Mind says 'Bye'...Heart says 'Why'

I was 10 years old when I started loving Cricket. Watching every match, every ball glued to my T.V. set like a fly over a jaggery. I still do the same, but this madness for watching Cricket captured my mind when World Cup 2003 in South Africa was going on. Sachin was winning games over games for India. Every brilliant stroke he hit made me feel like wow! What a player! The upper-cut he invented against the short-fast delivery of Shoaib Akhtar was a shot that no Cricket-fan can forget. His straight drives, cover drives, pedal sweeps, shots over mid-wicket and almost all the boundaries he hit left a deep impression in my mind, so much that I madly shadow-practiced his shots. The only reason to watch an ODI was that Sachin was in the team.
Times came when Sachin got injured, he suffered a tennis-elbow, ankle-injuries and got left out from the squad. I still watched the matches without Sachin in the team but somewhere in my mind thought that "Hey! Sachin isn't playing, why are you forcefully watching the match just for the sake of watching it".
Every time Sachin faced criticism, for not being able to perform, he came back strongly and replied with either a century or an innings of steel. In 2007-08 Commonwealth Bank ODI tri-series against Australia and Sri Lanka in Australia, Sachin was unable to score runs when the group stage was going on. Critics never left him and many a times stated that he should take retirement and that the time is over for him. But India moved to the best of three finals in that series and won both the games as well as the series just because Sachin scored a 117 not out in the first game and a 91 in the other. Sachin's best time of his life started when people said that he should retire. From 2008 to 2011, he played his heart-out. Winning almost all the series at home and battling hard at foreign grounds, India reached top rankings both in ODIs and Tests during this time. No matter his record of 200 not out vs South Africa in Gwalior in an ODI game has been broken by his counterpart Virender Sehwag scoring 219 against West Indies, but cricket fans only remember Sachin's innings of double ton. His 169 at Christchurch vs New Zealand, 175 vs Australia at Nagpur were just amazing innings. I remember the statement Ravi Shastri made during commentary when Sachin ran for that 200th run. He said, "First man on the planet to reach 200 and its the Superman from India...take a bow master!" I was left with goose-bumps!
It was a similar feeling when India won the world cup in 2011 at Sachin's home ground Mumbai and after that winning six of M.S. Dhoni, Sachin came out running like a child, having tear filled eyes and a smile of satisfaction of achieving everything he wanted. When Yuvraj and Harbhajan were hugging him tightly and crying, I cried with them! When all the team members were carrying him on their shoulders and walking around the ground, my hands automatically went up in salutation!
Sachin has built such kind of connection with every Indian over the past two decades that people of all generations love him and adore him. Youth see him as an Icon and some of us even pray him believing him to be our GOD! "Cricket is my religion and Sachin is my GOD" is a popular slogan in our country!
Post World Cup 2011, allegations of Sachin's retirement again started hovering around. But media created another encumbrance of completing his 100th International 100 over Sachin's mind, a mind which already remained filled with expectations of a billion people all the time. Considered the most complete batsman in modern cricket, top of the list in every record table and one who was considered next only to the legendary Sir Don Bradman, Sachin had to wait very long for achieving the biggest milestone that no other batsman may achieve. His 100th ton came against Bangladesh at the time when even his 100s were not winning us matches. Rather a curse hovered around that when Sachin scores a century, India loses that match.
---Yes it was true that his reflexes were getting slow with the age and his strokes did not have that magic. But cursing such a legend in such a way wasn't right. How easily people forgot what all he did in the past for team India.
---Yes it was a li'l mistake on Sachin's part that he must have announced retirement from ODIs right after winning the world cup. But I think he was right in spending some changing-room space with the youngsters and after grooming them finally he has decided to quit the shorter format of the game!
In a party thrown by Mukesh Ambani honouring Sachin when he completed his 100th ton, he said that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have a great future ahead and they'll no sooner firm their places in the Indian team. Rohit Sharma is a great talent but has remained unlucky and low in confidence, being in and out of the team, whereas Virat Kohli has already received the ICC ODI player of the year award and has a great temperament in Test cricket too. In fact Virat's batting is really enjoyable to watch just like batting of Sachin was in his golden days!
Finally December 23rd, 2012 is the day when Tendulkar has announced his retirement from the shorter format putting an end on the era of stroke-making. He made his ODI debut against Pakistan way back in 1989 and interestingly he is quitting the scene just ahead of another series against the arch-rivals. But 'Ye dil maange more' and this 'dil' is not ready to believe that Sachin will not be seen in that Blue India uniform again. It is asking from Sachin that why didn't you play your last series against Pakistan. It is strange because we hoped that he must have taken retirement when his golden period was going on and now when he has announced it, we are not ready to accept it.
The following are his parting words:-
"I have decided to retire from the One-Day format of the game. I feel blessed to have fulfilled the dream of being part of a World Cup wining Indian team. The preparatory process to defend the World Cup in 2015 should begin early and in right earnest. I would like to wish the team all the very best for the future. I am eternally grateful to all my well wishers for their unconditional support and love over the years."
Sachin, finally dismissed on 18426 runs after 463 games, 49 centuries, 96 half-centuries, most Man of the Match awards and most Man of the Series awards!
We love you Sachin! You'll always be remembered whenever the Men in Blue make their way on the field. 
=P

