Cricketing Nostalgia Edition - Test Cricket of 2002, ODI WC 1999 & beyond

We were in the process of disposing off old items in the house when an old notebook running more than a quarter century caught my attention. I was quite fascinated to see that I had documented handwritten scorecard of all ODI matches played during the 1999 World Cup along with plenty of other notes pertaining mainly towards cricket, a bit of movies and some random scripts.

This was much before the advent of blogging came into existence. I recall around the late 1990s and early 2000s, most homes didn't even have a personal computer and it was only around the early 2000s that internet came into existence with the good old net cracker dial up edition which used to take quite a while to connect.

I had also incidentally penned a summarised version of the year 2002 that played out in test cricket chronicling on the major events that took place during the year. I couldn't beleive it myself that I took the pains to write about test cricket decades back when I was a wily teenager hooked on to the sport in a major way. Also looking at penning scorecards from cricket matches noted down from newspapers brings back a lot of vintage memories.

I am producing verbatim my write up of the year 2002 that was for Test cricket and sharing my hand written documentation of the 1999 ODI World Cup match played between India and Pakistan on the 8th of June 1999. A quarter century has passed since these events have occurred and looking back evokes memorable memories growing up in Chennai and falling in love with this wonderful sport of cricket.

2002 - The Year that Was 

2002 will go down in history as one of those years in which bat completely dominated the ball. It was also a year full of world records. Adam Gilchrist obliterated Botham's record to score the fastest double century. In a matter of few days, he found that his own record was broken by Nathan Astle. Incidentally Astle broke Gilchrist's record by 59 balls getting to his double ton of a mere 153 deliveries. Michael Vaughan scored the second highest runs in a calendar year ever with 1481 runs. The record still belongs to Viv Richards who amassed 1710 runs in 1976. If you thought test cricket was boring think again. Sri Lanka's 509 runs scored in a day against Bangladesh is the highest score scored by a team in a day in test history. Also other notable achievements include Inzamam Ul Haq's 329 vs New Zealand which was the highest test score ever by a Pakistani. The score also stood 10th on the all time list. Rahul Dravid became the fourth batsman in test history to score 4 consecutive hundreds in as many innings. Bowlers couldn't make much of an impact but still there were a few important milestones set. Muralitharan and McGrath became the 7th and 8th bowlers respectively to join the 400 wicket club. Muralitharan also equalled Hadlee's world record of 36 five wicket hauls. Shane Warne went second on the all time list for most wickets taken. Sachin Tendulkar joined the illustrious club of all those who have scored over 8000 test runs. He also went past Donald Bradman's record of 29 test centuries. Now he is in second position in the list of most number of centuries scored behind Sunil Gavaskar. For the first time in test history two teams India and New Zealand got bowled out for less than 100 in their respective first innings. In spite of this feat 2002 will be remembered as a year for the batsmen.

1999 ODI World Cup Scorecard - India vs Pakistan (8th June 1999)

Raasathi Unnai - The Timeless Masterpiece

This song is literally a gem in every way. It has such a surreal confluence of folk infused with carnatic classical that makes it mighty special. It's hard to coin this into a specific genre as the template doesn't really give a picture of a genre perse but however the end result makes this composition truly stand out as a certified classic.

There is a legend which gets associated with this song whereby it's beleived that elephants used to assemble outside the theatre at the village of Cumbum in Kerala standing there with their trunks held high as the song was getting played.

Throughout the song one will get to hear lovely strumming at the background beautifully accompanying the vocal chords along with some lilting arpegio passages. The singer Jayachandran has given his heart out in rendering this number and you can feel the full strata of emotions in the vocal undertone.

My favorite part of this vintage number is the Charanam portion which dances along gregariously and connects back to the Pallavi. This incidentally was also the portion which I tried on the veena. Not sure if I was able to do justice but just even attempting to play this timeless masterpiece gives unbridled joy and happiness.

Mundhinam Parthen - Feel good romance

There was a phase in time when Harris Jeyaraj used to churn out chartbusters that seemed instantly appealing and alluringly catchy. 'Mundhinam Parthen' from Varanam Ayiram certainly vetoes onto that esteemed category.

The entire song is breezy and also forms an interesting backdrop as part of the movie when an older Suriya narrates all his shenanigans to a younger Suriya to woo his lady love. The depiction also travels back in time to show a retro culture prevalent and gives a picturesque feel good vibe.

