Congrats Medini!

It feels good when a close friend makes it to the big stage. I am speaking about MEDINI MANGALA, one of my friends from CLINIC ALL CLEAR DREAM JOB -2. After her rather unceremonious ouster under reality show madness, during the quiz round on the show, she has made it big by joining Cricinfo. She hosts this show called Cricinfo Talk where she chats with former players after the end of the day's play. I knew how bad she felt, after being ousted out, as she was someone who came to DREAM JOB with that passion to speak cricket. After hearing her on Cricinfo Talk, it feels really good to see a fellow compatriot doing well.

Cricketing Memories

12 Years back as a student in Class 8, I was watching this match on New Years Day. Incidentally that was the time when ESPN came into the Indian Sports Televesion Market(95/96) and started giving Prime Sports a run for its money(Star Sports was called Prime Sports then).

Those days were the days before pinch hitting became assosiated with most teams. Pinch hitting was seen only as a strategy tool in key matches like world cups before it became the norm. Pinch hitting was brought into focus by Greatbatch for NZ in the 92 WC, after India adopted it i 94 with Sachin, and then in 96 when Jayasuriya and Kalu took the world by storm( They started in 95, but became famous only in the 96 WC).

Anyways...Happy new year to readers of this Blog, and enjoy the match in the youtube link. Its hard to believe that its more than a decade since this match happened. I am getting old :-)

Dream Job Blues!

I thought I was done and dusted with Cinic All Clear Dream job 07, after that fateful day when Mandira Bedi voted me out, and I walked out thinking I must have been terrible. I happened to watch my episode on TV last month, and thought I wasnt that bad. After seeing that epsisode, and a number of mails from friends who saw that episode, I start feeling really bad, for not making to the final 4 of Dream Job.There are no prizes for finishing 7th and thinking back this really could have been an ideal job, to give wings to my life, but I guess, Cricket and dream Job would have to wait for another year hopefully if Dream Job VER 3.0 comes out.

I have the video on my laptop, and daily play the video, to rewind back to the feelings that day when I stammered, and a stupid edit from the tech team, which hastened Mandira Bedi to say that I was under prepared. If possible, I will attach the videos, that have been stored in my friend's mobile. The final 4 at Dream job had an awesome time in Australia, and I wish them the best of luck, as the voting phase concludes on Jan 2nd. One positive that Dream job has done to me is to introduce me to the 17 best cricket/sports telecasters in the country and also make me believe that each positive step in life is just a "confidence-feel-good-minute" away.

Till then, I would have to drown myself in Placement season at Great Lakes, which seems to be the flavour of the month come the new year!

You can see some of the videos at my youtube profile or this aggregated link

Finally ESPN Responds!

I used to regularly Google " Clinic All Clear Dream Job" and find the same old link on ESPN. Now they seemed to have changed and updated it. Time for showing off.... :-)

Go click this link and read about my journey at CLINIC ESPN DREAM JOB 2007, as ESPN says it

Mandira Bedi on the Star Cricket"Dream Job!"

Cricket and Bollywood are two prime passions for most Indians. Mandira Bedi is one lucky girl, who got to live both. For six years, this actress anchored Sony's pre-match cricket show, Extraaa Innings. While she infuriated the connoisseurs, she succeeded in attracting the female audience to cricket.

Now, Mandira will continue her tryst with cricket as a judge on ESPN-Star's reality show Dream Job, a talent hunt for Sports presenters.

Mandira speaks on her Dream Job, Cricket and more in an exclusive chat with Mayur Lookhar.


You're one of the jury members of ESPN-Star's Dream Job. How has the experience been?

We've just auditioned for three weeks. We've covered Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. In the coming days, we'll be going to Kolkata. So far, it's been a great experience. What has really caught my eyes is that in these three weeks, we've had at least ten women contestants in each city.
Do you take the credit for inspiring these women to be part of cricket?

I deserve no credit. It's their love and passion for the game that has brought them here. I was pretty impressed by one housewife, who came dressed as one. We didn't expect much from her but to our surprise she impressed all.

What is it that you are looking in a contestant?

Spontaneity and confidence. You get just 30 seconds to prove yourself. Thus, it's in those thirty seconds that you can either get nervous and throw your chances or make the most of it. Within this period, you should be able to think on your feet.
Any particular contestant that caught your eye?

There was one 23-year-old guy from Mumbai. Tough to recollect his name. He's progressed to the next round. He did a real good job. He also entertained by imitating Ravi Shastri and Harsha Bhogale. I expect him to go all the way. There was also a 61-year-old preacher who did well.

