high potential had disintegrated. Now they were not just one tiger less but two tigers less. Anbu and Shri are in Waterless Forest (luckily the same waterless forest viz. Chennai). But that was not any respite. As I had told earlier, a team that looks like "Ila and Arul only" is not even close to formidable. In fact, grapevine suggests that Arul could also be on his way to some waterless forest very soon. That would make our lone fighting tiger Ila battle it single handedly.
Now, coming to why I chose that title.... I ain't saying the team should be separated. It would have been good if they had not disintegrated.
THE END....
How Ila will manage to survive, does not fall into the scope of this story. And the script for that one is in progress.
The Cast: (As Promised)
Pradeep Sekhar C as Anbuchelvan
Praveen Kumar D as Ilamaran
Manigandan Parthasarathi as Arul
Thiagarajan Ravishankar as Shrikanth.
Story, Screenplay, Direction : Pradeep Sekhar C
Stunts: Manigandan Parthasarathi
Visual Effects: Pradeep Sekhar C
Comedy Tracks : Thiagarajan Ravishankar and Praveen Kumar D
A "I am Kannan, Bachelor, Monthly 20 thousand salary" production.........
Tuesday, 3 August 2010
Naanga 4 Paeru..Engaluku Bayame Therila.
Disclaimer: Characters in this story are completely real and any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely intentional.
Department la engala ilankandru nu sonnanga (We were known as the young saplings in our department). We were the untouchables.
This post is dedicated to four bachelors referred to as Anbuchelvan, Srikanth, Arul and Ilamaran hereinafter.
It was the year 2008. Anbuchelvan was still in college and was full of young blood. Hyderabad reckoned and he was on deputation in the notorious city for one year to go. Srikanth and Arul were also about to join him very soon. Anbuchelvan had found a lonely place in Madinaguda near Chanda Nagar for their hideout during the period. It was a very awaited beginning. It was not more than one week that Anbu had spent alone before his team joined him. Ilamaran was not a part of the team then.
Life progressed for the young tigers and everything was smooth till one night when the unexpected happened. Shrikanth and Arul wanted to move out of Madinaguda. Their work was demanding and they had to stay close to their workplace. It was a risky job. They needed to be cautious. Once again Anbuchelvan was left to deal with his enemies alone. The team disintegrated. But only for a short while. Anbu could not bear solitude and he decided to move in with Shri and Arul about a month later.
Shri was a notorious young officer. His character was like Kamal Hasan in Panchathanthiram. In short, he was the "dude" among the three. Swathi came into his life very soon. She was from Orissa. Shrikanth being the dude, had no problems in maintaining figures from various states in the country. He was the "language no bar guy". But there was a downside to their love story. Like most modern jinglis (beautiful girls) of India, Swathi never took her purse out whenever they went out. This was a big blow to Shrikanth. He could not manage that big a hole in his purse and was put into a "Finance Problem Machi" at the end of each month.
Arul was known to be the diligent officer of the three. He was duty conscious to an unexplainable extent. But this was how people thought about him. His true colors came out when he was sent to Bangalore for an encounter. He showed his skills by "line putting" for 3 kulavilakkus (South Indian sirens). Anbuchelvan who was with him for the mission soon found out about Arul's leelaigal (naughty behavior). But the encounter was not a failure and Arul was undoubtedly the most ardent of the three.
Then came Ila into their lives. Ilamaran was the most intelligent of the four. He was the kingmaker. He devised sketches for encounters. He was an encounter specialist. He was the one who laid out sketches for all weekends throughout the team's stay in Hyderabad. His plans showed variety. They ranged from Anjappar tactics to Chutney tactics to Taste(y) the cyanide to Idly kadai warfare. Though he was so brilliant at work, Ilamaran had one weakness. He was fond of eating. He used to eat 16 palm-sized idlis for breakfast. When Anbuchelvan noticed this weakness and warned him of his pot belly which would disrupt his challenging missions, he did not yield. He lied to the team that he ate only 4 palm sized idlis. God Promise.
Readers should not think of Anbuchelvan as the "Good Man" in the team. The above paragraphs definitely portray him as one. But he was a "thiruttu bemani" (notorious rascal). He was more experienced than Shrikanth in figure matters. He was the headmaster in the school that Shri went to. He used to have false encounter cases in Bangalore for obvious reasons. He had a harley davidson 125 cc bike that he used for fishing in hyderabad waters. He tried his hands on many "kazhuvara meens"(fish that are being washed) with his HD 125. But all of the "meens" were "nazhuvura meens" (Fish that slip from hands).
Ila, Anbu, Shri, Arul....They were the untouchables. Though they have been portrayed with many weaknesses in their character sketch, they were a strong team. They were a formidable force. Arul, Anbu and Ila played football sometimes. Anbu thought (still believes) he is a right winger and likens himself to Cristiano Ronaldo. Ila is a strong defender. He was good at "break-leg-take-ball" tactics and hence defended very strongly. Arul was made of a very weak physique. He had a few skills to add to his kitty. But they were no good against Ila's break-leg...tactics. Shri was into football too. But he did not take his expertise to the field. He was content with pressing 'W' to give through balls and pressing 'D' to shoot (FIFA '07). Nevertheless, he was a prolific goal scorer (on the computer).
