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The Day of Goof Ups at the Day 1 of FIFA WORLD CUP Brazil, (and it was late night for us!)

by Tina Basu
written by Tina Basu

So who all watched the opening ceremony? Here, in India things were difficult for the viewers. As if the wait for the opening ceremony and match was not enough that Sony Six [the official broadcasters of FIFA WC in India] decided to torture us with their mindless antics and analysis (was there any analysis). Gaurav Kapoor this is not IPL or any other desi tournament and that girl who ever that is, don’t come from tomorrow and spare us please. Sony Six tried extremely hard to put us off to sleep and before things went worse the opening ceremony did start. 


Did I say worse? What was that JLo & Pitbull? Lip Syncing and not even dong that right! And what exactly was Pitbull wearing (under his pants!!!). I expected a Rio Carnival (and why shouldn’t I, after all it’s Brazil) but had to digest some tablos and people in weird costumes – why exactly were they dressed as trees and plants and flowers or insects or whatever?? No one knows. Thank god it didn’t go on for hours (if that was India it could go on for hours) or else I would have definitely slept.   

Worst performance ever…

Why exactly did we have them?

Was way way better
Believe me Johannesburg you were so much better, Shakira take a bow you were far far better with your Wakka Wakka [I still listen to it, and it also reminds me of the jungle tribal dance we girls used to do in our PG]. From the song only a certain P&G will be happy for free publicity of their product – remember Ole Ole …Olay Olay…

Anyways let’s get to the match experience, I love the fact that almost the entire stadium well 99.99% was radiating in the bright Yellow color and yeah Croatia you did have some supporters – some specks of red in a field of yellow sunflowers!!!

Marcelo – it’s okay buddy, shit happens, and sometimes it happens at wrong places on wrong days. But still you managed to create your own world record of first ever own goal by Brazil in WC history!!! Oouch… I did swear at you at that time – and I am sure millions of other Brazil supports would have but it’s okay now that Neymar came to the rescue. But how exactly do you digest this – Brazil hosting World Cup, Brazil is one of the favorites, first match of the world cup, 11 minutes into the match and you score an own goal!!! I couldn’t for sometime till Neymar added his golden touch. God save Scolari, I bet his blood pressure was dancing on top of his head with that self goal!!


hahhahaha…

We were all busy predicting on number of goals and who will score. I told my friend 4-2 and yes I am not quite wrong on Brazil’s part – they did score 4 goal’s. Marcelo just forgot to kick on the other side of the park!!! And Croatia – I had set too much expectations… it’s okay to succumb sometimes. 😉

But the best blow came this morning when I was driving to work – still sleepy from last night’s football hangover  – the radio presenter conveniently declared and denounced how Neymar scored the self goal and blah blah blah and said she will blabber more on her new found knowledge of football and some more blah blah. For some moments I din’t know if I should call up and tell her who exactly Neymar Jr is and what exactly he did! Well people did call/communicate to rectify. She also mentioned Afghanistan had qualified for the world cup!!!! I am falling off my chair in disgust!! According to the RJ the only two countries to qualify from Asia were – Japan & Afghanistan!!!!! :O

That’s how you feel when you listen to all this!!
Madam only to make it clear to you there are three from Asia – Japan, Korea Republic & Iran – I don’t know where you get your facts from, but definitely you are not reading the newspapers at least.  I wonder what will happen when the private radio channels are allowed to broadcast news in India!!!!!
But hold your guns people, that’s not all, you should have listened to what some people had to say. Apparently this radio station had done some random survey and asked random people about the FIFA WC and who their favourites were – some answered INDIA….. [now blank expression on my face, I don’t know how to react!] If you are laughing your ass off then read what they said,

“India is my favourite team, I love football and I want India to win this time”!!!!!!

“India has won the cricket world cup, T20 World Cup and now should win the Football World Cup this year”

One madam said, Indian football team is great and she was pretty sure India will bring the world cup home this time.


On that note I can’t write anymore, it’s all goof ups all the way.

Okay I am watching Spain & Netherlands tonight and might watch Mexico vs Cameroon too. Which all matches are you watching to day/night?

Leave a comment below and let me know. Spread some more Football Fever.


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A Girl can be Foot Ball crazy as well – A post for those men who like stereotypes

by Tina Basu
written by Tina Basu

Okay honestly all those FB updates and Whats App forwards ridiculing the wife/girlfriend for not knowing the charm of FIFA or football is getting on my nerves now. People let’s stop being so stereo typical. There are several – millions of girls who are equally excited about football and yes even in India [included the person who is writing this].

