Running diary

In the (now) immortal words of the Joker: And...here...we...go!

2:38am: Brad Gilbert says that it is hard to call Federer the GOAT (Greatest Of All-Time) if he cannot beat Nadal on clay. Well, nobody casts aspersions against Pete Sampras in the GOAT discussion because he could never get past Sergi Bruguera. So does that make Bruguera a greater player than Pete Sampras? My opinion: I have never seen a better all-round player than Federer, Nadal included.

2:42am: This just occurred to me. Nadal is 4-2 in Grand Slam finals, and those two losses are to Federer. Federer's record in Grand Slam finals is 13-4, and those 4 losses have been to Nadal. Either way, their streaks continue today!

2:45am: How hard is it for Dick Enberg to say RafA-EL? Why does he keep saying RafE-AL? Seriously!? Am I missing something here?

2:50am: In their last 4 major finals, Roger is just 6 of 42 in break point chances. Wow! Darren Cahill favors Federer in 4 sets, Brad Gilbert predicts Nadal in 4, more specifically 7-5 in the 4th.

2:55am: Patrick McEnroe says that there is more pressure on Federer to win this, and I agree.

FIRST SET
2:56am: 4 errors from Federer and Nadal draws first blood easily. Wow!

3:03am: Ah! To be able to hit ONE flat backhand like Roger does. Beauty.

3:07am: Federer breaks back. 1-1. Four rallies in the game went to double-digits - Federer won ALL of them. Whodathunk that?! Also, Federer has stopped slicing the backhand and is hitting them back. Good sign for him as Nadal just eats up those sliced backhands.

3:10am: Federer needs 13 aces today to lead the tournament in that category (Andy Roddick has 87). Make that 12 aces now. 2-1 Federer.

3:12am: The Australian cricket team dominated cricket for the better part of the last two decades, but not any longer. Federer has dominated tennis for about the last half-decade but not any more. In the case of the Aussie team, their standards have fallen, allowing the others to catch up. It is to Federer's (and his opponent's) credit that his game has stayed at the highest level while the rest have raised theirs. No wonder, watching tennis is so much more fun than cricket-watching these days. Well, almost as much fun!

3:20am: On serve now, 3-2, Federer has won all but one of the rallies of over 10 shots in the match so far. Does not augur well for Nadal. The level of play is of the highest caliber. They have just picked up from where the 5th set ended at Wimbledon in 2008.

3:26am: Federer finally runs around his backhand on Nadal's second serve to attack on break point and gets it. 4-2.

3:29am: Nadal hits two ridiculous winners in the game. Simply outstanding court coverage. And it gets into Federer's head. Roger serves a double fault on break point to lose serve. Back on serve, 4-3. Nadal's ability to conjure winners where anyone else would simply be happy to get to a ball is incredible. Simply incredible.

3:37am: Roger struggles but manages to hold to make it 5-4. Nadal won and lost almost all the points, with one blistering forehand for Federer in there. Nadal looks sharp and is beginning to get his forehand to start dipping at the sharp angle that he is so uniquely capable of.

3:40: 47 minutes into the match, and 72 minutes into the coverage comes the story of how Nadal is actually right-handed but chose to be left-handed when he was 12 years old. Amazing story and one that I had never heard before...right.

3:45am: Nadal breaks for a 6-5 lead. Federer is having to go for more on his shots than usual (which is the norm during matches against Nadal) and paid the price with some egregious unforced errors. Big advantage to Nadal now. But Federer has got to realize that he can take on Nadal as he has already broken his serve twice today.

3:52am: The first set is in the book! Nadal wins 7-5. Federer was broken 3 out of 5 service games. Nadal is definitely in his head. The key is whether Nadal can finish this in 3 sets. I still feel that if it goes longer, Nadal loses.

SECOND SET
3:57am: Federer comes back from 0-30 down in the opening game with four winners. Very important for him to have held his serve to open the game. Game on.

4:03am: Four good shots for Federer to hold serve after Nadal hits a ridiculous backhand to hold his own. 2-1 on serve. By the way, we now also know about Nadal's grand-father who conducted some symphony orchestra and his uncle who played futbol for Spain. Wait until Federer begins to win a few and we can hear about Federer's temper while growing up, which he has now brought under check.

4:16am: Nadal is now 4-4 on break points. He is really taking it to Federer, hitting harder than he normally does, taking the ball earlier than usual on the backhand and pounding winners. Dangerous times for Federer.

4:21am: Federer breaks back as Nadal makes 3 unforced errors. I can't believe that I just typed that considering how well Nadal has been playing.

4:24am: Federer holds in a tough game to make it 4-3. Nadal looked a little weary on a couple of shots there. Or I may just be clutching at straws...after all I am the same person who said that Nadal was 22 and would not feel the effects of that semi-final match. Hmmm.

4:37am: After Nadal powers his way out of 4 break points, Federer finally manages to break Nadal. Serving for the set. He HAS to get some first serves in.

4:40am: Federer wins the last 4 games of the set to even the match at one set apiece. Now, my theory can be tested. I think Federer thinks he has a chance and Nadal may be in trouble. Either way, the quality of tennis is stupendously high. And as I type that, Chris Fowler says that the quality of tennis is not as high as Wimbledon '08. Come one, that match is the subject of an L. Jon Wertheim book, often referred to as MOAT (Match Of All-Time, to go with GOAT!).

THIRD SET
4:47am: Nadal holds to start the third set, but it was not an easy one for him. Let's see if I am searching for signs or whether it is indeed the turning of the tide. Easy enough test coming up - Federer to serve.

4:50am: Federer holds but is made to sweat by Nadal from 40-0. Interesting hold. Gives both players more confidence!

4:57am: Two deuces in Nadal's game and he holds it t make it 2-1 in the third set. Things are starting to get tight for both players on their service games.

5:02am: Federer-Nadal play "the point of the championship", according to Enberg, and Nadal wins it on a fantastic drop volley. But Federer holds at 30. 2-2.

5:07am: Nadal holds for 3-2, but throws in another sorry double fault while at it. By the way, Nadal's shorts have glitter on them. I don't know why it matters, but it has got to, right? And I am officially sick of Enberg's RaEAl pronunciation. Why can't he simply call him Nadal? Between that and his "Oh, my!" repetitions I wonder whether they simply have some tapes of Enberg playing in the background, while Dick suns himself at a nearby beach.

5:14am: Federer saves break point against his serve for the first time all match and holds after playing some superb befensive tennis. Shakespeare and his "There is a tide in the affairs of men," etc. comes to mind!

