Blessed Musings & Malluisms!!!

A Mumbai that is India

2011-10-19T17:40:00.001+05:30

As a school going kid, one essay that I remember writing was‘My neighbours.’ Although there was nothing truthful about that essay (and itwasn’t even ‘original) as I brought in flavours of nationalism to it. In theessay (if I remember correctly), my neighbors was a Southie who spoke too much,a Northie who ate too much, an Eastie and a Westie who am sure did something toowhich I don’t recollect.

This post may sound jingoistic, but then just couldn’t helpbut notice the diverse nature of India while on my way to office in the localtrain, bringing back memories of that not-so-original essay that I’d written abouta decade and a half back!

Sitting next to me was a Sardarji with a pagadi and twosmart-phones, checking out all the news and events in the news websites on boththe phones.

In front of me, towards the right was a gentleman with askull cap and a smart kurta-pyjama, also checking out his phone!

Facing me was a guy who had the last traces of paan in hismouth with his eyes closed reciting some mantras (I guess!).

And me, a Christian, saying aword of prayer, as the train reached close to my destination – renamed (aroundthe time I wrote the essay) after a famous Maratha King from a famous EnglishQueen!

That’s Mumbai. That’s India. At the end of the day, it’s allabout existence (read co-existence) and earning one’s bread. Not about anynonsense like ‘spirit of Mumbai.’

A Bedtime story that will wake your kid!

2011-09-05T20:02:00.003+05:30

Here's a bedtime story that I told a friend who claimed to have lost sleep after hearing this. So, read this at your own risk! Don't blame me later! And if you do have a kid, don't blame me if they encourage thoughts of never sleeping in the same room as you if & after you read them this!
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Long long time ago, there was a cow. That cow was a big fat buffalo. That buffalo delivered an egg everyday. One day, the buffalo's eggs hatched and out came two beautiful ducklings!

These ducklings grew up to be strong and smart. After studies, they got a nice job as nice big elephants!

These elephants, since they were good boys, married within their caste- two beautiful ants! These elephants-ants couples were so loving and perfect that they finally gave birth to two cute penguins!

But one of the penguin- Piggy, was so naughty that he ran away from his family to Nicaragua. There he met his long-lost best friend- Tiger. The other penguin meanwhile, spent quality time with his cobra cousins, teaching them tricks and trades on how to hit those between the legs Tennis shots!

Piggy Penguin and Tiger, in the meantime, had a fall-out over their favourite lunch- the Rhino fry! Before Piggy could kill him, the Tiger eloped with Piggy's love- The Cockroach.

Heartbroken, Piggy finally thought of his family back home in the Sahara. He soon returned to his near and dear ones. But just as he thought all was well, he received a shocker. That his Elephant Pappa, whom he has been calling his pappa all these years, is not actually his pappa. It was in fact, it was in fact, Giraffe uncle, whom he always wondered why he has an uncanny resemblance to?!

With tears in his eyes, piggy hugged his old pappa elephant, yet, secretly happy that at least now he has a tall & handsome daddy and not a fatty!

An open letter to Anna Hazare & the Government of India

2011-08-17T11:39:00.000+05:30

Dear Anna Hazare (& Team) & the Government of India,

I’d like to begin by thanking both of you for providing us some action-packed days!

While those of you at the government acted ever so stupidly (again) by arresting someone who has every right to protest, Annaji, your team has got the kind of mileage you needed. Those who were sitting on the fence are now tilted towards your side, Annaji, even as you were spending your day next to Kalmadiji. The government surely has its representatives all over the place, even in prison!

I am yet to figure out though, who among you guys are acting like total kids! In fact, you both are acting like spoilt brats throwing tantrums to get your toy!

I read the differences of opinions in both the drafts. Yes – the government draft is too weak. And yes – the Jan Lokpal is too powerful, to the point that it stops short of becoming the highest authority. But, why can’t you guys act like matured adults? You guys chose to make media your battle field. One press-conference after another where mud-slinging and aggressive words became the order of the day, with both the parties playing the game of one-upmanship! Just what my friends in the media were looking for.

While I know that some guys from both the teams can’t see each other eye-to-eye, yet if you are really serious about the country, keep your egos aside for some time and find a middle path. Sit across the table, and sort out the issue like dignified men! Sometimes, sirs, you got to sleep with your enemy to achieve the desired result. Even a certain Mr. Mahatma Gandhi (whose name has been used and abused and misused these days) had to compromise on certain things with the Britishers over the long struggle for freedom!

Dear Annaji, instead of opting to arm-twist via fasting-unto-death again, you could surely try to win friends from within the government by talking it over.

