Pursuit of Happyness....

I got a chance the other day to see this much acclaimed movie starring Will Smith and his little son.Based on the true story of Chris Gardener who went from being homeless,penniless struggling lower middle class individual to being a celebrated stock broker millionaire,this is an exceptional story of determination and courage against heartless odds.

You might ask,what's so special about this movie?After all,doesn't Hollywood keep churning out these 'feel good' movies by the dozen.Well...the pursuit of happyness is unique in the sense it expertly balances the fine line between poignancy and complete despair.Set in San Francisco of the early eighties,the movie is the life changing story of Chris Gardener who sells arcane bone density scanners for a living.He needs to sell at least two a month to keep paying his bills and feed his family but its been a while since he sold even one.

In the tragic turmoil to make the ends meet,Chris's wife leaves him and as matters just keep getting worse,by a quirk of fate he meets a stockbroker.Now Chris is good with numbers and people and uses his talent to get an internship at the prestigious De Witter stock brokerage firm. But the job doesn't pay for the duration of the internship.At the end of the six months,the firm selects one guy from the group of 20 for a permanent job. Chris stumbles through these six months going from home to hotel to a homeless shelter.But what keeps him going is his dream.As he says to his son "If you have a dream,you gotta protect it" and "if you want something then go get it, period".

Its the quintessential American Dream and Chris often poignantly wonders that when the men who wrote the declaration of independence put that line about 'pursuit of happiness' they only guarnteed the pursuit part of it not neccessarily the end.

Although,you know its all going to work out in the end,its the 'pursuit' that is fascinating.Chris overcomes staggering odds to make it to the top.In his journey to the top of the mountain,Chris shares his positive vision towards life with his son.Years ago,he had experienced growing up without a father.He had promised himself that when he had children they would know who their father was and he lives up to that promise in a fascinating way.

The pursuit of happyness is an immensely inspiring,rewarding movie which showers you with an insane positivity towards life and sure we all need a dose of that from time to time.Now if you are wondering why I've always spelled happyness with a 'y' then you need to watch this movie!.

Gone with the wind!

Yes,that's what happened to India's chances at the world cup.Before the two stinging defeats first at the hands of greenhorns Bangladesh and then old rival Sri Lanka,team India went to the world cup tipped as one of the favourites to win the big one.A batting order littered with 3 stars who have 10k+ runs in ODI's and many upcoming dashers and stroke players,it looked a formidable squad.However,all this was on paper and for all you know the game is not played on paper. In the real world there were several things wrong with the team-it had several aging stars well past their use by date,tired legs which made it a dull fielding unit.The modern game calls for lightning reflexes and an aggressive attitude. India lacked both.

So what went wrong?In hindsight this was a disaster waiting to happen.Too many stars specially not worth their salt anymore always spell trouble.It happened last year to Brazil at the soccer world cup.After the debacle there have been many articles in the media blaming the fans for creating unnecessary pressure on the team. There is a serious flaw in that line of thought.Cricket is at best a game and should be played like one.What is the pressure-just go out and compete-if you win great,if not then what the heck nobody died.Yes,the illiterate mobs in India burning effigies and pelting stones on players houses need to get this into their heads but that cant be the reason for loosing-not by a long shot.Also,if a player representing the country at the highest level cant handle the heat in the kitchen then he better butt out for someone who can.

The media which is the prime culprit here in building and then cashing on the hype is now busy doing what it does best-sensationalize!.Yes...blow this so out of proportion that it starts looking like a national calamity.Embarrassing yes but a national disaster specially for a developing country like India...hello!....its ridiculous.We lost because we were simply not good enough. The hopes and expectations of a billion people simply cannot rest on a game of cricket.

The other thing that media seems to be spinning is the corrupting influences of excess money and endorsements in the game. Since when did money become bad for a sport?The most competitive sports around the world-Soccer,Tennis,Golf,Boxing all are huge money spinners much larger than cricket.Do they not have champions or moments of sporting excellence?Sport needs to move with the times if it has to survive.Hence in my opinion,money should be a motivator not a hindrance in any sport.

The two people I feel bad for are Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar. Both have been outstanding performers for a very long time.Its sad to see Dravid being let down by his team.Sachin looks mentally tired.His problem is the failure to believe that he is not the dominating batsman that he used to be.He needs a break from the game for his own good.I think he should quit ODI's if he wants to play test cricket for a few more years.18 years is a very very long time to play at the highest level.Chappel's methods didn't work and he would get the pink slip.Fair enough,you don't get retained for failure.

Meanwhile life goes on...India will play cricket again and win if it deserves.