5:17am: Nadal holds to get to 4-3, but calls for a trainer! Fatigue? Gamesmanship? Naah, just looks like he is getting a rubdown. Maybe he is combating an early onset of cramps. Just a thought: if Nadal starts to come in to the net more often and tries to finish points quicker than he has, then it means that something is really bothering him.

5:21am: Federer holds easily (4-4), and Nadal does not even try to run down a couple of the shots. Looks like there is something wrong with Nadal right now.

5:29am: From 0-40 down, Nadal plays like a man possessed and gets the game back. He also serves an ace to Federer's forhand on the deuce court. The first time all match (2hours and 36 minutes into it, as Enberg helpfully informs) that he serves to Federer's forehand from that side of the court. What composure for a guy so young!

5:42am: Another incredible hold by Nadal, pounding winner after winner on break point, saving 3 of them in another pulse-pounding game. 6-5. How much longer can he keep pulling out these games? Conversely, how much is all of this affecting Federer?

5:58am: As soon as Enberg said that Federer had won his last 5 tie-breaks against Nadal, you knew the writing was on the wall! Roger double faults on Nadal's set point to hand him the tie-break. Two sets to one for Nadal.

FOURTH SET
6:11am: Nadal loses his serve and then proceeds to play out of his skin and break right back. How long can Federer survive these blows? I still think that if he gets a nose ahead in the game, he (Federer) will be home.

6:15am: Incredible resolve from Nadal, down 0-30, to cooly pound away and get to 2-2 in the set.

6:27am: Twelve minutes of absolutely great tennis. Federer saves 5 break points and eventually wins on the 20th point of the game. If you get a chance to watch the replay of this match, don't miss this game. For some people, a whole career would go by without hitting some of the shots this duo has been producing. Nadal had an incredible forehand winner on the run that was just mind-boggling. Phew! 3-2 in the 4th.

6:34am: Federer breaks Nadal to go up 4-2. Nadal finally makes an error on break point, very uncharacteristically. Here's Federer's chance to make it harder for Nadal. If he does, the match is over. At least in my mind.

6:35am: Federer wins the easiest game of the whole match in less than a minute, at love. 5-2 up in the 4th. We may be nearing the end of the Nadal run. I just do not see how he will be able to gut it out for another set after this one.

I do feel that, to secure it totally, Federer needs to break Nadal now to win the set. That way he will be serving first in the 5th set.

6:43am: Nadal holds and then, on his own serve, Federer wins a line call challenge on second serve (that was called out) at 15-15, and goes on to serve his way to a 5th set. Incredible tennis. The fact that the two of them can keep playing such a high level is a tribute to both men's skill and resolve.

FIFTH SET
6:49am: One set for it all. Major advantage Federer. Nadal to serve first, however, and that is always a big thing in a 5 set match. And he holds easily to go up 1-0

6:55am: Nadal holds ridiculously easily to make it 2-1 now. Hmmm, its almost as if he has found his second wind and is appearing the fresher of the two. Just incredible how he is able to keep going 4 hours into the match. Dangerous times for Federer now. The longer he keeps Nadal in the match, the stronger Nadal's chances start to get.

6:59am: Nadal breaks Federer, who looks very nervous now. Nadal is in the driver's seat. I did not see that coming.

7:06am: Nadal holds serve easily as Federer's error totals begin to mount. Just 1 winner for Nadal in the 5th set and he is up 4-1!

7:07am: Boom-boom-boom-boom, and an easy service game for Federer. 4-2 in the 5th. Two chances for Federer to break Nadal.

7:09am: And just like that it is 5-2 as Nadal holds at love. He has still not added to his winners total for the set. Federer's backhand has just deserted him. Wow.

7:16am: And I was wrong!!! Federer saves two match points but is unable to save the third and Nadal wins 6-2 in the fifth set. I seriously did not think Nadal could pull it out in the 5th and Federer is going to feel this for a long, long time.

4 hours and 23 minutes.

If the Wimbledon final hurt Federer, then this one will be even harder for him to take. Rafael Nadal is showing that he is incredibly talented and mentally much, much stronger than Federer. What a player. I am not sure how he can be defeated on clay, so going into Wimbledon, he ought to be halfway to a calendar Slam.

Now, let me go and eat some of the words I have been harping on all morning!

The Grand finale

A long time ago, I likened Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to a matador and a bull. Today, in a few minutes, they shall meet for the 19th time (Nadal holds a 12-6 edge, so far) in the final of the Australian Open. I shall keep a running diary of thoughts as they flash through my mind during the match.

Before the match starts, here's my prediction. Federer is going to win this one. The only way Nadal wins is if this is a 3-setter. And it has nothing to do with fatigue. Nadal is 22 years old and has had a full day to recover. He can easily play a 5-setter today and not feel physically tired. It has been more than a year since Federer last beat Nadal, and if Nadal lets Federer win a set or two, the Swiss-meister's self-belief will kick in and he will finish off Nadal. I am going against conventional wisdom with this statement, but there you have it. The next few hours will be highly entertaining.

Note, the time now is 2:30am in the US and my prediction was made before the match started...

Little bits of cricket

1) In 2008, while the rest of the Test-playing nations had many a match to ponder over, the Pakistani team sat at home twiddling thumbs. 2009 does not promise to be much better either. David Furrows has an interesting option for the PCB to explore - play at a neutral venue as a "home team". It is not as far-fetched an idea as it first seems...

The third option is far more compelling because it offers potential entry to the Big Four club. It involves long-term planning to host series in other Test-playing countries, both during the remaining 58 months of Pakistan's existing TV-rights contract and beyond that time. Pakistan could play most of its "home" series in England, scheduling Test matches on days in summer when England is not playing home Tests. There is little cricket overseas at that time of year, and so the boards of the opposing countries are likely to see this as a potential revenue earner. Headingley, Old Trafford and The Oval would offer substantial gate receipts due to the local Pakistani diaspora.

(...) There are now eight Test grounds in the UK, but with Lord's usually hosting two Tests per summer, inevitably two or three counties miss out on hosting an England Test every year. Pakistan's home Tests could be a lucrative consolation for those venues.

2) Peter Roebuck chimes in on Hashim Amla, a key member of South Africa's fast-surging team.

Hashim Amla counts amongst the most serene of cricketers. Nothing seems to ruffle him. Along the way both life and cricket have tried to disturb his tranquility, only to be met with a mild smile and a broad bat. Fast bowlers have pounded him with bumpers. Nothing personal, you understand, just that he was a new kid on the block and his back-foot game was regarded as suspect; mistakenly as it turned out. Refusing to hook, he simply parried the bouncers as he has everything else, and waited for the storm to abate, whereupon he resumed collecting runs in his unflustered way.

