6 Sixes Of Yuvraj Singh in 20-20

The left-hander smashed six sixes in an over off fast bowler Stuart Broad to become the first player to achieve the feat in the shortest form of cricket.

IT was amazing match indeed between England and India in the Twenty 20. Just before the over, there was on-field between Yuvraj Singh and Andrew Flintoff. It is just like Flintoff spurred Yuvraj Singh to hit the six sixes in an over. Also one of the sixes went up to 105m which is the longest six ever hit. And also he broke the record of fastest 50 in a match. He scored 50 runs in only 12 balls.

His 14-ball 58 saw India beat England by 18 runs and keep their hopes of making it to the semi-finals alive. England also played good in the second inning. Peterson and Collingwood tried to make the match more interesting. But unfortunately they lost the two important wickets and India won by 18 runs.

Most of the cricket fans would watch the match but if any of cricket lover missed the great six sixes by Yuvaraj Singh, then I just want to share the video of six sixes by Yuvraj from the youtube.

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows"

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" is the seventh book in the "Harry Potter" series by J. K. Rowling. After having read the book, the answer seems to be a mixture of "yes" and "no" - yes, the hero prevails and evil is vanquished as expected; no, the resolution as it plays out cannot really be called satisfactory. At least as of now, this book is supposed to be the final book in this series. So it was natural for me to wonder before picking it up whether it would provide a closure and a satisfactory resolution for this saga.

Unlike the previous books, the action in this book starts right away and the author more or less keeps the pace throughout (except for some boring pages describing the preparations for a marriage and perhaps too prolonged a description of the camping efforts of our heroes while on the run). It was a gripping read for me almost all the way through.

The book has quite a bit of violence and several deaths. In fact there are some seemingly-gratuitous deaths as well. As the characters have aged, their thoughts and dialogues have matured. As their circumstances have become worse, the narrative has also become darker. What started off as a series of books for children can no longer be called that.

For a plot that the author says has been forming in her head for several years, it has several glaring holes that become difficult to overlook. As has been the pattern in the previous books in this series, the heroes overcome seemingly-insurmountable hurdles through some very convenient and contrived turn of events. For example, the sword of Gryffindor becomes available to our heroes through some very contrived twists in the plot that is not even explained satisfactorily anywhere in the rest of the book. As another example, magical objects like wands or snitches that had one set of properties in the previous books suddenly acquire new and very convenient properties in this book that just happen to solve a particularly vexing problem facing our heroes.

The "Harry Potter" series certainly makes for an interesting read, but the tale could perhaps have been told in fewer books and with a tighter plot without losing its charm. Granted that you have to willingly suspend disbelief to enjoy such fantasies, but even within that world there has to be a certain logical consistency for you to be able to sustain that joy.

Of course, capturing the collective imagination of children and adults alike and sustaining it over the course of ten years and about 3,500 pages is no small feat. Hats off to Joanne Rowling for pulling it off.

MY MOST MEMORABLE TOUR OF PACHMARI -Queen of Satpura

I went Pachmari with my class mates in march-2008. Hills and hill stations always attract me so we make plan to visit pachmari We reached Bhopal from pune and stayed there for a day. On that Day we a visited Bhojpur. Bhojpur is famous for remains of its magnificent Shiva Temple and cyclopean dam. The temple is called Bhojeshwar Temple. It has one of the largest Shiv-lingam in India. On the second day, we took a taxi from Bhopal and started our journey towards Pachmarhi.

Pachmarhi is situated in the State of Madhya Pradesh and is in Satpur Range of hills. It is 210 Kilometers from the State Capital Bhopal. It is situated on the south side of Madya Pradesh State. Nearest Rail head is Pipariya, which is on the Mumbai Howrah mainline and just 47 kilometers away. Pachmarhi is also connected by road by regular bus service, originating from Bohal, Hoshangabad, Nagpur and Pipariya. It can be visited through out the season. It is at the altitude of 1100 meters above sea level. Its temperature ranges between 14.9 degree Celsius to 25 degree Celsius.

It is Madhya Pradesh's most fascinating jewel, a place where nature has found exquisite expression in myriad enchanting ways. Abundant Greenery embrace the hills and the gentle murmur of flowing water and water falls can be heard everywhere.Bhimbetka (A World heritage site for rock paintings) and Madhai. Madhai is located on the foot hills of Satpura and part of the Bori-Satpura National Park. You can do Jungle safari here on elephant back. It's a very interesting place in the Jungle outset and a off the beaten trek. It's a less travelled route and had a place to stay. You got to cross a river on motor boats for Jungle safari and can also visit the tribal village around.

