Blood Diamond

Finally finished watching Blood Diamond yesterday. A superb movie! Wonderful acting and great originality.

I don’t know if this had any impact on all the movie goers but I am sure only the hard hearted can get out of the theatres without any difference.

Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea on the north and Liberia on the south, with the Atlantic Ocean on the west. The name Sierra Leone was adapted from the Portuguese name for the country: Serra Leoa, literally "Lion Mountain Range". During the 18th century Sierra Leone was an important center of the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans.

The movie portrays the Diamond smuggling amid the civil war during the period 1991 to 2002.

In one scene when Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou enters a village strewn with dead bodies they meet a guy who still seems concerned. He asks them if they are lost and then rambles on. He wonders if diamonds could do this to a country, what if oil is ever discovered!

It also brings one point through Solomon. He says he can understand the outsiders doing thus to the country but not their own people. And another fact, if one has no unity within one’s own country then it is sure to be trampled upon by greedy blood suckers.

I guess Africa still has child soldiers which happens to be the worst part. Even a matured person cannot live a normal life after a war so imagine a child! So does Sri Lanka among the Tamil Tigers. This is the worst crime against humanity.

Now there is peace in Sierra Leone.... let us pray that it continues...

Jai Hind

Gosh! I cant believe that I am back enjoying cricket. The youngsters lured me back with their positive and energetic game. Was ready to forgive them even they had lost to the mighty Aussies.

Harbajan Singhs’s dance, Yuvi’s mighty roar… it is been a while since we witnessed pure joy from a game. And we have those dancing females barely covered by Reliance. Our son did the same dance for every Six and Four.

Some say that the 20-20 game is like a fast food and not fair enough. Who cares? At least it stops some senior players from clinging to their bats to increase their 50’s or 100’s. We had enough of that. Now, one has to perform or get out. And we reached the Finals with most of our Senior players out of the team. I guess this should have been done even for the last world cup.

I think only the Indian and Pakistan games bring the stadiums to full. And it is going to be a terrific game on Monday. Our Son has already taken permission to bunk his Karate classes and he also has his assessments on Tuesday. I dont think I can keep him away from the game unless India plays hopelessly!

And I am with Dhoni. Whatever the outcome maybe, let us not be tensed, but enjoy the game. Finally our boys are playing positively.