3) Sriram Veera watches Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar at a nets session in Sri Lanka and comes away impressed by the maverick. I really wish I could have his job!

And he (Sehwag) constantly teases the bowlers. "Patha nahi chal raha hai na, kidhar daaloon, kya karoon? (Struggling to find where to bowl, eh?), he asks one of the spinners. Both the bowler and the batsman laugh. Sehwag keeps watching Tendulkar bat, passing comments, “Shot Master! Wah ji Wah! (bravo).” He also pulls Tendulkar's leg now and then by praising the bowler who has got the better of him. Tendulkar simply laughs.

4) The ICL has been trying to get the ICC's attention as a legitimate enterprise. The ICC, kowtowing to the needs of the BCCI, has been putting things off. A January 31st meeting of the ICC was supposed to have discussed the issue. Not surprisingly they have, in the manner of most obtuse committees around the world, simply put off the decision-making till a later date. I think it is time the ICL called their bluff and took them to court.

The status of the ICL is still in limbo, with the ICC board having deferred considering the Indian Twenty20 league's application for approval pending further discussions between the BCCI, ICL and the ICC.

Off the Button

When the Oscar nominations came out, I was disappointed that The Dark Knight did not come up for Best Picture or Best Director, while The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Slumdog Millionaire cleaned up by the bushel. I have not seen Benjamin Button so this is a tad unfair on my part, but I felt that the commercial success of TDK was held against it while TCCOBB seemed to have been made with Oscars in mind, and it worked.

This is what Roger Ebert had to say on his blog today about the relative merits of the two movies:

Ebert: (...) And speaking of Oscars, "The Dark Night" was so much a better film than "Benjamin Button."

I may have had differences of opinion with Ebert in the past (notably for The Ghost and the Darkness and My Cousin Vinny) but I have always had immense respect for what he had to say. (Does that make sense?)

In this case, I am inclined to believe him even without watching TCCOBB.

By the way, here are Ebert's reviews of the three movies (highest rating - 4 stars):
The Dark Knight (4 stars)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2.5 stars)
Slumdog Millionaire (4 stars)

Random musings - 1 - updated

(In this column of I shall put forward thoughts that course through my mind - too small to be separate blog posts but too long to be passing fancies).

Why was Aamir Khan's character in Ghajini left-handed? Aamir is not left-handed, and there was no earthly reason for the character to be one, was there? (Check out the footage from the 3:51 mark in this video).

My new cricketing hero is MS Dhoni, especially for his play ever since he became the captain of the ODI team. I am losing count of how many times he has taken India to the finish line during a chase. Next season, I am modeling my game on him, right down to the way he stands while surveying the field.

Would Slumdog Millionaire have been nominated for 10 Oscars if everything had been the same except that the director was Indian? I don't think so. It would have been lucky to even sniff the Best Foreign Film category.

Why do Kurt Warner and the Arizona Cardinals remind me of Stan Humphries and the San Diego Chargers of 1995? I hope the fate of the Cardinals in this year's Super Bowl is entirely different from the one that befell the Chargers in SB XXIX.

Am I the only one who still remembers that when Mohammad Azharuddin "retired" from cricket he was the world record holder for most 50's, most runs, most not-outs, and most catches in ODI history? It boggles the mind to think that after his spectacular debut Test series, the analysts begged for him to never be included in the ODI team as they thought that it would "ruin his technique".

With his win against Andy Roddick in the semifinals of the Australian Open, Roger Federer has added to some already gaudy numbers that he possesses. He became the only man to reach the final at all 4 majors (Australian, French, Wimbledon, and US Open) at least three times. (On the distaff side, Steffi Graff is the only person to have won all four majors at least 4 times apiece!). By beating Roddick in straight sets, Federer has now won 152 out of 156 matches (152-4) when he wins the first set in a major. Tennis history's best front-runner on the games biggest stage, by far. (By the way, just for kicks, as of today Rafael Nadal is 76-1 when he wins the first set in a Grand Slam tournament!).

The best form of flattery

If you get a sense of deja vu while watching The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, you will know why when you see this video!

The Curious Case of Forrest Gump - watch more funny videos

Writer's blocks

Luckily for us fans of Aakash Chopra, he continues to write on his CricInfo blog. In his latest post, Aakash Chopra describes the hard work that went into writing his first book.

A lot of things also conspired to keep me on my toes: the central contract, Delhi's dream run, my personal form and chances of playing for the country. In any case, I couldn't have written the script better. It was a landmark season with Delhi winning the Ranji Trophy after 16 years, North Zone clinching the Duleep Trophy, and me ending up being the highest run-scorer. We also had the first edition of the IPL in the same season to top it all.

From goodbye to hello

Aakash Chopra's first book on cricket, Beyond the Blues: A Cricket Season Like No Other, has finally been published. Not surprisingly, it is based primarily on his experiences during the recently concluded cricket season. But, if his blogs and articles are anything to go by, it promises to be better than the run-of-the-mill "autobiographies" that get churned out by players, current or former.

The reviews have started to come in and are quite positive. Suresh Menon chips in with his impression.

This must rank as the best book written by an Indian Test cricketer. It is candid and takes you into the mind of the player. Most books by Indian players are ghost-written autobiographies with tedious details of matches played, the odd anecdote, and very few insights into the game in India.

Aakash Chopra has written a book that has both immediacy and perspective. He uses a single incident or personality to comment on a system and the inevitability of it producing the kind of players India produces.

My order has been "placed" and the book is on its way to me. I can hardly wait for it...

Movie-wood by any other name

It is not uncommon these days for scenes in Indian movies to be shot abroad. But what if you want to shoot scenes in a foreign locale but did not have the inclination to venture beyond the confines of a movie studio?

Well, if the man cannot get to the mountain, you simply bring the mountain to the man...

With the increasing revenue being generated by Bollywood movies in the west, it was a matter of time before one of them was released by a major studio in the US. The movie that was chosen for this grand release....err....From Chandni Chowk to China.

Here's Roger Ebert's so-so review of the movie. Methinks the review is probably more interesting than the movie. Or is it?

Head rest

Why do people build statues? So birds can have a place to survey the world from while looking for targets to poop on. If all else fails, the statue itself will do! Ah, the indignity of it all.

Girl power

How does Shah Rukh Khan get so many actresses to appear in these songs with him? He had a medley in Om Shanti Om:



And now in his latest movie - Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi - he is at it again!



