Panchayat Review – A perfect ode to Swades

May 1, 2020 by Keyur Seta 1 Comment

‘Real India lies in villages’ is something we have heard numerous times. It is quite incredible to see the huge difference in lifestyle between a metropolitan city and a small village. At numerous places, these villages are based just 100 kilomers away from a big city but appear like a different country altogether.

Deepak Kumar Mishra’s web-series Panchayat, which is streaming on Amazon Prime Video, tries building a connect between urban and rural India through the character of Abhishek Tripathi (Jitendra Kumar). After not scoring well in his exams, he is forced to take up the government job of a secretary in the village Phulera in Uttar Pradesh. He hates taking up this job but is encouraged by his best friend Prateek (Biswapati Sarkar).

Abhishek gets a culture shock once he lands in the village. The small accommodation, open toilets to nagging co-workers and villagers are enough for him to abhor this place as soon as he lands there. On top of that, he has to deal with the not-so-interesting work of a secretary. How long will Abhishek hang in there?

There’s a certain degree of likeability in Jitendra Kumar when he feels frustrated and helpless because of any reason. As the series progresses, we get to see different shades and emotions of the character. Much before the series ends you get convinced that he is a perfect fit for this role.

Panchayat is filled with a number of other prominent characters as well. Manju Devi (Neena Gupta) is the actual Pradhan [village head] of Phulera. As there was reservation for female candidates during the last elections, her husband Brij Bhushan Dubey (Raghuvir Yadav) makes her fight for the election. Although she wins, the task of the Pradhan is carried out by Dubey.

Yadav once again gives a reminder that he should get a place in the list of the best character artistes from India. As per his habit, he gives another example of how should one live and breathe a character. But as he is always seen in the village office, you wonder why they signed someone like Neena Gupta for such a small role. However, she gets her moments in the last episode where she outperforms others.

Panchayat looks at different incidents in the tenure of Abhishek Tripathi through a wide range of conflicts with each being explored in every episode. The incidents are a perfect mix of being interesting, moving and, of course, humorous. The series is a result of a fine piece of writing, which is clearly its biggest plus point. We have seen how a village setting offers plenty of scope for humour because of the lifestyle over there and the characters. The makers have made full use of it.

Also read: The Family Man Review

As the episodes go by one after the other, Abhishek slowly starts developing an unusual bond with the villagers and the village itself. Though he might not show it, it’s pretty evident. A moment which stands out is the one where Dubey and others decide to hold a simple party for Abhishek after they realize how lonely he is feeling in the village. Thankfully, a forceful love story isn’t used as a troupe here.

Surprisingly, there’s no negative point here. There are a couple of incidents which might not appear as appealing as many others. But they certainly don’t fall in the minuses zone whatsoever.

Along with the content and the characters, the other major reason why one falls in love with Panchayat is because of the location of Abhishek’s home-cum-office and its surroundings, including the high water tank. There’s something about it which makes you eager to visit it.

We had felt the same after watching Ashutosh Gowariker’s Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Swades (2004), which is considered a classic by many. Panchayat is a perfect ode to the film. Going by how the makers have included a couple of references of Swades, it seems that giving tribute to the film might be their intention too.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Director: Deepak Kumar Mishra

Producers: TVF (The Viral Factory)

Cast: Jitendra Kumar, Raghuvir Yadav, Neena Gupta, Chandan Roy, Faisal Malik, Biswapati Sarkar

Writers: Chandan Kumar

Review: The Family Man

April 26, 2020 by Keyur Seta 1 Comment

Stories about secret agents have become a favourite topic over the years in Hindi content. This has been seen in films like Ek Tha Tiger, Agent Vinod, Madras Cafe, Baby, Phantom, RAW, etc. The idea has been explored in the web-series space as well in the recent works like Bard Of Blood, Special OPS, etc.

But director duo Raj and DK’s The Family Man, which is on Prime Video, is not just another secret agent saga because it throws equal light on a secret agent’s private life which gets heavily influenced by his professional life.

