Fear has a Large Shadow

I thought I was playing with the sharks last night but before not too long, my vanity took over. Playing with the regular Hyderabad Circuit players, it was a table set for four.

A thousand chips buy-in and I scored the high card for the dealer. A sip of the beer and a raise after the big blind, figured Pee (Yeah, well), the guy on my right, was eliminating the non-significant hands. Competition was now limited to the face cards, pocket pairs and straights and flush hands. The Small Blind, Cee, folded yet the pot was big stakes this game. Pee lost out eventually to a bad beat on a flush on the River to Moi. I could eat the sharks too… Guess, I always knew that :P

Caught Pee’s bluff in another game on the turn card, yet challenged him till the River killed every odd. I folded when he raised after the river, looked him in the eye and both of us smiled at the same time- Boy, I knew what you were doing but my stars were not in my cards…The mischievous glint in our eyes crossed each other’s, and I knew I had established myself as an authority at the table. And as far as I am concerned, fear is good. And making the sharks fear you, is very good.

Next target: Straddle

Poker is War in Disguise of a Sport

Poker is war in disguise of a sport. Loved the cheekiness with which Pokabunga’s website screamed out the dictum. The war cry may not be candid but the stealth and the aggression is inherent in the game and its players. The more I play Poker, the more its striking similarity to the odds of life amazes me.

You may have a very high Internal Locus of Control, yet you accede to the cards life has dealt to you. It is up to you to make the most of the cards dealt to you. Survival of the Fittest may be flawed you say. A Poker Player would chant Survival of the Smartest. Your best cards can be grounded to dust if you are outsmarted. Your worst cards can turn to a gold mine if you play your moves smart.

You know your odds are the Table cards start unrevealing themselves. Probabilities change with each open card. So does the player’s psyche. The seven sins gets activated as the players struggle and learn to deal with them. Freud’s Id and Super Ego have a constant tussle like War. Poker is simply a game of training your Ego and making it stronger by the day to deal with life’s challenges and the war that is survival.

Playing Poker is learning to Survive. Better.

Top 10 things to do in Dilli!

Dilwalon ki Dilli has a whole gamut of flavors to choose from. If you are adventurous, chic & stylish the list below is your key to Dilli's secrets!

Top 10 things to do in Delhi #10: Discover Interiors: Some of the finest Interior destinations in India, Delhi can be a art lovers paradise if you know where to head. head to the Mocha Arthouse in New Delhi, or the Breakfast at Tiffany’s inspired Café at Moon River, or simply just the new terminal at the New Delhi Airport. The insides make up for an unimpressive skyline in this green capital city.  

Top 10 things to do in Delhi #9: Visit an Art Exhibition: Check out the city guide in the Friday daily & head to the closest art gallery hosting the do of a local artist. You are sure to have an artsy experience.

Top 10 things to do in Delhi #8: Go Pub Hopping: Start with Blues: Delhi’s favorite old school waterhole. The wealthiest to the college junta is here. Delhi’s place to be for the cool junta. Drink up at Beer Island: Beer served straight up from the brewer. Pure Bliss.

Blue Frog!: Let your pocket be ripped off for once. The music here is some of the best in India.

Top 10 things to do in Delhi #7: Hauz Khas Village: Get transported to Goa. Delhi’s hippie hotspot. Walk around, shop or dine at any of the fabulous restaurants to suit everyone’s pocket here. It’s quite simply an out-of-Delhi experience! Paharganj comes a close second on Delhi’s hippie experience.

Top 10 things to do in Delhi #6: Shop!: Start with Delhi-6 a.k.a. Chandni Chowk & its narrow gullies. (Don’t miss the Paranthe-wali-gali here for a scrumptious street lunch) Shop at Palika Bazaar: You wouldn’t realize there is a whole world right below your feet. Quite Literally. Move on to Khan Market. Empty your wallets here or just window shop.

Got a local for company? Sarojini market is a regular bet. Nothing too exciting here though.

Top 10 things to do in Delhi #5: Dine at Parikrama: Delhi’s first and only revolving restaurant, you’d never die out of conversation topics here. Or sights to behold.

Top 10 things to do in Delhi #4: Savor Delhi’s street food: From the kathi rolls at Khan Chacha to the street-side faluda icecream, there’s no dearth of options, vegan or meat, for that infamous Delhi Belly. Got a fancy for the exotic? Sample some Tibetan momos at Gurgaon. Even the Tibetans would be surprised!

