Sorry for the long delay. India has finally made the top spot in ICC test rankings. Yippie!! This feat IMHO isn’t just a fluke. India has been playing great cricket for last few years. The fielding has improved and the players are more professional. I think the ground work started when Ganguly took over the captaincy. And this would have been achieved a lot sooner but for Greg Chappell. Anyhow, we are finally there.

The thing that worries me is the bowling. All the fast bowlers we have except for Zaheer Khan are utterly inconsistent. They bowl wonderfully one day and the next day, they do everything wrong. I think Venkatesh Prasad should be brought back as bowling coach. Its also good that Ishant Sharma has been dropped. Hopefully he will come back into the team as a much better bowler.

As regards to batting, as long as we have Sehwag, Gambhir, Yuvraaj and Dhoni, we needn’t worry too much. But I guess the selectors will have to scratch their heads when Sachin, Dravid and Laxman retires.

Digressing from the subject though, I hope to write a lot more posts on topics like India, Bengal, Atheism, religion, Communism etc. stay Tuned for more…

December 8th, 2009
Categories: Cricket, Sports . Author: Sameek . Comments: No Comments

Its been a few days since I reached here. And boy, It feels so good. Sometimes its difficult to believe that I missed the heat, humidity, insane crowds, bad roads and incessant rain but its true. As a true calcuttan, I am proud to say that I missed Kolkata more than I realised. Even though I was over the last year had my share of dissapointments with the city of joy [Ironic]. I am willing to overlook all these things as Kolkata will always welcome me with open arms no matter what. Whenever I talk to people about Kolkata, they always try to bring out the flaws. And even though I want them to go away, I have to be true and admit that Kolkata will not be kolkata if all the things with which it annoys everyone goes away. But enough negativity. All people are excited about Pujo. So am I. Wishing everone a SHUBHO SHARODIYA!

And for all the people inclined to read a little more, here is something interesting.

September 23rd, 2009
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: Sameek . Comments: No Comments

Today I watched KAMINEY. My first impression was…”Wow! This is pretty original.” The story was pretty good. The acting was good. But i guess shahid kapoor can emulate a little less of SRK. Priyanka was good as usual. The anti-social elements were portrayed in a near hollywood style. My favorite part would be the abundant use of regional languages. Especially bengali. No babumoshai and such crap. Real contemporary dialogues. I guess same goes true fot the Marathi as well. The only complains I have is the excessive use of gun-violence which at some points seemed unnecessary and the running time. The film would have been better if it would have been wrapped in 100 minutes. All in all, a good movie. A step in the right direction. And a pretty big one at that.

August 17th, 2009
Categories: Entertainment, Movies . Author: Sameek . Comments: No Comments

Readers be warned. This is not an article about the health hazards of wifi. No, I dont know or care about the lasting effects of long term exposure to 2.4 GHz readio waves. So why am i writing this entry? Well I almost became institutionalized because of it. Let me start from the beginning.

Last week I bought a wifi router (EDIMAX). it was cheaper than the D-Link one so i thought what the hell…everybody is getting D-Link. Plus the one i bought was white in color and will match my motif. What a gay thing to do!I will soon regret it.

I came home. Connected it and within 10 mins had setup my home network. Yippie! Everything thing was working fine. Videos from youtube was streaming properly. Downloaded a file about 17 Mb, which took normal time. Then started browsing. I noticed that it was taking a long time to render the pages. Especially those pages which are heavy on the pics. Like the one on the menus etc. Why was this happening? Tried tweaking the settings. changed channel. nothing worked. This kept tormenting me for a week. Like something inside my brain trying to gnaw the inside of my skull. I couldn’t take it anymore. I tried everything. The only option that was left was….that’s right…a “Firmware Upgrade“. However I had put it off since now a days there are a lot of power cuts happening in my area and if the power goes off while the firmware upgrade is happening, I am in deep deep trouble. But now desperation had set in. I was 2 minutes away from taking a stick and pummeling the damn thing.

So I said my prayers….first time in 6 months. And upgraded it in the middle of the night. Viola! It worked. And everything was back to normal in little world of Sameek. And everybody lived happily ever after.

THE END…Or is it?

May 15th, 2009
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: Sameek . Comments: 2 Comments

Found a great site. The Straight Dope. Its great and addictive. Can’t believe some of the posts.

