One day, down in the mystical forest, a magical frog was hopping towards a water hole.
The forest was so enormous that the frog had never laid eyes on another animal before.
But today, by chance a bear was chasing after a rabbit to have for dinner.
The frog called for the two to stop and said, "Because you are the only two animals I have seen,
I will grant both of you three wishes. Bear, you can go first."
The bear thought for a moment, and being the male he was, said, "I wish for all the bears in this forest, apart from me, to be female."
For his wish, the rabbit asked for a crash helmet, and immediately put it on.
The bear was amazed at the stupidity of the rabbit, wasting his wish like that.
It was the bear's second turn for a wish. "Well, I wish that all the bears in the next forest were female as well."
The rabbit asked for a motorcycle and immediately hopped on it and roared the engine.
The bear was shocked that the rabbit was asking for such idiotic items, because after all, he could have asked for money and bought the bike.
For the last wish the bear thought for a while and then said, "I wish that all the bears in the world, apart from me, were female."
The rabbit grinned, roared the engine, and said, "I wish that the bear was gay."
Monday, April 21, 2008
Kolkata beat Hyderabad for second straight win
April 20, 2008
Kolkata Knight Riders won their second straight match beating Deccan Chargers (Hyderbad) by five wickets in the Indian Premier League at the Eden Gardens on Sunday.
After Michael Hussey's exploits for Chennai a day earlier, it was the turn of brother David to take up the battle for Shah Rukh Khan's
David's unbeaten 38 may be nowhere close to Michael's scintillating ton but was equally important in the context of the match.
Chaminda Vaas (two for nine) and Pragyan Ojha (two for 18) took two wickets apiece as the Kolkata team fumbled while chasing the modest total.
Captain Sourav Ganguly (14) failed with the bat again and so did Ponting (0). But it was the failure of Brendon McCullum, who had a record-breaking 158 not out against Bangalore in the opening match, that made the Kolkata team stutter.
Kolkata eventually reached 112 for five with an over to spare.
Earlier, Kolkata Knight Riders bowlers utilised a poor pitch to skittle out a strong batting line up of the Deccan Chargers for 110.
The Chargers never appeared comfortable as only five of their batsmen reached double figures, with the Aussie duo of Andrew Symonds (32) and Adam Gilchrist (23) being the main contributors before a near-capacity crowd at the Eden Gardens.
Spinner Murali Kartik (3 for 17) was the wrecker-in-chief for the Knight Riders, while Ajit Agarkar a couple after being hammered for 16 runs in his first over.
Electing to bat, the Chargers lost quick wickets as their top order caved in to some disciplined stuff delivered by the Kolkata Knight Riders bowlers on a two-paced wicket, giving the visitors a trying time. Some of the balls kept low while some other deliveries jumped awkwardly.
Young Ashok Dinda, playing only his second Twenty20 match, opened the bowling and generated a good pace. His new ball partner Ishant Sharma also maintained a good line and length while sending down his customary fiery deliveries.
Success came Ishant's way in his second over, when Deccan Chargers' opener venugopal Rao departed giving a simple catch to Kartik at gully.
Skipper V V S Laxman departed soon after without bothering the scorer, as Dinda got his first wicket, reducing the Hyderabad-based side to 22/2 in 4.2 overs.
The dangerous Adam Gilchrist sought to carry the fight into the opponents' camp in the next over as he clobbered Agarkar, the first change bowler, in his very first over for 16 runs, inclusive of two sixes and a boundary.
Ganguly turned to his spinners, and Kartik obliged him by evicting Gilchrist and Rohit Sharma (0) in his second over, as Chargers became 48 for 4.
While the veteran Aussie went for a pull and finished in the hands of deep square leg fielder Hafeez, young Bengal wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha took a fine diving catch after running a few yards in front of the wicket.
The 50 of the innings was posted in 9.2 overs, before Styris (6) returned to the pavilion.
As wickets continued to fall one after the other, Andrew Symonds tried to launch a counter-offensive in the 17th over as he disdainfully dispatched spinner David Hussey for two successive sixes.
The over produced 20 runs, and saw the total past 100.
Symonds was finally devoured by Agarkar, with Hussey taking a skier in the extra cover region, and soon after the tourists' knock came to a close.
Boucher guides Bangalore to win over Mumbai
April 20
Banglore() vs Mumbai
A 55-run fifth wicket partnership between South Africans Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher Bangalore Royal Challengers to a five-wicket win over Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.
Chasing 166 for a first win in the Twenty20 competition, the Vijay Mallya-owned Bangalore team survived a slow start and a mid-innings hiccup to romp home with two balls to spare.