So, we have Srikant Tiwari (Manoj Bajpayee) who is a secret intelligence agent working for a team called T.A.S.C in Mumbai. He has solved plenty of terror cases with his colleague and best friend JK Talpade (Sharib Hashmi). Zoya (Shreya Dhanwantary) enters their team as an intern. Their team receives flak from their seniors when they are unable to stop a scooter bomb blast at Kala Ghoda.

After some investigation, they get to know of three gaming engineers who are linked with the deadly terror group ISIS. At the same time, Moosa (Neeraj Madhav), a Keralite who had gone to ISIS after being brainwashed, gets caught when he was about to enter his home state. He tries to flee along with his two team members but is caught and badly injured. He is admitted in a hospital where he says he hasn’t killed anyone. Moosa regrets joining the ISIS and is eager to reunite with his mother.

Inside his house, Srikant is like a normal middle-class man. His family, which consists of his wife Suchitra (Priyamani) and two kids, are completely unaware about Srikant’s actual profession. They feel he is into desk work which only involves working with files. Suchitra is not happy with Sri since he is rarely at home and she is forced to look after the kids alone. The kids are also not happy with their father for not being able to give them a better life.

The aforementioned two tracks appear as different as chalk and cheese. But the intelligent screenplay merges the two diverse tracks as naturally as possible. This area wasn’t handled as naturally in Neeraj Pandey’s series Special OPS. Barring the moment when Srikant’s daughter secretly goes to a party, nowhere do the two track appear different. Raj and DK’s deft handling while displaying their quirky humour is also always on display.

Despite the home track, The Family Man is more about Srikant’s professional life. The terror angle isn’t run-of-the-mill stuff and there are quite a few surprises in store. They have deeply gone into the working of terror groups. There are creative liberties taken in the cat-and-mouse game between the bad guys and the good guys but the fast pace and entertaining presentation doesn’t let you think much about it.

A major example of this is a long single take chase and action sequence between the T.A.S.C team and a group of three college students.

Moosa The Family Man — Neeraj Madhav as Moosa

The show takes us to places like Kashmir, Syria, PoK (Pakistan occupied Kashmir), Pakistan, Balochistan, etc. The choice of locations, rich production design and the VFX bring every location alive and gives the series an international feel.

Manoj Bajpayee is one of the finest actors in the country. He is flawless here too. The artiste adapts to different moods and emotions of his character with utmost ease. Sharib Hashmi shows his goodness here as well. These two actors have shown that even people working for the intelligence can be just like any other working employees.

Also read: An Open Letter to Arvind Kejriwal

Neeraj Madhav, as Moosa, comes out as a surprise. He is a phenomenal actor with wide range of skills. The series has a number of other impressive acts from Priyamani, the two kids, Shreya Dhanwantary, Darshan Kumar, Shadab Ali, Gul Panaag, Kishore Kumar, Dalip Tahil, Sharad Kelkar and a list of negative characters.

The Family Man mostly succeeds in keeping a fine balance between being light-hearted and serious. But this can’t be said about the last episode where things go dark and gory. The idea of not ending the story to facilitate the second season also appears questionable. There could have been at least some closure.

But these points certainly don’t stop you from waiting for the second season.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Director: Raj and DK

Producers: Amazon Studios and D2R Films

Writers: Raj Nidimoru, Krishna DK, Sumar Kumar and Sumit Arora

Cast: Manoj Bajpayee, Sharib Hashmi, Neeraj Madhav, Shreya Dhanwantary, Priyamani, Darshan Kumar

Number of episodes: 10

Platform: Prime Video

Filmi way to look at Sachin Tendulkar’s 200 in ODIs: Birthday Special

April 23, 2020 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

Sachin Tendulkar’s 200 not out against South Africa at Gwalior in 2010 remains one of the biggest highlights of his illustrious career. It was the first time that any batsmen reached a double hundred in one-day internationals (ODIs). On Tendulkar’s 47^th birthday, here’s revisiting the match, which India won by a massive margin of 153 runs, but in a different way.

Today, after 10 years of the knock, I feel it was one of those things that were destined to happen only to him. That fate always wanted Tendulkar to be the first double centurion in ODIs. It appears more so if you look at it like a movie script.