Some guys have all the luck...

A statistical medley for baseball lovers

Of all the sports that I have followed, the one that keeps the most copious stats for the players is baseball (Major League Baseball). And the record-keeping is so exhaustive that people with a lot of time on their hands can bring up some incredible compilations. Here's Jayson Stark of ESPN with the strange but true occurrings in MLB 2008.

For example:

LOST CONTACT DEPT.: Nationals pitcher Jason Bergmann blew away the two most esoteric records of the year. He made it to the plate 42 times -- and failed to reach base via a hit or walk in ANY of them. He broke two exalted records in the process -- (1) most plate appearances without a hit or walk (previously set by Vicente Palacio, 36, in 1994) and (2) most official walkless and hitless at-bats (previously set by Hackin' Hal Finney, 35, in 1936).

LET'S PLAY 18 DEPT.: Every once in a while, there's a game that seems as if it's played only for the sake of us Strange But True historians. This 18-inning May 25 whopper between the Reds and Padres was one of them. The Reds used FOUR members of their starting rotation just in this game. One of those starters, Aaron Harang, piled up more strikeouts in his four innings out of the 'pen (nine) than he racked up in any of his 29 starts this year. The Reds blew more saves just between the eighth and 11th innings (three) than they'd blown all season before that (two). The Padres had a different pitcher on the mound to start every inning between the sixth and 11th. The Reds managed to do something they hadn't done in almost 60 years -- get 21 hits in one game and lose. (Last time they did that: June 8, 1949.) And just for fun, Adrian Gonzalez ended it all with the National League's first 18th-inning walk-off since 1989.

Last words

2008 is in the books and who better than Sambit Bal to give a comprehensive review of the happenings across the playing fields and beyond. The review is in two pieces - part 1 here, and part 2 here.

Here's his take on MS Dhoni, the golden boy whose captaincy is still in the honeymoon phase. His first hiccup was in not pursuing a 2-0 verdict against England, but that was completely overshadowed by his so-far successful reign as the skipper.

India are lucky to have found Dhoni to take them through a crucial hour of transition. He has shades of Sourav Ganguly's leadership qualities, and on the evidence of his few matches in charge, greater tactical nous. Most of all, he seems immune to the media, which as Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble found, often poses a much greater challenge to Indian captains than opponents on the field. So far, admittedly, he is yet to taste the kind of press that drove Dravid and Kumble to distraction, and he has maintained an aloof, and in fact slightly amused, air about media criticism.

As captain he doesn't seem burdened by precedents or shackled by the fear of consequences. There is a method to his tactics, but he has allowed himself to be guided by his instincts. In some ways he is an old-school captain, not given to over-theorising or over-reliance on the laptop, and guided instead by a cricketer's reading of situations. As a result, his decision-making has come across as uncomplicated and uncluttered. He also seems to possess that intangible thing that all successful captains need: luck.

There will be days when his plans misfire and luck deserts him. That will be his true test. Last year was one in which he could do no wrong. Still, all signs suggest he will be all right.

While on skippers, a man who went from hero to zero (or worse) in the blink of an eye has spent many years on the outside. But, luckily, it appears that the (perceived) sins of the father are not hampering the progress of the sons. Mohammad Azharuddin's older son is being recruited by the IPL. Here's hoping he cares a niche for himself and outdoes his father on the field. Also, the younger son has been spotted, too, and if anything, is a bigger chip off the old block than his elder brother.

Finally, Aakash Chopra was recently shown the door by the BCCI, effectively ending any hope he had of playing for India again. He has gone back to blogging for CricInfo but here and there you can glimpse the pain he feels from not getting a chance to represent the country again.

Now that we're home and with our families, we must make the most of it as we really don't know what the future has in store for us. Though, personally, I wouldn't mind staying away on New Year's Eve with the Indian team once again.

His first book, Beyond the Blues, is releasing this week and I am looking forward to owning a copy soon.

Standing still

When your surroundings are lit up like a Christmas tree, it is not easy to fall asleep because of the glare. Maybe that is why New York city is known as the city that never sleeps.

Exhibit A: Times Square



And with that, my blogging resumes in 2009...

Blowing with the wind

I remember Sanjay Manjrekar once saying, very presciently, that the crowds in India are not fans of cricket, they are fans of Indian cricket. Suresh Menon has finally cottoned onto that fact in his latest article.

Now we expect Tendulkar to score a century every time he goes out to bat. This modern great has been jeered at in his own hometown, Mumbai. The Indian captain has been booed in Kolkata. Indian spectators expect too much from their players, and are not shy of expressing their disappointment when things go wrong. Nor do they find it necessary to cheer a visiting player when he performs. This is embarrassing.
(...)
India's fandom can be summed up in the reaction to Mahendra Singh Dhoni. When India bowed out of the World Cup in 2007, the walls of his house under construction were pulled down and stones were pelted. Now his fans want to build a temple where he is the presiding deity. Enough said .

When the vultures begin to circle...

Matthew Hayden has been pulverizing bowling attacks around the world for almost a decade but the runs have not been flowing as easily of late. Everybody relishes the role of kicking a bully on the way down, and Christian Ryan does not hold back any punches in this opinion piece, accusing Hayden of being a glorified Gorgie Porgie, running away when the boys come out to play.

England had Steve Harmison, Andrew Flintoff, Simon Jones and Matthew Hoggard, and for four Tests Hayden had the horrors. In the fifth Test he played an innings most curious. He edged and groped and miscued and scratched at imaginary scuff marks and edged some more. Australia needed desperately to win. But Hayden went off twice for bad light and was outscored by Justin Langer and draped 138 runs over three murk-affected days. And when the Test was over, the Ashes lost, the selectors let him stay in the team.

The hundreds resumed, at the same rate as before, built on the same method too: one giant step forward, then one brutal swing. He made half the textbook look obsolete. Back-foot play? Why bother, mate? The bowlers once more had a happy malleability about them. The trends of the time seemed to suit him: helmets, dead pitches, few quicks, fewer swingers. The old West Indian awesome foursome was by now a clueless threesome. Dillons, Drakeses, Collinses, Lawsons, Blignauts, Ervines, Mahwires, Agarkars, Nehras and Zoysas abounded. Hayden hundreds abounded, as well.

And then, three months ago, he encountered a bowler named Zaheer. Another named Ishant. Then Southee and Steyn and Ntini. And when critics now ask him what has changed in three months, it is possible he still thinks: "Only your mind."

