Saturday, April 30, 2011

The New Royal Couple, Kisses, and Ratings!


This is on the lighter side of the Royal Wedding though, of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.  To be honest, I am one of those so called republicans who question the very continuance of monarchy in this day and age whether in Britain or elsewhere and yet drawn to the occassion perhaps due to the very nature of it and the unfolding of history before your eyes, decided to watch the event, albeit intermittently on live television.  What caught my attention invariably was the  detailed analysis of some of the commentators  conveniently rating those flushes and kisses of the newly wedded couple.  "Prince William and Catherine apparently indulged in two kisses which blew over nearly two billion people that are watching the event on live television," says one analyst.  All the superlatives have been thrown into it such as, "one of the greatest kisses of all times," or "one of the most famous kisses of all times."  While CNN's Anderson Cooper rates the first at 6 and second at 8 out of 10; British-born Piers Morgan is more liberal towards the royal couple rating the first at 8 and the second at 10.  Uh! how do you rate a kiss though, especially when you are not a party to it?  Wait a minute, the first one scored a mere six, which means just pass or a fail per Royal Standards?  What does this mean to the royal couple?  Well, if Sheril Kirshenbaum of University of Texas is to be believed, fifty-nine percent of men and 66 percent of women say they have ended a budding relationship because of a bad kiss. Let's not jump to any conclusions just yet!

Saturday, April 2, 2011

A "Gambhir-India" Lifts Cricket World Cup

Mission Accomplished!
Kudos to team India!! The gem of an innings played by Gautham Gambhir (meaning 'serious' in Sanskrit) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni drove home the hosts in lifting the most coveted possession of the cricketing world, ICC cricket world cup beating Sri Lanka by six wickets in the finals. After 28 years of title drought, Indian cricket fans celebrated this win out in the streets with much pomp and joy.  Kudos to Indians who have once again proved they are the Number One in the world and the Champions of World Cricket. The true class of world's most pwerful batting lineup was in full display as nearly two billion people across the globe watched the event on live television. The hosts put up a near clinical performance while chasing a not-so-easy total of 274 in a crunch game like this one, the final of the world cup and in the process they not only smashed few bats as the ball is smacked over the rope, but also proved most illustrious of the 'cricket pundits' wrong, the so called orthodox Australian pundits whose gut feelings always sided with Sri Lanka.