Checkmate

A grandmaster, who had been slated,
To play, dozed off inebriated.
Though much did they shake him,
Yet no one could wake him,
So they had to declare him -- checkmated.

Reuters 04/09/09: A leading French chess player turned up drunk and dozed off after just 11 moves in an international tournament in Kolkata, losing the round on technical grounds, domestic media reported Friday. Get the details here

Inditickles Contest: And the winners are...

Hi everyone, the much awaited results of the Inditickles contest has been announced by Oxford Bookstore, Kolkata

...Here are the winners:

Rajiv Dhall, Kolkata

In every field we are fast gaining ground,
In the world arena our standing is sound.
Suffice it to say,
We’re holding sway,
Even in numbers our growth is unbound!

15th August, 1947 till date - Cumulative news made by the Indian populace underscoring India’s phenomenal growth in science, technology, education, sports, entertainment industry, arts and culture, economic prowess… and, of course, population!

K.E. Priyamvada, New Delhi

M. F. Hussain at painting is an ace,
Oh his colours, his brushwork, his grace,
He's also no prude,
And paints Goddesses in the nude,
Making saffron critics go red in the face!

February 2006 and May 1998 - Members of some Right-wing parties protested against the depiction of Hindu Goddesses in the nude by the eminent painter M.F. Hussain. Unfortunately their protests became violent and included vandalizing the artist's studio.

Manoj Vijayan, Bangalore

With his distinctive stutter
He sets girlish hearts aflutter.
But as "Don" will attest,
Shah Rukh's at his best
Playing a homicidal nutter.

2007 - Shah Rukh Khan played the lead role in Farhan Akhtar’s remake of Don.

...And now, we come to the special Newsmericks Award of Merit, that we are giving to a limerick of our choice. We considered various parameters while selecting our winner, namely rhyme, meter, content, as well as the smile on Inkspot's face while reading it :D

...The winner of the Newsmericks Award of Merit is

Sundara Venkatesan, Mumbai

It isn't considered good manners
To shout, jump with joy and wave banners.
But when Kapil and band,
Returned World Cup in hand,
Which red-blooded Indian could ban us?

1983 - India participated in the Cricket World Cup in 1983 and won the tournament for the first and only time up to now. There was great jubilation and even now this victory, in which Kapil Dev played a notable part, both as a player and as the captain of "Kapil's Devils", is fondly remembered.


Heartiest Congratulations to all the winners! You will be getting your prizes soon.

You can read some of the short-listed entries here

After Limermania comes Inditickles: the fun continues!

We had a fun evening at the Limermania workshop at the Oxford Bookstore on Saturday evening. A bit rushed for time now so will fill in the details later. In the meanwhile, let me make the next announcement.

Newsmericks is helping organize an exciting limerick contest - Inditickles - announced by the Oxford Bookstore.

We're celebrating the last 60 years
Of India's independence, my dears,
Thru' a limerick contest,
So please send in your best.
The topic - 'News-makers down the years'!

More details of the contest can be found here.

So what are you waiting for? Put on your thinking caps and start penning those award winning entries! I promise you, there is lots of excitement in store!