So this is how the message goes,

My dear Wifey,
The FIFA World Cup is close by. Let me give you a few rules that will preserve your beauty.
1. The remote control belongs to me for the whole month.
2. Tell all your friends not to give birth or wed or die or wateva during the World Cup coz we won’t go.
3. You support the teams that i support.
4. No talking during the game, wait for half-time or end of the game.


5. Repeats & highlights are as good as the main match, so am gonna watch them..
6. We can watch STAR PLUS Provided actors and actresses are wearing soccer jerseys and they are
in.Brazil.
7. U don’t just pass in front of the TV if am watching soccer, u better crawl on the floor.
8. Make sure you don’t ask silly questions such as; is this Man U versus England?
9. No funny faces to my friends when they come for soccer.
10. Smile every time EXCEPT when my team is losing
11.There shall be no comments about Cristiano Ronaldo’s looks. Professionalism shall remain an
absolute part of the WC.
12.If you miss the line up please don’t ask, ‘who is that guy?’ 

13. Ronaldo the Brazilian and Ronaldo the Portuguese are not related,
India and Chandigarh and Punjab did not qualify, and there is a 8 and a half hour difference between
Brasilia/Rio Time and Chandigarh, So, No stupid questions, please… about India or about why they play in the middle of our nights..
Thank you,
GENTLEMEN’S ASSOCIATION. Not applicable to guys like me with own TVs, and who don’t watch serials and Indian News Channels, anyway… !!!

I seriously took offence to this one –  “ Make sure you don’t ask silly questions such as; is this Man U versus England?”

What nonsense – For God’s Sake, you men, do you really consider women so dumb – go get your brains and eyes checked.

For once and for all these doesn’t happen at our household ATLEAST. There isn’t a single FIFA WC match that I have or even my mom has missed till date. Yeah now that’s the perk of hailing from the city of Kolkata which is a football crazy city in this cricket crazy nation. Well that doesn’t mean I am not crazy about cricket – I am super crazy about cricket and the God of cricket. And so am I [but in a lesser intensity] about football which includes English Premier League, Euro Cup and of course FIFA WC. There isn’t too much left in the Indian scenario so I don’t follow them.

So which team am I going crazy about this WC??? Actually two this time (actually most of the time it has been two), so this year I am rooting for Brazil of course and Argentina – Argies you have great great potential so ALL THE BEST. It’s not like that I have always rooted for these two teams, I usually go mad about Germany because of my love for that country (mainly) and some of the great players – 2002 was all for Mr. Oliver Kahn. Well me and my mom both were cheering for Germany I remember. I do have some soft spot for Italia. Did you ask me why? Of course for the handsome men first and then everything else!! Hahaha… yeah true Italy I love you. So it has been all adrenalin and endorphins that get me excited more than any other technicalities. This is apart from teams like Brazil, Argentina & England.



But this time it’s all Brazil all the well along with Argentina. I mean they have Neymar at Forward and that’s awesome, when you have a Hulk in your team you don’t need too many other stuffs… so Braziiiilllll la la la la la la la la….la la la la la la la la… Brazil [does it remind of a certain music band named Venga Boyz?? They are suddenly remembered lately for this very track]

Now I am waiting for the opening ceremony and want it to start ASAP and then we have Braziiiiilllllll yay yay yay!!! Gearing up for a month long of late nights and sleepy eyes at work.. but I am not complaining…. 

And yes people enjoy the carnival, go mad but do not under estimate the power of a common ‘wo’man!

Can we have the ceremony start early – I am not too keen in watching John Abraham now Sony Six!!I want JLO & PitBull plzzzz. Though I liked Shakira’s Wakka Wakka more. Let’s teleport to Sao Paulo ASAP. 

P.S. I want to get jerseys, [cheap ones – I don’t want to buy from Nike showroom plz]. So if any one of you know where to get them around Domlur, Koramangala, Madivala, Electronic City in Bangalore please let me know. 

ohh it has started!!!


Leave a comment below if you feel the same. And if you a girl who’s crazy about #FIFAWORLDCUP definitely leave your thoughts.
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Fiction & WritingFive Sentence FIctionMicro Fiction

Five Sentence Fiction – I Wish

by Tina Basu
written by Tina Basu

I love all these prompts that come in the inbox. It challenges you to think and I love that. I have not been writing for Lillie’s prompt for sometime because I was not writing at all!! 

But I just got the mail so thought of cooking up a fiction before I forget or be too lazy and delay and eventually not do it in time! Hahah… how lazy I am. Anyways let’s get into work and here is the Five Sentence Fiction.