"Ulta Seedha Ek Samaan"

17- 5- 2005

bl ys[k dk uke lqurs gh ;k i<+rs gh vkids fnekx esa ;g ckr vk;sxh fd ;g ys[k dqN eT+ksnkj&lk yxrk gSA dqN yksx lksPksaxs fd ;g Hkh dksà uke gS vkSj ckdh cPks yksx 'kk;n ;g lksPk ysa fd bl ys[k esa lc dqN mYVk&iqYVk gSA cl&cl cgqr lksPk fy;k] vc i<+ks rks lghA

gk¡ rks ckr gks jgh Fkh mYVs&lh/ks dh rks Pkyks eSa vkidks ,d fdLlk lqukrk gw¡A v¡/ksj&uxjh] PkkSiV&jktk] Vds lsj Hkkth] Vds lsj [kktk] bu lc dh mYVh&lh/kh dgkuh rks vkius lquh gksxh ij esjs lkFk dqN ,slk mYVk&lh/kk gqvk fd tc vki tkusaxs rks vki Hkh mYVs&lh/ks gks tk;saxsA

eSa Pkyk x;k Fkk ,d ,sls lEesyu esa tgk¡ iwNh tk jgh Fkh mYVh&lh/kh igsfy;k¡A igyh igsyh Fkh ;g& ^rhu v{kj dk esjk uke] mYVk&lh/kk ,d leku] vkrk gw¡ vkjke ds dke] tks mÙkj crk;s mls lkS #i;s buke^A dqN nsj rks eSa lksPk es iM+ x;kA Hkà ! vkjke ds dke rks fcLrj vkrk gS fQj ;g nwljh vuks[kh PkhT+k dkSulh vk x;h\ dqN nsj ckn lEesyu esa cSBk ,d O;fDr >V cksy iM+k] *r[kr*A ;g rks eSus lksPkk gh ugha FkkA igyk buke rks oks ys x;kA nwljh igsyh Fkh ;g& *nks v{kj dk esjk uke] /kkj.k djus ds vkrk gw¡ dke] mYVk vxj gks tkÅ¡ rks vFkZ gks tkrk gS *;k«kh* vkSj lh/kk tc gks tkrk gw¡ rks vki gh crk nsa esjk uke HkÃ* A lc&ds&lc lksPkrs jg x;sA vkf[kj D;k vkrk gS /kkj.k djus ds dke\ rHkh ,d vkSjr mÙkj cksyh] ^^ghjk**A  

