Gimme a Hell Yeah..!!

Yo Fellas! Had to come out of hibernation to bid adieu to what has been yet another topsy turvy ride full of drramaaa...... love...... action..... emmotions..... and whatever you can ask for in a George Lucas epic series and a YashRaj candyfloss alike. 2K5, in the footsteps of its predecessors, continued to beckon all and sundry to give a housefull & thunderous performance, the memoirs of which only to be obliterated by the succeeding blockbuster (Read 2006).

So, who were the movers n shakers for the year ending today, to whose tunes n charms, we shook our booties, what were the news that made us sit up n take notice, what were the no-news but all nonsense at which we had to sit up n take notice, and what was IT for which, the past 365 days n a few hours deserve a few minutes of my self proclaimed literary insanity :D Let's peek-a-boo into retrospective -- in no chronological order of course --

To start off with some smiles, we had our very own Calcutta boy L.N.Mittal toppling the fortune charts worldwide and coming within an arm's disctance to Mr. Gates. He positioned himself as the 2nd richest guy in the world and consolidated his steel empire to become the largest steel manufacturer of the world. That was some news.. Baby! Now what we want from him in the year ahead apart from his lavish parties in europe and swank palaces next to the Queen's, is some hard cash investment in his homeland and payback to the soil. Are you there Mr. Mittal?




Coming to the sports front, where a lot happened to cheer about for India, my pick of the year was Arjun Atwal. Another Very own Cal guy (aren't we makin it a habit of rocking ... guys!). The caddie turned pro stormed the USPGA Tour and emerged as the top putter! With the likes of Vijay Singh, Tiger Woods, Daniel Chopra etcetra around, that speaks volumes for the lad's talent.




Next in queue is the queen of all the hearts, whose magical display, both on n off the court set the news headlines every other day. Her cracking forehands catapulted her to the 31st rank in Women's Tennis and her hemline and unabashed comments on pre-marital sex gave a few worthless morons job for a few days. Great guns Sania... We expect a lot form you.

Another goodie for Indian Sports lovers came in the form of NK becoming the first Indian F1 driver. Had he not been as arrogant as he was (on and off the track again), we could have seen him this year too. But better may lie in future for him.



On the global front, and personally my biggest disappointment was the fall of the GOD .... not permanently though. We all know what mettel this
bloke is made of and his goodbye year 2006's gonna have noone but him crowned again to prove beyond all doubts -- WHO RULES THE CURCUIT.



In a year when what everyone wanted last, was to be caught politically incorrect in whatever they did, (unpolitical figures included) we had our full share of scandolous events and goofy deeds. The one which strikes is the most recent one where 11+7 Honoured (pun intended) Members of our Sacred parliament were caught red-handed on a spycam, frugally greasing their palms for something as unthinkable as asking custom questions in the house. Where have we brought our democracy man.. The Bhagat Singhs n the Gandhis must be hiding in the heavens (or wherever they are)!

India as an economy continued to march ahead (as in behind China though :P), with displacing US of A as the 2nd most sought after FDI destinnation in an AT Kearney Survey. That should boost some confidence into our junta to step into the new year with a belief of living up to their aspirations and emerge as a proud society.

We also had more than a few tragedies this year, with the earthquake in POK and JK topping the charts with Mumbai Deluge being a close second. As a result we had Hollywood Stars flying down (See Pic) and Govt. making yet another bunch of never-to-be-implemented-promises of improving the infrastructure.

The hooplahs which flattered to deceive can't be listed without the mother-of-'em-all --
The Ganguly-Greg Saga, the follow-ups to which left a taint in Indian Cricket which can not be matched by any other shame. Next could-be-smaller story was that of Big B on the stretcher. We all knwo he's THE GOD..but gimme a break... Dont ya guys think the man deserves a life.. I mean there can't be scoops on deathbed! can there be!

Well... lots about duniya .. On a personal front too i'v had an eventful year. And with the revival of Open Space happening also this year , yours truly gets a chance to manifest a few of 'em. Gettin into my current job (the orientation, a.k.a the incubator, sucked though), learning how to write code (still learning how to write good code), meeting up with new fellas, and having a blaaaast@work.... Man if there's anything next to fun@skool, its work@123. Always on the prowl for greener pastures though, none of us can deny the fact that whatever we are, are coz of this otherwise catle of monotony.

And for me, the personal highlight of the year has been laughters and more laughters and more n more laughters... Courtesy The great Indian laughter Challenge . With a break from the ever crying sitcoms,we finally had a respite in the form of the flambuoyant Sidhu n ever-fresh Shekhar, in the company of scintillating Perizaad.
The high points of the year included the TOI editorials by NR Narayn Murthy and APJ Abdul Kalam. With such visionaries showing you the first light of the day, getting inspired is just a matter of time. And what better thoughts to end the old year and start a new, than our Prez's these lines ----

Dream, Dream and Dream.
For, dreams give rise to thoughts,
Thoughts give
rise to actions.
And actions maketh a man.
So, only if you dream enough,
you'll be able to turn those into reality.

So, Hail 2006 and dream enough. Wish all of you a Very Exciting and Prosperous New Year!

Cheers... n GIMME A HELL YEAH ... Hic :P