Tried attempting a bit of the interlude followed by the high rising middle portion and back to the sweetened nectar bit of the opening that is Mundhinam Parthen. This number is also pretty nostalgic as it attracts plenty of high school feels. Fall in love and take a trip down memory lane with this scorching love dripped melody 'Mundhinam Parthene'.

Chinna Chinna Vannakuyil - A Mastery touch of Bass!

This was one of the earliest tracks that completely baffled me especially with respect to usage of Bass. The bazooking harmony which goes in parallel with the main tune has some sort of magical tonic and has always left me in bewilderment with the cohesion effect of how everything unifies and creates a picturesque synergy. This again is just one among a bunch of tip of the iceberg creations that involve the bass component. Many of Raaja's vintage compositions sprinkle bass in profusion and though these tones more or less play a supporting role, they elevate the content of the main melody by a significant notch. They sound so rich simply stand alone and when combined with the song reaches proportions of enormity that emanates a feeling of ecstacy when listening to the number.

This particular song apart from the employment of the trademark bass, Janaki Amma also does an astute job touching all the right chords and traversing on a merry ride along the way. The soundtrack is studded with treasure in abundance and this song surprisingly is the underplayer. However in terms of class it well and truly deserves itself to be held in high esteem.

I attempted a portion of the song beginning from the Charanam portion and connecting back to the Pallavi. There are some lovely little phrases which are a bit difficult to render but just attempted whatever I could to the wee best of my ability. This is a small labour of love to the creaters of this masterpiece who both happen to celebrate their birthdays on the same day - Director Mani Ratnam and Musical Wizard Ilaiyaraaja.

Iconic Piece of Re-recording from Nayagan!

This is an iconic piece of re-recording from one of the most talked about movies in the annals of Indian cinema. There is something about this fleeting bit of music that spirals right through the center of the heart. The feel generated is so reverberative and filled to the brim with outpourings of passion. It just touches you so densely that you can actually sense the magic that is so captivating and inherently prevalent.

The BGM piece starts off with an arpeggio piece constantly whirring to give an intense emotion and then the melody unfolds played in a recorder with violins unfurling at the background in the form of a call & response pattern that will shake, stir and split the soul to smithereens. Just tried a couple of lines of this Magnum opus re-recording on the veena. It was certainly not possible to bring the desired effect but just a small takeaway that I tried 😊.

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This is an iconic piece of re-recording from one of the most talked about movies in the annals of Indian cinema. There is something about this fleeting bit of music that spirals right through the center of the heart. The feel generated is so reverbrative and filled to the brim with outpourings of passion. It just touches you so densely that you can actually sense the magic that is so captivating and inherently prevalent. The BGM piece starts off with an arpeggio piece constantly whirring to give an intense emotion and then the melody unfolds played in a recorder with violins unfurling at the background in the form of a call & response pattern that will shake, stir and split the soul to smithereens. Just tried a couple of lines of this Magnum opus re-recording on the veena. It was certainly not possible to bring the desired effect but just a small takeaway that I tried :). #bgm #rerecording #nayagan #1987 #Kamal #IR #music #bit #piece #whirr #recorder #veena #violins #background #unfurl #takeaway

A post shared by Rajiv Shankar (@rajiv_revel) on Apr 20, 2020 at 6:36am PDT

Madras Kitchen Company (MKC) - Touch of fusion yet artisanal!

MKC or Madras Kitchen Company is a newly opened restaurant as part of the sprawling Westin property in Velachery. The first impression gives you an instant thumbs up with the decor being striking and the ambiance aesthetic and appealing.

It gives a very laidback as well as an insouciant atmosphere with it's signature wood work and artisanal surroundings. The menu has been created in a very crafty manner coming in the form of a large newspaper with lots of snippets thrown in not only about the food but also the city of Chennai in general. The cuisine is largely regional with a twist as there is a lot of fusion element interspersed to it. A little bit of Asian too has been added to the fray.

We were here for lunch on a lazy weekday afternoon and looking forward to what the place has to offer. The first item itself blew us away which was an amalgamation of Amul cheese and a guntur chilli spread on a bed of bread. The fill over not only looked magnificent but also tasted superlative. Next up we tried the Asian Bao's. This was an open bao stuffed to the brim consisting of juicy pieces of tofu, capsules of edamame green gram and laced with drooly layers of mayo. This was messy, junky, dunky and damn tasty. After this we tried their innovative ghee tossed podi Idly which came with a delightful kurma and a chilli coconut relish. This was served in the school tiffin style and had an old world charm about it. From the starter section, we also tried the curd rice which came with interesting concoctions which we had towards the end of our meal.