Of course, I would have been more impressed if Mr. Ryan had published this while Hayden was still on top, and not on the way down.

To cut a long story short

Of late, I have gravitated towards collections of short-stories instead of 1000 page novels. A combination of a shortening attention span and a distinct lack of extended reading time has forced this change in my reading preferences.

I have quite a few books at home that are in my to-read list, but I find the quicker pace and faster conclusion of a short-story much more appealing. Strange since I find that my interest in cricket remains in direct proportion to the duration of the game.

The website, Tehelka.com, has come out with a collection of short-stories by various Indian authors for their year-end issue, with the simple brief that the stories have to be about "excess", as explained by Jabberwock on his blog.

As ML was telling me recently, there appear to be two types of Indian writers - those that write for a western audience, and those that write for any audience. The stories in this anthology are a mix of both types. I have not read all of them, so I will reserve my comments until I do that. Until then, enjoy the stories by clicking on the link for the stories. (Once again, these are short-stories linked to the site where they are published from - Tehelka.com).

Siddhartha by Altaf Tyrewala

Feast by Manjula Padmanabhan

Same Day by Mridula Koshy

The Decline Of Henrietta by Tishani Doshi

The Good Boy by Rajorshi Chakraborti:

Mrs Roberts by Ruskin Bond:

Anatomy Of Excess by Amruta Patil

Sweetlove (recovered) by Sunetra Gupta

Rosie by Vivek Narayanan

Paraphilia by Ambarish Satwik

The Perfect Couple by Sarnath Banerjee

Hanging On Like Death by Anjum Hasan

My House Is Your House by Sudeep Chakravarti

Strawberries Are White by Kalpish Ratna

Muggle time

A few weeks ago I discussed the Tales of Beedle the Bard, JK Rowling's latest book from the world of Harry Potter (sort of).

I loved the stories in the book, as I did the Harry Potter books. Each of the five tales have the classic JKR touch - simple enough that kids can get it, but complicated enough that adults can enjoy them, too. This is a tough thing to do, but she seems to have a finger on the pulse of her readers and this book does not disappoint, either.

I do not want to discuss the tales themselves as I do not want to ruin it if you have not read them. But I will say that she does not pretend that children cannot take adult concepts seriously. By not condescending to the children, whom the tales are directed towards, she does us all a favor by making the stories fun to read. This book is basically a children's book directed towards an adult audience.

Everyone will have their favorite story. Two stories stand out for me - The Warlock's Hairy Heart and The Fountain of Fair Fortune.

Buy the book and read it!

The calm in the midst of a storm

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage - to move in the opposite direction.
E. F. Schumacher

A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don't necessarily want to go, but ought to be.
Rosalynn Carter

It's no secret that I have a great deal of admiration for MS Dhoni, more for his captaincy than his game (though I am a big admirer of that aspect, too).

For a man who trolled the railway platforms as a ticket collector a few years ago, Dhoni has come a long way and has taken to the role of a leader like a duck to water. Earlier, I had written about Dhoni's leadership skills and how he makes more sense than most people who make a living on lecture tours where they talk about what it takes to be a great leader.

Lest someone starts thinking that being the captain of a team is as easy as showing up for the toss and throwing the ball to the bowlers, Dhoni reminds them that they are in for a rude awakening. As Dhoni points out in this article, it takes more than just instinct and luck to be a good captain - you also need to have a sense of the right moment to strike.

"Nothing is easy, I can assure you of that," said Dhoni with a smile when asked if this whole captaincy business was a lark. "International cricket is tough. Yes, if you do have a good side, if the side is doing everything right, it looks a bit easy. I think it's just that the team is playing really well."

Seizing an opportunity when it presents itself is easy. But seizing it after you have created that very opening is true leadership.

Spitting into the wind

I have never hidden my admiration for Aakash Chopra, and have even advocated a major role for him in the current Indian set up.

A few days ago the BCCI announced the latest list of contracted players. Many fringe players made it, but there was one omission that went largely unreported - Aakash Chopra was quietly dropped from the Grade D (the lowest grade possible). (Siddharth Mongia explores this in more detail in this piece).

To say Aakash Chopra was stung by the vote of no-confidence is an understatement. On his CricInfo blog, Aakash puts forward a very compelling case for why he deserved a longer run, clearly showing that the BCCI only pays lip service to the domestic game. I fear the writing is on the wall, and Aakash Chopra will never play for India again and the loss is entirely Indian cricket's. Shame on you, BCCI.

Initially, the list of contracted players was limited to the top players in the country, and it had no more than 25 players spread over three grades. But last year the BCCI went a step further, and included the players who were doing really well in the domestic circuit. It was a great gesture from the BCCI, and it rewarded a lot of players for their performances. Well, everyone can't be playing for the country at the same time, and hence getting a contract was a huge encouragement. Once you have the contract, contrary to popular belief, not only does it bring the money and security, but it also adds to the motivation to do well, knowing that you're in the loop and would be rewarded again if you do well.

Last year with the contract under my belt, I was all geared up for the season and played with the single-mindedness of proving right the decision to back me. It was a great feeling to be back in the loop after three years of wandering in the wilderness after getting dropped from the national side. It was good to be back.

I went on to score 1339 runs at 60 runs per innings in the longer format, and was the highest run-getter in the season with three double-centuries and two centuries. Incidentally, my tally was the fourth-highest in a single season in the history of Indian first-class cricket. I was lucky to add three unbeaten centuries in the shorter format, taking my season's tally to nearly 1700 runs.

(...) The new list of contracted players was announced three days ago. I was disheartened not to find my name in the list. For the last couple of days I was mulling over what must have gone against me. Did I not score enough runs in that period? Was I supposed to do something more? And after two days of brainstorming, I am still as confused as I was earlier. If I was disheartened earlier, now I was positively lost. I really don't know how to react to the news of not finding my name in the list. It was, after all, meant to be the reward of doing well in the contract period. One part of me still believes that my name must have been forgotten, as I've always had faith in the system where one performs and gets rewarded. Questions are plenty, but answers are none.

No surprisingly, Aakash Chopra is back at it again, scoring runs and keeping Delhi's hopes of defending it's Ranji Trophy triumph alive, by leading from the front as captain and opening batsman.

Good guys rarely finish first, but I'm rooting for this one to buckle the trend.

It takes a village-r

India chased down a daunting total to win the first Test against England. The win was engineered by the trigger-happy Virender Sehwag. MS Dhoni admitted as much in the post-match interview when he said that had Sehwag not fired, India would have played for a draw. Yet, the rest of the fine folks who report on the game seem to think that the entire team shared Sehwag's will to win. I hope I am wrong in thinking so, but there is only one uncluttered mind in the Indian dressing room and he plunders his runs from the opener's spot.

