Are you Thinking Episode 2

Addiction, no no, this is not about drugs sorry junkies , it is about the addiction of dopamine, the rush you get when you saw a good number of likes on your photos, posts, shares, or anything you put up on the "internet".The same way I am being optimistic whilst I write about this.

So, putting up a funny status or a reaction or an expression of joy is never so innocuous unless you are working on the other side i.e. for the internet. And as you have enjoyed bragging about your achievements and displaying your wit and knowledge of TV shows and may be grammar or gaming prowess, we always looked for more attention, we have always been attention mongers, no denying that, and that is some addiction that is so common and it is so unnoticed that we so easily ignore. There are no immediate repercussions to this addiction or a magnanimous momentousness. As we speak and share and like and subscribe, we tell the internet or the money making factories, what we like and what we don't.

That information is like oxygen to these bigshots, who will use this to sort out your personality, here, you might like this baloney, come closer you can smell it, you may want to read this, clickbaits is just a fancy word , to lure in the victims of this addiction. This can never go down, the more people share, the more oxygen the smart people get. I believe the smartest people on earth are those who are not addicted to anything and can adapt to change like a chameleon, because people will manipulate the victims no matter what. If you think all this is a shenanigan, think "why did you download the Tez app to transfer money to your buddies when you had Paytm already installed?", "Why did you read the 12 points that a capricorn would do at 3 am?" or my personal favorite,  "what 6 things tell you that you are an addicted lab rat?". Well yes everybody wants to save money but imagine how petty discounts lure you in using their services, cashback is the most viral word after racism, it has been used like 973 times in an hour on an average, over the internet.

For small savings, we keep replenishing our mobile devices and create umpteen accounts to save on that unit currency  and always book shared services (uberPOOL , Ola Share) well because if time were really money, every lazy guy on earth would have been a billionaire. I do book the sharing services too, but not for the wrong reasons, to help cities have more quality in air if anything else . I am not a saint, or a 80 year old virgin but I would only expect fresh air for humanity.

Since we are on the topic of money, I will never accept a abidas shoe over an adidas shoe because IMO price is directly proportional to quality, be it packing, or the product itself but we always never shy away from paying good money for good quality, like who goes to non AC movie theaters these days but we still complain about the overpriced popcorn and a water bottle. Ofcourse I expect a lot of yin yang here, I am not saying every addict is a monster , but I always urge my students to look at the bigger picture. Also how many countries can really afford nuclear war weaponry?

Stalk brokers will always give you more stocks to invest in, shopkeepers will always promote a never heard brand, advertisements will be ubiquitous , change will not happen in a night, but it all starts with good , developing, beneficiary and growing thoughts. You will become what you think of yourself, it is inevitable. #AreYouThinking

We came, We saw , We conquered - Men in Black and Fluorescent

A misty night, in Belgrade, Serbia inside the Rajko Mitic Stadium, a famous red star with huge banners and red smoke. The gunners had arrived from North London to prove a point, to hit back, to bounce back from the defeat at Watford. Europa league group stage, match day 3, a tricky visit on the cards.

The acoustic support for the Red star was really eminent, a brilliant set up to test the young blood in our ranks, and evaluate the grit of the gunners in this trip. For the majority of the game, the support from the home crowd didn't go dull, it was constant, like the equalizer of a music player, the fans were seen jumping up and down in unison. The stadium was packed, and the gooners were set in their assigned seats hoping to see the boys not let them down , not a major gathering, but loud enough to stun the stadium in silence. For any debutante, or young performer, a veracious set up to be nervous.

The game started with a flurry of opportunities and chances for both sides, Red Star a bit wasteful in their final shots , but to the heroics of Petr Cech and the make-shift defense line with Elneny, did its job truly and remarkably well. Arsenal had some good opportunities with Jack creating the most of it, Nelson got to the right flank, and forced Borjan to make a conscientious save. Teenagers seemed to be full of confidence and not influenced by the acoustic of the stadium, didn't make foolish mistakes but did run with a lot of adrenaline.