For over five years, you were associated with Sony. Were you surprised when ESPN approached you?
My contract with Sony was till the World Cup. And, with the channel not showing any cricket in the near future, I thought my association with cricket was over. To my surprise, ESPN buzzed me and briefed about the offer. In the given circumstances, this was the only thing that would have connected me with the game
In the past, certain ESPN-Star guys were critical of your work on Extraaa Innings. Now you're working with these men. Your say on that.
I'm fine with it. You can't please everyone. However, I'm glad that I've been able to change their mind. If earlier they criticised me, they praise my work now.
You must have met the commentary team of ESPN-Star. What's your take on them?
Actually, I haven't but I'm quite impressed with their set-up. The likes of Gavaskar, Shastri, Wilkins are all pioneers in cricket commentary. Ian Chappell has filled the void left by Geoffrey Boycott.
What about Wasim Akram?
I'm looking forward to meeting him . He'll join us (Dream Job ) from October.
Who should be the Indian coach?Presently, we are doing well without one. However, if a coach is to be selected, then it has to be a foreigner. (Although the Graham Ford episode is fresh in our minds) I felt that Dav Whatmore would have been a good choice but he failed to make the cut.

The veteran Indian cricketers will soon kiss the game goodbye. Do you think that we have the bench strength to replace these guys?
That's our main concern now. No doubt, these men will be hard to replace. I guess, the Twenty20 World Cup will really show us how good our younger players are.

What's your take on women's cricket in India?

The merger with BCCI has indeed yielded financial benefits but women's cricket is still not popular with the masses. Sadly, cricket is still a male-dominated sport. On my part, I always make it a point to visit one of their matches.

You have been replaced by Mona Singh on Extraa shots. Does that upset you?

Extraa Shots went off air two years ago and I only did it for eight months. I don't think I've been replaced by Mona. I've worked with them for over five years and as such share a great relationship with them. It was wonderful experience for me. There was no break-up of ties; we parted ways in an amicable manner.

Did your decision to join Dream Job result in this partition?
The moment I received an offer from ESPN, I called Sony and briefed them about it. They were pretty cool with it. My contract with them was over and since they didn't have any cricket to show, I was given the leeway to do Dream Job.
Finally, is your association with ESPN-Star limited to Dream Job itself?
Yes.
What's next for you then?
Well, I hope I continue my association with ESPN-Star post Dream Job as I want to stick to cricket.

Courtesey: www.tellychakkar.com

I stil havent heard from ESPN regarding the next stage results. But after some googling and a few adverts on Television, I see that Star Cricket is all set to air the Dream Job Auditions from the 20th of September, every Thursday. Another advert said that 21st Sep, 8 pm would also be the time. I need to probably download the schedules from the site and then confirm.

Mandira's career seems to have panned out very well, from the shy blushing girl of DDLJ, to the confident woman of SHANTI the mid 90's soap on DD, to hosing reality shows.I personally liked her wicked role in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kaabhi Bahu Thi, where she plays a possesed lover,even after knowing that the relationship may not be given a formal name. That possesed love approach to love and life, couldnt have been better exemplified by Mani Ratnam, when he casted Shahrukh in the lead.

There are times when one waits like a 4 year old kid, eyes always on the postbox..and the times are no different now. I dont wait at the postbox, but every call and email that comes, there is a pregnant silence, whether this could be the "dream job selection mail". I remember waiting like that, to get my first 2 job offers when a few HR's decided to take their own time to send me the appointment order in 2004.I ultimately rejected Polaris and ended taking up Infy, but the experience of waiting for the both the appointment letter was a long wait.

Dream Job.... ....I Am still Waiting.. (as the song would say!)

Greek, Latin and a Million Dreams!

There are times, when you put a lot of enthusiasm into a project or a case study, but things dont always have to work out in your favour. I seem to be having quite a lot of problems deciphering questions on tests. You feel deflated when some of the questions seem greek and latin, and you realise that the whole night went by without any use, even though one has put so much effort for tests. A few more tests like this and it could be like driving a bike through a road of rusted nails always. 3 terms over and I have just stepped into term 4.


The Past week went off so quickly. After a Bangalored Weekend on September 1st,which was eventful for the following reasons- ESPN STAR CRICKET DREAM JOB, BANGALORE AUDITIONS, DAY 2

7 am: I get up at Prasanna's house.

7 20 am: All set to leave Malleshwaram, and I have no cash, and Prasanna fills my purse with 2 hundered rupee notes.