(Incidentally, South Africa is in a similar predicament in their Test against Australia but they do not seem to have the belief that they can win).

Here are some of the items caught my eye in the aftermath of the famous win in Chennai.
a) Sambit Bal, fast becoming one of my favorite cricket writers, thinks that the only team that believed it could win, did so.

b) Sachin Tendulkar's history of disappearing in the crunch was put to the test and this time he came through for what may end up being the signature century of his glittering career. Afterwards, he spoke about the moment and what it meant to him and millions of other folks.

c) The Englishmen were left to look for slender positives from the game. Simply showing up to play has to considered a win for them.

d) Sanjay Manjrekar provides the Indian viewpoint, as only he can.

e) The elephant in the room that no one wanted to talk about was not the failure of Rahul Dravid to score any runs, but rather the failure of the premier spinner on either side to fair well on a pitch that should have supported them immensely. The boy named Mudhsuden is the one that copped the most flak, but the person who deserved more criticism for his non-show was the Turbanator, Harbhajan Singh. Michael Atherton brings this up in his match review.

After England's defeat, the spotlight has been trained on Monty Panesar, but before he is condemned to the gallows in the rush to promote Adil Rashid, it might be instructive to compare him with India's spinners. Harbhajan has played 73 Test matches to Panesar's 34 and he has taken 193 more wickets than Panesar. He was also in the groove, having played a Test series against Australia and a one-day series against England. Panesar, bedevilled by bad luck and his non-selection in England's one-day team, had not twitched his index finger competitively for the best part of four months.

Even though Harbhajan was in form, bowling at a ground he knows well and at batsmen short of match practice, he made little impression. I am not entirely sure that Harbhajan is the bowler he used to be, now that an overextended use of the doosra - the ball that spins to the off - has affected his ability to drift and spin his stock ball, the off spinner. Nevertheless, England, and Andrew Strauss in particular, played him superbly well.

f) Peter Roebuck, who is more engrossed in the Australia-South Africa, does find the time to talk about the Chennai Test in his distinctive style.

Judging from their responses to his vivid innings, England had not previously seen Virender Sehwag at his most audacious. Bear in mind that 12 months ago he had lost his place in the side. Australians, on the other hand, are well aware of his powers. Now he caused such disarray in the opposing ranks that in a trice fieldsmen were running hither and thither, most of them ever further from the bat. Yet Sehwag is no mere thrasher. Rather, he is an intelligent and consistent batsman who has managed to remain instinctive and creative. It is a most unusual combination. He is not remotely as barmy as he seems. Although he was removed before stumps, he had given the Indian innings its momentum and caused a furrowing of brows in the England camp.

g) To me, the best of them all was this extensive piece by Prem Panicker who, when his mind is focused on cricket, still cranks out well-thought out pieces that should be circulated to the cricket teams he dissects so well.

In the second innings, the team starts strong, but then two determined batsmen take the game away with controlled performances. At close on the third day the opposition is 247 ahead with seven wickets in hand; at lunch on day four that lead has been stretched to 319, seven still remaining in the hut.

Even occasional followers of Indian cricket will effortlessly recall dozens of such instances; they will recall, too, the inevitable denouement: India falls back on ‘defence’, which in context means spreading the field out and protecting the boundaries [‘They won’t mind the singles too much, it is the boundaries that will hurt’, commentators invariably say at such moments]. The result: the lead mounts, the home team’s hangdog air of oh shoot, we stuffed this up, let’s somehow get the misery over and done with, tomorrow is another day and another Test becomes more pronounced, and fans give up the ghost and go off to see if they can get tickets to Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.

Not this time. For the second time in four Tests as captain, MS Dhoni employs his own version of active defence, packing one side of the field with placements aimed to make a monumental struggle out of every single taken. The bowlers all read from the same page, unwaveringly bowling the lines scripted by the think tank and operating with the fields set. The result – momentum snatched away [23 overs, 57 runs, 5 wickets] at just that precise point in the game when, in earlier times, the opposition tended to run berserk and bat India entirely out of the game.

And then the final, most welcome change: The team and its coach talk not of “saving the game” and “taking it session by session and seeing where we are” but of winning the game. Its buccaneer in residence then walks out to play an innings that would have attracted comment in a one-day situation, and was downright implausible in context of a Test match.

h) Finally, as the 5th day was playing out, Prem Panicker blogged about it, leading off with a brilliant treatise on the man who could be the king of them all if he (Sehwag) is able to duplicate the feats of the first half of his career. He provides a lesson from the past to shed some light on cricket's last gunslinger.

To call Sehwag’s batting “instinctive” – that is, an atavistic response to a situation that is not based on thought or prior experience and do not depend on prior learning – is to call it wrong: Sehwag’s secret is not that he does not think, but that he has cleared the clutter and reduced thought to its barest, most necessary essentials.

In his connection, I always think of one particular example – and it relates to when England came touring under Nasser Hussain. Sehwag, then batting low down the order, was sitting in the dressing room, fretting at the sight of his senior colleagues “tackling” Ashley Giles’ round the wicket, wide of leg stump line with their pads, butts and other parts of the anatomy.

In course of an eruption of profanity of which saala is the only quotable word, Sehwag blasted his mates and, in précis, said wait till I get out there, I’ll teach that &#%%$ a lesson.

Sure enough, his chance came. He greeted Giles with a murderous mow that almost decapitated short square leg, followed it up with a clinical reverse sweep, ran down the wicket to loft him over midwicket, charged down again to hit inside out over extra cover – and in the space of three overs, forced Hussain to take Giles out of the attack.

That was not “instinctive”, as the dictionary defines “instinct”. Rather, it was the result of Sehwag reducing the game to its essence: There was, he realized, no percentage in standing there watching the balls go by. Nor, given that line, was there the danger of his getting out bowled or leg before. That left “caught” – and reduced it to a straight contest between a bowler clearly unsure of his ability to effectively bowl the more attacking lines, against a batsman confident of his own mastery of the grammar of batsmanship.

Slow news day

Sometimes you wonder what goes through a copy editor's mind. I cannot imagine anyone making dinner reservations in anticipation of a promotion for okaying a story as mundane as this one! Really, I'd like to meet the intrepid reporter who "scooped" this story.

The headline says it all: Saina gets her passport renewed.

The greatest nightwatchman ever

Yes, cricket is back on this blog after a month-long hiatus.