And my dear Government, just what on earth were you guys thinking? By default, no government in India is ‘popular’. In this day and age, it’s just ‘cool’ to criticize the government. And you gave them one genuine point by arresting somebody who had the support of the masses, and possibly a genuine reason too!

The concept of Lokpal is exciting! Only if it’s not too soft (Government’s version), nor too draconian (Jan Lokpal)! It ain’t easy, and it surely shouldn’t be done in haste. But it should be done! At least that guy whom I had to pay a bribe for my passport verification would now think twice. I hope.

Love,
A fence-sitter (It’s much better here!)

Are we really free?

2011-08-16T11:14:00.000+05:30

Are we really free when residential societies allow members of only their religion to their societies?

Are we really free when certain worship places are burnt down, while others-illegally built- stay put?

Are we really free when people speaking 'local' language get preferential treatment over others?

Are we really free when education is based majorly on your birth than merit?

Are we really free when on one hand, we support Anna's campaign and on the other hand compromise easily when it comes to our personal life?

Are we really free when Anna & Ramdev get more airspace and another genuine protestor who dies for the cause is taken notice only after his death?

Are we really free if protesting & armless farmers are shot dead?

Are we really free when at the name of freedom of speech, we can write crap about other communities and get away with it?

Are we really free when there are blasts every month in Assam and yet, it's only the one in 'major cities' that wakes the nation?

Are we really free when we can't click photographs of some really amazing places in Mumbai without the police coming into the picture?

Are we really free when some people are lesser equals than others?

Make no mistake. India is by far one of the best democracies & 'freest' nations in the world. But, are we really free?

First ever IPL State Derby: Another Pictorial

2011-04-27T00:51:00.001+05:30

I’d thought the 15^th May 2011 experience at the stadium with my office colleagues could possibly be my last LIVE match for a long time to come, when my church friend Binoy messaged me on 19^th May and asked if I could be free to watch the game the next day. At that time, I didn’t even know who the Mumbai Indians were going to play. His sister Benzy had some free tickets and I was invited. There was no way that I was going to let go off this opportunity.

This time, we were at the Garware Stand, Gate No. 2. This time, however, it would be all church friends together. We reached the game about a couple of overs late because of some miscommunication. We hadn’t missed much of the action though. Just as we entered, Sachin Tendulkar was taking a catch to send Pune Warriors’ Jesse Ryder back to the dug-out.

Before we could even settle down, PWI had lost four. One of them being Tim Paine, seen here getting his bails knocked off by Munaf Patel. I consider this one a priceless shot, and to think that it was purely by chance. I’d thought the batsman was given out caught behind! But a careful look at the picture and you’d see that the bail is disturbed.

Soon, skipper Yuvraj Singh was making his way back for a duck. Amidst the Mumbai Indians’ flags fluttering, he walked back dejectedly to the dug-out, seeing a defeat within the first six overs of the game. The bunch who’d got the free tickets, meanwhile, feared that the game might be over too soon for our liking.

The Pune dug-out wasn’t too far away from where we sat. And we were of course, the privileged few to have high-end tickets free to ourselves!

Robin Uthappa tried to resurrect the Pune inning, but found little support at the other end, as edges flew often from the bat, most of them, luckily in no man’s land.

Lasith Malinga could easily be the second most popular cricketer in Mumbai Indians. And with him standing at long-off, shouts of ‘Maa-lin-ga Maa-lin-ga’ echoed from our stands. When you’re in the crowd, you could say the most ridiculous things, like when I shouted something to the effect of – “Malinga, apna baal dikha na!” (Malinga, show us your hair!). And very soon, he was removing his hat. Of course, only to wipe the sweat I believe.

Soon, Malinga was bowling and that slinging action just cannot be missed – no matter which part of the stand you are in!

When you’re this close to the ground and dug-out, you’re never too far away from the TV guys either. Shibani Dandekar was seen here interviewing Pune’s Fergusson.

It’s fun to watch a player’s antics at the ground, something that you could miss while watching on TV. Malinga was seen adjusting his socks, even as the bowler was beginning his run-up. “Idhar catch aayega toh majaa aayega!” (Would be fun if they hit one here)

Strategic Time-out is one of the most irritating things while on TV, but to people at the stadium, it’s time to grab a bite, see what the players do etc. Pune didn’t have much to discuss with them tottering with more than half of their side back in the hut. Wonder what Geoff Marsh and Yuvi told the batsmen in the middle.