7 21 am: I get an Auto and ask it to go directly to St John's Auditorium, which takes a lovely fresh morning ride and at the stroke of 8 I am at the place with a suitcase and a laptop bag

8 01 am: Tempted to taste the Bangalore Sambhar, as I was feeling hungry.

8 20 am. The ESPN team asks me to wait outside the gate and the folks who have come with all dreams and ambitions (me too!) feel neglected


Mera Number Kab Ayega?


Waiting till Eternity... for the Gates to open

9 20 am: We are still waiting near the Gate while the walk in starts, and to pass time, I see the ESPN anchors interviewing some candidates from yesterday's selected list. Giving an Interview is a Mallu B school Professor, and a Die Hard cricket grandad from Tiruchi


Thats the Mallu B School Prof being Interviewed



Nothing More looked surreal than Shaan's song

Ankhon mein Sapne Liye

Ghar Se Ham Chaal to Diye

Jaane Ye Raahen Ab Le Jayegi Kahan

Mitti ki Khushbu Aye

Palkon mein Asoon Laye

Palkon pein Rah Jayega Yadon ki Jahaan

Manzil Nayi hain, Anjaana Hain Karvan

Tanha Dil, Tanha Safar,

Dhoonde Tujhe, Phir Kyun Nazar


Tanha Dil, Tanha Safar

9 30 am: I get entertained when a presenter decides to do "bytes" with me. I might come on ESPN when they telecast the Dream Job, Bangalore Auditions

10 am: Finally, I get to go inside St. Johns College...but have just moved 5 mts from the gate, and thats when Gaurav, the former Channel [V] Vj spots me with my luggage and asks me a few questions on the journey so far. 2 Interviews in 30 minutes, not bad.... celebritydom calling heh!!

10 30 am: Allowed to park my rather tired legs inside the auditorium, but since they have focus lights all over the place, the room is like a cinder. They keep playing cricket and footbal clips in repeated mode for folks to practise, before their turn comes.


11 am: The first 2 contestants are through, while the next 10 are not. Getting insider info from candidates that judges are tough and award a green card only if a majority like the tone and confidence of the commentary. The judging panel is Mandira Bedi, Steve of ESPN Sportscenter International and Sheryl, a producer of ESPN Sportscenter.


12 pm: Hunger Strikes

1 pm: Nature's call, stomach stops rumbling

2 pm: Frustrated, create a scene with the officials about delayed time. They seem to get things done faster, but nothing really improves.

3 pm: All I want is a glimpse of Mandira Bedi, thats enough for me to say "take-aways from the Babe-a-lore trip"

3 46 pm: Kartik Kannan, where are You.... My Name is on every one's lips, as my turn comes next, and I snake through quietly to backstage as the producers of the show seem tense and nervous and pass on instructions to me, to stand at a point, and hold the mike at an angle. This instruction is repeated 10 times and at 3 55 pm, Folks.... Kartik Kannan is greeted with a genial smile from Mandira Bedi...and once Mandira smiles at you, with her V Cut dress, I start to melt..

A few questions on Blogging( Thankfully, I do this in every interview to confuse the interviewer and make them ask questions on that, the old ruse still works!!) and podcasting and the commentary bit of 30 seconds gets completed in 20 seconds as they seem to be pretty much ok with my voice and modulation. I get the coveted " GREEN CARD"


3 59 pm: VJ Gaurav meets me outside the hall for what would be my third interview


4 15 pm: The camera crew and anchors want to do a profile shoot with me, and I am encouraged to go on boasting till one of the studio lights goes Kaput. 4 interviews, no food, and NOT A bloated ego....thats a Cricket Fan for you....


5 15 pm, After scores of re takes, I give up and excuse myself for what would be my first morsel of food in quite a few hours...a samosa outside Koramangala BDA.


6: 00 pm: I take another auto heading to Bangalore Majestic, where I meet up with my friend Prasanna, and we rewind to our engineering college days, and as usual we have our dinner at "Hare Rama Hare Krishna", our favourite meeting place right next to the Railway Station Booking Office



Conversations around Dinner end up like this when the bill takes a little long to come.



I boarded a bus to Chennai and arrived on Sunday, the 2nd and quickly went home for a bath and was ready to go to ICFAI Business school, where I was invited as the guest faculty for taking a 90 minute session on E-Commerce and E business in the afternoon. The session went off very well, with no body sleeping in my session. That was a benchmark I generally observe. If folks sleep during a lecture, it might mean that the person delivering the lecture is not really making an eddort to connect with the audience. The only occaisson I remember people dozing and waiting to get out was a Lecture I delivered in early 2006, at the Rotary Club in Boat Club Road, on Corporate Blogging, where a bunch of 50 plus men, were all set for the booze booty that was awaiting them.