Mark Boucher (39 not out) was the highest scorer for the Bangalore team while captain Rahul Dravid (32), Jacques Kallis (25) and Virat Kohli (23) also chipped in with useful contributions.
Stand-in captain Harbhajan Singh the pick of the Mumbai bowlers with a couple of wickets to his name.
Earlier, a late assault by Shaun Pollock helped Mumbai Indians reach a competitive 165 for six.
The retired ace South African all rounder cracked three sixes and two fours in his 12-ball cameo while making 28 after coming in at number seven.
The hosts lost wickets regularly after stand-in captain Harbhajan Singh opted to bat first on winning the toss and their total was built mainly around opener Sanath Jayasuriya (29), top-scorer Robin Uthappa (48) and Pollock.
The home team, in the absence of injured captain Sachin Tendulkar , got off to a good beginning after the early fall of Luke Ronchi in the second over with Sanath Jayasuriya showing cracking form as he hit five fours and a six in his 16-ball knock before he was run out.
A brilliant pick-up and direct hit ended Jayasuriya innings, an over after he had creamed 16 runs off Jacques Kallis's first over, with a flurry of three fours and an on-driven six.
Dominic Thornely, who came in at one-down at the fall of Australian compatriot Luke Ronchi (8), receiving a nasty blow on his left eyebrow by a soaring ball from Indian pace spearhead Zaheer Khan as tried to pull and missed connecting completely.
He retired hurt and did not come out to bat again and was taken to hospital, where he is kept under observation.
Uthappa and Pinal Shah, the Baroda wicket keeper, joined forces and helped the score past the 70 mark at the halfway stage.
Uthappa, at times beaten by his Karnataka Ranji team-mate Vinay Kumar, also swung the bowler for a six over square leg.
He tried to play the unorthodox scoop shot a number of times and missed quite often before connecting once off Kallis that fetched a boundary.
After being dropped at deep square leg by Vinay off Praveen when on 32, he continued to look for runs.
Uthappa fell, stumped by Mark Boucher, when trying the scoop once too often as the ace South African stumper stood up to Balachandra Akhil and took off the bails when the batsman failed to connect.
He struck five fours and a six in his 36-ball knock and also added 28 runs in quick time with Abhishek Nayar.
Nayar hoisted Vinay Kumar for a six and then Pollock struck the medium pacer for a four and a six towards the extra cover region as the bowler went for 20 runs in the 18th over of the innings to boost the run-rate.
Pollock fell off the last ball of the innings to give Zaheer Khan, who was the pick of the attack along with veteran left arm spinner Sunil Joshi, his second wicket.
India's top-earning artists!!
M F Husain, a million-dollar club member
India's economic boom has not only enabled Indians to buy houses and cars, but also to purchase expensive art.
"This interest in art is nothing but a lifestyle change we are witnessing," said art critic Manasij Majumdar, speaking to rediff.com. "Now young entrepreneurs and industrialists are spending a huge part of their income in buying art. Reason: art has a unique status of its own. Purchasing art is a way of saying that one has arrived in life," said Majumdar.
Indian art market, therefore, is quite hot. So who are the maestros whose works are in big demand and how much does one need to invest to be able to own a masterpiece? Find out. . .
Master painter Maqbool Fida Husain recently joined the million-dollar club with one of his paintings on slain theatre artist Safdar Hashmi going under the hammer for over $1 million.
An unidentified art collector won the keenly fought bidding at an auction organised by Emami Chisel Art Auction House in Kolkata on February 25 to bag Tribute to Hashmi for Rs 4.4 crore (Rs 44 million).
The same bidder also added Tyeb Mehta's Kali-III to his collection for the same amount. Mehta's painting had the highest reserve price of Rs 2.5 crore (Rs 25 million) for the bidding.
Ten years ago, no Indian artist dared to even dream of getting such hefty sums for their works. But today the exorbitant prices come as no surprise to either the collectors or the artists, especially for the likes of Husain, Mehta, F N Souza, Sakti Burman and Jogen Chowdhury.
The first multi-crore deal in Indian art market happened, in 2002, when a non-resident Indian (originally from Hyderabad) bought a painting by Husain (Horses) for Rs 2 crore (Rs 20 million). At that time it was the highest price ever paid for any painting in India.
Husain's another high was when he sold 22 paintings of a series called Paris Suite to a London-based collector for $1 million.
Corporatisation of art work may be common in the West, but the phenomenon struck India for the first time in September, 2004, when Mumbai-based Swarup Group of Industries paid a mammoth Rs 100 crore for 125 paintings by Husain.