Every story has a protagonist. Here it’s Tendulkar. Every story has an aim. In this one, it is to ensure that he becomes the first batman in the world to score 200 in ODIs. Few conflict elements or obstacles in the path are a must for every story to become interesting.

The first obstacle came back in 1997 when Pakistan’s Saeed Anwar was all set to become the first batsman in the world to achieve the feat in the match against India during India’s Independence Cup. However, he fell short of just six runs when he was dismissed on 194. The man who got his wicket was Tendulkar. The little master would never let anyone else reach the milestone.

Two years later, the protagonist got a chance to reach the aimed number against New Zealand but there weren’t enough overs left. He remained not out on 186.

Also see: Sachin Tendulkar’s 8 best bowling performances

The next conflict came three years later when it looked like Sanath Jayasuriya will easily achieve the feat when he was batting on 189 against India at Sharjah. Sometimes the hero requires timely help from hero ka dost and this time it was Sourav Ganguly who kept the chances of the hero being the first to reach that score high. He got Jayasuriya out stumped.

The protagonist had to wait for nine long years to get another opportunity to reach that score against New Zealand at Christchurch. He surpassed 160 well before 50 overs. It seemed as if it was just a matter of time before Tendulkar would reach 200. Everything was going well and he didn’t look like getting out that day.

But then came a sorrowful plot twist in the form of a stomach muscle injury in the 45^th over. The protagonist had to go back retired hurt and would have to start all over again some day!

Also see: Only time Tendulkar was NOT selected in team India, neither injured nor rested

The drama and uncertainty continued almost a year later when the little big man was nearing 200 again; this time against South Africa at Gwalior. Will he finally? That was a question on people’s minds when it seemed like Mahendra Singh Dhoni wasn’t in the mood to give Tendulkar the strike.

But Tendulkar finally got a chance to face the bowling when he was on 199. As Dale Steyn was running into bowl, one could imagine the flashing images from the past whenever the Little Master couldn’t reach that number due to various reasons. The fateful delivery is finally bowled and the hero quietly takes a single.

That was it! Rejoice!

(If I was well-versed with video editing, I would have made a video out of this. If someone is still willing to do that, please get in touch.)

Post-lockdown things will be very difficult in the education sector, says Atreya Roy

April 18, 2020 by Keyur Seta 1 Comment

The ongoing Coronavirus pandemic has hit had every business in the entire world, right from large scale to small scale. But the one casualty that is not much talked about is the education sector which is also going through similar crisis. I got in touch regarding this with Atreya Roy, a 24-year-old COO (Chief Operating Officer) of Learn4Exam institute in Delhi.

Education sector post Coronavirus lockdown:

He believes that the education sector has severely been affected and online learning is a not a solution as of now. “Students are very much equipped nowadays. They have internet and devices. Government of India advises various institutes to conduct classes online but it’s not possible for all courses. Like I can’t conduct science practical classes online where I have to test in a laboratory,” he said.

Adding further, Atreya Roy said, “Do I have the required instruments where I can teach maths? If I am teaching maths I need to draw a lot of things. This unprepared-ness was something quite exposed during this crisis. Things have been pretty unprecedented. Nobody knew this was coming. From a very normal life we have gone to complete lockdown where you can’t see your friends for a month and a half.”

Book sellers form an important part in the education sector and their market is also come to a halt abruptly. “People who were into reading only books, they can’t purchase it right now. They are forced to take courses online but a lot of people are not ready to take that. Along with students it also makes the educator’s life difficult. According to me, things are going to be very, very difficult,” he said.

Affects on studies during Covid-19 lockdown:

Atreya Roy also believes that it is important that students use this lockdown phase in doing something productive. “There are two kinds of people. One, which are extending their time to Netflix. There would be another scale of people that would be upsclaing themselves. They will research more. They will network more. One category of people would come very hard at other category of people. People need to understand that if they don’t plan for the next few months, their life will be difficult,” he said.

I have come across various students who haven’t been able to concentrate on their studies in the lockdown despite having all the time in the world. They say that the gloomy and uncertain atmosphere around is not helping them concentrate and making them feel fatigued.