This is just my opinion, 3-4 days in Pachmarhi are sufficient. If you are planning a vacation for 5-6 days you can really do a lot in Satpura range. Some of the places of tourist interest here are:-

* Satpura National Park
* Rajat Prapat (Silver Fall)
* Bees Fall
* Pandav Caves
* Gupt Mahadev
* Chauragarh (Shiv Devotees come here in huge numbers during Mahashivratri)
* Dhupgarh (The highest peak of the Satpuras and Madhya Pradesh)
* Handi Kho (Deep Valley)
* Priyadarshini
* Apsara Falls
* Jatashanker
* Saunderkund
* Big Fall
* Duchess Fall

Tare Zameen Par - EVERY CHILD IS SPECIAL

Directed by Amir Khan - these words set high hopes in me. Having got an opportunity to watch it in the big screen with my dear friend without worrying about entertaining my 2 year old (thanks, B!) , I instantly grabbed it. I came out of the theatre extremely contented - having done what I love to do - watch quality movies in theatre,especially Indian movies and enjoy every moment of it.

It is a very different theme - it is about a third grader Ishaan who is suffering from Dyslexia .Typical Indian father does not try to find out what is causing his son to fail in 3rd grade repetitively and forces him to go to boarding school. The boy is creative and can do excellent paintings, but this not viewed as of any use to practical life by the dad. Looks like mom is nice, but is helpless because Ishaan is not showing any signs of improvement in studies. Ishan stops expressing his feelings totally and becomes a quiet loner in the new boarding school.

Art sir Amir Khan enters the school, he spots Ishaan and recognizes the symptoms right away - having gone through all the pain Ishaan is going through, in his own life. How he turns Ishaan around emotionally and academically is the rest of the story.

Plus Points of the movie
1.Excellent direction by Amir
2.Excellent acting by the boy ( I would give credit to Aamir also for this for envisioning and crafting this character )
3.Music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy compliments the story so very well. This is how music and songs should be.
4.Lyrics are so beautiful and have expressed the boy's feelings accurately.

Scenes that made special impact
1.Ishan's shudder when the car door closes when he is dropped off to boarding.
2.Amir's meeting with Ishan's family and the dialogue about how the boy disguises his incomptence in the form of naughtiness and how even that outlet got crushed in the boarding school.
3.Amir's lecture on geniuses who had learning difficulties and the name he privately mentions to Ishaan ...'ek aur hai jo itna famous nahin hai..' and you think he is going to say Ishaan and he says Nikumbh...
4.The shot when the painting Amir made is revealed - I could not control my tears.
5.When Ishaan wins the first prize, how he comes and hugs Amir..it was moving, to say the least.
6. All the communication from the boy to Nikumb is poetic.

Negatives:
1.Why does not Ishaan tell the parents that 'akshar naach rahe hain' seriously? I mean, he is old enough to describe the symptoms, isn't he?
2.After a point in the first half, it felt like the movie is dragging, ok, come to the point, that is what we want to say then!

Issues like this are small and can be forgiven completely - because the movie conveys the intended message quite beautifully! A must see!

Indian Wresteling Got New Heights in BEIJING Olympics 2008

Wrestler Sushil Kumar and boxer Vijender Singh, who had won bronze medals in their respective categories, returned home in the wee hours of morning. Both were given a rousing welcome at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport.

Besides their family members, a host of sports administrators, thousands of fans and friends had gathered at the Airport to receive them with beating drums, garlands and banners.

Sushil Kumar won the medal in the men's 66 kg freestyle category, defeating Leonid Speiridonov of Kazakhistan. He became the second Indian wrestler after 56 years to bag a bronze medal. Earlier, Khashaba Jadhav of Karad, Maharashtra, had won an individual bronze in the Helsinki Olympics in 1952.

Vijender Kumar became the first-ever Indian boxer to win an Olympic medal. His performance also boosted India's medal tally in Beijing Olympics to three, after shooter Abhinav Bindra won gold in 10m air rifle event and wrestler Sushil Kumar bagged bronze.


Today, both Sushil and Vijender are scheduled to meet Union Sports Minister MS Gill, President Pratibha Patil, Vice President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.

Arriving by the same flight were officials of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), including its president Suresh Kalmadi, secretary general Randhir Singh along with members of the contingent who finished their events in the second week of the Games.

India won three medals at the Beijing Olympics, their best ever performance at the Summer Games. Earlier, in 1928, India had only won four individual medals, none of them gold, since sending their first team to the Summer Games.

The men's hockey team has won the Olympic tournament eight times. Last time it won gold was in 1980.
Source

Abhinav Bindra made us all proud.

