The Comic Project

I was searching for some stuff about the good old Indrajal Comics characters for a long time. Stumbled on The Comic Project. There are scanned versions of the comics put up on the site. Right from Mandrake, Phantom to a very underrated character Rip Kirby , of whom I was a big fan in my younger years.

Obviously the image quality is not that great, what with it being scanned and all, but an effort worth appreciating , methinks. Anybody who grew up on these , will definitely find it worth visiting. Please check it out here .

"The Wonder Years" , indeed!!!

Well time for some nostalgia people. Managed to catch the first 3 seasons of "The Wonder Years" , last month, courtesy the big PIG . Back in my school days the series used to come on Star,and sadly school times made sure I never caught it on TV. But I did manage to watch the series now and It was refreshing to say the least. Venturing off the topic a bit, does the series still come on Star World or Zee Cafe?

Anyways,coming back , I think The Wonder Years is an authentic look back into adolesence, where we saw young Kevin Arnold explore the world of friendship, hate,denial and love. I think it just has the perfect depiction of life as a young teenager. The hardships with school, friends,elder sibling troubles, and the childhood sweetheart; these are all realistic struggles and very easy to identify with, add to that a series of family values and life long lessons and surely , we have a winner here!!!!

Even though it depicts the typical American family of the late 60's , the isuues touched are timeless and easily identifiable for us here in India. I simply loved the depictions of the "growing up" Kevin and his interactions with his mom/dad. You might almost say "That happened to me too" at some point in every episode.

In the day and age of reality/"new" and "improved" programs, where channels are really cashing in on peoples emotions directly and indirectly, for me The Wonder Years probably gives the best depiction of the "real" world through an adolesent's eyes.

"Growing up happens in a heartbeat. One day you're in diapers, next you're gone. But the memories of childhood stay with you for the long haul." Amen!!

"Vinda" boli

I don't know how many of u guys have watched "Nakshatranche Dene" on Alpha TV Marathi. For people genuinely interested in listening some great compositions of Marathi poets/authors you should not miss the show.

Today happened to catch the recitals from Vinda Karandikar himself , on the show. I am quite at a loss of words to express the versatality this great has shown through his works.I think he might be possibly the most fearless poet, he has touched so many issues, themes and really is not averse to experimenting.

There was a particular recital of a poem he composed during the "Sanyukta Maharashtra" struggle on the death of a 103 people. There was a line that went something like ".... and the land for which u laid ur lives will not forget u!!" Quickly adding the line "That is unfortunately the most stupidest line i've ever written" and the continued the recital. A quick jab at the current generation.

Visibly full of emotions he said the struggle was still not over, obviously refferring to the Belgaum, Karwar issue.

I really wonder how relevant "Sanyukt Maharashtra" struggle is for my generation. I agree people have died and killed. Blood has been spilled. But then ultimately we are all Indians, rt? What difference does it make if Belgaum is in Karnataka? I guess people living in Belgaum will have a different opinion. For them it's the issue if their existense. I mean as I write this, I know I will never be able to convince my dad(who by the way has spent a considerable part of his life there) to change his stance on Belgaum. But sometimes I think it makes sense to just let go and not open old wounds.

It has to be said that the Karnataka Governments over the years have really stiffled the populace there, and 50 years could not stop the discontent.Still clashes on this issue take place there. Recently when all the local bodies in Belgaum made a collective call to cede to Maharashtra, the Belgaum Corporation was dissolved. Such oppressive steps only makes things worse.

I hope the issue is sorted out NOW , mainly because Congress is ruling/part of the ruling in Maharashtra,Centre and Karnataka. If it is not , well it is another BLOT on the Congress as far as I am concerned.

After incessently rambling on I wonder how from Nakshatranche Dene , I landed up on this. . But I am glad I did as I managed to blog on this issue, finally.

Warney ,at it again

The Kangaroos have trashed the Proteas 2-0. To be fair to the South Africans they really played some competitive cricket and the scoreline might not reflect the effort.


Pre match verbals were flying thick and fast , and who else but 'Hollywood' taking charge about the Aussie side. Warney, predictably stated that he was going get the Proteas again, attacking Smith's captaincy. The Juatin Kemp incident in the Perth test was rather funny. Warne gave Kemp a big verbal blast when he found out that Kemp was just not pickin him. "They are called Leg Breaks...",he said,"Leggg Breaks??" and for good measure, "Daryll???" obviously referring to Warney's favourite bunny, Daryll Cullinan.All said and done ,it would be fair to say that this time around the Proteas actually handled Warne well, both on and off the field.

During this period he also made some pertinent points here and here. mainly regarding the fact that he has not taken many wickets against Bangladesh and Zim. Obviously he was targetting Murali this time around, who has taken 34+ 89 wickets against the above mentioned teams. Arjuna Ranatunga in turn blasted Shane here . I actually think Warne made a fair enough point, because wickets against better teams are obviously more dear to any bowler.

In Murali's defence , he plays the schedule which his Board decides, and really playing which team ii not a choice thing. The Aussies always rest their seniors against the weaker teams, something Sri Lankans have not done. And also Murali does not have the quality pace attack of the Aussies on his side.
Murali also raised an important point against Warne. Shane has really struggled against the Indians, who are the best players of spin. In fact that, for me personally , remains the only "blot" (if u will), on Shane's record. In comparison though Murali has done slightly better against the Indians.

Wonder what 'Hollywood' has to say to this.

Trust Warney to come up something, always!!!

Is this right???

Had the extreme misfortune of travelling in a PMT bus  , the other day.  The bus was one of the "new" ones and decent, but SMALL. I mean on a route which has so many passengers, why would u make the size of the bus smaller. At least increase the frequency if not anything more. But that's not even the point.   Now there is a new law, wherein the entire left side of the bus is reserved for women. Yup you read it right, the ENTIRE left side of the bus.  The bus pretty much got full on the 2nd stop itself. There was a vacant seat in the women's section.An old man, sat  on the seat. Some women then took objection about this , and the poor guy had to stand,   I am actually acquainted with the PMT and its whims , as I was entirely at the mercy of the 24 No Bus  for the first 2 years of my Engineering. I don't remember a single time, when I was in the bus , and a lady carrying a child, old people were not offered a seat. In fact invariably people gave them place to sit.  I really am not a supporter of reservations at all. I mean here we talk of equaltiy of sexes, and then we give them reserved seats, + they can totally make themselves comfortable in the "mens" part. Talk about Woman's Lib!!!