bl mYVs&lh/ks lEesyu dh otg ls eSaus vius fnekx dks dà ckj mYVk&lh/kk fd;kA ij cl] vkSj mYVk&lh/kk gksuk cnkZ'r ds ckgj FkkA ysfdu eq>s D;k irk Fkk fd vHkh vkSj mYVk&lh/kk gksuk iM+sxkA xehZ dh Nqfê;k¡ 'kq: gks x;h Fkh vkSj eEeh esjh nsj ls mBus dh vknr ls ijs'kku FkhaA ,d fnu eEeh vkSj eSa lkFk cSB ds Vh-oh- ns[k jgs Fks vkSj eSa gkFk esa fjeksV fy;s PkSuy cnyrk tk jgk FkkA cl ^vkLFkk PkSuy* vkus dh nsj Fkh fd eEeh >V cksy iM+ha] ^^#d ;gh Pkyus ns] ns[k *ckck jkenso* dSls ;ksx fl[kk jgs gSaA** eEeh dh ckrksa ls eSa le> x;k Fkk fd oks vkxs D;k dgsaxh A mUgsa ;g dgrs rfud Hkh nsj u yxh] ^^csVk] rw jksT+k lqcg nsj ls mBrk gS] blls cf<+;k rks tYnh mB dj ;ksx fd;k djA** cl fQj D;k] jksT+k eq>s tYnh mBk dj cSB tkrha ;ksxk djusA bu ;ksxkluksa ds PkDdj esa eSa bruh ckj mYVk&lh/kk gqvk fd dej VwV ds gh jghA dHkh *Hkqtaxklu*] rks dHkh *PkØklu*A m¶Q! eEeh Hkh eq>s mYVk&lh/kk djokus ij rqyh gqà Fkha vkSj lqcg&lqcg eSa Hkh uhanksa esa tkus D;k&D;k dj tkrk FkkA igyh ckj yxk fd Ldwy [kqyus ls dqN rks vPNk gksxk] de&ls&de ;ksx rks ugha djus iM+saxsA ij esjh [kqf'k;k¡ xe esa cny x;ha tc irk yxk fd Ldwy ds Vkbe&Vscy esa ^;ksxk DykflT+k* Hkh tqM+ x;h gSaA Hkxoku eq>s u tkus dkSuls tUe ds ikiksa dh lT+kk ns jgs FksA

vc rks ckr flj ds Åij tk Pkqdh Fkh vkSj bruh fd eSa gh NksVk iM+ x;kA eSa rc vkSj mYVk&lh/kk gks x;k tc ijh{kk,¡ vkÃA brus lkjs fo"k;&fgUnh] vaxzsT+kh] xf.kr] foKku] lkekftd Kku] lkekU; Kku vkSj Hkh uk tkus fdrus çdkj ds mYVs&lh/ks KkuA ;g lc ijh{kk,¡ eSus tSls&rSls mYVs&lh/ks mÙkj nsdj fuiVk;haA vk;k ifj.kke dk fnu rks eSus cgqr ckj mYVs&lh/ks gksdj Hkxoku ls çkFkZuk dh] fd gs Hkxoku! vPNs uEcj vk tk;sa rks eSa vkids njckj esa cgqr lkjh mYVh&lh/kh PkhT+ksa Pk<+kÅ¡A eSa cgqr [kq'k gqvk tc vPNk ifj.kke vk;kA

Pkfy;s viuh ckr ys Pkysa nwljs eksM+ ijA Ã'oj dh vuks[kh mYVh&lh/kh jPkuk;sa gSa] ftuesa ls ,d gSa] ^fdéj^A vki lksPk jgs gksaxs fd eq>s vPkkud ;s dgk¡ ls ;kn vk x;s\ Hkà D;k djsa] ijh{kk;sa ns dj fnekx mYVk&lh/kk tks gks x;kA gk¡] rks vxj ge budh fT+kUnxh ij xkSj djsa rks ik;saxs fd ;s fdrus mYVs&lh/ks gksrs gSaA

