Sachin Tendulkar : From Super Kid ....to Super Star

.....................
Let me share with you a little story.
The advertising agency was invited to a ‘research presentation ‘ by one of India’s leading research companies, to evaluate whether the brand should continue with Sachin as a brand ambassador or not. The Research agency, after a few hundred slides recommended: “ DROP SACHIN” .
Drop Sachin Tendulkar ? Even the BCCI and the Selection Committee thinks a million times before that buddy.
The marketing team at the client’s end almost totally agreed with the research report, and Sachin was on his way to being caught out of his crease. Stumped.
And so was I. Stumped.

For the full story : click here :

http://www.campaignindia.in/Article/361051,opinion-from-super-kid-to-superstar.aspx

Miss Vice ......Oh how so nice....!

Miss VICE …….. oh how so nice……!

Thank you Purva Rana……. You helped me purge all the VICE I’ve been collecting over the decades.

Many many moons ago we just had our first brush with Vice.

The rather stern VICE – Principal of the school, who, cane in hand, would look for any excuse to get the Malacca sting some butts.

Then of course was the Vice Captain of the School, and the Vice Captain of various Houses, GOLD, Blue, Green and Red. Each one wanting to be Captain and in his own secret way hoping to replace the lil-brat on top.

Vice President of the Country , was an even more rubbery-rubber stamp, than the HIGH Office that handed him / her the right to tag the title , like school monitors with steel badges pinned on their chests.

Of course the Armed Forces gave us their version of Vice, with Vice Admiral, Vice Chief of the Army, and Vice Chief of the Air Force. Thank God we have been spared the VICE – General, as that oxymoron would have just been the last thing anyone in the army would have liked.  

But the Vice Chief Executive actually existed at Lintas in the 80s, when a spunky, short, Sardar , strode down the corridors of the agency ensuring that ‘vice’ remained behind the closed doors of the Boss, and didn’t permeate any other levels.

Just a few days ago, beauty became a Vice.

Poorva Rana,  was declared as the winner….. oooooops not the Winner, but the No: 2: and the headlines across newspapers screamed :     Miss VICE Queen Poorva Rana’s Crowning Moment. 

What happened to good ole Runner-Up? Or 1^st Runner-Up?

MISS VICE QUEEN…?  Now would you really liked to be introduced on stage when a long citation ends with such a Vice? And you are all ready to shake hands with Obama or hand over a prize to a young achiever at a school, who wonders how VICE could get you so far?

Stop it stop it stop it.

Vice has its place, and should be kept in place. MISS VICE Queen just didn’t go down too well with any or many when pretty little ladies are labeled that way…..even the popular book, ‘The Book of Vice                 ( Very Naughty Things and how to do them ) would cringe to make any such suggestion.  The rather infamous Marquis De Sade, had his own sadistic take on Vice, “In order to know virtue, we must acquaint ourselves with vice. Only then can we know the true measure of a man ( or woman)”

But Liz Taylor summed it up rather well : “ The problem with people who have no VICES is that generally you can be pretty sure they’re going to have some pretty annoying virtues”

Weekend ...... or .....WEAKEND?

Weekend…or……. Weakend?

Aaaaahhhhh ….the Friday evening comes strolling in and the Saturday – Sunday loom large.

The most amazing part of the week is around the corner, and the weekenders lick their chops at the prospect….

But wait.

Is the weekend the same for a man and a woman?

Is there really no difference?

Is there any expectation? (even if nicely veiled and garbed)

So I just went about asking a few friends what their ideal weekend was:

And there was hardly any goading required, as the ladies just let it flow.  Any holding back?

Naaaah! They knew exactly what their ideal weekend should be and no arguments about that. 

So without much ado lets list the things that make a woman’s weekend ideal:

·         Shopping …… shopping ….shopping

·         A movie …..or a play

·         Get the electrician so the hubby at home can get the fixtures fixed

·         Get the carpenter so the hubby at home can get the repairs done

·         Get the plumber so that the hubby at home can get the leak plugged. 

·         Shopping 

·         Get the hubby to get the AC serviced

·         Get the hubby to get the plants for the garden

·         Get the hubby to get the car out and make sure all the groceries are in ( and make sure he carries those lovely overloaded bags all the way to and fro!)