Some called the deal 'vulgar', others 'excellent' but there is no denying that Indian art market had never witnessed anything like this before.
Was that the beginning? Possible. Which is the costliest painting by an Indian artist? Works by which Indian artists are lapped up by the collectors? To get an insight into the price structure of the Indian art scene, read on.
How Kalam avoided J&K issue with Musharraf!!
While foreign office mandarins were a little apprehensive about the meeting between A P J Abdul Kalam and Pervez Musharraf , the scientist president turned out to be an astute diplomat giving no opportunity to the Pakistani military ruler to rake up the Kashmir issue.
Details of what transpired at the 30-minute meeting have been revealed by P M Nair, who served as secretary to Kalam from 2002 to 2007, in his book The Kalam Effect: My years with the President.
Musharraf was on a day's visit on April 17, 2005, to witness the India-Pakistan one-day cricket match.
During his brief stay, one of his appointments was with Kalam. Nair says he told the president ahead of the meeting that Musharraf will certainly raise the Kashmir issue with him and he should be prepared for the same.
"Don't worry, I shall deal with it," Kalam said reassuringly, leaving Nair wondering how he would deal with an issue which could nettle the best of diplomats, and had derailed the summit meeting at Agra .
In excerpts of the book made available to PTI, Nair says the meeting took after an eventful day in which the Pakistanis had won the match.
Musharraf's remark about M S Dhoni's long hair had drawn loud applause from cricket enthusiasts.
At 7.30 pm, Musharraf arrived in a cavalcade of cars and was led to the North Drawing Room on the first floor of Rashtrapati Bhavan
Kalam ushered Musharraf to a seat and sat next to him. The Indian and Pakistani officials occupied their appointed places.
After pleasantries were exchanged, Kalam began. "Mr.President, like India you also have a lot of rural areas" and then put a poser, "Don't you think we should both do whatever is possible to develop them on priority?"
"Yes", said Musharraf. Without wasting time, Kalam got down to explaining one of his favourite subjects.
"Mr President, I will tell you something about PURA very briefly. PURA means Providing Urban Facilities in Rural Areas," Kalam told the general.
As if on cue, a plasma screen came alive and the description of what PURA was and what it could achieve lasted 26 minutes.
Musharraf evinced keen interest and when it was over, smiled and said, "Thank you, Mr President. India is lucky to have a scientist president like you."
Hand shakes followed and both leaders bid adieu.
IPL Schedule
| Time | Match | Venue |
| Friday 18 April | ||
| 8:00 PM | Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Kolkata Knight Riders | Bangalore |
| Saturday 19 April | ||
| 5:00 PM | Kings XI Punjab vs Chennai Super Kings | Mohali |
| 8:30 PM | Delhi Daredevils vs Rajasthan Royals | Delhi |
| Sunday 20 April | ||
| 4:00 PM | Kolkata Knight Riders vs Deccan Chargers | Kolkata |
| 8:00 PM | Mumbai Indians vs Bangalore Royal Challengers | Mumbai |
| Monday 21 April | ||
| 8:00 PM | Rajasthan Royals vs Kings XI Punjab | Jaipur |
| Tuesday 22 April | ||
| 8:00 PM | Deccan Chargers vs Delhi Daredevils | Hyderabad |
| Wednesday 23 April | ||
| 8:00 PM | Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians | Chennai |
| Thursday 24 April | ||
| 8:00 PM | Deccan Chargers vs Rajasthan Royals | Hyderabad |
| Friday 25 April | ||
| 8:00 PM | Kings XI Punjab vs Mumbai Indians | Mohali |
| Saturday 26 April | ||
| 4:00 PM | Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders | Chennai |
| 8:00 PM | Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Rajasthan Royals | Bangalore |
| Sunday 27 April | ||
| 4:00 PM | Kings XI Punjab vs Delhi Daredevils | Mohali |
| 8:00 PM | Mumbai Indians vs Deccan Chargers | Mumbai |
| Monday 28 April | ||
| 8:00 PM | Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Chennai Super Kings | Bangalore |
| Tuesday 29 April | ||
| 8:00 PM | Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians | Kolkata |
| Wednesday 30 April | ||
| 8:00 PM | Delhi Daredevils vs Bangalore Royal Challengers | Delhi |
| Thursday 1 May | ||