Virender Sehwag. What a player. May that glint never leave his eye. Where other batsman see two slips, a gully, point, cover, extra-cover and mid-off, Sehwag sees gaps. Where others see roads to failure, this man sees opportunities. No third man? Okay, here's the upper-cut. Seven fielders on the off? No problem, here comes the slog sweep to midwicket.

What sets him apart from anyone else in cricket today (now that a certain flap-eared Aussie keeper has retired) is that he is always looking to score runs. Always. A knock against Sehwag has been his inability to perform in the second innings. Well, don't look, but since he was resurrected to the Indian side in Perth early this year, in the second innings he has scored 617 runs at an average of 51-plus, with 1 century and 4 fifties in 12 innings.

Sehwag almost single-handedly brought India back into the match. Now they have a more-than-manageable 256 runs in 90 overs equation to negotiate on the last day. If I was the bowling team and I saw that Gambhir, Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman, Yuvraj, and Dhoni were still there, I'd be more than a little worried. (For more insight on how Sehwag thinks, check out CricInfo).

When Sehwag got out, Dhoni sent in Dravid to negotiate the last few overs of the day. Dhoni must be hoping that a combination of pride and muscle-memory will reignite Dravid's batting, which is currently in the doldrums.

By the way, Chennai spectators, please don't bother showing up tomorrow for the final day's play. If you could not be there to support the Indian team when things were not going their way, you have no right to come in there on the last day and create a ruckus. Or at least if you do, then please have the humility to admit that you gave up on the team for 4 days. It's sad that only cheerleaders and glitzy colors under artificial light can bring you to the stadia. This Test match has been as gripping as any in recent memory and was played in front of largely-empty stands.

'Tis that time of the year

Sometimes I go to movies just to watch the previews. The anticipation they build up is far greater than the thrill of watching most of the movies themselves. Ever since I heard that Christian Bale was signed up to star in the reinventing of the Terminator franchise, I've been waiting for the movies. Here's a preview of the first movie, which is expected to do to the Terminator story what Batman Begins and Casino Royale did to their respective series.

A method in his acting

In my previous post, I had alluded to Aamir Khan's thought process when he chooses his roles. Here is a blog post in which he describes how and why he chooses the roles he does. Read it in its entirety. In it he describes one scene from Fanaa where he explains how he approached the scene. Very fascinating.

Also, read this posting on how he conceived and created Bhuvan and his mannerisms for Lagaan. Here is a guy who puts a lot of thought into the roles he chooses.

Creating Bhuvan was tricky because he is such an all round good guy. No weaknesses. Characters like this have a tendency to get boring. I began at his core. What is his strongest quality? What is the quality about him that stands out the most? Based on the script I felt it was his inner strength. He's got tremendous courage, inner strength and resolve. How do I project that physically? I went for two imp body signals for this. One I kept my back ramrod straight at all times. I consciously avoided stooping or slumping my back. Two, I divided my body weight equally on both legs. Meaning, I avoided standing with my weight on one leg. So, feet shoulder length apart, weight evenly distributed on both legs, back straight and head held high, not too high (makes you look proud). That's the classic Bhuvan posture.

A dish best served cold

For many months now, I have been waiting eagerly for Aamir Khan's next release - Ghajini. The wait is almost over. I have seen the Tamil original and from Aamir Khan's (now-defunct) blog I understand that the weakest link in the movie - the drawn out ending and "surprise" element - has been discarded. His blog also gives an interesting insight into how Aamir thinks about the roles he chooses.

When I was offered GHAJINI I didn't take it very seriously as I'm not usually keen on remakes. But when I saw the film I really loved it. I did not like the last 30 mts of the film but despite that the film had worked for me. I was not sure that I shoiuld do it as I had a problem with the end of the film, also I was not sure that it was my kind of film. (...) On the script level while we have stuck to the Tamil original for the most part we have made changes to the villian track, and have changed the last 30 odd mts of the film including the climax.

(...) While discussing the film I expressed my doubts, I felt that maybe I was not the right actor for the film. He (Surya) just brushed aside my doubts and insisted that I was the right person for the Hindi remake. But what sealed it for me was my meeting with the director. He is a really spirited young director and I was very impressed meeting him. He has a really nice vibe around him and a very sharp instinct towards his work. Importantly, when I expressed my reservations regarding the end of the film he did not hesitate in seconding that he too was not very happy with that portion, and that in the remake thats the portion that he felt we needed to rework. Having made sure that we were on the same page and feeling a great amount of comfort in Murgadoss I went ahead with my decision.

(...) For those of you who have asked me why I don't have any problems doing a remake of a Hollywood film..., its NOT a remake. Watch both films and see for yourself. In my opinion this is a GENUINE case of 'inspired from', and nothing beyond that. Murgadoss has written a completely different and original screenplay and he should get the due credit for his work.

The previews look good and I hope I can see it on a big screen around Christmas. Until then, trailers like this will keep me going.

Coveting the uncovetable

I have never wanted anyone's job as much as I did Siddharth Mongia's when I read this article on CricInfo. This sounds like a perfect day of work to me.

Someday, someday...

Quietly fades the don

2008 is turning out to be a sad year for me. Earlier this year Graeme Hick retired (I think I've mentioned this once or twice!) and now news filters in that Greg Maddux is on his way out, too.

Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated has penned a perfect tribute to the man who made me follow the scoreboard once every five days during the baseball season.

The magic show is over. I dislike absolutes, but of this I am sure: Greg Maddux is the most fascinating interview, the smartest baseball player and the most highly formed baseball player I have encountered in 27 years covering major league baseball. There is no one alive who ever practiced the craft of pitching better than Maddux.

(...) Maddux was the genuine article, a ballplayer evolved to the highest form. It is fitting that he is the winningest pitcher alive, an honor he should keep up to his very last breath. This appreciation, not by accident, made no mention of any career statistic of Maddux, no more than you would cite records sold to describe the voice of Sinatra. Maddux is synonymous with the art of pitching. He was that good. Never again will we see, or hear, anyone quite like him.

Not to be outdone, Gene Wojciechowski of ESPN.com has a different way of paying tribute, too. Just as interesting to read, nevertheless.

In 1996, just before Maddux and the Atlanta Braves faced the New York Yankees in the World Series, pitching coach Leo Mazzone met with his starters and relievers and read them the detailed scouting reports. Maddux raised his hand after Mazzone read the report on Yankees slugger Bernie Williams.
"That report is not correct," Maddux said. "I've been watching film of Williams for two weeks, and that report is not correct."
"Did everybody hear that?" Mazzone said.
The Braves pitchers nodded.
"Well, then the hell with this report," Mazzone said. "We go with what Mad Dog says."
Williams hit .167 in the Series.

