"listen up ...u fuck..the only 2 things i got in this world...my balls and' my word..an' i dont break either of 'em....."
Tony Montana.(Scarface)

Scarface...old movie...retro by my standards...wel...retro by everybody's standards...all those who r in their 20's or up...!

Scarface...bang on target in 1983....not anymore...well...those times...these kinda things happened ...well...rite in front of ppl like u & me...not nymore....now its more hush-hush....organised....kept under hi-class...high-confidential wraps..!!but then.....how cn an al pacino movie ever be irrelevant or outta time???no sir..!!its still bang on target..!!specailly that 1 line.."hey...look at me...u all need bad-guys like me..so u can point fingers...look...there goes the bad guy....and wot does it do???it makes u good???no it doesnt make u good..!!"so...he says that we are all the same...so apt...we wannna point fingures and make ppl believe that the bad guy is different...he's everything that we aren't...and vice-versa..!!he' got a point....nails it down like hell...!thats whr it scores...we nvr get tired of our defence mechanisms...thats how we survive....we hide under the carpet..!!thats wot we do..!!nyways....wot we wanna discuss is...whether scarface can ever succeed...can he ever be perfect....and avoid downfall...!??

well...if u look at a guy...well..ask a guy....if he'd like 2 be scarface....8 outta 10 wud say ...hell yeah!!well....cuz its a very guy thing 2 be in control...i dont wanna be a chauvinist....but its there....maybe its because of al pacino...they wanna be like him....they all wanna internalise his arrogance...the swagger....the "i dont give a fuck" attitude...so there..!!

and the best part is...even when we see him getting screwed....loosing all his frnds...all his partners...his woman...his family....his control...his mind....we somehow...dont feel..that..its a bad position to be in...its because...we think..that we can do better...we wont committ the same mistakes that he did...!!we will somehow manage 2 puul oursellves out..we will somehow fix everything up..!!we will somehow be in control and prove better than him..!!well...yeah..maybe...but what we fail to realise...is...that we are watchin him...we are observers...we have the benefit of retrospect...we can analyse things....take our time & manipulate the situations virtually...and think that we can be in control....i donno...maybe its not that easy...its the same wen we are watchin a cricket match and we keep cursing the batsman for not hittin the ball outta the ground everytime...we are observers...so tend to fall into the famous actor-observer trap...thats very human...!!The fact of the matter remains that the life that scarface leads...the path he chooses...is erroneous...it leads to isolation...ruins....self-annihilation...dehumanistaion...!thats what happened to him...and is highly likely to happen to all of us....no matter how composed....& in-control we are...coz we are mortals...humans....we dont always think from our minds...we are the same all-singing...all-dancing crap of the world...as tyler wud say..!!

CRICKET'S DEAD IN ZIMBABWE


watchin the icc champions trophy match between zimbabwe and WI on sunday was such a humiliating experience.!!i know im not from zimbabwe...but then cricket has no boundaries...we are all part of one world...that of cricket..!!but sunday's match....almost drives u to tears...donno why..!!
the same team which had greats like andy flower,grant flower and heath streak....looked ravaged and raped...!!andy left the team in the begining of this unfortunate series of events...starting from the stupid reverse-racist regime of robert mugabe...its a good thing 2 fight against racism...but how justified is it 2 murder art,culture,sports for the sake of ur whimsical political ideologies??
Good ol' andy....nvr the one 2 take injustice and arbitrariness of any form....Andy left..after some black-banded protests...on the field...and with him left all of Zimbabwe cricket's faithful soldiers...an era ended...Andy-the 1-man army who was in the league of such greats as Tendulkar,Lara & Waugh...was gone...cricket in zimbabwe wud never be the same again...!
Then it was Grant...struggling against his form..every 1ce in a while ...he wud make people feel..tht he was leading cricket's resurgence in zimbabwe...but poor form...got the better of him...and reluctantly he left..retiring to a life of anonymity.......!
Then came the death blow...literally...Heath Streak..hope and optimism personified...the large-hearted tuogh-guy of zimbabwe cricket...fast bowler,pinch hitter...someone you could always bank upon as a captain.....Heath desperately wanted to change things...he had hope...he didnt believe in escape..so he took-up captaincy...hoping to steer zimbabwe cricket clear of its current state of chaos,confusion and turmoil.....And he tried....everytime zimbabwe fought back...it was he lead tht fightback...nvr say no!!tht was heath..alone he wud fight....all alone...always leading from the front...hoping tht i day the others wud follow...poor heath...should have known better...it had 2 end...the struggle...the gallantry...the fightback...the sporting arrogance...it had to end...and end it did...
2wards th end...i mean the matches b4 which he retired..Heath looked so tired...so helpless...against a stupid selection policy aiming for an all-black team..!!he looked so sorry......after his gallant attempts to salvage some pride....wen he finally wud give up and walk back 2 th pavilion...every such occasion ...he looked as if he was crying blood...tired...very tired...not of physical exertion....but of helplessness....of hopelessness...as if he was saying sorry 2 cricket....deep humiliation and shame and the agony of team-failiure...burning vividly across his face..!!
it was like watching cricket dying...!!& then...he said no....he realised..he was fighting a lost cause...!!and cricket in zimbabwe took its last deep breath...the last ray of hope...the last flicker....had been put off...extinguished forever...politics won...art failed...defeated...battered...dead!!!
thats how cricket died in zimbabwe..!!
all...so different from Sri-Lanka...which is going through the severest civil crisis....ethnic-strifes,deaths,disorder.....life in Sri-lanka is dying a very painful death...everyday...but Sri-Lankan cricket is glowing...basking in the glory of veteran heavyweights like murali,vaas, jayasuriya and attapattu...and lead by ruthless warriors like sangakkara and jayawardene.....accommodating younsters in its fold.....cricket in sri-lanka is shining..!!
perhaps...the team...with its never-say-die spirit....reflects the mood and spirit of the people...the citizens...who have learned to live life in dire-straits....appear as if they wont give-up....and the cricket team seems to be deriving its fuel from this brave,steely spirit...of the people...!!i think its the sea....the sea with its unpredictabilities and its penchant 4 destruction....carves out stong....steel-hearted people....they have a zest for life and to preserve it....by all means....its not just about survival...its about survival amidst chaos....survival in the middle of hoplessness...eternal gloom...natural disasters wreaking havoc...its about survival & existence with a meaning....!!
this zeal to preserve life...against the forces of death...is what is reflected in the team's brave performances and the dramatic upsets that it pulls-off..!!!
so this...is how civil life affects all forms of popular culure...be it sports,entertainment,art...or anything else..!!
Two entirely different cases...2 poles of an ever-growing continuum....Zimbabwe....and Sri-Lanka..!