And for people like Binoy, Sajan and me, it was time to carry some memories home to show off. For me, this was coming here on my blog! The three of us look more tired than the players on the field though.

Pune soon folded out for 118. Time for interviews. Andrew Symonds with Brad Hodge. Shibani and Sameer Kochar (who looked bigger than he does on TV) seen here awaiting their turn.

And when you’re in a stand that’s on the higher side, you could bump into a few celebrities too like Sachin Khedekar, popular Marathi actor. Music Director Anu Malik also was around, but too quick for me to click a snap.

Wankhede looks awesome under floodlights. And they were just taking effect, slowly.

Mumbai lost opener Franklin early, but chasing 118 was never going to be difficult. Uthappa fielding at long-on seemed quite lonely.

Sachin and Rayudu were playing at a pace that was below-par for a T20 game, but on par for the current match. Binoy wanted the match to go to the last ball. Seemed highly unlikely.

I seemed to be the only guy in that stand who knew Tommo’s real name – Alfonso Thomas. A ball before this snap, Tommo jumped high to save a certain six to restrict Rayudu to just one. Soon, Sachin went after the bowler, but the ball was safe in Tommo’s lap!

Sachin departed. In walked Rohit Sharma. Mumbai Indians’ batsmen hadn’t had much of a hit in the middle with Sachin and Rayudu doing most of the work in the previous games. Perfect time for Rohit to get some batting practice.

Binoy desperately wanted a photograph with Sachin. He got his moment!

Some tight bowling and some average batting by Mumbai meant that the game could well go to the last over. We never thought we would be seeing the flood-lights taking full-effect like it did.

The match was getting too close for my liking. My mom had already asked me the day before – “Are you going there to defeat Mumbai? Last time, you did so!”

With Symonds coming out to bat for the first time in the game, and Rohit Sharma playing it easy, this game would go to the final over!

Binoy got his second wish fulfilled. The match going to the last ball.

Murali Karthik, who had bowled a good over till that point, pitched his last one slightly short and outside the off, and Rohit quickly pounced on it and cleared it over the sweeper-cover boundary for MI’s first six, thus handing his team a seven-wicket win.

MI came out victorious in the first-ever state derby of IPL. I have a good feeling about this rivalry. Could well turn out to be a ‘match to watch out for’ in the future. As for me, I had witnessed another first at Wankhede!

Another perk that came with the free ticket, apart from some yummy free food, was that we were pretty close to the dressing room. And two of my favourite former South African players were within shouting distance here – Shaun Pollock and Jonty Rhodes. (So much so that my nephew is named after the latter)

The presentation ceremony was about to start, but to those close to the dressing room, that hardly mattered. We were calling out to any and every player. And Malinga obliged. Unfortunately, as Malinga chose and pick, I wasn’t the fortunate enough to get his autograph.

For some strange reason, I had a feeling, I could get Robin Uthappa’s attention. He was down in the ground getting his ‘Maximum Sixes Award’. On his way back, we had our moment when Robin responded with a smile when we shouted out ‘Praise the Lord, Robbie!’ Soon, he was kind enough to take the Mumbai Indians flag and sign on it. My day was made!

My first ever stadium experience: A Photo Story!

2011-04-25T23:11:00.003+05:30

It was one of those ‘ideas’ that you just blurt out at the spur of the moment. So, as I was on a walk with my office friends- all of us still discussing the World Cup victory, sudden thought, which was perhaps a little too loud – “Why don’t we go for a game?” It didn’t take too long for the bunch to come back at their desk and book IPL tickets for the Mumbai Indians – Kochi Tuskers Kerala game.

Come 15th May 2011, we were on our way to the famous Wankhede Stadium, which a couple of weeks back had witnessed one of the most historic moments in Indian cricket. For us, we knew the Mumbai Indians was walking home easily with their easy wins in their first two matches, and Kochi’s below-par show in their first two. Before I bore you to death with this boring textual experience of the match, let these few pictures tell the tale.

Not surprisingly, the line to gate no. 4 was long, what with the six of us reaching past 7, yet well before the game.

I’ve never seen Wankhede in such close proximity. And after renovation, I am told that it had started looking even more gorgeous.

Did someone say IPL was losing out because of its proximity to the World Cup? Wankhede had other stories. And as we made past the 3-4 layers of security, to add a cliché, the decibels sure gave testimony to the excitement in the air.

What really got us going was the view we were going to get. At the second ‘cheapest’ available seats, this was possibly the best seats available.

The ‘screaming’ was purely for the excitement of the seats that we got, which I must add, was purely by chance. I don't think we shouted any louder during the game. Few empty seats in the stand adjacent were soon going to be filled to capacity. What surprised me was the availability of MI flags on every seat.