[kSj] bUgsa NksfM+;s vkSj rkT+kk [kcj idfM+;s] tksfd gS lRlax] lk/kuk ,oa çoPku lqukus okys *Jh Jh 1008 lV~VkPkk;Z egkjktksa* dhA ;g yksx gksrs dqN vkSj gSa rFkk fn[kkrs dqN vkSj gSa] ;kfu *gkFkh ds nk¡r&[kkus ds vyx vkSj fn[kkus ds vyx*A th gk¡] vxj vki esa ls dksà buesa J)k j[krk gS rks eSa mUgs crk nw¡ fd bu egkjktksa dk [kqyklk gks x;k gSA bu yksxksa dk dke] /ku&nkSyr ds fy;s turk dks csodwQ cukuk gh gSA *fdjhV egkjkt*] *daØhV egkjkt* vkSj Hkh uk tkus fdrus çdkj ds mYVs&lh/ks egkjkt gSa tks /kks[kk&/kM+h djrs jgs ij fdlh fnu rks idM+ esa vkus gh FksA vHkh Hkh ,sls dà yksx gSa ftuds xys ls ;g ckr mrjrh ugha gS vkSj bu egkjktksa ds fy;s os eq[k ls Qwy >jrs gSaA ugha le>rs fd ;g flQZ eksg&ek;k gSA bl *eksg&ek;k* ds tky ls vxj fudyds ns[ksaxs rks ik;saxs fd mYVh&lh/kh PkhT+kksa dh bruh yEch fyLV gS fd esjs bl ys[k dk *lhDosy* rd fudy tk;sA ijUrq vki ijs'kku gks dj mYVs&lh/ks uk gksa] blfy;s vkf[kj esa eSa cl bruk gh dgw¡xk fd] **cSBs&cSBs D;k djsa] djuk gks dqN dke] rks 'kq: djks i<+uk esjk ;g ys[k] ftldk uke gS] mYVk&lh/kk ,d lekuA

Some of my Movie Reviews

Talaash :- 

When a suspense movie keeps you engaging and interested even when you know what is the suspense (courtesy some first day first show movie goers who told me the suspense before I could watch it), toh movie toh achhi honi hi hai..! Aamir once again with his perfectionism steals the show.. well supported by Rani and Kareena! Aamir ne apni last movies se itne high standards set kar diye hain ki 20 ka 19 bhi ho jata hai toh u feel bad..! But if you believe in supernatural powers and elements then you'll love the movie!
Nice camerawork and great sound effects just add to the movie's uniqueness and leave you with goosebumps at times! Go for it!

BARFI :-
A very unorthodox movie, keeping in mind the kind of movies made these days, with no item number, no powerful dialogues, no action sequences, nothing!! The director (Anurag Basu) tried well to blend it for both youngsters and aged people by relishing it on some beautiful performances from everyone (Ranbir, Priyanka, Ileana & Saurabh Shukla), some Mr.Bean kinda comic sequences, nice camera work around Darjeeling and Kolkata, the concept of being happy in every circumstance and not to forget the heart-touching music! The only con of the movie is that it lags for 15 minutes post-interval which might not affect our parents if they go to watch it, but it affects the people of my age!

After a long time I saw families coming together in a theater, with children (but I hate "small kids" in the theater). Its reviews are already blooming in the newspapers and sites. Do not miss this one! 3.5 Stars.

Kahaani :-
Bollywood is fast changing and keeps on experimenting. 'Kahaani' of 'Kahaani' reveals as a one-woman narrative, and Vidya Balan once again proves that she can carry a film, even with no other popular star. Vidya Bagchi arrives from London to Kolkata in search of her missing husband Arnab Bagchi. The emphasis here is on the story- who is Arnab Bagchi? Does he exist or not?

A woman, who is going to be a mother, finds her husband missing at this crucial stage and she then arrives in the city and starts searching for him among the crowds and witnesses the troublesome life experiences- bringing this concept through a movie simply deserves claps.
Other than this, the city life of Kolkata has been captured very minutely. Editing and Screenplay are really effective. Background music keeps you on the edge. But the question arises- What was Sujoy Ghosh(Director) doing when he made movies like 'Alladin' and 'Jhankar Beats'?
Don't miss this one!!

 

 

Don 2 :-
For the first time in my life I went for watching a movie all-alone, but soon realised that I did not need any partner because the tight screenplay and editing did not let me turn my neck.
Its no more 'arm-stretching' stuff for SRK..he raises his arms only for pulling out the gun and shooting all his 'Dabangg' and 'Wanted' enemies. Believe me u'll forget the 'Desi' action movies. Farhan Akhtar and SRK have taken Indian cinema many steps further..!!
People..go for it.

 

 

Rockstar :-

They liked each other's company so much that Jordan without Heer gets frustrated and Heer loses blood platelets. But when together, Heer cooled him down and Jordan made her feel better!! So it was a love story with a music-lover youth's dream to become a star..but he finds that not popularity but love and peaceful life was what all he wanted which he got from Heer and from his music!!
Its an eye-opener for all those youths who run for popularity and luxurious life..instead its the peace of mind what is needed..!!
Rahman take a bow!! Ranbeer..hats-off!! and Imtiaz Ali u're a new-era movie maker man!! Iss movie ka 'Haq' hai not less than 4 Stars!!