With a stalemate at half time, it was more up to Wilshere to carve the Red star defense and make space for either of the strikers to put the ball home. And after a long wait of 85 minutes , the moment came, Wilshere left two midfielders to lay, before making a wide pass to Theo on the right flank, who pushed it back to wilshere in the box who flicked it back to Walcott's head, Theo then jumped to loop the ball into the path of an observant Giroud, who adjusted his body and went for an acrobatic and spectacular overhead kick which looped over Borjan in the top corner of the far left hand side of the goal. 1-0 to the Arsenal , was sung and the Red star Belgrade were stunned to silence. Shortly before the goal,Rodic was given his marching orders after a bookable second offence.

The game was marked with a lot of flux of attacks in home fray, but the strikers got a bit too excited to keep calmness to convert an chance to an opportunity then to a goal. Petr Cech made comprehensive saves to deny the home team, and gave Wenger's men a major advantage in the campaign. With a 100% record in the group stages, at the end of matchday 3, Arsenal are sitting on top of the group, with two home games and a trip to Koln.

Wishing Arsene Wenger today a happy birthday, with his selection squad, let us just hope he makes less mistakes, and we will put all our belief in his men.

Olivier Giroud – The Century In Vogue

In an ideal world, nobody is supposed to be compared with any body in their performance evaluation, but who really lives in an ideal world? Olivier Giroud , on 28^th spet 2017, reached a milestone, he scored 100 goals for Arsenal in 233 appearances 1 less than what Robin Van Persie did . Arsene did mention that Giroud was bought to replace the departing Judas, and he was under heavy fire, but  le buteur de charme (the charm striker) reached a ton of goals with a spot kick against BATE Borsiov.

Since joining Arsenal on 26^th June 2012, Olivier  has come off the bench and scored 27 times in his tenure, till now. He has scored some very crucial goals , equalizers, winners, invigorating , awe-inspiring, jaw  opening and sometimes just marvelous. His posture, his technique, his accuracy, and his presence of mind about the players around him and the weight of the pass has always been great to watch.

Apart from his goals against United, Tottenham, Crystal Palace (Puskas award 2017 nomination) – that scorpion kick, Bayern Munich (in a 5-1 loss at the Allianz Arena), hat trick against Olympiacos in the Champions League, Giroud has assisted some truly world class goals. For example that Wilshere goal against Norwich in the October of 2013, and the famous Ramsey goal at the Wembley to clinch the first FA cup after a 9 years trophy draught, against Hull city .

Even though he was close to leaving Arsenal in the summer of 2017, he wanted more game time, but his resolve not only made the gooners joyous but a bit empowered too, because Giroud has been in a decent scoring form. He had to wait for a couple of games to make it 100 after 99, a soft penalty against BATE helped him reached the century. He has been constantly improving and helped France qualify for the world cup with ease, hope to see some roof bursting and top corners consumed when this guy touches the ball. The poem ended and then he hit.

Liverpool 4-0 Arsenal - The Baba Review

If embarrassment was just a feeling, then that could sum up the mood for all the gooners around the globe. The 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Liverpool was just too abysmal, it was not down to a bad referee decision , or a horrific injury, it was just bad football.

The players looked lethargic, and the abject performance costed us a strong stance in the premier league, even finishing in the top 4 seems like a mountain of a task now. Even though Liverpool's finishing was plausible, our defense had too many cracks, and players lacked commitment and spirit.
Even though we had a couple of chances to score, we were still outplayed and outclassed by the reds.

The formation and the squad selection was the major talking point before the game, and it just fell apart, our youth has to improve and not just be a "future prospect", we want results now, we want world class players and quality football to watch and applaud and appreciate. We can't just make and stew in our stool, something has to be improved, may be hire some therapists to help players express themselves better and be proud to be wearing an arsenal shirt just as we are proud gooners.

Any which way, it was a bad game, we will hopefully bounce back with more intent and vigor in the next game against Bournemouth on saturday. Sorry didn't really talk about the game here, still too "embarrassed" to talk about/ decipher a lost cause.

Stoke City 1-0 Arsenal - The Baba Review 20th Aug 2017

Frustrating eventuality of the evening, the team gave a good performance but lacked conviction and accuracy, as we lost concentration in the opening minutes of the second half and conceded a goal, and the game to the "rugby" team's latest debutante Jese.Marked by unheard two penalty claims and a legitimate goal, disallowed, I am pretty sure every gunner would be irate and so would be Arsene.

