MJ -THE KING OF POP - THE DOYEN OF APARTHEID

           Out of the blue,I found myself missing MJ just so badly. And I played out his trademark number "Black or White" . And somehow, the video appeared very different -- much more intense , more moving , more meaningful. I moved on , but the lines "it don't matter if you're black or white"   kept on coming back , forcing me to feel the great guys's words each time more closely, more meaningfully.

            Truly, he was a great legend, not just for the music chat he created , but also the cause for which he used his music. Not all social hurt is intentional. As I see it , most of it is a result of ignorance, petty selfishness, cheap fun or more generally humans falling prey to their weaker instincts. And it is actually unimaginable how far this can go. A glance back at the past, and its not Herculean to prepare a list of such social evils  ---- slavery,apartheid,the Holocaust, terrorism ....


           To me , until yesterday apartheid was just a topic I had studied to please my history teachers. Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi were just great men associated with apartheid. This is where the genius of MJ lies. I watched him , I listened to him just for the sheer thrill his moves evoke in me, but the theme of his music actually proded me into deep thought on Apartheid and those great leaders, Mandela and Gandhiji.

               It was the catalyst which activated my thoughts, my emotions into this direction. And believe me, the emotional surge  - as I went into Apartheid - was enormous. To see an entire race of men putting down, belittling , humiliating - another race just because of a sheer stroke of luck which they thought put them in a superior position was unimaginable  - it filled me with rage . And to see that entire race walk away  remorselessly, heads held high, and to colour their pervertness under some bullshit rationale- it was for a sec unfathomable. And it is to voyagers like Mandela, Gandhiji, Martin Luther and MJ that today we have givem more than back to Apartheid. And today as I find Obama as the First Citizen of the World, Halle Berry and Denzel Washington bagging Academies, the Williams ruling women's tennis, Akon , Beyonce and an entire generation topping American music charts-- it invigorates me. And reinstates my belief in the World. and my Maker. If you journey long enough , truly enough , the Lord's light smiles on you . And that to me is the reward of all great struggles -- to restore, reinstate, and to strengthen faith in Life, faith in the Lord, faith in his Creation .

The Basterds --- the inglourious band of merry men

Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" was direct, intricate high-intensity war drama - a pure gem, right up there with the great cult classics --- Bridge on the River Kwai, Guns of Navarrone , Tora Tora Tora. The stand out feature was the clear cut editing which made such an intricate narrative easy to follow which in turn meant I could soak in every drop of the suspense and anticipation of such i high intensity War Movie completely. For me , Christoph Waltz, was amazing ,--- the dignified "fox", the silent "Jew - Hunter " , seemingly harmless , easy , courteous even amiable at times, but when he strikes, he doesn't just stop your pulse...... he jams it , he jars it - as the French dairy farmer Perrier Lapadite and the unfortunate Frau Von Hammersmark found out.

Djoker says ... Yyyy SSSoooo SSiirrrriiiiussss

 And guess what .. Martina ( Navratilova) predicted Kvitova as the Wimbledon Champ at Rolland Garros .... wooops ... Martina certainly knows a thing or two about the sport.

Wow.....The Championships had just about everything to offer that any afficianado would ever ask for . Two leggie blondes going all out , grunt for grunt , ferociously for the Ladies Singles Final , is a ready pickup anytime for me. Kvitova is my girl for the next few years on girls tennis. Shes got immensely powerful shots , forehand and backhand both . And it was a very tintillating feeling for me the way she played around with Maria , overpowering her , outhitting her , outthinking her . I remember I first noticed Kvitova when she beat a strong Stosur at the Australian Open this year .And ever since I have felt an aura of invincibility around her .

Mens tennis as it stands now for me is the best that I have ever seen it .I have been pursuing the sport since 1992 , the first full match I ever saw was the Wimbledon Finals , when a long haired, earpierced Andre Agassi lifted the trophy and struck the most stylish poses with it I have ever seen  . It was just so much macho and tickling to my nerves back then . But the scenario of mens tennis as of today is the best for me for the last two decades. Roger  Federer is a portrait in contrasts. He is the best ever shot maker in the history of tennis ( plz... anyone who says anything contrary to this needs a reality check on the sport)  , but , paradoxically , he is the least competitive champ in the game too . I thought if you had superhuman abilities , it was supposed to be an aid to make me mentally strong and confident . But , inexplicably and mysteriously , does not happen in Roger’s case . Nadal is the true sportsman anyone would ever love to be . He cant make shots like Federer does , and he knows it . But he is muscular, and he is athletic and hes got the heart of a true Champ. I have not been able to make a clear picture of Djokovic , but this years Championship Finals showed him in monsterous form . He was sizzling on the forehand side , but what for me was most noticeable was the way he outran Rafa , matched him stride for stride , and actually wrongfooted Nadal on numerous occasions . This situation for me puts Mens Tennis in a very mouth watering position . And please, I cant understand the fuss about Murray. The boy needs to grow up and travel a very definite distance before he can be counted amongst the elite three. But Roger, Rafa, Novak .... perfect ingredients , sheer  viewing delight for me and am sure countless others round the globe. I am a die hard Roger Federer fan , and my money is on him at this years US Open. He is the greatest tennis player of all time , irrestepctive of whatever happens from now on . I just hope desperately  that he develops his mental side which couples wth his Godlike shotmaking would be a something extraordinaryaryary. M really looking forward to him and the other two rivals at this years US Open.

P.S.  I never saw Jimmy Connors play... but his quote is something that i adore when he says . “ In tennis , there are Clay Court specialists, Grass Court specialists or there are Roger Federers.”