 

 

 

 

A report on the Jaipur Literature Festival-2012

February 1, 2012: The Jaipur Literature Festival-2012, the most prestigious celebration of national and international literature where top writers and authors from across the world gather to share ideas and thoughts started on Friday 20^th January, 2012.

With almost 250 speakers addressing more than 1Lakh people over five days, the festival has grown exceptionally over the past few years. Enthusiastic readers, beginners and bloggers also assemble in 'Diggi Palace'  during the 5-day event annually held in January. The concern to preserve classical literature and to make it popular through translations is gradually occupying centre-stage at the 6^th J.L.F.

Much hype was already created by media about Salman Rushdie (author of 'The Satanic Verses') not attending the fest because of threats to his life, which resulted in presence of a huge crowd at the venue.

Day-1 (20^th Jan.)

Some of the great names in literature, theatre, films and journalism were present at the Diggi Palace on the first day itself. From the ambience to the food, music and entertainment, everything was larger than life which saw people from all walks of life. While Salman Rushdie's absence was a disappointment for the guests, the presence of many readers, critics, socialites, students, entrepreneurs and activists increased the spirit of the fest. Also, it was decided that Rushdie's session will be held through a video link at some time of the fest.

The guests of honour on the first day included Gurcharan Das, Amitava Kumar, Pavan Verma, Gulzar, Ashok Chakradhar, Shoma Chaudhary, Kapil Sibal, Tarun Tejpal, Deepti Nawal, Girish Karnad, Michael Ondaatje and many others.

Around 25 sessions were scheduled on the first day at 5 halls namely, 'Durbar Hall', 'Mughal Tent', 'Baithak', 'Front Lawns' and 'Samvaad' all inside the Diggi Palace.

While a session named 'Do Deewane sheher mein' under Gulzar (famous Academy Award winning poet and writer) and Pavan Verma was the main attraction on the day which gathered the maximum crowd, 'Khili Battisi' under Ashok Chakradhar (popular poet) also managed to pull out people in large numbers. Both these sessions were majorly based on popular and classical poetry. 

Talk of the day

'The Truth of Politics' under Kapil Sibal (Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Govt. of India) in the evening was the talk of the day as a listener among the audience stood and got up on the stage speaking words against the corrupt system in India. He was then forced by the organizers to step down and sit on his place. 

Day-2 (21^st Jan.)

Along with literary deans, thousands of young readers were spotted on second day of the fest. The day offered sessions on debates and dialogues over a range of issues like 'Creativity, Censorship and Dissent', 'After Bin Laden', 'Chutneyfication of English', 'The Better Angels of our Nature' and many other topics. But the session which saw the presence of M.J. Akbar (Editorial Director of India Today) and Aruna Roy (social activist), named 'Gandhi, Ambedkar and the Crossroads at Jantar Mantar' was the one acclaimed by all the listeners

Talk of the day

The session under Chetan Bhagat (popular young novelist), 'In search of a Story' was the one which managed to pull together large numbers filling the Mughal Tent. The mere presence of Chetan Bhagat drew youngsters towards the venue.

The first weekend day at the Jaipur Literature Festival tended to be the busiest Saturday as massive crowd gathered and in spite of extensive preparations made to accommodate them, the Diggi Palace seemed to look a small place. The day ended with fabulous performances at the Music Stage by Sabri Brothers, Papon and Shruti Pathak presented by 'Coke Studio' (popular music show on MTV) at night.

Day-3 (22^nd Jan.)

As it was a Sunday, the passage to the Diggi Palace looked unwelcoming, with heavily armed policemen flocking every few yards and a stretched line of school children waiting for admittance. The large cluster of hundreds of people, at the gate, needed half as policemen to bar their access inside the venue.

This cluster of people was because of Oprah Winfrey (American Media Proprietor and Talk Show Host) who had come to India and to Jaipur to attend the fest. She had a session named 'Oprah in Jaipur' with Barkha Dutt (Anchor, NDTV 24x7) at 11 a.m. Oprah's fans galore at Diggi palace with posters and autograph books to have a glance of their favourite anchor and cheered for her during the session.