Even though it was a bad result but as an optimist, I can always find some good points in the team. Nacho Monreal for instant, is a really hard working player, he adds value and quality to the team, with his honest and impeccable attitude, he has made me fall in love with defending all over again. His consistency is mostly overlooked, he is an unsung hero of the team. From the defense perspective, there are not solid partnerships, like Kos and Mustafi had, may be with more game time, Mustafi and Monreal, can achieve more clean sheets wit Cech. Apart from defense, I believe Ozil was missing Alexis a lot, couldnt really put in the right ball, and Laca had some loose touches tonight, Welbeck did well, but yielded no fruition.

There is one thing I don't understand is the proselytism among football managers, everybody is going for 3-4-3 or 3-5-1 formations, and Wenger in both the games switched to 4-3-3, it worked once (against Leicester) doesn't mean it will work every time we trail,why can;t we start Giroud, and if that plan doesnt work out then find the snipers like Ozil and Iwobi to work by using 3 at the back, why can't Arsene turn tables, he has seen and adapted to a lot of change, may be he wants to experiment more.

I don't really see anybody new signing in, but would love to see Alexis back in his Arsenal shirt and toiling for spectacular goals as he did for his tenure until now.

Arsenal 4 -3 Leicester City - The Baba Review - 12th Aug 2017

A late night in Mumbai , India, and the inception of a coveted weekend. Putting on my Arsenal shirt, and a drink fixed in my hands, hoping for a good start to the premier league, I sat in my couch like a flushed potato, ready to ride the emotional roller coaster which awaited my ass print.

The game started, and our brand new signing Laca, with his second touch of the ball, and the first from his head, puts the ball past Schmeichel inside 2 minutes of the new campaign. Ecstatic , I started dancing,and singing "1-0 to the Arsenal", but the good times as they say were ephemeral, and Leicester equalized with Okazaki rising tall, like a kid in a metal gig, scoring past Cech. All this just 5 minutes.

The referee had a laissez-faire attitude towards the game, didn't intervene, and did let the game flow, Mr. Dean, didn't disappoint, at least this time, and as it seemed, the gunners would gain the lead back, Vardy scored with a well timed run, and a pin point accurate ball by Albrighton, (for a moment I wished if only Vardy could have been wearing an arsenal jersey) , that was a good finish. The gunners didn't give up, kept dancing towards the Schmeichel goal,like Vegas exotic dancers, in numbers , and with Danny's equalizer at the stroke of half time, the lead was cut down. Not too much pulchritude in the scoreline , but all square when the referee blew (chuckles, he always blows, umpteen times) 2-2.

In the second half, scoring early was the agenda, but Vardy had other plans, rose high to meet the accurate corner kick, and guided the ball past Cech again for the second time, making it to 3-2 to the visitors. Change is the only constant, hence on came Ramsey and Giroud, with some lovely exchanges between the midfielders, the decisive ball from Xhaka landed at Ramsey's immaculate touch, who scored the equalizer , making the crowd go frenzy  and it was not the end of the night, as Giroud scored a wonderful header beyond the reach of Schmeichel, which hit the bar and went in, a fabulous finish by the French striker, and 3 points were in the bag. Arsenal nicked the win from the hands of Shakespeare's men who were just as a flabbergasted as an audience in a Shakespearean play.

Running for our lives

Meticulous Reviews- Badrinath ki Dulhaniya (2017)

Rated 6.5/10 on imdb, and produced by Karan Johar speaks volumes of the movie in itself.
It is a story of a spoiled brat Badrinath played by Varun Dhawan, who meets Vaidehi Trivedi, played by Alia Bhatt , and decides to marry her , just because his father has a great reputation in Jhansi and she would be lucky to be married, since she isn't getting any younger , and her parents ,won't feel burdened for long enough, who is from Kota btw.