You can read my previous short fictions here and in case you like 55Fictions then check out here.
I WISH
Elsa was having her lunch alone that day, she deliberately skipped the cafeteria and went out for a walk by the waterfront.

She liked the soothing breeze brushing against her face as she sat down on a wooden bench… the water ahead was calm and peaceful, unlike how she felt at the moment.

Elsa wanted to be alone, she didn’t want anyone else to be around, she had many unanswered questions in mind and she didn’t want anyone to probe her on the impending divorce.

While searching for the answers in her heart, she spotted two little girls playing tic-tac-toe at the corner, they looked so full of life, so radiant, so innocent…. so unaware of any tensions of life.

‘Sometimes I wish I was a kid again, those tension free days… only if all wishes became true’, thought Elsa as she gave a smile to those kids.    

Source: www.bestsayingsquotes.com

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This post is for Lillie McFerrin Writes Five Sentence Fiction. It’s not actually an entry because the linkly is already closed. Word theme for the current week is WISHES.
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    Lillie McFerrin Writes

Leave a comment below you liked this short fiction and if you want me to write some more. Your words mean a lot to me. 


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Fiction & WritingFive Sentence FIctionMicro Fiction

Five Sentence Fiction – Hard Decision

by Tina Basu
written by Tina Basu
I have missed writing flash fiction in this one month slumber. I went through a lot of mails which had various prompts and links for various blogs, now that I am again back in a writing mood, I am thinking of going back to them. I may not be able to link them back to the sites [since all linklies would have closed by now], but nonetheless I would at least fulfill my appetite for the flash fiction for the time being.

So you will see a series of flash fictions in the blog, till I arrange and organize my posts day wise.

Here you go a five sentence fiction today.

Read my previous Short Fictions here.


Hard Decision

Amanda knocked and went inside her boss’s cabin, she dreaded he might get fired today, she knew it in her heart she was not performing well.

“Mr. Cooper I know what you are going to tell me, but before that I wanted to assure you I will meet the sales figures this month even if I have to work extra hours” spoke Amanda with a deep voice.

“Amanda dear, calm down, it’s not what you think… you are a young achiever and have performed well all throughout… your numbers in this quarter are not the numbers of Amanda Mitchell… is everything all right, is there anything I can help you with?”

Amanda found these words comforting from the otherwise stern and demanding boss, she discussed about work at length, but avoided what pained her the most, she still was not ready… still had not decided.

She came back to her desk and opened the top pull out drawer… the sight of the small little stone made her eyes moist… her marriage was not working, she couldn’t take his violence any more, she was shattered inside and it was affecting everything around her… she picked up her wedding ring and thought, was it time to walk out?
  
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This post is for Lillie McFerrin Writes Five Sentence Fiction. It’s not actually an entry because the linkly is already closed. Word theme for the current week is MARRIAGE.
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                                                            Lillie McFerrin Writes

Leave a comment below on what you think she should do? Also let me know if you liked this short fiction and if you want me to write some more. Your words mean a lot to me.


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What is it with the rains & power cut?

by Tina Basu
written by Tina Basu
Photo courtesy: Rohit Rath via Flickr.com
Are you enjoying the rains in Bangalore? Yes, the city is having a bout of shower almost every single day. I was dreading the IPL finals could be washed away but it didn’t rain that day. The rain gods also wanted to see who will win Veer or Zaara or their selfless love will prevail! But hey, Veer and his team had a ‘summersault-isious’ win and we didn’t have a drop of rain that day. I am particularly loving the morning cloudy weathers which Bangalore is famous for, the weather that makes you snooze your alarm little more, the weather that makes you curl up in your quilt for 5 more minutes. Thank god I’m not in school anymore nor have any morning classes! I would have bunked the classes anyway in this weather. I love this cozy weather that this city gives. This time it was late but nonetheless at least it is here now.  What else are you enjoying along with the rains? I’ll tell you some that I am noticing lately.

Yesterday it was a long day at work. It started pouring 6 pm onwards and I was thinking to starting little late to avoid the unmovable static traffic that you get in this city during the peak hours and when it rains then you have to just forget about it. They are no longer traffic jams they are like traffic stones (rather traffic boulders), when cars don’t move traffic lights don’t work and so on.

When it was 10 I knew I had to start or I might not leave at all! My drive now is 20 kms a side so it’s a long drive anyways. I was looking forward for a peaceful drive back home through empty roads in the rain. So 10 PM is supposedly quite late and people should be back home, finish dinner, spend time with family and yes it was. The cars and traffic were missing from the roads – and so were the streetlights! The long 20 km stretch from Old Airport Road to Electronic City was absolutely dark with not single street light working. You name it and it was dark – Inner Ring Road, Koramangala, Madivala, Silk Board and even the 11 km long Electronic City flyover!! How can the BBMP/BDA be so irresponsible with this I have no idea.