Other than this, the day had sessions like 'Raavi Paar' under Gulzar and Mohd. Hanif, and 'On Pakistan' under Fatima Bhutto and Karan Thapar which discussed issues and literature of Punjab and Pakistan. 'Journalism as Literature' was the session looked forward by media personalities and students.

There were various book launches also during the day. The book named 'The Best thing about you is…YOU!!' by Anupam Kher (popular actor and writer) was launched by Shashi Tharoor (Member of Indian Parliament). As soon as Anupam Kher arrived, the fans jumped over him for a photograph and an autograph. People also witnessed the launch of a book named 'Treasures of the Indian Kitchen' by Leena Prakash which was done by Chetan Bhagat.

Talk of the day

A very interesting session 'Survival Strategies in the Time of Twitter' under Shashi Tharoor, Chetan Bhagat and Suhel Seth (actor and blogger) was a fascinating one and gave a chance to the visitors and listeners to interact with these popular personalities over social networking media, its do's and don’ts and whether it should be banned or not, thus making this day of the fest a huge success.

Day-4 (23^rd Jan.)

Talk of the day

Yes, the second last day started with a session which fulfilled all the requisites to become the 'talk of the day'. A session of National and International Award winning authors and writers like Javed Akhtar and Prasoon Joshi with Vishal Bharadwaj (Film-maker and Musician) and Gulzar was called 'Kahani kisko kehte hain' and discussed the aspects and importance of story, script and screenplay needed to make a film or build a write-up.

Javed Akhtar poured upon the listeners the most touching poems and fables through his fabulous way of telling. Akhtar's second book named 'Lava: The drama of words' was launched there upon by Gulzar sahab.

Another nice session on the topic 'Saahitya, Samaj, Samay: Hindi ki Kadamtaal' under Om Thanvi (writer) and Prasoon Joshi was worth listening as it discussed the evolving forms of Hindi language.

Many sessions of international authors like Richard Flanagan, Michael Kruger, Ben Okri, Annie Proulx, Lalla Ward on the topics including 'The Afropolitans', 'The Magic of Reality', 'Adaptations' and many more were visited by a number of foreigners who had come across the globe to hear their favourite writers and give a treat to their ears.

To keep Rajasthani cinema, culture and language alive a session named 'Rajasthan in Cinema: Beyond Locations' under Ila Arun (popular actor and singer) and Govind Nihalani (film-maker) was kept to attract the listeners from Rajasthan as well.

Day-5 (24th Jan.)

The last day, but not the least in terms of topics, started with an equal crowd like the previous four days. Creative Director of the Festival and acclaimed writer, William Dalrymple attended the fest with the session named 'Return of the King' and yes, it was a return of a king in William's form!

Another session 'Hunkaare baat aachhi laage' was held at 'Baithak' under famous litterateurs like Lata Sharma, Om Prakash Bhatia and Shyam Jangid. A book called 'Jaipur Quilts' by Krystyna Hellstrom was launched by Mrs. Beena Kaak (Minister of Woman & Child Development, Tourism, Art & Culture, Rajasthan). So these sessions affirmed the spot of Rajasthani culture amongst various forms of literature. 'Raajneeti: The Craft of Politics' under Praksh Jha (film-maker) and Rahul Bose (actor and social activist), which discussed in brief the political system of our country and what we can do for its betterment was also a subject which listeners liked.

Talk of the day

The talk of the day was the issue on Salman Rushdie's video-link session which had to be cancelled because some people who were protesting against Rushdie were sent in the audience to disrupt the proceedings. On it, Sanjoy Roy, the Chief Organiser of JLF said, "This is unfortunate even when the video link was not on the controversial book 'Satanic Verses' but on a book called 'Children's Dreams'. Yet, cancellation was necessary to avoid violence." Sanjoy almost broke down while speaking this.

Conclusion

At the end of the festival, Sanjoy Roy concluded, "We thank all the authors and various national and international writers who with their presence raised the bar of the fest. And this could not be possible without the audience who turned up in large numbers, so thank you all. We'll come up next year as well, bigger and better. Thank you!"

It was a great show indeed. Its merits being the tight security system this time around, this did not allow, even some of the celebrities to enter without a check.  But everything which has merits also contains some demerits.

