Five Steps to Receiving a Hug from Preity Zinta

From the media coverage of IPL, many hopeful love-thirsty indian young men got a false notion that perhaps receiving a hug from Preity Zinta is quite easy, provided you are at the right place at the right time.

As we have watched, before and after every match of Kings XI Punjab, no matter if it's a win or defeat, no matter if it's rain or shine, Preity generously delivers her hugs to all her players. What a treat!

But, for a young man on the street, it's not so easy. After lot of deliberation, we have carefully chartered a 5-step path to the attainment of such a salvation. Do you have guts and do you enjoy the favor from the Goddess of Luck to follow and complete all these steps to reach your goal?

Step 1:
Simple formula: Play cricket. Do well. Reach state level.

Step 2:
If you are in Punjab, well and good. You are already at right place and your path is shorter by one step. If not, take every opportunity in a field or in a bar to get closer to Yuvraj Singh and try everything to catch his attention and be his friend or, if no such opportunity exists, become a chela.

Step 3:
Play well for your state but try everything so that no other big shot of IPL cricket likes you. Avoid eye contact with, for example, Dhoni, Dravid, Ganguly, Laxman, Tendulkar and Warne. If any of them tends to like your playing style and expresses that, make a bad comment about his style on his face and insult him in any way you want (Caution: Do not slap him however. If he cries, your path to a 'hug' will end right there. And whatever you do, do it out of field. Avoid a ban from BCCI at any cost). Repeat similar acts to insult owners of other franchises. Make public statements like 'Shah Rukh is the worst actor ..', 'Mukesh Ambani is not as smart as his brother Anil' and 'Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher, airline or alcohol, simply sucks'.

Step 4:
Get selected by Yuvraj Singh to play for 'Kings XI Punjab' Team.

Step 5:
You are there. Play well to retain your place in the team. Get involved in your team activity. The way Preity frequently delivers her hugs, you can be sure, you would receive your salvation before and after each match and life would always be wonderful ever after.

A Family Sets a Record of Indebtedness

It's true that all members of any good family are always in debt with each other for the mutual trust and love they share, and help and advice they continuously extend to each other.

But the family of Mr. H D Kumaraswamy, former Chief Minister of Karnataka and son of H D Deve Gowda, our former Prime Minister, has set a record in the level of this mutual indebtedness within family members. In the affidavit filed by him while submitting his nomination for the election from the Ramnagara constituency on Monday, Mr. Kumaraswamy, popularly known as "KumarAnna" (Kumar, the name and anna in Kannada means elder brother) among his friends and followers, stated that he owes Rs 1.33 crore to none other than his wife Anitha!

But lo and behold! The debt does not stop here. He also owes Rs 2.59 lakh to Kasturi media, a business run by his wife.

...And again it does not stop here. He also owes Rs 3.26 lakh to his sister-in-law Bhavani (H D Revanna's wife) and Rs. 1 crore to his own brother H D Ramesh. His son Nikhil Gowda, following footsteps of his father, too has a loan of Rs 1 crore ... borrowed from who else but his own mother.

...And, it does not stop within the family and, in fact, it extends to other financial institutions as well. Mr. Kumaraswamy has borrowed Rs 10 lakh from a bank. His wife Anitha has taken a loan of Rs 14.13 crore from various cooperative societies. She has also borrowed Rs 6.53 crore as a personal loan. His son Nikhil Gowda too carries a loan of Rs 80 lakh from a couple of cooperative societies and Rs 65 lakh from an individual named Yathish.

But who says that the honorable former Chief Minister of a software-rich state like Karnataka is immersing himself and his family deep in debt? Here comes his list of assets as declared in the affidavit.

All in all, the family has assets worth Rs 49.72 crore and liabilities of Rs 26.05 crore. Mr. Kumaraswamy says that he has property worth Rs 15.36 crore, while his wife and son have property worth Rs 31.86 crore and Rs 2.67 crore respectively. The affidavit also states that Mr. Kumaraswamy has 50 acres of agricultural land in Kethaganahalli, a 10,000 square foot house in J P Nagar, Bengaluru, and an industrial site. He also has 750 grams of gold and 12.5 kgs of silver. His son has 850 grams of gold and 16 kgs of silver, while his wife has 1.3 kgs of gold. The affidavit finally states that his bank deposits run to the tune of Rs 13.77 lakh, while his wife and son have Rs 3.18 lakh and Rs 1.53 lakh respectively.