Atreya Roy has a piece of advice for them. “I would just say to take this as a challenge. We all gave our 10th and 12th board exams. During this period the last few months have been very tough for us and we didn’t go out that much. Everyone was busy with preparations. A proper planning and methodology will help you come out with flying colours once the period is over,” he said.

Lay-offs and paycuts due to lockdown:

A major serious crisis that has emerged at the lockdown is that a lot of people have lost their jobs while many others are facing paycuts. Speaking about it, Roy said, “I read somewhere that the way the companies treat their employees right now will help them maintain their brand image for the next 10 years.”

But he also believes that one should consider things from the point of view of business. “The companies in the manufacturing sector are almost stagnant right now because they don’t have sales people going out and selling things. Then it becomes very difficult. Like I don’t have funds incoming, I can’t let funds go outside. In countries like US, almost 15 percent of the workforce has been laid off. India is very lucky in that perspective,” he said.

Further rise in demand for government jobs:

Interestingly, Atreya Roy points out that there will be a much bigger demand of government jobs. “There will be constant pressure from your peers and family to look for jobs which are permanent. And in India permanent job means government jobs. So, their entrance exams are going to be difficult,” he said.

Personal journey:

Roy achieved the feat of being appointed as the COO of Learn4Exam by the director of the company Gurpreet Singh last year when he was just 23 years old. After doing his Engineering in Information and Technology, he became a subject matter expert with e-GMAT and has also taught a wide range of students.

Speaking about Learn4Exam, Roy said, “We provide courses that help you crack the different MBA entrance exams that are been conducted in India presently. We provide everything to our students regarding that. Our company was started three years ago. It has a high success rate. We have 100 students out of which we sure 80 of them get placed in the top four colleges of India.”

Roy further tells us that he was pretty much into mathematics since he was kid. “I used to take free classes. I used to teach students from class six to tenth. I once got exposed on Facebook to CAT preparations group, which had 50 to 60 thousand members. People used to post questions and a set of people used to solve,” he said.

This became the starting point of a journey ahead. “I started solving various doubts that people had in their preparations. This was during my second year of graduation. Then I started teaching in various institutes in Kolkata,” said Roy.

Also read:

After just 1 run in first 6 innings, Marvan Atapattu made a historic comeback

Forgotten Cricket Moments: The real Lagaan match at Brabourne Stadium

April 12, 2020 by Keyur Seta 3 Comments

Ashutosh Gowariker’s Lagaan (2001) remains of the most iconic and exciting films to have come out of not just Hindi but Indian cinema. Even after more than 15 years, the Aamir Khan and Gracy Singh-starrer still gets you in extreme tension when Bhuvan is required to hit a six off the last ball, despite you knowing the climax.

Needless to say, the atmosphere inside the theatre was similar to the one we see in cricket stadiums. So one can only imagine what would have happened when the entire Lagaan team played a real cricket match at the iconic Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.

There is a major chance that you might not be aware of this match because, somehow, it never got publicized. More so for those who have recently turned adults or are in their early 20s.

So, Britannia had organized a match between the Lagaan team versus the team of winners of a contest they had run. Hence, the other team was called simply Britannia. I had also taken part but didn’t win. But that didn’t stop me from watching the match in the stadium.

Surprisingly, you didn’t need to spend a rupee for the tickets. All you needed was to submit four packets of their biscuits in exchange for a ticket. I and a friend went to watch after submitting eight. Well, frankly speaking, we wouldn’t have mind to even pay to see the Lagaan team in action.

Interestingly, the match was played on Christmas, a festival which few years down the line was acquired by Aamir to release his films.

Like the on-screen match, the Lagaan team fielded first. I don’t remember who won the toss but it wouldn’t have been exciting if they had batted first. It was a 25-over match where the boundaries were brought in considerably and understandingly so since none of them were professional players. By the way, the entire Lagaan team played in the same costume they had worn in the film.

But instead of 11, both teams had 13 players. The Lagaan team included Gowariker himself and actor Amin Gazi, who played Tipu in the film, to complete a 13-member side.