And the facts which can't be changed about this JLF were as follows:-

1. It was unfortunate that Salman Rushdie was unable to attend the fest both physically and virtually. The sufferer was the lit fest and the gainer was the appeasing government. The glory of Islam couldn't be dented if a man had written a book.
2. The Diggi Palace is an emblem of heritage of Jaipur and JLF is organised here every year. But this time because of the massive crowd, the place appeared very small and we could hear the foreign visitors cursing the population of India.  
3. What if smoking in public has been declared illegal? Smoking was not prohibited here at the JLF and we could find more women smoking openly, than men.
4. The way between the Front Lawns and the other venues took an average of 15 minutes to clear due to huge gatherings, which delayed some of the sessions.
5. The lines for the toilets engendered dissatisfaction of a full bladder among people.
6. The arrangements of drinking water were not satisfactory.

 But whatever the issues may be, the 6^th Jaipur Literature Festival was the most successful of the previous JLFs and it continued to mix authors, celebrities, politicians, film stars and general public as equals. It will not be exaggerated to give it the title of 'India's Literary Cannes Festival' or 'Saahitya ka Kumbh Mela'.

'Apple of our eyes' - Steve Jobs

October 9, 2011, dedicated to Steve Jobs: The person who had 10 brains died on 'Dusshehra', wait I am talking about Steve Jobs. The day of Dusshehra came with sad news of demise of Steve Jobs. The reason I say '10 brains for Steve Jobs' is that only a man having 10 brains could do the 'job' what Steve Jobs did.

Full name of Steve Jobs was Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955–October 5, 2011). He was an American computer entrepreneur and inventor. He was co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc., the organization which pushed the human race forward. It is said that there are 3 apples that changed the world, first that was eaten by Adam and Eve, second that fell on Newton and gave us the law of gravity, and the third that Steve built.

How the name 'apple' was given to Apple Inc.:

In the late 1970s, Jobs, with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and Mike Markula wanted to start a computer company and they needed a name to register it. According to Wozniak, both he and Steve were driving along a Highway when Steve Jobs came up with a name “Apple Computers”. Steve Jobs was involved with a group of his friends in running a community type of farm in Oregon (US). He was doing this part time, while working in the Bay Area of San Francisco. Wozniak thought he might have got this name idea either from the farm or because of his music tastes, Apple Records, which was quite popular with Beatles. Both Wozniak and Jobs tried other alternate names such as 'Executex' and 'Matrix Electronics', but they didn’t like it as much as 'Apple Computers'. And the name was born. Later the company was changed to 'Apple' and dropped the 'Computers' part, after they successfully diversified into iPods and iPhones.

The name of the Apple Company was nothing fancy or glamorous; it was just named after an apple fruit. But at least it was not a typo error like in 'Google', which had its original name as 'Googol' and a student mistook the name and spelled it wrong during registration.

How Jobs left and came back in Apple:

In the early 1980s, Jobs was among the first to see the commercial potential of Xerox PARC's (PALO ALTO REASEARCH CENTER) mouse-driven graphical user interface, which led to the creation of the Macintosh operating system. After losing a power struggle with the board of directors in 1985, Jobs resigned from Apple and founded 'NEXT', a computer platform development company specializing in the higher-education and business markets. Apple's subsequent 1996 buyout of 'NEXT' brought Jobs back to the company he co-founded, and he served as its CEO from 1997 until 2011.

Today's world:

From the first Apple Computer to iPod to iPhone to iPad, it was his ideas that made people download an 'app'(application) before starting a work. We all have heard the phrase- 'he came, he saw and he conquered'. But in Steve's case this phrase has got new dimensions. It goes like this- 'iCame, iSaw, iConquered, iMac, iPod, iTunes, iStore, iPhone, iOS, iPad, iCloud, iDeath, iSad, iShock and iRestInPeace'.

It is also an interesting fact that the year in which Albert Einstein died, 1955; Steve Jobs was born, almost as if he continued the legacy of innovation.

He died because of a Pancreatic Cancer at an early age of 56 but during his short span of life he taught us what an 'i' could do. I can only say thanks to him for making us live in an era of 'i' and I am sure he has downloaded an 'app' to read it from where he is!!