Soon after the lecture and a few accolades, I went home and slept like a log.The Week started with the usual hectic lecture and in this melee of ESPN Dream Job, I missed a Chinese test at college and I have to get another date to take the test.

2 Tests scheduled last week,MANAC 2 and FIN MAN2 and both have been moderately bad, and today's Marketing reasearch paper took the cake as it was a statistics paper in disguise that was waiting to a heap a rude massacre on most of the students. You feel like a worn out and overused socks at the end of such question papers, but today was different, as one glance at the paper revealed, It was instant death.


The Paper said it was 70 minutes long ....and here I was feeling for the first time that we had been allocated overtime for a question paper, and come to think of 70 minutes( Sattar in Hindi), I was reminded of Shah Rukh Khan's speech in Chak De India, ..... and rephrased it in my own words as I was glumly staring at the question paper.


Sattar Minut Hain Tere Paas


Shayad


Tumhari Zindagi ke sabse "Khaas" Sattar Minut


Aaj tum Acha mark karo ya Bura,


Yeh Sattar Minut tumhe zindagi Bhar Yaad Rahenge ( Kyun Nahi....? )


Kaise Mark score karna, Aaj tumhe koi nahi baatayega( Oye ! Kisne Padha Hain?)


Jao


Yeh Sattar Minut Jee Bharkar Mark Karo...aur Khoob Maro


I couldnt help laughing.... but just to get facts right, I used only 20 minutes, before I gave up my paper, as it was tough using probability to answer questions of the True or False Type...

There ends a week, a long one, that started with a milion dreams of Celebritydom, and soon nadir followed with the three tests. 5 weeks to go before I become a 50% MBA.

The Bangalore Weekend-A Photo Blog-Day 1

You know one has hit Bangalore when you feel the chill fresh breeze of the morning and when a 7 am, company buses fly past you in a race to reach Hosur road


I was going for the Dream job auditions and as I had classes
late till 9 pm the previous evening, I had little time to go back home, pack up and rush to Central station to catch the 23 15 hrs Bangalore Mail. I forgot my toothpaste,shaving kit , resume,passport photos and my formal shoes. So redemption started rather immideately as I headed straight to Koramangala, 2 kms from St. Johns College, where after some spirited searching I found a barber.



Now this was the first time, I was shaving at a barber's place and was curious to know how he would go about it. Pretty proffesional with 2 rounds of copius lather and dagger down my cheeks.



Ya, now it looks better. One task done 4 more to do, time left= 50 minutes. THE Time was 10 40 am, and my scheduled time of appointment was 11 30 am.



I needed to take a photograph and get it within an hour and my only saviour was of course Reliance webworld where it has this 3 megapixel camer put to good use for penniless students like me, with an offer of 30 photos for 30 rupees. The webworld, also allowed me to print my resume.By the way, I was referring to the RELIANCE WEBWORLD inside FORUM MALL.




The photo was available in a jiffy: TIME 11 AM


I took an Auto from FORUM MALL, to reach ST JOHNS College and had a lovely time wading through the woods. It seemed the ideal place for a romantic walk with the overcast clouds and the greenery around withing the medical college campus. I had to locate the auditorium which is pretty dee inside their campus.



Cricket auditions can bring you people from all walks of life and this was an example where a father son pair turned up to try their luck. They seemed to have a 10 am slot and were deleayed by the morning Bangalore traffic and were spritinting down the pathway. Imagine a father competing with son for a job!





A lot of freely roaming deers inside the campus, provided a lovely sight of being in some sort of forest reserve.


There I am the venue reached, but where's MANDIRA BEDI?



Apparently Mandira Bedi was'nt going to judge on August 31st, but only in the next round on September 1st. Today was a basic prelims to seperate the wheat from the chaff, and it was pretty easy clearing the prelims. Not having too much to do, I went back to forum mall, glancing at the chicks, and some books in Landmark.


Thats my friend Prasanna, who joined me later in the evening at FORUM. He seemed to be gung ho on buying a leather purse, but when he discovered that there would be no money to keep in the purse after he buys it, he decided to explore other options. A major part of my trip was sponsored by Prasanna, as I fell short of cash.