The starter section was totally top notch and no two ways about it. In the main course, we had the bombay sampler of ragda, misal and bhaji with butter pao. Though bhaji is a popular dish down south, we very rarely get to taste ragda or misal and this was a well done up 3 in 1 combo. Apart from this we also had a crack at the aloo chole with kulche. This was decent but however the chole felt a little less boiled and the taste did not come out very apparently.

We polished our meal with two gorgeous desserts. The 54℅ chocolate textures with berries had a really rich and smooth taste to it. The Madras Kitchen Sundae with a cheese cake slitted in was really yummy and mellow.

The service was friendly and the staff were very welcoming in not only answering our queries but also suggesting us on how to go about with our choices. If you're looking for regional cuisine with a sleek fusion element interlaced to it, you should certainly check out Madras Kitchen Company.

Nalam Vaazha - Mellow & Mellifluous!

There are compositions which happen to be mellifluously mellow that caress and comfort the soul. Nalam Vaazha definitely goes into that bracket. The way it slithers through you with unbridled with sweetness in abundance.

The underlying tone of this majestic melody is the fact that it touches virtually every single note and those slides which canoodle the chromatics is something worth rejoicing. It touches a chord and hits you straight in the heart.

This is generally viewed as a birthday song dedicated to celebrate an event. I choose this to usher in the sun's entry into Aries (Chithirai) signifying the beginning of a new year as per the Hindu calendar.

It was an indeed quite an exercise to play few titbits from this vintage musical construction of the 90's. Wishing the sun a very auspicious solar return as it ingresses onto Mesha rasi which in essence auspices the entry point of the zodiac.

Bharat Bistro - Agmark Premium Quality!

There are some restaurants where you don't mind paying a premium and Bharat Bistro right royally falls in that list. Whatever little stuff we had was exceptionally good and that made the experience very pleasing.

We just had 4 items and all of them bowled us over. First the paneer tikka with 2 versions of cheese was simply superlative. It lauded up both on the taste as well as on the presentation side.

On the main course, the Amritsari Dhaba meal comprising of roti herbed rice, hara bara kabab, bhoondi raita, paneer makhni and pindi chole was just out of the world. We relished every single bite of this glorious dhaba styled meal. The picture itself will definitely depict a beautiful tale.

The other one we tried happened to be the Dal Makhni trio. I simply butterly fall for lip smacking Dal Makhni. This lissom lass conjured up in a trio of flavours certainly possessed the lilt to lure me in. It was all sorts of love and we were simply floored.

On the dessert section, we went for the delectable gulab jamun cheesecake. As eclectic and exquisite as it gets, this cake was interspersed with layers of Jamun and coming along side finely cut pieces of jamuns, strawberry and a motley of rose gulkhand ice cream. This dessert was truly mouth inspiring.

On the whole, it totally lived up to its worth. The ambiance is kind of nice with lots of new age interiors and giving itself a bright stark greyish touch. It's more like a crossover Indian restaurant modelled as a cafe. The rates are a little pricy but found it agreeable to the magnanimous spread and taste. The service however could be spruced up a bit. There was waiting time with regard to providing menu cards and refilling of water. However the little nitty gritty accounts for nothing when viewed on the wholesome effect as we left Bharat Bistro having had a delightfully crafty meal that pleased us to punch.

Durrants @ Welcome Hotel - Old Fashioned infusing the Yesteryear feel!

The one thing which strikes about this bar is you that you don't find places like this anymore. It is old fashioned and takes you back to the good ol days when how bars actually used to be. It does not swarm you with swirls of colours or attractive wall papers but instead works on the old world charm that is so missing these days.

The decor carries a very woody feel. The seating is laid back and the tinge of yesteryear is inherently visible on them. The surroundings are stacked with antiquities and the lighting is dim with the bar at the center serving all kinds of stuff from scotch to beer to vodka, rum, gin and what not. If you're a person of the past, nostalgia will certainly hit you with feel good memories.

Just that it has not moved on like the way the other newbie pubs have adds credibility and it's lovely to see that they have stuck to tradition. The name Durrants is named after 'Charles Durrant' - Madras Presidency's first wine merchant.

Before our evening meal, we stopped here for some drinks and starters. They have all kinds of liquor available including the imported ones. The best bet however is on the superlative deals they have. This is an area where they are really attractive as the offers are fabulous. Lots of buy one get one's, special discounts, summer quencher deals and many more.