Beautifully depicted is the wonder park in Kota, seems very beautiful, I think that is the other thing famous in Kota other than coaching classes for IIT-JEE , mentioned vividly in the movie.
Also demonstrated were the brands , like Lenovo mobile, used by Badrinath to take selfies, and Frankfinn institute for air hostesses, where Vaidehi decides to flee, leaving Badri and his family in shame at the alter.

Vaidehi gets a job in Silk air, in Singapore and decides to live there as long as she can, and also stay away form all the marriage-with-dowry-agenda, on which Badri's father feeds on, besides the oxygen cylinder, to be used in case of emergency if he goes into a cardiac arrest.

The writer and director Shashank Khaitan, has done a commendable job, the dialogues and the deliveries throughout the movie is almost impeccable. The humour is too clever and has been juxtaposed in almost every scene possible in the first half of the movie. The second half gets a bit emotional and sentimental, as a bollywood movie is supposed to have, just like the unnecessary inclusions of songs in the movie, which I think are only euphemisms for making love (aashiq surrender ho gaya, BDSM is it? I don't know, viewers you decide).

Even though it seems clear that the actors who are not from the parts of the land they depicted to be from, did a lot of homework on the accents and the body language and the slurs, in my opinion , they lacked conviction. They can get a tutor, they can hang out with guys from UP and Rajasthan, but that meticulous swag, that style, that way of saying things , that smirk, of a resident can not be replicated, I am sorry, you just can't pretend, pretension  like luck, always runs out.

The grandiose arrangements of weddings were almost flawless, with lights on every entrance and every edge of every window and alley ways you could find, was just too beautiful to ignore.Kudos to the spotboys.

A little bit of bad advertising for Tuborg though, just may be after  a couple of pints, Badri and his friend Somesh were too drunk to even stand straight, I mean it is Tuborg, not even Tuborg strong, seemed odd from the beefed up actor. Anyway, both of them (Varun and Alia) didn't leave a single opportunity to showcase their hard worked mannequin-type bodies.Oh speaking of which, there is a mannequin challenge too, wonderfully epitomized in the opening song.

I also liked the way credits were displayed, not covering the entire frame, and dropping hints of names in and around the protagonists of the song/scene.

And I am not sure if it was a wise decision to be a successful air hostess in Silk Air, Singapore and then come back to India, and from all places , settle in Jhansi and open up an academy for young aspirants. No offense to people of Jhansi, but I don't see it as a wise decision.

Are You Thinking Episode 1

On 14th Feb, 2017, inception took place, a child was born, from a uni sexual and it was called a blog post.
Oh so belated happy valentine's day lovers and loathers, I am not sure why do we celebrate this day, may be I didn't do my research, but let us imagine if the birthday of Saint Valentine is Valentine's day and he is the spirit of this lovely day, did anybody think about what he used to get on his birthday as an adult, was it always chocolates and flowers and hugs, or did some "worshipers" please him orally and/or verbally with epics and tributes?

Anyway, virgin readers,I am known as Hungry Baba and I am mostly found hanging out at the dining table. I am no clairvoyant or voyeur but I can tell many couples would have made love this day rather than read this blog post, nobody gets famous overnight, only if the guy just doesn't come , all night long, may be then.

Pro tip for young aspiring valentine's day celebrators , in stead of saying the obsolete I love you , to your better half, why not create a conundrum, a puzzle or a treasure hunt if you have space and time, so give the recipient a set of questions and get answers as letters or words , like for "will you marry me, or would you kiss me, or..." (... signifies If You Know What I Mean) . Get them jumbled let him/her guess the answer, bring out the romance in you, the above techniques are tried and tested, they work like in 93% of the cases. So all the best. Think more, and if you want to share, don't worry, there are not many eyes on this blog, so your contribution will be anonymous and not known to everybody.

And if you really are not that lovey dovey person, and you just have to say those words just to avoid any awkward arguments in the future, you can try saying "elephant chews" , it does sound like what you have to say and the partner is happy, think about it.

Also one more thing , this is quoted by Piers Morgan "one day you are the cock of the walk , the other a feather duster" so before you think about walking the walk, also don't get too cocky, the downfall just like gravity takes one push and you fall really hard. Anyway, take care, have some philosophy up your sleeve? post it here, let us see if we can keep this going.
#AreYouThinking