My Top 5: Sportspeople of All Times

#1: Martina Navratilova:

It is a herculean task to enumerate her achievements, but I would make an attempt alright. She's won 18 Grand Slam Singles title, 31 Grand Slam women's doubles titles (an all-time record) and 10 Grand Slam Mixed Doubles titles. She has a record 10 Wimbledon titles, a record she shares with Billie Jean King. She holds the open era record for most Singles titles (167) and most Doubles titles (177). She has the longest winning streak in tennis history (74 matches). All this lead to Billie Jean king calling her "the greatest singles, doubles and mixed doubles player who ever lived."

What Goes For Her: The sheer volume of her achievements. Nobody, and I mean nobody, can ever achieve all that she has. And the more important fact is that she has played with other greats in the game like Steffi Graf, Chris Evert and Billie Jean King and has a neutral to favourable win-loss record against all of them.

What Goes Against Her: Nothing. Martina Navratilova's career has been a perfect fairytale. She is the oldest grandslam winner and the oldest winner of a singles match in tennis. What more?

#2: Mohammad Ali:

Mohammad Ali has been declared "Sportsperson of the Century" several times towards the end of the last century. In terms of victories and achievements, his career may pale in comparision to others in the list. But he scores above everybody else by the sheer number of 'greatest ever' matches that he has had. His bouts with George Foreman ('Rumble in the Jungle') and Joe Frazier ('The Fight of the Century') are the stuff of legend.

What Goes For Him: He is truly a 'legend'. His repeated combacks, his cerebral style of boxing and his iconic status worldwide.

What Goes Against Him:There is little consensus on his name as the greatest heavyweight in boxing history in the boxing fraternity.

#3: Michael Phelps:

When he smashed Mark Spitz's record of seven Olympic medals, what was most notable was the fact that everyone expected him to. That is how dominant Phelps has been been. Even in Athens in 2004, just incase you didn't notice, he won 6 golds and 2 bronzes. He's been awarded the World Swimmer of the Year from 2003-2008 (except 2005) and the American Swimmer of the Year from 2001-2008 (except 2005). He's just three medals from breaking Larissa Latynina's record of most medals in the Olympics, but already has more golds.

What Goes For Him: His dominance had been unchallenged and unrivalled. He is arguably the greatest Olympian of all times, far ahead of Spitz by dint of his longevity.

What Goes Against Him: His conduct in his personal life leaves a lot to be desired. He cannot be called an idol unless his private life too stands is like that of a role-model.

#4: Lance Armstrong:

Lance Armstrong is an icon in every sense of the word. He dominated cycling for seven years, winning the Tour de France for a record-breaking seven times. He was named the Associate Press Male Athlete of the Year in 2002-2005 and ESPN's Best Male Athlete in 2002-2005. But what sets him apart from the rest is his battle, and eventual victory, with testicular cancer. The prognosis wasn't good, but Armstrong never let it affect his performance in the track.

What Goes For Him: His battle with cancer and his complete, unrivalled dominance of the cycling world right until his retirement.

What Goes Against Him:The fact that cycling is, for most parts, not a very popular sport. But it is the sport's fault, not his.

#5: Sachin Tendulkar:

If cricket is a religion in India, then Sachin has got to be the God. You might argue that there are equally talented cricketers like Brian Lara, Sunil Gavaskar, Vivian Richards or even Sir Don Bradman, but Sachin somehow towers above them all. Perhaps it is because he started playing at such a young age and is still playing, and playing well for that matter, today. Perhaps it may also have to do with his off-field conduct, which is impeccable. He is a symbol of cricket in the modern world - being among one of the richest sportspersons of all times.

What Goes For Him: His impeccable off-field conduct, his longevity and most importantly, the fact that he is perhaps a perfect idol. Whenever the word 'cricket' is mentioned in India, perhaps the word 'Sachin' would follow.

What Goes Against Him:The fact that cricket is played by only about a dozen serious nations. Cricket is not an Olympic sport and is played in very few regions, mostly the Commonwealth nations.

