Eleven Men and One Ball

What is it about men and football! This obsession amongst our men folk has baffled me! I used to subscibe to the traditional women's contention- "What fun is it watching 11 grown up men run after 1 ball!!"

That was till last sunday. 

My husband is a complete football fanatic!- that is a gross understatement actually.. in fact i think he is possessed slave of the gods of football! His loyalties are to Arsenal- for me, a nicely named team of red-shirted players with a coach whose name has an umbilical cord like connection to the team name!(Arsene W). 

Anyway, there was this FA cup semifinal on TV this sunday between Arsenal and Chelsea. We have an unspoken and unwritten agreement when it comes to football matches- he gets to watch all his Arsenal matches at whatever times without a fight for the remote as long as I get to watch whatever I want at othertimes. But this sunday i wasn't exactly happy about surrendering my powers on the remote. Still a promise made, is a promise kept. So i sat there, rather gruppily, slouched on the sofa.. forced into watching the match, for i had nothing else to do. 

Now i have never actually watched a football match from start to finish.. But this time, i was hooked!.. the match was actually captivating especially if have a side to support. It was a duel betwen the strengths of opponents- a test of power and mindplay. The emotions were palpable.One moment, you would cheer for your player when he nears the goal to shoot and the next moment, raise your hands up over a missed oppurtunity. What more, you never have comercials interuppting the play session! like in cricket! Also the commentary is fast-paced, not the usual small talk they make like in cricket.

My husband quickly filled me in on the rules of the game as it rolled on- and come to think of it, when you actually understand the sport, it makes great entertainment!.I guess, i was always in the dark about football, since women don't exactly "play" football in school/college..its regarded as a male sport for the most part. Unlike tennis/hockey/badminton.. women really haven't percolated into football in a big way- part of the reason that women turn their noses up at their partners wanting to catch the match!

Anyway, Arsenal lost the match 1-2, despite my husband swearing by his lucky Arsenal jersey and dribbling an imaginery ball  with his feet, like his gods on TV! But the larger point- it was a great fight to watch.. although Arsenal seemed sloppy at some point.

And for my final message- for all women folk- watch football!..its definitely more entertaining than those ridiculous soap operas or staged reality shows!..In fact Football Rocks!

Debate the Future

Looks like I can get over writing about news and news channels!.. but .. hey!.. for someone sitting at home all day.. thats a major part of my life (read: i have a pathetic life!)..

Anyway.. was watching this debate on TV yesterday.. which had three speakers.. one each from the Congress, Left and BJP. And as expected the debate hardly touched on the core issues and challenges we faced these days. The Congress spokesperson called the BJP a "divisive party that will spread hatred amongst society" and the BJP retaliated by calling the Congress "pseudo secular"! And likewise they traded shots on terrorism and internal security. When BJP brought out  the mumbai attack story.. the congress harped on the Kandahar issue. Needless to say, the Leftist speaker was hardly given any soundbytes!.. expect ocasionally to play third umpire or showcase his neutrality on the issue. 

It depressing to watch quality TV time being wasted away in child-like fights. When are our leaders going to realize that people couldn't care less if Sonia Gandhi is of foreign origins or whether Varun Gandhi's speech tapes were doctored or not or if we have a dual power center in our country's top brass !.. All we want is RESULTS !.. not inflated promises/ harebrain schemes/ nonsencical debates.

Why do our politicians only talk the language of the past? Why don't they talk about the FUTURE? What are their plans for reform of the economy/police force/ electoral process? How do they intend to improve literacy and health status of the population? Why don't we have 2 leaders face off over these issues ? Let us hear what ideas they have to bring about these changes? And they should not get away by making empty schemes that are both impractical and expensive (eg. Rs 2/kg rice). They should be grilled into how they intend to finance their schemes also.

The media for the large part is allowing the politicians to get away with loose talk when it can play a larger role. Even on bigwig media channels debates are centered on absolute bull shit!

I was mildly apeased when Rahul Gandhi in a press conferance brought out this fact- "forget the past. lets talk about the future" he said. But on the same day, his own party spokesperson went on about "we did this-this-this when we were in government, now the BJP when in government did that-that-that.. so since "that" is worse than "this".. congress is right and BJP is all crap... blah blah blah..." God save this nation!

Reality bites!

Reality shows.. they are all over TV..and they can become quite a addiction. It took me a while to get a hang for these shows (im always a late starter- be it fashion/techno etc). But of late, outside of the news channels (which in a way are 24 X 7 reality dramas), i've become addicted to them. Be it, the fifth season running MTV Roadies or the ever popular Amazing Race..they make the best watch on TV.You get so involved in the going-ons. The sillier they get.. the more we love them. Of course we snigger at the rules, roll our eyes over the cat-fights, ridicule the quality of some tasks..but in the end.. the show goes on..and the channel is never changed. These guys have learnt the formula for successful TV entertainment. Its much better watching the guy-next-door contestant flex muscle or the average Indian women have their verbal duels (like the many that are played out on the streets everyday) than watch over-dressed, powdered soap queens get melodramatic. And of course, you wonder if all this is in a way a "staged" show, but who cares as long as the idiot box has managed to shell out its weekly dose of "masala" and "masti", giving you a much needed time out from your routine.