April 24th, 2009
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: Sameek . Comments: No Comments

I recently realised that I hate the picture “Anand” (the one with Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan). Why Sameek? It was a great picture and  one of the landmark films of India. Well, I don’t care. The hell with stupid “Anand”! Ever since that film, people from all around India cant seem to remember any Bengali’s name! So always call them “BABUMOSHAI”. And it is really pissing me off. I have a name morons! It just goes to show the subtle regional bias that people possess. Ow..U are a bengali?? How can you guyz vote for those Commies? Like I ever did that? Its annoying. Stop it. “Haha! Lets make fun of the Bengali”, “Hey babumoshai! Did you have any rosogollas?” Maa Kaali ki kasam, next time I hear something like that I will kick that person in the nutsack. I won’t take any more crap from you all. So Beat it!!

April 17th, 2009
Categories: Entertainment, Movies, My Thoughts . Author: Sameek . Comments: 1 Comment

I dont think there has ever been a time in the History of Indian cricket that the team played like they are playing now. India was always the underdog and the fan was habituated to being diassappointed. But under Dhoni’s captaincy, this team has added a new dimension. Even though Ganguly , Kumble etc were some some of the greatest to play the game. They lacked a certain quality. They could be intimidated by the opposition. But the players in the new team are FEARLESS. They dont take crap from no-one. I think that is the main reason why the team has reached the level it has today. Now it stands on the brink of a historic series win. The main challenge will be to keep playing like that. Good luck to Sehwag, Gambhir, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Harbhajan, Ishant, Zaheer and the young guns. Make us Proud!!!

Update[ April 7, 2009]: Unfortunately mother nature has played spoilsport and allowed New Zealand to escape humiliation in the 3rd Test. No matter, we still got the series. Congrats Once Again!! This was an excellent Test-series. And New Zealand deserves a lot of credit. The only thing they can do is to schedule a series in such a time when weather doesnt halt play so often. Cheers!

April 6th, 2009
Categories: Cricket, Sports . Author: Sameek . Comments: No Comments

Not much to say. Actually wanted to write a huge blog when the Sri Lanka team was attacked in Lahore.  Somehow got busy with other activities.  What happened on 30th March 2009, was pretty sad. This world is totally screwed up. N we are stuck with the worst neighbour possible. Who came up with that deal?

That is just one aspect. Election is coming. And the true colors of Democracy are being revealed. I think the term “Dirty Politics” has its root in the Democracy of India. May be its time for a Military coup in our country. Just a thought!!

March 31st, 2009
Categories: My Thoughts . Author: Sameek . Comments: No Comments

Mumbai was never more than a city to me. Inspite of all the images on tv, movies and newsprint, the magic of mumbai never penetrated the thick skull of mine. So when i planned to visit mumbai, i was more excited to see my old friends after such a long time.  Little by little i started noticing and hearing a few things about mumbai that got me really excited before I even reached there. Once in Mumbai, the whole weekend passed, before I could contemplate the sheer awesomeness of Mumbai. Being from Kolkata, a very dear place to me, I used to think that Mumbai was special to mumbaikars for the same reason, kolkata was special to me. But the city is and has to be special to every Indian. I wish to return there soon. Mumbai is unforgettable.

Mumbai was excellent but the fact that I was there with the old gang (partially atleast), made one of the best weekends of my life. I am back to work after being awake  all night and travelling back to hyderabad. Fully charged with the memories of the trip. May be a little irritated, buts thats only because i know i wont be having so much fun in a long long time. Cheers Adhi, Debarghya and Utso! Biru and debojit, you were duly missed. We are still here, still strong, still know How to party……..DHD rules.

January 27th, 2009
Categories: My Thoughts . Author: Sameek . Comments: 3 Comments

Even though I knew that Ghajini was a remake of of the Tamil film “Ghajini” which again borrows heavily from the English film Memento, I was expecting a lot from Aamir’s new venture. My verdict……”UTTER DISAPPOINTMENT”. Asin was good. Even though i felt she over-acted a bit, but the comedy was kept me to my seat.. But after the fun part was over, it seemed like a never-ending ordeal. Aamir gave a solid performance but…it was just too damn long.

The English Memento was an awesome film. Needless to say,  the director did a smart job by not following the plot line of the original film. The worst thing was the namesake villain. Total useless. What a lousy way to start the new year! Thanks a lot! Next time aamir’s film comes, I will wait till it comes on tv.

AND not to forget……..

“HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009!!”

May 2009 suck less than 2008!

January 6th, 2009
Categories: Entertainment, Movies . Author: Sameek . Comments: 2 Comments