The Best of Bollymusic: My Top 5 Romantic songs since 1990

1. Pehla Nasha (Jo Jeeta Woh Sikandar) : I am not a huge fan of romantic songs, but when you hear this song, you just cannot resist its melody. Beautiful lyrics, competent singers and an irresistable melody - this is as close as you can come to perfection. If you haven't heard this song, you have got to be missing something in life.
Lyrics - ****
Melody - *****
Singing - ****
Picturisation - ***



2. Khudaya Khair (Billu) : One of the best romantic songs of late, this one has sweet (though slightly absurd) lyrics and a hummable melody to go with it. It is a terrific feel-good song. The singing, though perhaps lacking somehow, is nevertheless good. I would be shocked if this song is not a contender for one of the music awards this year. Till now, its my song of the year.
Lyrics - ****
Melody - *****
Singing - **
Picturisation - **

3. Tauba Tumhare Yeh Ishaare (Chalte Chalte) : This song never seems to loose its sheen for me. I've been hearing it for such a long time now, but every time I hear it I want to hear more of it. The singing was absolutely amazing - perhaps the romantic song of Abhijeet.
Lyrics - **
Melody - ***
Singing - *****
Picturisation - ***

4. Hum Tum (Hum Tum) : My favourite Rani Mukherji song of all time, I think this song is underrated. Babul Supriyo finally made an indellible mark as a singer. The lyrics are competent, the Rani-Saif chemistry is crackling and the picturisation is good.
Lyrics - ***
Melody - ****
Singing - ****
Picturisation - ***

5. Kuch Na Kaho (Kuch Na Kaho) : A song from one of the most forgettable movies of all time, this song neverthess makes it to my list for its joyful exuberance and its sweet melody. It has a very fresh appeal to it. And the video is great too - frankly, Aishwarya Rai never looked better in this film.
Lyrics - **
Melody - ****
Singing - ****
Picturisation - **

Moral Policing Vs. Vulgarity : Where is the middle path ?

I've been thinking about writing a post titled 'Beware of the MTV culture'. MTV makes violence seem to be ordinary. Alright, you might argue that they condemned the physical violence on Roadies and on Splitsvilla, but why should they show fights and arguments as the "highlights" from the next episode. I like to watch these fights, I must confess. But that does not mean I condone such blatant display of violence. No, the MTV culture must not be allowed to propagate.

Which brings me to my next point. I am NOT engaging in moral policing. What happened in Mangalore is absolutely abominable and I support the Pink-Chaddi campaign (not that I sent Pink Chaddis to Muthalik, but still generally). What happens with Raj Thackeray and the mockery on each Valentine's Day is absolutely condemnable too.

But let me ask you this: When you see couples in Lodhi garden showing a Public Display of Affection (PDA), do you support it? Do you support Akshay Kumar getting unbuttoned on the ramp? I mean, I still think that the person who filed a PIL against Kumar is wanting attention. But I still feel that what Kumar did was not right. I don't want him to apologise. I just want him to know that it was not right. Alright, your brand is called 'unbuttoned', but if you show Kumar unbuttoning on stage, do you mean to say that people who wear that brand of jeans should be unbuttoned? Oh come on, there are better ways to sell your wares than to engage on obscenity.

I have always opposed aping of the west. But unfortunately, that is what mostly happens. Why should we compare Bollywood films to those from Hollywood? Why not judge them on their own merit (or the lack of it, if you ask me)? Does somehow have to speak English the way the Americans or the Britons do? Since we are the largest English-speaking community in the world (or at least second), why should we not have our own distinctive style of English. But you know what, we actually do. We insert expletives (the really dirty Hindi ones) in our English sentences to make it more 'effective'. What is wrong, people? Are we losing faith in our language that we need to put in expletives to make our point more effective?

Perhaps we're already on a path from which there is no return. We're denegerating and there is no escaping it. But every big movement begins with a small step. And so shall a reformation.