Remember the good old days, when watching cricket was as if a festival celebrated? At least, that was how I used to watch it. Thanks to cricket, the 1999 world cup was when our house got the “cable” connection for the first time. And by that time, I was Dravid’s one of the biggest fans (don’t think physically when I say ‘big’. I was slim and trim then). There was one particular ad that used to be aired back then. Dravid was shown practicing batting with the ball hanging from the roof. If that was how he practiced, I did the same. I even batted in the same fashion when I used to play with friends. In bowling – Srinath. The action, same as his. That was how cricketers had an effect on me.

Once in Navodaya, although playing cricket was restricted only to Sundays, we rejoiced them. Watching the game was even more fabulous. With the whole school, in front of a 21” TV, with the grainy picture quality, the pushing and pulling to be in the front row added to the excitement. The radio that I had smuggled in, helped me to keep abreast of all the scores in the 2003 world cup. Sport meant only cricket those days. We played every game alright, but it was cricket that topped our list of priorities in games.

Even today, cricket is the reigning sport which would make me watch. Cricket has remained my favourite game and Dravid still my favourite. But it is cricket with all the zeal being eaten up. T20 sure has reinvented the game, but the excitement is what is missing. Today, as I juggled my TV channels, there were two matches – T20 between Sri Lanka and New Zealand and the other being a 50 over game of Australia v/s England. Both of them failed to ignite any sparks of interest. When I eventually watched it to avoid the grueling torture of the prime time soap operas, I had to struggle. Hope Dravid’s return to the 50 over matches would instill some fervor in me and make me watch again – and perhaps, you read again!

It had to be a particularly bad day. The events ranged from getting up late and disrupting all my prior plans, a tussle with an autorikshaw driver, petrol drying out with the nearest bunk nowhere visible and an update failure on my computer which consequently, made me lose a couple of files that I needed badly. All in all, it was an awfully bad day. Putting to rest the tough luck, I decided to cool off for the rest of the day – watched TV.

What’s so special you ask? Well, the movie that aired specially for me – or so I felt. It was called “Freedom Writers” – had never heard. Hillary Swank and Patrick Dempsey were the only ones that I recognized. The movie was about a school in California which is integrated – that is, all the races of people ranging from Asians, Latinos, Blacks and many more who lived by the streets amidst all the gang violence, to study in the same school. The newly appointed teacher to those guys is Ms. Erin Gruwell, played by Hillary Swank. The story focuses on how the races fight between themselves for what they think would “free” them. Erin tries hard to unite the class with her off the beaten path methods. What adds to the value of the movie is that the movie is based on a book by an author by the same name as the lead, Erin Gruwell. The movie also features a few holocaust victims who appear at a very apt spot. The movie, although revolves around the theme of racism – which I hate, didn’t annoy me. Surprisingly, it rather kept me glued. There’s nothing dramatic happening in the whole of the movie. But, the flow is never tardy.

What appealed to me the most was how the movie refreshed my mood. With all the silly disasters that I was made to deal with, suddenly vanished from my thoughts. I guess, it would have been an ordinary movie had it not been this day. If I were to recommend this to anyone, I would like to say – watch it when you have a bad day and are feeling like you are going through a lot and want a break.

Cliché as it may sound, but nevertheless, I am back yet again! You all know the story of the spider and king Robert of Scotland, right? (The same one in which the spider tries again and again to reach its web) Well, the only difference was, the spider was trying to do something as opposed to nothing that I am up to.

Many have asked me this before – why did I name my blog as “transient thoughts”. I guess my constant hiatus from blogging would sure relinquish all your doubts. This time – it was a writer’s block. All I could think of, was writing about movies (which I did see a lot of them!) So, instead, I gave it a break. But truly speaking, why would I care to return to the one thing that I am not good at? I am even miserable at other things – as simple as that! Being a final year student, one has to have his plans ready by this time (as some say) But, being the casual guy that I am, I have nothing to speak about. With all friends surrounding me busy with either GATE/CAT/GRE/MAT/blah/blah… I have all the time in the world. So, with all the time left, what else was I supposed to do? Anyways I hope I do continue for a longer time than what I used to earlier. Enjoy reading – or at least, try to.