We do not know why Thomas Fuller(1654–1734), an English physician and writer stated way back in 1732 in his book 'Gnomologia' that 'Debt is the worst poverty', but we can fully understand why the popular American columnist, Earl Wilson (1907-1987) once wrote, "Today, there are three kinds of people: the have's, the have-not's, and the have-not-paid-for-what-they-have's" ... and we want to add another fourth kind "the have-not-paid-for-what-they-can-easily-pay"!

Tax Free Entertainment Featuring Redskins Cheerleaders

Reportedly, Shah Rukh Khan is unhappy because of the entertainment tax that the West Bengal government does not wish to waive from any arrangement of entertainment during the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) matches at Eden Garden, although other states hosting other franchises have already done so.

In an extensive interview to the Kolkata-based Anand Bazaar Patrika, a dejected Khan asked (in the style of so many poor downtrodden people of India who always thought the Government would solve all their problems and rescue them from their debt and misery),"How can I do it [hold an entertainment package along with IPL matches] unless the entertainment tax is waived?"

.. And indeed it's a legitimate question to ask and a reasonable favor to ask for. This poor man has already paid so many million dollars to collect players and coaches and to air expensive ads and to hire people and present heavy gold-plated helmets (symbols of his team Kolkata Knight Riders) to all his rich players. How can he now afford to pay the tax money, however paltry sum it is, that the oppressive state government of West Bengal would ask for arranging any form of entertainment during those seven matches?

Shah Rukh must feel jealous of the Kingfisher moghul Vijay Mallya who could arrange to fly those barely-clad sexy Washington Redskins Cheerleaders all the way to India to do the duty of cheerleading in support of the Royal Challengers, Bangalore -- Mallya's team in the upcoming Indian Premier League. (Related question: Would the Wall a.k.a. Rahul Dravid, the Captain of Royal Challengers, be able to digest so much of extravaganza or should the stoicism, as practised by our beloved Wall crumble by its own cheerleaders?)

... And all those sexy dances of Redskins dems ... for no Tax! Bravo, the progressive Karnataka Government!

Life is indeed not fair! .. At least not for the poor Shah Rukh ... that too in a communist state which is supposed to take care of poor people like him!

Nothing to Be Ashamed of a Score of 76 !

Another great day for Indian Cricket lovers! A few more new records!

India's first innings of 76 against South Africa lasted just 20 overs, which is the shortest completed innings ever in the subcontinent but it reflects the prudence of the Indian players to utilize the occasion of the Test match (which, in any case, is just another dull engagement wearing National hat) to practise for the upcoming more lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL) for 20/20 matches.

India's score is their seventh-lowest score in Tests, and their second-lowest at home. They had been bowled out for 75 against West Indies in Delhi in 1987. All players are disgusted that they could not beat that decade-old record by failing to score just 1 run short!

Nine of out 11 batsmen made single-digit scores in this innings including four of them making zero. That's an excellent example of the collective hardwork for that fragile outdated concept called 'Indian Team'!

In any case, Cheers!! IPL starts soon!!!

We are more interested in watching our post-independence civil war -- How Bangalore (Dravid), Chennai (Dhoni), Delhi (Sehwag), Hyderabad (Laxman), Kolkata (Ganguly), Mohali (Yuvraj), Mumbai (Tendulkar) fight with each other with the help of foreign hands!

Who cares about Nation? Patriotism is a old concept ...yaaaar! We are going Global ...fast ... in just 20 overs!!

What Happened to Rajinikanth's Eyes?!?

Dr. Gayathri Srikanth is an opthalmologist, that is, a specialist of a branch of medical science dealing with the structure, functions, and diseases of the eye.

Settled in Chennai and married to Dr. T.R.Srikanth, an eye surgeon, the gracious lady (whose father is also a doctor), however, took time to pen a book called 'The Name is Rajinikanth". We heard it's a biography.

We have not read the book yet but had a look at its cover photograph in which Rajinikanth's eyes are covered with sunglasses.

We need to read the book first before we take time to tell you what happened to Rajinikanth's eyes.