Rains and traffic in Bangalore are inseparable, and so are rains and power cuts. We don’t quite get that side of the story much due to the power back-up systems that you have in the high rises these days, but get to see it when you are travelling through a locality. Am I to believe there were genuine load shedding happening in all these areas at the same time?

Can you imagine a long expressway without lights where the minimum speed in which people drive is 80 kmph [I am telling you this figure in a lower side!]?? And you have cars with their blinding headlights in high beam driving down from the other side.

Then you have these elements who are funny enough to drive with their parking lights on! What is that? It only makes me laugh to see such jokers on road. Did I mention road?? Well there are some parts of the city [not some, many] where you see little roads sprinkled amidst potholes and craters.


But still, if you enjoy driving then there’s nothing better than empty roads and wonderful rains. I loved my 30 mins of happiness in the day and Mr. Figo doesn’t disappoint me ever [Not so far]. By the time I was back home and checked my FB there were at least 30 status updates from friends complaining about power cuts every time it rains. Are we slowly turning like UP? [well only in the power cut way]

This is how we want our roads Mr. Siddu
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Book ReviewReviews

Book Review: The Agony of Love by Neilay Khasnabish

by Tina Basu
written by Tina Basu
Hello people… long time no? Yeah I was taking a break after the month long challenge… What all did I do last month – had some good time with my mother in law who was visiting us, hosted some parties at home, went shopping, went for some trips and have been following the elections and rejoicing our new PM. So naturally didn’t quite update the blog. So all of May I made merry now on June 1 I am back to my blogs. I know I am weird but that’s how I am!!

But now that I have sat down to write, I am thinking of listing down what all I want to write – there are some book reviews which are coming up, there will be some travel posts also and I will continue with the short fictions. Good enough? I hope they are.

This post is going to be on a long pending book review of a romance fiction – The Agony of Love by Neilay Khasnabish. This young author had sent me the book some time back and I was (am still) in a mood for some romance genre so this was the perfect one for the moods.

So let’s see how this one was.


The Story

Young Srijan Ghose lands up in Delhi looking for a job. He falls for the beautiful Priyam Majumdar, a DU student, who stays in the neighborhood. She inspires Srijan to find that hidden quality in him and he pens down his maiden poetry ‘Fragrance’ as a tribute to her beauty. While the family wants him to take up a job in Guwahati, Srijan wants to be with Priyam and decides against it. The decision is not taken positively by his brother with whom he was staying in Delhi.

Thrown away from the house he finds a job at a store as a salesman and continues writing poetries. It takes strange turns when he gets kidnapped, tortured and threatened to lose his life if he didn’t leave Priyam and Delhi.
But his only aim is make his love for Priyam work.

My Thoughts

Well aren’t the love stories all same – boy, girl, family, and then the end? Well this one goes in a similar line but thankfully there’s a thrill element as well, with the kidnapping of the protagonist. The author must be a close observer of nature or a poet himself to give us such descriptions of nature, flower birds et all.

My only complaint would be the editing and proof reading too. I am finding these things lately in several books. Sometimes when you do not do a good proof reading you end up with a character being called by two names which confuses the readers.

The writing style is good with simple vocabulary, the author has made good use of metaphors and I liked the part where historical incidents are described. And also the snippet of the book says “This story in the guise of fiction is the offshoot of firsthand experience of life” so quite an adventure.

Ohh one more thing – I don’t always comment on the cover of a book because I don’t judge them with it but I quite liked the cover of this one. It’s cute.

The Author

This is the debut novel by this young author. Currently, he is settled in Bangalore, and working as a Research Engineer. His scientific and creative writings were published in ‘The Assam Tribune’, ‘The Sentinel’, ‘Asomiya Khabor’, ‘Bigyan Jeuti’, ‘Unish Kuri’, and ‘Sonajhuri’. He has published a number of research papers in reputed journals. Now he is working on his second novel on the backdrop of Kaziranga [This info is from Good Reads]

My Rating 3/5 It’s an okay one time read

Book – The Agony of Love
Author – Neilay Khasnabish
Genre – Romance
Publisher – Leadstart Publishing
Published in – 2013
Format – Paperback
ISBN 13 – 978-9383562220
ISBN 10 – 9383562226
Pages – 175
Price – INR 145
Available on Amazon(available at INR 138) Flipkartetc
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This book was sent by the author. These are entirely my own views and I try not to be biased while reviewing.
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