It was a really joyful experience for all the four in each other's company. Hyderabad was turning out to be a nice outing for the four till something really sad happened.....
To be Continued................. Part 2 here
P.S: Cast of the "Police Story" would be detailed after part ii of the series.
P.P.S: If the story did not make sense to a reader due to the high suspense quotient in the content, our team offers an apology. We shall try to make things clear in part ii of the series.
Department la engala ilankandru nu sonnanga (We were known as the young saplings in our department). We were the untouchables.
This post is dedicated to four bachelors referred to as Anbuchelvan, Srikanth, Arul and Ilamaran hereinafter.
It was the year 2008. Anbuchelvan was still in college and was full of young blood. Hyderabad reckoned and he was on deputation in the notorious city for one year to go. Srikanth and Arul were also about to join him very soon. Anbuchelvan had found a lonely place in Madinaguda near Chanda Nagar for their hideout during the period. It was a very awaited beginning. It was not more than one week that Anbu had spent alone before his team joined him. Ilamaran was not a part of the team then.
Life progressed for the young tigers and everything was smooth till one night when the unexpected happened. Shrikanth and Arul wanted to move out of Madinaguda. Their work was demanding and they had to stay close to their workplace. It was a risky job. They needed to be cautious. Once again Anbuchelvan was left to deal with his enemies alone. The team disintegrated. But only for a short while. Anbu could not bear solitude and he decided to move in with Shri and Arul about a month later.
Shri was a notorious young officer. His character was like Kamal Hasan in Panchathanthiram. In short, he was the "dude" among the three. Swathi came into his life very soon. She was from Orissa. Shrikanth being the dude, had no problems in maintaining figures from various states in the country. He was the "language no bar guy". But there was a downside to their love story. Like most modern jinglis (beautiful girls) of India, Swathi never took her purse out whenever they went out. This was a big blow to Shrikanth. He could not manage that big a hole in his purse and was put into a "Finance Problem Machi" at the end of each month.
Arul was known to be the diligent officer of the three. He was duty conscious to an unexplainable extent. But this was how people thought about him. His true colors came out when he was sent to Bangalore for an encounter. He showed his skills by "line putting" for 3 kulavilakkus (South Indian sirens). Anbuchelvan who was with him for the mission soon found out about Arul's leelaigal (naughty behavior). But the encounter was not a failure and Arul was undoubtedly the most ardent of the three.
Then came Ila into their lives. Ilamaran was the most intelligent of the four. He was the kingmaker. He devised sketches for encounters. He was an encounter specialist. He was the one who laid out sketches for all weekends throughout the team's stay in Hyderabad. His plans showed variety. They ranged from Anjappar tactics to Chutney tactics to Taste(y) the cyanide to Idly kadai warfare. Though he was so brilliant at work, Ilamaran had one weakness. He was fond of eating. He used to eat 16 palm-sized idlis for breakfast. When Anbuchelvan noticed this weakness and warned him of his pot belly which would disrupt his challenging missions, he did not yield. He lied to the team that he ate only 4 palm sized idlis. God Promise.
Readers should not think of Anbuchelvan as the "Good Man" in the team. The above paragraphs definitely portray him as one. But he was a "thiruttu bemani" (notorious rascal). He was more experienced than Shrikanth in figure matters. He was the headmaster in the school that Shri went to. He used to have false encounter cases in Bangalore for obvious reasons. He had a harley davidson 125 cc bike that he used for fishing in hyderabad waters. He tried his hands on many "kazhuvara meens"(fish that are being washed) with his HD 125. But all of the "meens" were "nazhuvura meens" (Fish that slip from hands).
Ila, Anbu, Shri, Arul....They were the untouchables. Though they have been portrayed with many weaknesses in their character sketch, they were a strong team. They were a formidable force. Arul, Anbu and Ila played football sometimes. Anbu thought (still believes) he is a right winger and likens himself to Cristiano Ronaldo. Ila is a strong defender. He was good at "break-leg-take-ball" tactics and hence defended very strongly. Arul was made of a very weak physique. He had a few skills to add to his kitty. But they were no good against Ila's break-leg...tactics. Shri was into football too. But he did not take his expertise to the field. He was content with pressing 'W' to give through balls and pressing 'D' to shoot (FIFA '07). Nevertheless, he was a prolific goal scorer (on the computer).
It was a really joyful experience for all the four in each other's company. Hyderabad was turning out to be a nice outing for the four till something really sad happened.....
To be Continued................. Part 2 here
P.S: Cast of the "Police Story" would be detailed after part ii of the series.
P.P.S: If the story did not make sense to a reader due to the high suspense quotient in the content, our team offers an apology. We shall try to make things clear in part ii of the series.
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