India clinched its first ever individual Olympic gold medal in 108 years when Abhinav Bindra won the 10 meter air rifle event in one of the most pulsating shooting finals in the history of the world's biggest sporting extravaganza.

The historic victory for the 25-year-old pro from Chandigarh came against heavy odds as he entered the event ranked number 17 in the world and pitted against Athens Olympic champion Zhu Qinan of China and Henri Hakkinen of Finland rated much higher than him. But Bindra proved that reputation and history counted little as he overcame a two-point deficit against Zhu and Haikkinen after the qualifying round and annexed the title.

Bindra emerged triumphant in the 10-shot final with a finish of 104.5, taking his tally of points to 700.5 as against Zhu's silver winning performance of 699.7 (597+102.7) and 699.4 (598+101.4) by Hakkinen, which gave the Finn Army marksman the bronze.

His first shot of the final a 10.7 saw him move to the third place and by the time he was preparing to shoot his fourth, the Indian had risen to the second spot. A 10.6 on his seventh attempt earned Bindra the lead and in the deciding shot he got 10.8, way ahead of 10.5 by the Chinese and 9.7 by the Finn to bring India the first ever gold medal by an individual since the country first participated in Olympics in 1900.

After winning Gold Madel He said

"It can't better than this. Can it?" an elated but composed Bindra said soon after achieving the feat.

"I sincerely hope my medal changes the face of India's Olympic sports, For me, life will go on as usual but I sincerely hope Olympic sports get a leg-up. It's not a priority back home and I hope more focus is paid to these events like shooting,"

"I entered the final as fourth, which means I had to go all out for it. That's why I was so aggressive and it paid off in the end. I guess it was my day,"

"My parents, family and coaches stood by me all along and I owe it to them,"

Even in his hour of supreme glory, Bindra was magnanimous towards his rival when he applauded Zhu for his performance and said "he should be happy that he won a medal". Bindra's compatriot Gagan Narang too almost made it to the final but was ruled out on countback. Gagan scored 595, levelled at the fifth place but lost out on a final place in countback

Nothing is IMPOSSIBLE Michael Phelps Proved it

Michael Phelps went a perfect 8-for-8 in Beijing, breaking Mark Spitz's single-Games record for gold medals. He swam 17 times over nine days and broke the world record in four of his five individual swims. His three relay teams also set world marks.

In his first final, on Aug. 10, Phelps won the 400m IM in 4:03.86, more than a second faster than the record he set a month earlier at Olympic Trials. The next day, Phelps and the U.S. team squeaked out a win in the 4x100m freestyle relay. Phelps' leadoff leg of 47.51 was an American record, but anchor Jason Lezak dove in with more than a half-second deficit. Lezak posted the fastest relay split in history, 46.06, to catch Frenchman Alain Bernard for the win, by just .08 of a second.

Phelps easily won the 200m free, for his third gold in Beijing and his record-tying ninth career gold. But he wasn't tied for long, as the next morning, Phelps won two more gold medals: first, in the 200m butterfly, where the race was tighter than expected. But the only race in the 4x200m freestyle relay was for second, as the U.S. men, with Phelps leading off, broke the record by more than four seconds and beat the field by more than five. Phelps won his sixth gold with a dominating performance in the 200m IM, lowering his world record to 1:54.23, but his seventh gold was by the absolute slimmest of margins, .01 in the 100m butterfly. Phelps appeared to trail Milorad Cavic but his half stroke beat out Cavic's glide to the wall by a nail.

Phelps swam the butterfly leg of the 4x100m medley relay in the final event of the Beijing Olympic swimming competition. He left the blocks with his team third but gave the lead to Jason Lezak, who closed out the victory.

Golden guy

Phelps won seven gold medals (200m free, 100m fly, 200m fly, 200m IM, 400m IM, 4x100m free and 4x200m free) and set five world records (200m free, 200m fly, 200m IM, 400m IM and 4x200m free) in one of the most dominant swimming performances ever at the 2007 Worlds. All of the individual event world records that Phelps broke were his own, except for the 200m freestyle, where he shattered Ian Thorpe's mark from 2001. Phelps shaved .2 of a second off Thorpe's time and won the race by almost 2.5 seconds.

Following his sisters to the pool, Phelps began swimming at age 7 when he joined North Baltimore Aquatic Club. He met Bowman four years later, and Bowman immediately recognized his ability. "There was nothing holding him back, at that time or now," Bowman said. "I felt that when I saw him as a younger swimmer, that he had limitless potential." Bowman even met with Phelps' parents when he was 12, explaining that he could potentially make the Olympics in 2000 and even set 2004 and 2008 as targets.