(...) He wasn't unprofessional enough. Maddux probably could have squeezed another season and paycheck out of that 42-year-old right arm of his. Others would have taken the money. But not Mr. Integrity.
Nope. Won't miss him at all.
Until spring training 2009.

My last reason to follow baseball is gone. Quietly. Just the way he pitched games.

Needling the thread

JK Rowling has taken a major plot point of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to fashion a children's book out of it. Tales of Beedle the Bard is a book in Book 7 that is bequeathed to Hermione Granger.

Using the ruse that Hermione translated the tales from ancient runes, JKR produces 5 innovative children's tales. Each one is different, most of them having macabre elements that get resolved by the end of the story in such a way that the gory bits do not seem that gory at all.

The stories still carry JKR's punch and inventiveness and are fun to read. There are just 5 tales in the book and it is a quick read. Which is why JKR has an additional section after every story under the guise of them being "notes by Albus Dumbledore". While these provide more details and extend the book, they are a deterrent to the story. The Dumbledore comments are longer than the stories and don't really add anything to the HP lore. Those that are not familiar with it will not understand the text anyway, so the purpose of these additions is perplexing. Moreover, the notes try to explain the meaning of the story which is a tad condescending to the reader since the stories are so well written the "moral" of the tale comes through pretty easily. By dumbing it down, she has actually made it worse to read.

I suspect that the publisher's insisted she have additional text in order to make it a bigger book so they could charge more for it. If that was the case, then it only served to weaken the impact of the stories. If it was just JKR's doing, then the finger that she had on a child's pulse has slipped just a little bit.

(I have intentionally not reviewed any of the tales as I'd like you to discover the stories for yourself).

Mailing it in

I follow a lot of cricket and have become quite good at reading between the lines of scorecards. So when I open a "report" that describes how the day's play progressed, I am looking for something that enlightens me beyond what a casual perusal of the scorecard will give.

Reports like this one are all over the place. They are utterly useless and do not provide any new information or insight into the day's proceedings. Sadly this is the norm rather than the exception.

A monkey with access to a scorecard could have written this article. Did it?

Thanksgiving Trip - Day 5: Moment of epiphany

Leaving Colorado Springs was not an easy task, a prospect that became evident as soon as hotel room door was opened in the morning.

Driving in a heavy snowfall is still one of my favorite times to drive, but I could have done without the snail's pace at which progress was made by the traffic around me.

Since the storm front was heading east, it turned into a race. One that took a good four hours for me to win.



Even though the bad weather was left behind, the winds ahead of the storm front buffeted and shook the van all the way home. Along the highway wayward tumbleweed raced across the road, reminiscent of scenes from a prison break, usually missing getting crushed, but not always!

And with that the road trip came to an end. I did get a lot of time to soak in the Rockies. No natural sight stirs me as much as snow-capped mountains. I hope I get a chance to finish my last days surrounded by mountains just like these, many decades from now.

Standing at the base of the Rockies I had a sudden insight into what Reacher exactly meant when he realized why the two fictional towns were named Hope and Despair in Nothing to Lose.

Thanksgiving Trip - Day 4: A drive in the clouds

Leaving Santa Fe was not easy as the clouds clung to the roads, occasionally clearing away to reveal a snow-decked landscape.

Eventually, as the altitude decreased, the sun began to exert a bigger influence on the proceedings, and the eastern plains took over, a golden expanse that must have been awe-inspiring and alluring to the early settlers.

But when in Colorado, the mountains cannot be too far away, and soon enough they began to appear, far away at first but nearer and nearer as Colorado Springs got closer.



Colorado Springs is a vibrant city nestled in the foothills of the Rockies, with Pike's Peak prominently overlooking the settlement.

The MLC Lady Warriors (in black and orange) were playing a game in Colorado Springs and were lustily cheered onto an impressive 98-56 win over Principia College Panthers.

Playing at the higher altitude is no laughing matter, and the hosts were kind enough to prominently remind the visitors of this.

No trip to Colorado Springs will be complete without a visit to the rock formations lovingly referred to as the Garden of the Gods.

The fading sunlight was still enough to capture some of the majestic beauty of the unique rock formations. (Click here for more details of the park).

Thanksgiving Trip - Day 3: Attritional beauty

South-west of Santa Fe the highway (I-25) curls towards the Rockies again. About 40 miles south of the city are some rock formations that must be seen to be believed.

The place to go to is...

The road to get there is not a standard one, but if a Chevy Uplander can make it, almost any car can.

You get a sense of how different the formations are from a distance.

There are a few trails that wind through the park, including this one - Canyon trail - that begins innocuously, but has a steep 630 foot climb to the top.

The view from the top is worth the climb - very gorgeous and surreal.
These cacti are everywhere along the trail.

After that a drive through Santa Fe is almost anti-climactic. The houses are mostly flat-topped, with solid brick walls that would not be out of place in any Indian city.

The hub of Santa Fe is the Plaza, in the shadows of snow-covered mountains, where one can buy all sorts of things. A shoppers paradise, especially since the street vendors are willing to haggle over the price.

In spite of being the oldest capital city in North America, Santa Fe does have links to a galaxy far, far away.

Thanksgiving Trip - Day 2: Roadside roam-eo

After spending the entire first day in the car en route to Colorado Springs, a good night's rest was had at a comfortable motel, in the foothills of the Rockies.

The initial part of the drive the next day towards Santa Fe, New Mexico, was quite scenic and the Rockies stood to the right, proudly guarding the western frontier.

Occasionally, a dormant tree or two would show up as a reminder that it was not all plain sailing to the east.

Eventually, the plains gave way to some higher ground and even as the Rockies receded in the background...

...the weather took a turn for the worse and most of the sightseeing on the rest of the day was the old-fashioned way - a drive-by shooting.  

The snowfall left behind a powdered landscape that was no less alluring. Driving through the changing landscape was peaceful, rush hour traffic notwithstanding.

Crossing the higher elevations changed the scenery only to the extent of hiding all the mountains...

...only occasionally lifting the hemline of the skirting clouds to show what was behind the condensed water vapor.

Eventually, late afternoon on Thanksgiving Thursday, the city of Santa Fe was reached.

It got dark soon after that and photo-taking was stopped. A recon mission around the city was undertaken after a late lunch, followed by a quick dinner, and some rest to recharge the batteries for a trip on Day 3 to Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument.