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Showing posts from 2016

Year-End Special: Top 30 Bollywood songs of 2016

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Hello all! As this year comes to an end, here's reviving my blog yet again to write the usual year-end posts; it is indeed a personal "ritual" I do not want to lose, and these posts are usually among the most popular ones on my blog. So why change a winning formula, right? The first one of the year-end posts will be my pick for what I deem to be the best Bollywood songs of the year. And wow, this has been yet another great year for Hindi music generally! Thus it was obviously a rather difficult list to compile, as it is every year - I am indeed expecting some feedback on the lines of "Why did you leave out THIS song?" and the likes. This list is based on my personal choices, but I'm hoping you will enjoy it. I have featured a playlist at the bottom including all these songs mentioned in the list. Here we go!

Cricket: The unstoppable force that is Virat Kohli - stats summary (as of 22 November 2016)

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Note: this blog post was written and published prior to the 3rd India-England Test at Mohali, and excludes his performances in the IPL and other similar T20 tournaments This year may have been terrible in many ways for a lot of us, but I'm sure Virat Kohli isn't complaining. He has indeed had a fantastic 2016, and the numbers speak for themselves! The reason why I'm writing this post is because I was just very curious about what the numbers have to say about Kohli's nearly perfect 2016 and his career in general. So I went on looking online for the various statistics, and they were SO phenomenal. Moreover, from looking up his 2016 success online, I ended up getting stats about his career itself, and my jaw kept dropping even lower and lower every single time. So I thought to myself "Why not just share these thoughts I have on Kohli's career thus far in a post on my good ol' blog?" I have not published many cricket-related posts on the blog off l

Music Review: Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (2016)

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(The link to the soundtrack jukebox is featured at the end of this post) Review Alizeh features really good vocals from Arijit Singh, Ash King and Shashwat Singh, and an interesting church song-like arrangement. Beyond that it doesn't impress all that much, but it remains a decent melodious listen. Cutie Pie is a goofy song with whacky lyrics, but it is effective. Sung by Nakash Aziz and Pradeep Singh Sran, his voice goes really well the mood of the song. The song having a nice Punjabi flavor to it boasts of an extremely catchy beat. One would think a song which features the line "breakup song" over and over again may be a bit too much, but The Breakup Song actually works as a song. Jonita Gandhi brings it to life with her powerhouse vocals, and does a great job to match the energy of Arijit Singh's voice. The rap by Badshah is also a nice inclusion in this one. Featuring a really nice element of rock with some really good use of guitar, Bul

SK Article Excerpt: Why MS Dhoni must not be put under pressure ahead of the 4th ODI against New Zealand

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The man who has given India numerous victories with his captaincy. The man who has re-written the rulebook of wicket-keeping. The best ever finisher in world cricket. The coolest mind of the game. All these claims and titles go along with results and records for the Indian cricket team. Despite all of the various elements described above, there is no doubt that MS Dhoni is a man who is an easy target for haters. (contd.) Read the full article here: http://www.sportskeeda.com/cricket/thoughts-from-a-dhoni-fan-on-why-he-should-not-be-put-under-pressure-ahead-of-the-4th-odi (Originally posted on Sportskeeda on 25 October 2016)

SK Article Excerpt: Realisations of a Swiss Indian fan after PV Sindhu’s inspiring performance at Rio 2016

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After waking up from my afternoon nap, I open up my phone and see various posts on my Facebook News Feed saying "PV Sindhu playing Carolina Marin LIVE in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games - follow the updates here". I think to myself: "Wow, what a relief! Woke up RIGHT in time to watch the Badminton final. Would have kicked myself hard if I missed that". To give you a little bit of background, I am a 20-something Swiss Indian, i.e. a guy of Indian origin having been born fully raised and educated in Geneva. Having had parents who have always been diehard fans of cricket, I have been the typical cricket addict, despite living in a region obviously dominated by football fanatics. I also occasionally follow tennis, for obvious Federer reasons. (contd.) Read the full article here :  http://www.sportskeeda.com/badminton/realizations-swiss-indian-fan-after-pv-sindhus-inspiring-performance-rio-2016 (Originally posted on Sportskeeda on 20 August 2016)

Lifeblog: On living "efficiently" and persistence (October 2016)

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So here I am... listening to the soundtrack of Luke Cage (Season 1), looking at the calendar, and telling myself: "Wow... half of October is done already? That leaves me with two and a half months before 2016 ends." I sigh, give myself some really quick pep talk in my head for 5-10 seconds, and carry on with what I was wanting to work on on the good ol' reliable laptop. I get this feeling that 2016 has not been a really good year for a lot of people... and I really hope that you, the one reading this post, do not fall under this category of people. If so, I'm really happy for you, and I really hope the year ends in a similar manner for you. But this is for those who have also had a difficult year, and who feel like they haven't done as well as they would have wanted to. Here's the good news: it's still not all that bad! Enjoy the read :-) (Click on Continue Reading or Read More, to proceed to the full post)

Music Review: Baar Baar Dekho (2016)

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(The link to the soundtrack jukebox, along with the soundtrack credits, are featured at the end of this post) Review Pakistani singer Bilal Saeed's Khair Mangdi which was originally composed in 2011 by himself and Dr. Zeus gets re-used for this soundtrack (re-christened Teri Khair Mangdi ). A small sidenote: this track will appeal to the British Asian music lovers - as this was a viral track there. Lovely track, but doesn't score many points in my assessment since it's not an original composition in this soundtrack. Kaala Chashma is a cool and interesting take on the Punjabi dance number by Amar Arshi from the 2000s. As mentioned above, this one would also be well-appreciated by the British Asian listeners, for the same reasons. However it does better, as Badshah's rap portions are very catchy and effective, and Neha Kakkar's inclusion works. Unlike in a lot of other songs with Badshah, this time the rap portion doesn't sound like it was forcefully

Assessing India's chances for the World T20 2016

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The World T20 is here! And it's IN India! The first round of matches played between the "smaller teams" just got over. Keeping aside the rain which played spoilsport, the matches were really entertaining, with Bangladesh qualifying to India's group, and Afghanistan going to to the other one. Now that the main games are about to take place, Team India will be in the spotlight, and I'm hoping there will not be too much of pressure on them, since they have been called "favorites" by many, and they are the hosts. But why would not there be so much of confidence in this side? The Asia Cup recently got over, and India are in GREAT form, as they were crowned "Asian Champions". This has been a great start to 2016 on the whole, especially after facing a 4-1 loss to Australia in the ODI series. But ever since that 5th ODI, India have been on top, whitewashing Australia in the 3 T20Is which followed. The question remains: can India lift the World Cup

Lifeblog: Back in the Swiss hometown, and the road ahead

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Hello one and all! Hope you all had a great start to 2016, as we are already at the halfway mark of February! And for those who have not had an easy start to the year (like me), here's an awesome meme that might just cheer you up: The big news to begin this post with, is that I'm back in Geneva since last month. Now for those who have read my previous Lifeblog posts (and I thank you for that!), you may be wondering: "Wait, how is he back in Geneva? Didn't he mention he was really happy in Bangalore?" And almost all the Indian family friends who are meeting me after a long time are asking me: "So you didn't like it in Bangalore?" (which is, of course, a normal assumption to make, for most cases) So, for the record, to settle it for once and for all: NO, there was nothing wrong with Bangalore, or my life there - and I was indeed VERY happy there! I still stand by all the statements I had made, about "loving my lifestyle in Bangalore&quo