| 4:00 PM | Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders | Jaipur |
| 8:00 PM | Deccan Chargers vs Kings XI Punjab | Hyderabad |
| Friday 2 May | ||
| 8:00 PM | Chennai Super Kings vs Delhi Daredevils | Chennai |
| Saturday 3 May | ||
| 4:00 PM | Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Deccan Chargers | Bangalore |
| 8:00 PM | Kings XI Punjab vs Kolkata Knight Riders | Mohali |
| Sunday 4 May | ||
| 4:00 PM | Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Daredevils | Mumbai |
| 8:00 PM | Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings | Jaipur |
| Monday 5 May | ||
| 8:00 PM | Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Kings XI Punjab | Bangalore |
| Tuesday 6 May | ||
| 8:00 PM | Chennai Super Kings vs Deccan Chargers | Chennai |
| Wednesday 7 May | ||
| 8:00 PM | Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals | Mumbai |
| Thursday 8 May | ||
| 4:00 PM | Delhi Daredevils vs Chennai Super Kings | Delhi |
| 8:00 PM | Kolkata Knight Riders vs Bangalore Royal Challengers | Kolkata |
| Friday 9 May | ||
| 8:00 PM | Rajasthan Royals vs Deccan Chargers | Jaipur |
| Saturday 10 May | ||
| 8:00 PM | Chennai Super Kings vs Kings XI Punjab | Chennai |
| Sunday 11 May | ||
| 4:00 PM | Deccan Chargers vs Kolkata Knight Riders | Hyderabad |
| 8:00 PM | Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi Daredevils | Jaipur |
| Monday 12 May | ||
| 8:00 PM | Kings XI Punjab vs Bangalore Royal Challengers | Mohali |
| Tuesday 13 May | ||
| 8:00 PM | Kolkata Knight Riders vs Delhi Daredevils | Kolkata |
| Wednesday 14 May | ||
| 8:00 PM | Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings | Mumbai |
| Thursday 15 May | ||
| 8:00 PM | Delhi Daredevils vs Deccan Chargers | Delhi |
| Friday 16 May | ||
| 8:00 PM | Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders | Mumbai |
| Saturday 17 May | ||
| 4:00 PM | Rajasthan Royals vs Bangalore Royal Challengers | Jaipur |
| 8:00 PM | Delhi Daredevils vs Kings XI Punjab | Delhi |
| Sunday 18 May | ||
| 4:00 PM | Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings | Kolkata |
| 8:00 PM | Deccan Chargers vs Mumbai Indians | Hyderabad |
| Monday 19 May | ||
| 8:00 PM | Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Delhi Daredevils | Bangalore |
| Tuesday 20 May | ||
| 8:00 PM | Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals | Kolkata |
| Wednesday 21 May | ||
| 4:00 PM | Mumbai Indians vs Kings XI Punjab | Mumbai |
| 8:00 PM | Chennai Super Kings vs Bangalore Royal Challengers | Chennai |
| Thursday 22 May | ||
| 8:00 PM | Delhi Daredevils vs Kolkata Knight Riders | Delhi |
| Friday 23 May | ||
| 8:00 PM | Kings XI Punjab vs Deccan Chargers | Mohali |
| Saturday 24 May | ||
| 4:00 PM | Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals | Chennai |
| 8:00 PM | Delhi Daredevils vs Mumbai Indians | Delhi |
| Sunday 25 May | ||
| 4:00 PM | Deccan Chargers vs Bangalore Royal Challengers | Hyderabad |
| 8:00 PM | Kolkata Knight Riders vs Kings XI Punjab | Kolkata |
| Monday 26 May | ||
| 8:00 PM | Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians | Jaipur |
| Tuesday 27 May | ||
| 8:00 PM | Deccan Chargers vs Chennai Super Kings | Hyderabad |
| Wednesday 28 May | ||
| 4:00 PM | Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Mumbai Indians | Bangalore |
| 8:00 PM | Kings XI Punjab vs Rajasthan Royals | Mohali |
| Friday 30 May | ||
| 8:00 PM | 1st Semi-final | Mumbai |
| Saturday 31 May | ||
| 8:00 PM | 2nd Semi-final | Mumbai |
| Sunday 1 June | ||
| 8:00 PM | Final | Mumbai |
IPL: Kolkata pitch under investigation
April 21, 2008
The erratic behavior of the pitch at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday during the Indian Premier League match between the Kolkata Knight Riders and Deccan Charges will be probed, Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Niranjan Shah said.
Shah said the IPL's technical committee and the Cricket Association of Bengal would probe all aspects of the pitch to ensure that a better wicket is prepared for the upcoming matches.
The Twenty20 encounter saw 15 wickets falling in just 37.4 overs against a score of 222 runs, with both captains Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman getting hurt from unpredictable bounces by the pace bowlers.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)