·         Shopping

·         Get hubby to sit with the kids and do their homework

·         While hubby looks after the kids, get to the favourite Spa

·         Get the long list of restaurants to choose from to finalise where the weekend dinner would be

·         Select the Restaurant

·         Change the selection

·         Choose again

·         Choose the route to the restaurant, ideally with a ‘shop-stop’ on the way.

·         Shopping

·         A great meal at a place I always wanted to go to

·         A nice book to tuck into bed with

·         A foot or back massage by the help, the kids, or the hubby

Now over the male species…….the one that roars more than he bites!

·         Wake up late

·         If possible stay in the same clothes all day, the same crumpled shorts and Tee

·         Beer

·         If allowed, play an extra-long game of golf

·         Beer

·         Lunch

·         Sleep

·         Beer with friends

·         Sleep

Simple.!

Now the weekends do overlap …don’t they? Happy marriages are made over the weekend of compromise! I know my lady-friends will be out on the street with their knives, guns, and bazookas, but so what! They are far more sporting than the buggers in their shorts, sweaty vests, and bulging mid-riffs. They all feel they have balanced it well….what? a beer can on the right thigh?

But guess what? Some people hate weekends. Yes, they really, surely do!!!!! 

They feel that weekends make life topsy – turvy! Tun their lives upside down…..As weekends keep them away from work! (must not be working a single day of their lives if they love it so much) …… Aaaaah , now here’s the tricky one…..from people they would like to be with all the time. 

Happy weekend folks. Just make sure it doesn’t turn into a WEAK-END!

FT13

FT13

friggatriskaidekaphobia 

Can anyone say this very fast, five times in a row, without getting their undies in a twist and their tongues cursing the cruel mind?

And what the hell is that? 

Guess what ……. It is simply called fear of Friday the 13th (named after Frigga, the goddess who gave her name to Friday).

And Guess what again?  Today is Friday the 13^th…..!  The day I chose to start CrocodileDhondy.

Strange but true that every year has at least one FT13, and the maximum any year ever had was three. Three times a year shivering as the sun rises, some just refuse to step out of bed, some refuse to light the gas stove ( for all you know it may go booooom) and some refuse to step out of their homes to go to work, or just for a bit of grocery shopping…. Let the darn family starve a bit, one day of no sausages and cheese won’t make them skinny will it?

Even funnier is the way the French look at it. In Paris, you can hire a quatorzieme, or a professional 14th guest, just so that you can remove the so-called bad luck brought by the number 13 as well as Friday the 13th.

But Friday the 13th may not be as unlucky as people think. Strangely a Dutch study in 2008 showed that fewer car accidents, fires and crimes occur on the such “ scary” days. Most likely that superstitious, would-be victims, make an effort to stay out of harm's way.  Shucks, just realised I’ve been stuck to my desk most of the day, and possibly saved some others from a loony driver on the road!

Even the stock market laughs it off, and according to CNBC, the US market has been up 80 times over the past 140 occasions when the 13th of a month landed on a Friday. Now how many shares did we buy today folks?

But we do love to paint all this nice and black don’t we?

Damn, Death and 13….. aaaah!  The best way to scare someone and turn them white! The DEAD-ly associations with the number 13 are the facts that there are 13 stairs leading to the gallows…. the blade of a guillotine falls from a height of 13 feet ……..and the noose used by a hangman has 13 knots.

While in the West mourns the number 13 and considers it unlucky for many people, this is not the case among many Chinese.  Simple maths the Chinese apply: The digit 1 when it is in the position of tens sounds like the word ‘definite’ (shi or 实) in Mandarin and dialects such as Cantonese; while the digit 3 sounds like life, living or birth (生). As a result, 13, which is pronounced as shisan in Mandarin, can mean ‘definitely vibrant’. 
I am not Nav-Loze Lee , and I haven’t done my Masters in the Chinese language from JNU. This came straight off some quick googling that helped get the fright outta me! 

So many buildings just make the 13^th floor disappear….so from the 12^th to the 14^th, you actually tread on thin air…airports have no Gate 13, trains have no compartment 13, and hotels don’t have rooms with the number 13…..! Are we really so obsessed with this number. 

Well the Italians seems to have managed it very simply….just change the bloody date : according to popular Italian culture, Friday the 17th—not the 13th—is considered a day of bad luck. in more ways than one the  Italians generally consider 13 to be a lucky number.

Well my Dad and Uncle were both born on the 13^th, so I’m not complaining, am i?

FT13: Sit back, pour a drink, and enjoy.

Crocodile Dhondy :

Crocodile Dhondy: 

Yes the name stuck when one evening, wearing a stetson, high boots and waist coat, i walked into a fancy dress party..... and introduced myself.
But what was best were the amazing building up of what everyone thought Crocodile Dhondy stood for.

Sharp, witty, ( i wonder if anyone ever found a crocodile snapping at their heels funny) and making a point.
What do i write one, as a part of this blog?
Yes the biggest challenge for any blogger is to continue where he or she started.
A blog a month? A blog a week? A blog a day?
Well here are some amazing facts about crocodiles: and bloggers!!!!

The Crocodile could be more than 21 feet long, ( the largest one ever known to man was 28 feet long..... wonder who went close enough to it to measure it ) and weigh more than 1 tonne: that's 1000 kilos!

Crocodile skin has been seen as one of the finest and best, being soft and durable. In many tribal societies, skin crocodile is used as a symbol of high status. But wait..... don't get excited......only the skin on the belly has these qualities; when you look at the the back skin, it  is covered in bones that reflects arrows, spears and even bullets!  So I can be as thick skinned as I want, and get away with almost anything i write here!

A crocodile skin purse can cost $ 15,000. Wowwwwwww...... i wonder how much this bloggers' would fetch!


To "cry crocodile tears" is a common expression which is used for depicting fake sadness. It has its origins in the myth according to which reptiles weep while eating humans. But, believe it or not, crocodiles really do wipe while feasting, but rather due to physiological reasons than remorse.  But no faking here guys..... this will be "real" stuff, and if you can't chew it , just swallow it!


Some populations venerated the crocodiles (like the ancient Egyptians). From some tribes in New Guinea, the crocodile is a totem God........! aaaahhhhhh.....i have hope!

Each crocodile jaw carries 24 sharp teeth meant to grasp and crush, not to chew. That's why they swallow stones that grind the food inside their stomachs  .....The powerful jaws can be extremely delicate, working like pencils, when removing offspring from the nest. Still, beware at the tail: it inflicts powerful blows.   So beware of the sting in the tail....!

How can you make the difference between a crocodile and an alligator? Some of the differences are in the shape of the jaw and the placement of the teeth. Crocodiles can stand sea water. Alligators cannot. Can you really make out? No way!!!! and who cares!!!   But behaviorally, crocodiles are more active and more aggressive than alligators.....That suits me fine. Can't just keep lying there basking in the sun all day , can we?

Crocodiles can swim at 25miles per hour....just with the help of their powerful tail.....yipppeee , so i have a quick get-away built in... land or water, I'm off in a jiffy! 

When crocodiles sit on river banks with their mouths opens, it's not aggression or boredom, or just plain silly! They're trying to cool off as they sweat through their mouths. Now no one ever check me if they find me gaping!

Crocodiles can go several months without eating.... I don't like that bit, do I ?
and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near such a crocodile.... beware!  So feed me, and keep me happy!

Crocodiles display increased aggressiveness during the mating season, which is linked to the monsoon.....and here we all thought the rains would help cool them down a bit...... should i go slow with the blogging during the monsoons? or just let it pour, aggression be damned!

The first crocodiles appeared 240 million years ago, at the same time with the dinosaurs (to which they are related), had less than 1 m (3 ft) in length and ran on two feet! That's why even today, crocodiles have longer hind limbs than fore limbs. The poor Dinosaurs disappeared...... but we carry on!
 
Crocodiles can live up to 80 years!  Not bad ...eh?  

You will have years of blogs to read, to shred, to whip, to laugh, to cry ( and shed those crocodile tears) and to share with those who can take the sweet with the salty!

So what's in a name ....... Crocodile Dhondy is here!