Team Britannia was bowled out for 96 inside their stipulated 25 overs. We all thought that this would be a cakewalk for team Lagaan but Britannia bowlers had other plans. Team Lagaan kept losing wickets and at one point were seven down with the team still being some way away from the target.

In the end, it was Gowariker and Aamir who saw the team through by scoring 18 and 19 runs respectively. The entire crowd, including me and my friend, was overjoyed and dancing to the song ‘Mitwa.’

Other interesting bit about this match was the star Indian players like Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and Virendra Sehwag switched roles as commentators and umpires. Navjot Singh Sidhu and Maninder Singh were permanent commentators. The commentary played a big role in keeping us entertained.

Aamir Khan Lagaan match — Photo: Tribuneindia.com

But there was another unprecedented excitement after the match. After some great encouragement by my friend, I agreed to climb and jump a wall and land right where the Lagaan team was standing after the match [I still don’t know how he knew the way]. It was a sheer delight to shake hands with few team members, including Aamir. It was also nice to know that he was shorter than me.

But today when I look back at the match after 19 years I wonder if it was staged [read: fixed]. Even if it was, I don’t blame the organizers. Just imagine what a waste it would have been if Lagaan team had lost the match.

Unfortunately, there is no way we can revisit the match to determine that as there is not a single video available. In fact, there are very few news articles as well.

Amitabh Bachchan’s voiceover in the film describes the story as – Yeh kahani itihaas ke panno mein kahin kho gayi [This story has got lost in history].

The same can be said about the real Lagaan match.

Coronavirus: Contact these NGOs for DAILY WAGERS’ welfare

March 29, 2020 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

The deadly Coronavirus has put the entire world into turmoil, including India. The cases and deaths are increasing every day as the country enters the third stage of Covid-19.

But along with those who are affected by Coronavirus, there are lakhs of migrant workers all across India who have lost their jobs overnight after the country went into a lockdown.

Worse, they are forced to migrate to their native places without any means of transport. What is more dangerous is that thousands of people are forced to walk in huge crowds. This has put them under direct threat of being in touch with Coronavirus since social distancing is out of question.

These workers or daily wagers have taken upon themselves to walk hundreds of kilometers to their native. They are short of food supply too.

Coronavirus Daily Wagers — Photo source: IndiaToday.in

As per latest updates, 21 deaths have taken place among the workers who have been travelling on foot. In such a situation, it is of utmost importance to provide them with food and shelter, so that they at least stay alive, along with ensuring that they don’t get exposed to Coronavirus.

Which government or party is to be blamed for this can be thought later. Right now they need immediate relief.

Here is the list of NGOs and organizations who are providing help to the daily wagers:

Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (Delhi)
Contact: 011 2371 2580

Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action (YUVA) (Mumbai)
Contact: 091520 51717

Safa NGO (Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi)
Contact: 9866174665

International Association for Human Values (IAHV) (Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru)
Contact: 9818150404, 9886660006

Hasiru Dala NGO (Bengaluru)
Contact: 097421 12362

Janta Rasoi (Mumbai)
Contact: 093243 71989

Janta Meals (Gurugram)
Contact: 088000 00358

Uday Foundation (Delhi)
Contact: 011 2656 1333

Goonj Foundation (Delhi)
Click HERE to help the daily wagers

Delhi Youth Welfare Assocation (Delhi)
Contact: 011 2702 8090

Ramesh Raman, CEO of IAHV, which is listed above, spoke to us about their efforts. “We are giving away packets of 5 kilo rice, 4 kilo wheat flour, 2 kilo dal, half litre oil and various condiments like pepper, salt, etc,” he said.

He added, “Ten thousand packets have arrived already. We are doing it while tying up with local municipal corporations and other NGOs. We also have ground level volunteers. They will identify the people and take responsibility for the distribution. We did a similar thing during Chennai floods.”

Inside Edge was once Harsha Bhogle’s show

March 22, 2020 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

Over the last few years, Amazon Prime Video’s original show Inside Edge has been a topic of discussion every time its new season comes up with some liking it while some having an opposite opinion.