I had a shot at a scotch and beer along with some sumptuous panneer tikka and cauliflower for company. This is also a place where you can ideally spend long hours at your leisurely comfort.

On the whole, an old school bar which happens to possess a vintage charm of it's own.

Broken Bridge Cafe - When fusion trances with innovation for the win!

It was a delightful young early weekday evening and we decided to spend time at Broken Bridge Cafe which is a part of Somerset Hotel. The ambiance gives a breezy woody feel with hues of brown decor in addition to the plant like greenery surrounding. It gives a chiselled feel and ignites the laid back dictum in all it's vigour.

This is a recently opened restaurant specialising mainly on fusion cuisine. The menu is a simple slider but they've innovated tremendously within this space to bring out a lot of unique experiments. Amongst the items which we had, the majority hit the dart right at the center and it was just in a couple of stuff that felt the need for improvement. The menu comprises of small plates aka starters/appetisers and large plates meaning to convey the main course dishes. There are no gimmicks or over the top tomfoolery happening at all and the menu conveys the point as to what it intends to offer.

In the small plates, the show stealer was undoubtedly the Curd rice fritters. Innovation reached varying heights with fried golden balls made to mimic curd rice with hinges of lemon pickle. This was truly one 'one of a kind experience'. They resembled your usual fried cheese balls ala starter but on taste you get the riveting effect of mushy curd rice and to boot also was served a mayo dip with largely lime essence. Audacious work of fusion but I must admit it worked very well. The kalakki (scrambled eggs) with goat jam on bread was another delightful starter. The panneer Makhni papdi chaat was nothing much to write home about. Just a touch of makhni gravy over papdi puri's which were just decent. The spicy corn cakes were kind of nice and I thoroughly enjoyed the palak and Goat cheese flat bread. If you're able to withstand the smell and rawness of goat cheese, then you're bound to love it.

For the large plates, we tried achari 3 cheese kulcha melt as well as mushroom & olives goat cheese kulcha melt. These were really nice spread with melted cheese which was really hard hitting. I loved the flavours of these kulchas which gave a lovely crunch while consuming them and they good enough just to consume stand alone though they also came along with fries,dip and ketchup for company. Also got to try the blue cheese naan which if you are fond of the aroma of it, it'll dunk you in big time and to go along with it a juicily sumptuous panneer tikka masala gravy.

In the dessert draw, the filter coffee baileys tiramisu ruled the roost. Served in an ever silver tumbler, it was simply jaw dropping drool worthy. The skim of tiramisu infused with layers of coffee powder had everything in it to make you dig unabashedly. The nutella custard and maltova crumble was alao equally relishing.

The prices seem par for the course and not really in the vicinity to pinch your pockets. The service was amicable, friendly and on the button. Overall, a really pleasing experience dining at Broken Bridge. If you like a little bit of twists and fusion in your food without the core getting compromised, you should definitely head over to this place for a resolute fine dining encounter.

Chamiers Cafe - Elegance Personified!

Chamiers cafe is this elegant European based cafe. It has a very rich and grand look to it and makes it an ideal place to spend some laid back leisure time. It has such a feel good factor going for it which will surely lure you to visit this cafe again.

Floral wall paints with anticrafts hanging along make it aesthetic. The caned chairs and cushiony settings makes it feel very cozy and comfortable. And the light music at the back end soothes you. The dim lamp lights gives it a classy touch and the tulle decorated on the roof makes it elevated with opulence. And to boot the upholstery and vintage window settings make this outlet really stylish.

They have a lot of wonderful stuff to gorge upon. The pastries are wonderful and just a mere glance at them will make your lips smirk with excitement. They've also got loads of other things such as coffee's, shakes and ice teas, nibbles and starters, salads, pasta's, sandwiches and pizza's and a hell lot more.

My recent visit was more to pass off some free time and indulge in some yak yakking with my friend. We just ordered a solitary pastry - the threobama 6 layered mousse cake which was massive in size and jaw dropping to look at. And the taste matched the looks to the 'T' by being as gob smacking as possible. It was a delight pruning the creamy layer off it and shoving it inside the mouth. It was quite heavenly to say the least. The pastry rack had so many amazing desserts that will make your mouth drool like a waterfall.

The service is pretty quick and amiable by nature. The cafe screams upmarket in every front and expectantly the rates too are a bit on the higher side. But you wouldn't slouch too much considering the positive factor's at hand.

If you're the one looking for a perfect blend of a cafe and conversation experience, you need to look no further. I surely haven't had enough of Chamiers cafe and already contemplating my next visit :).