Recruitment Heights- There was this recruitment ad in the restroom zone. Bangalore is going all out to woo people to change their jobs and take up new jobs and what better place to start a conversation on a career change! THE RESTROOM


ORACLE has gone even more extreme by making their recruitment drive more visible to the common man.May their tribe increase :-)



The last straw. This is how a KSRTC bus form looks like, everything written in Kannada, and if u fill it wrongly(99% probability), you need to join the line from behind, so that the KSRTC operators time is not wasted, an in all probability in that time, the last 2 tickets from Bangalore to Chennai would have also been sold out.

EXPECT PART 2 IN A DAY.....

AND TO KNOW MORE ABT THE DREAM JOB COMPETITION CLICK HERE

The Bangalore Weekend with Mandira Bedi

This post will take some time coming, as the pictures, each of them are around 2 MB. I have decided to upload them in my Picassa album and then use the pictures of much lesser size, a little later in the day. Till then, I would leave my Blog visitors with a picture of Mandira Bedi

ESPN-STAR Cricket Dream Job-Auditions

Pappu Pass ho Gaya.....

Yipeee!! I got selected in the prelim stage of " Harsha Bhogle ki Khoj". Mandira Bedi was pretty vocal in supporting my candidature as a comentator based on my commentary. It was a great feeling to have got selected. More on the Bangalore weekend, later tonight, when I upload pictures. Till then..

ICC Champions Trophy 2006,A few observations

ICC Champions Trophy 2006-A few observations

Yesterday afternoon,I happened to chance across the television commentary team of SET MAX, and their inane ramblings left me exasperated. Sample this

Mandira Bedi: Cricket is coing to the Brabourne after 11 years after a match was played here way back in ………err…. 1996(Mandira, thinking it was the Wills World cup).Brabourne, they say has a history behind it, so in terms of history, it’a a famous ground.What about the other grounds Charu?

Charu Sharma: Oh yes, I think Shonali Nagrani, our team reporter who has covered the 4 matches may want to share some of her experiences on the ground.

Charu Sharma :Hi Shonali, in all the 4 matches that you have seen, which ground has appealed to you the most?

Shonali Nagrani: I actually like the Chandigarh chicken with white Makkhan, but amchi Mumbai is the best,where Igot to party all night with my friends.The gujrati lunch at Ahmedabad,was awesome,but I gotta saw the jaipur cuisine was also great.

Charu Sharma: ( Head starting to perspirate, attempts to divert the question after a perfectly inane answer). Well Shonali, great to know you are having fun there.I heard you met Murali and Sangakkara.How confident are they about the match.

Shonali Nagrani: Yes Charu, They are cho chweet.They talked to me so well and they are very confident about winning against the West Indies, but they were saying that it’s a one day match and they have equal chances of losing too,so I feel that Srilanka is going to rock today’s game. By the way,I saw Murali’s kid, and Murali wants him to be the next-ace spinner after him.

Mandira Bedi: Oh! Is that so, but on a cricketing note, did you ask him, where Murali’s 1 year old kid would play cricket for , would it be India,Srilanka or Australia.

I stopped dead in my tracks and given that Mandira Bedi was in a Sari and not in her noodle straps , I muted the television, and pretended to be busy reading a book,even though I really wanted some expert info before the start of play.Just when, I muted the TV, Tony Greig and John Wright started to talk,so I again unmute to listen to a few seconds of cricket gnyaan,before Sony’s telecast policies take off the cricket experts and start to focus on Bollywood.

Their idea of marrying cricket with bollywood is allright, considering the fact that these are the 2 most watched modes of entertainment for the common Indian man.What I cannot tolerate is the essence of dilution, the coverage has in terms of commentators with Mandira Bedi,Rahul Roy and the likes of Shonali Nagrani simply vitiating the atmosphere,with greats like Barry Richards and Tony greig , pushed to the sideline.

This is where I miss the quality coverage of ESPN STAR, with the exalted company of Gavaskar,Bhogle and Shastri. Add to it a Ian Chappell,Tony Cozier and Richie Benaud and the frenzy voice of Bill Lawry, you are done, as a Channel you can have me hooked on to that television Channel for 9 long hours, increasing your TRP Ratings and advertisement value, rather than driving me away by throwing nonsensical ladies like Shweta Jumaani,Mandira Bedi and Shonali Nagrani at me.

If Max is going to still, continue with their “mixing cricket and entertainment”, I suggest they have Mandira Bedi,Shonali Nagrani,Shweta Jummani,Arjun Singh(The HRD guy),George Bush and Kanchi Illiah, One cant have a greater set of lunatics providing entertainment to us, a 9 hour comedy show, that also shows Cricket in between.