Starring the likes of Vivek Anand Oberoi, Richa Chadha, Angad Bedi, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Sanjay Suri and a host of others, Inside Edge is based around a cricket league tournament that focuses on what all happens behind the scenes of such glamorous matches.

But for those who started watching cricket in the mid-1990s, like me, the title ‘Inside Edge’ makes us recall something else.

In that era Star Sports and ESPN were the only major television channels showing world cricket. Harsha Bhogle had entered the cricket scenario in that decade. After he slowly started impressing the audience with his commentating skills, ESPN started a sports show called Inside Edge where Bhogle was the host.

Inside Edge was a weekly cricket bulletin show where Bhogle looked back at the significant events that took place in the cricketing world in the week before. Along with international stuff, the show also gave a good footage to India’s domestic cricket. Bhogle also used to interview important cricket personalities from India and abroad.

As I became a huge cricket fan following the 1996 World Cup, I used to follow the game everywhere – newspapers, magazines like Sportstar and, of course, Bhogle’s Inside Edge show. Despite being aware of the cricket happenings of the past week, I still used to make it a point to tune in each week and would watch intently.

Needless to say, I became a great admirer of Bhogle, his commentary and, most importantly, his passion for this game. I remember being taken aback after knowing that the man hasn’t even played domestic cricket.

Mind you, I am not saying this to demean him. In fact, this increased my admiration for him. To see someone who hasn’t played beyond the university level become an international commentator is an incredible achievement.

Also read: Who are Duckworth and Lewis and why ICC adopted their method?

For those not in the know, Bhogle started his career as commentator at the ripe age of just 19 with All India Radio in his hometown, Hyderabad. One of his biggest achievements, which I came to know just now while Googling, is that he became the first Indian commentator to be invited by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation during India’s tour to Australia before the 1992 World Cup.

Coming back to Inside Edge, it is highly surprising that there isn’t a single video footage of the show anywhere on the internet, leave alone an entire episode. In fact, I am also unable to find even a written mention about it after searching on Google.

Maybe Mr Bhogle can help us with that if he reads this article…

England also had a Mark ‘Waugh’ who was of Indian origin

March 7, 2020 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

Mark Waugh, as we all know, is one of the greatest Australian cricketers ever. He remains one of their highest run-scorers who was also useful with the ball as an off spinner. Those who followed cricket in the 1990s would have fond memories of him, especially his stint in the 1996 World Cup.

But there is another Mark Waugh who belongs to Australia’s arch-rivals England. He too was a top order batsman. Read on to know more.

Long, long ago a Maharashtrian family from Mumbai, India relocated to England. They embraced their new country after becoming permanent citizens over there. They had a son who showed great interest in the game of cricket.

The lad pursued his dreams and enrolled for cricket coaching. He started mastering the game with the passing years and ultimately got into the Warwickshire main eleven. He became a regular player for his county following his impressive performances with the bat.

This cricketer is named Mark and his family’s surname is Wagh. Hence, his full name was Mark Wagh.

Interestingly, he was called ‘Mark Waugh’ because the people of England found it almost impossible to pronounce ‘Wagh.’ And Wagh apparently didn’t mind that.

Hence, he was England’s Mark Waugh.

Co-incidentally, I happen to know someone who is related to the Wagh family. I got to know his story from them.

Mark Wagh and Mark Waugh — Photo credits: TheGuardian.com and YouTube screenshot

Funnily, there are also people who address Mark Waugh as Mark Wagh. See below: [Article continued after image]

I have vivid memories of early or mid-2000s of seeing him play 1 or 2 times for Warwickshire on TV. From what all I remember, he was a stylish batsman with impressive technique. Those were the days when county matches were regularly telecast in India.

And I remember even the commentators used to pronounce his name as ‘Mark Waugh.’

Wagh played 212 first class matches and scored 12445 runs with an average of 38.80. He scored 31 hundreds with a highest score of 315 against Middlesex at Lords, the mecca of cricket, in 2001. At that time it was only the fourth triple century at Lords. Jack Hobbs, Percy Holmes and Graham Gooch were the three batsmen to do that before.

Later Wagh’s Warwickshire teammate Nick Knight became the fifth player to achieve the feat in 2004 when he scored 303 not out against Middlsex.