Top 10 things to do in Delhi #3: Watch a local play: Delhi has the best indigenous theatre culture in the whole of India. You are missing out on something if you give this a skip.

Top 10 things to do in Delhi #2: Visit India Gate at night: My most favourite ‘India’ spot. The Amar Jyothi can awaken the nationalist in any Indian.

Top 10 things to do in Delhi #1: Ride by the Delhi Metro: Understanding Delhi doesn’t get closer than this.

Cost cutting at the Congress

Recession blues have not left our political parties untouched. Latest in line to be contemplating cost-cutting schemes is the Congress. At a working committee meeting recently, the top brass of the Congress leaders set dishing out tips to cut costs. No first class air tickets, no lavish offices, no stupendous salaries, no free chai in the afternoon, blah blah blah… The CWC, congress working committee, insists that it is their way of expressing solidarity with the aam aadmi who is feeling the pinch of the hard times and crying where-is-all-the-money.

The members of the Congress recently pledged their approval to the ‘you suffer, we suffer’ initiative of the CWC and promised to

- keep their money locked in Fixed deposits schemes in Swiss banks and not indulge in any immediate withdrawals
- hold on to their lands and not engage in any immediate real estate transactions,
preserve the gold and diamond jewellery of their wives and daughters for the next season,
- reduce party spending on all internal affairs and let interest accumulate on the corpus
- Lead the lives of a pauper and propogate the selfless behaviour of the Congress workers who want to understand the plight of the aam aadmi by cost cutting and
- Not talk about how the saved money will be used for the benefit of the aam aadmi.

The Battle of the Gas

Whose name is Khan?

Its not everyday that our babus-in-white go out of their way to promote a forthcoming blockbuster bolly movie. Never before has anyone or anything succeeded in doing what My name is Khan has done. For the first time the netas are all singing the same song. Down with the Yanks! Lets go tit-for-tat! Khan-daan zindabad! All for a few little precious votes.

The recent detention of the KJo’s so-proclaimed global icon- SRK at the Newark airport in USA has suddenly given the baadshahs of our babudom large dope to binge upon. Forget the chamchas, even the top-rung’ers cannot stop themselves from crying sympathy for Khan. The behari spirit, with its spokesperson Lalluji, insists that we should take up the matter with the Yanks and demand an apology. Ambika Soni is busy announcing to the world that Anjelina Jolie and Megan Fox will be frisked and detained on their impending arrival to Soni’s country. Soni’s fervour is infectious and the babus cannot resist themselves from hailing her no-negotiation-only-action approach. Shashi Tharoor is busy flooding his twitter page with his opinions on the rights and the wrongs as always.

In the midst of all the political drama, Amar Singh ji is the only person to have caught the trick under the magician’s hat. SRK has received all the publicity and more that he needed for his forthcoming film ‘My name is Khan’. But, of course, as we all know, it was a just a perfectly timed ‘Mishap’.

PPP- President Pratibha Patil

Any little news about Pratibha Patil is exciting. And its got nothing to do with the fact that she is the first person of the female species to occupy the most inactive office of the country. It is simply because news about her is very difficult to find.

Pratibha Patil has always been known to be media shy. After all, before she became the first lady of the country, no one had even heard of her. Even after she became the first lady, things have not changed. Some would expect that she'd take some tips from her predecessor who had converted the highest dormant office of this country into a playground for school children and their principals. Well, as it turns out in the last few years of her Yes-there-is-a-person-occupying-the-president's-office 'rule', she doesn't seem to have picked up many tips from the doc scientist who left her the legacy. As a result, the only noteworthy news heard about her in recent times- A boy from Kerala sent her porn mail!

Had she followed the doc's strategy, it would have probably read- 'The president hosts another delegation of primary school children in the lawns of the Rashtrapati Bhavan' or 'The president cuts the ribbon at another annual day function'. Madame Patil, trust me, they sound more glorious.

However, I would end this hope-this-inspires-the-President note with a word of advice to the little boy- Dude, you are still in college. The President is married.

P.S. The author shares her birthday with the first lady of the nation. Sagi-sisters, Mrs. Patil :)

Disclaimer: This post is not authored by the Pakistan People's Party.