And guess what? Wagh also bowled off-spin and was a useful bowler, just like Waugh. He took exactly 100 wickets in first class matches. He had two 5-wicket hauls with his best performance being 7 for 222 against Lancashire in 2003.

Despite a good first-class record, Wagh couldn’t play for England’s national side. He was included in the preliminary squad for the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy but couldn’t make it to the final team.

In 2006, Wagh migrated to play for Nottinghamshire. He was awarded Player of the Season by the county in 2007.

Wagh took retirement from first class cricket in 2011. Interestingly, he then pursued a career in law. [Read more about him HERE and HERE]

If you look up on the internet, you won’t find much about his life except an interview he gave to Warwickshire’s official portal in 2016.

A quote from the interview reads, “I look back fondly on my cricket career but it all seems a very long time ago. I did play club cricket briefly but no longer even do that. When you work reasonably long hours during the week, it’s a stretch to then play club cricket which takes up one of your days off, pretty much 9am to 9pm.”

Also read:

Only time Tendulkar was NOT selected in team India, neither injured nor rested

Yuvraj Singh’s 3 heroic TEST innings that have been forgotten: See videos

When hearing issues stopped India from winning against England

Book review: Bhoot Bhavish Bartaman

February 24, 2020 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

Bhoot Bhavish Bartaman, the book by author Mehool Parekh, is the latest murder mystery cum detective fictional novel to have come out on Indian book shelves.

Over the years or decades we have been exposed to murder mysteries in various mediums like books, movies, short stories, plays, etc. Hence, a story in this genre needs to be completely convincing in today’s times because of this much exposure.

This holds true for me all the more since I have feasted on plenty of James Hadley Chase novels and read all of Satyajit Ray’s Feluda stories in the past. So, how much impact did debutant author Mehool Parekh’s quirkyly titled Bhoot Bhavish Bartaman have on me? Let’s first find out what it is about.

This is the story of the army man cum detective Bartaman Bhowmick aka Batty, who lives in Pune. He teams up with his female friend Robin to solve criminal cases. They spring into action as soon as they come to know about the gruesome murder of the beautiful Rupali Jadhav in her apartment. She was stabbed as many as 16 times.

The lazy police inspector Lokhande, who doesn’t give a damn about truth, is eager to pin the blame on either Rupali’s husband or servant and close the case in a jiffy. However, Batty and Robin realize that the case isn’t as simple as it looks, much to the frustration of Lokhande.

To come straight to the point, Bhoot Bhavish Bartaman majorly succeeds in keeping you hooked, engaged and interested despite the genre being done to death. This is no mean feat. Of course, it is the basic story that is the most responsible for this. Although you can guess where the story is heading, the finale does take you by surprise. This point alone is enough to make this book worth your time.

An interesting bit about Bhoot Bhavish Bartaman, which is hardly seen in most murder mysteries, is that the victim isn’t shown to be a helpless person who deserves the readers’ sympathy. The author goes on to the bold path by not shying away from giving grey shades to the character of Rupali right from the start of the story. The use of flashback over here is smart which makes the tale more layered.

Parekh’s writing isn’t rich but it is something that the average Indian reader can connect with. He has maintained the balance of being creative but at the same time kept it simple enough for readers from any walk of life to feel comfortable.

Also read: Book Review: Murder In Mahim by Jerry Pinto

Bhoot Bhavish Bartaman also comes with a common negative point. There are incidents that are stretched without need. The book should have ended before 317 pages. Also on a couple of occasions the author has generalized negative behaviour of males and females which should have been avoided as it’s unfair.

Overall: Bhoot Bhavish Bartaman is an interesting murder mystery cum detective saga that leaves you impressed.

Author: Mehool Parekh

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Publishers: Leadstart Publishing

Pages: 317

Additional reading:

Short story: The Orange Garlands Of Bharatpur

An Open Letter to Arvind Kejriwal

February 16, 2020 by Keyur Seta 7 Comments

Dear Mr Arvind Kejriwal,

Firstly, congratulations for winning the Delhi Assembly Elections by a huge margin and becoming the Chief Minister of India’s capital yet again. Another feat you have achieved with this victory is that you have indirectly compelled me to do something I never thought I would – to write an open letter.

I have always admired you for showing guts when it comes to standing up against wrongdoers. But my opinion about you has always hanged between you being the best politician and way better from the lot we have [big difference between both]. But the one thing that has remained constant is that you have always proven me wrong.

I have been observing you ever since Anna Hazare’s India Against Corruption (IAC) movement. Like scores of youngsters, I too took part in it. It was only through this movement that I started taking interest in something like politics out of the blue. Trust me, before 2011 I didn’t even know the meaning of an MP and MLA and also the difference between both.

After nothing much happened due to the agitations and protests, you decided to form a political party in 2012. I completely disagreed with this decision and my interest in the movement started by Anna with able support from you diminished. The fact that Anna himself didn’t support the decision of forming a party was also responsible for this.

But you proved me wrong in 2013 by gaining people’s trust and winning 28 out of the 70 seats in your political debut in the Delhi Assembly Elections. But I again disagreed with your decision of forming the government with the help of Congress MLA’s since your entire IAC movement was against the corruption carried out by the leaders of their party.

But I was still happy to see you Mr Kejriwal at the helm of affairs in Delhi as the CM and appreciated the few decisions you made then. However, your resignation after 51 days came as a blow to a lot of Indians, including me. Then your party’s stint in the 2014 General Elections where you won only four seats despite contesting in the entire country forced me to accept that the new wave of Indian politics has come in danger so soon.

But interestingly, you worked hard to gain people’s trust yet again and bounced back like never before in the 2015 Delhi Assembly Elections. Your party winning 67 out of the 70 seats came as a pleasant shock as no political pundits had predicted such a result.

The result coupled by your period of self-introspection before the elections made me your fan yet again. However, the post-results period of 2015 was when my feelings for you took some beating. The entire controversy regarding Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan following which they quit the party didn’t go down well with me and many others who admired you.

This was followed by your drubbing in the 2017 Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections where you won only 49 out of the 272 seats, which would have come as a shock to you too Mr Kejriwal. This was enough to make me feel that your time is slowly getting over.

From here onwards, surprisingly, we saw a changed Kejriwal. Your harsh and negative criticisms against the Centre and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in particular [‘coward and psychopath’ as you called him], which was a regular feature in the previous few years, was hardly to be seen. I don’t disagree with your views against the BJP or Modi but I just feel that a CM like you should let his work speak.

Fortunately, this is what you and your government in Delhi have been doing since close to last three years. Your turnaround in government schools has been revolutionary to say the least. Your efforts in giving free water and electricity to the Delhi citizens have also been praiseworthy. [I didn’t think much of the Lok Sabha Election results of 2019 as that was mainly contested to choose the Prime Minister for the next five years.]

Following this, your victory in 62 out of the 70 seats in the recent Delhi elections is another proof of how much the people of the city are pleased with your work. And hence, you proved me wrong yet again and I don’t mind this at all.

But this also reminds me of the controversial period that started for you and your party just after the huge 2015 victory. I really hope such a thing isn’t repeated and you continue your good work and show the kind of maturity you have been showing in the last few years.

The reason why I am writing to a politician for the first time is because I have hopes only from you Mr Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party. It was you who made me and many others realize that one should not bury politics under the carpet believing it’s a place only for the crooked and the wicked.

Also read: To choose Gandhi or Godse: Confusion of a Bhakt

More importantly, the stakes are very high this time around. The Right Wing fascism has escalated tremendously in recent months. And I see you as a major force that can stand up to it. As we can see, the Congress party is hardly any force to reckon with now.

I don’t know whether you should now go national as you have better knowledge than me. But my only advice for you would be to look at long-term goals for Delhi and slowly and unhurriedly make your way to the rest of India.

From here on, it is you who will decide the future of Indian politics. So, please take each step carefully.

I hope, for a change, you will prove me right this time. Wishing you all the very best as you start your third term as the CM.

Yours fellow Aam Aadmi,

Keyur Seta

(Additional reading: How Maharashtra leaders made a FOOL of their supporters)