Kochi, after winning the toss, asked Mumbai to bat. The decibels went a lot of notches higher when Sachin Tendulkar and Davy Jacobs walked out to the middle. For three of us in the group, we were seeing the legend for the first-ever time in person.

There’s no better sight in world cricket than a Tendulkar straight-drive and when he obliged in the very first over as he drove RP Singh past mid-off. The few Rupees that we had spent were now worth it. Soon though, there was a close shout for LBW. “Not out. Not out!” I declared. Umpire agreed. Seemed we both were wrong. I, of course, didn’t know about this till after the game.

As the game progressed, the stadium was in full capacity, cheering each of Sachin’s runs. One required to score of the last ball of the MI inning to reach his first ever century, Sachin calmly knocks it to long-off for a single, thus hitting his first ever 100 in a T20 game! The crowd just witnessed history and we already had a nice story to tell our children.

I might be a mallu, but I am a Mumbaikar first. And the way Kochi chased MI’s 182 down with Mahela Jayawardane’s silky smooth batting and Brendon McCullum’s blitzkrieg, we were left to be satisfied with Sachin’s master-class.

Yet, there were a lot of take-aways from what was my first-ever Stadium Experience. For one, seeing Sachin’s straight drive, followed by an array of shots, including his first ever helicopter shot, on his way to the first-ever T20 100. For another, Mahela’s inning made us feel that cricket is a very simple game. Very! And finally, this was also Kochi Tuskers Kerala’s first ever victory in the IPL.

PS: Not much of KTK's inning was captured on camera, for much of the time, we were just too stunned with the shots and ease with which Mahela and McCullum took the game away from us!

The Predicament of a Mallu Girl...

2011-04-11T20:42:00.000+05:30

Before I start this blog, for those who’d be chancing upon this blog for the first time, I am a mallu – and a proud one at that. Very importantly though for you to note is that, I ain’t a beautiful mallu babe, quite the contrary – I am an ugly pot-belly developing typical mallu guy who has that accent when he is told to pronounce ‘horse’. The ‘experiences’ mentioned in this post comes from the encounters that I’ve had with my female mallu friends.

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My name is Mercy (pronounced Mézhsee, the sound of ‘zh’ is a unique attribute of a mallu, so don’t try). I did my pre-degree (that’s 12^th/HSc in Mumbai) from Liddlle (Little) Flaaour (Flower) High School, afder (after) which I was made to wride (write) an endranss (entrance) for B Yus C Nezhsing (BSc Nursing). It was a madder (matter) of laif (life) and death. My paarends (parents) would scare me saying that if I didn’t pass, no good bois (boys) from Amerigga (America) will come to marry you. Now, that is a very big insendive (incentive) – not for me, but for my papa and mummy! Nezhsing (Nursing) wasn’t however their first choice. They wanted to mage (make) me a Dogtor (Doctor), but thank GOD that my brayins (brains) were not good enough to make me one!

So, indeed, I passed the endranss and my papa paid a few lags (lakhs) Rubees (rupees). Finally I was a Nezhsing student. I comblleted (completed) the degree with a good amound (amount) of success. After my 2 years of bond at that stupidd (stupid) HhOspotall (Hospital), I gave my I Yee Yell Tee Yus (IELTS) exam. But during that time, I got an obbortunity (opportunity) to go Gellf (Gulf). I yearned (earned) loadds (lots) of money by worging (working) in the Minisdry (Ministry) Hosbitall in Dubbei (Dubai). I sent back some money to my paarends in Gerella (Kerala). They are right now billding (building) a big bungllo (bungalow) type house back in Pattazhi Junction. We will have a sit-out where my sisters Plensy and Dincy can study in peace for their Nezhsing.

After I reach a (marri-yageabblle (marriageable) age, which agjually (actually) for Malayalee paarends start the momend we compleded Nezhsing, my reladives (relatives) from far and wide, whom I never knew existed and cared for me so much, will start bringing probosalls (proposals) for me from Yengineer (Engineer) Bois from Ameriga – the ultimade land of dreamss for many malayalees – so much so that some will trade heaven for Ameriga! Laif (life) is all about adjestments (adjustments), a wise mallu once said, and as my friends say, they are habby seeing their hubby once in a fortnight! For when their hubby walks home from office, they are already in hosbitall for their night shift and vice versa! Afder oll, It’s all about adjestments!

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Disclaimer: If the characters and facts mentioned in this block has a resemblance to any mallu girl- living or dead- it’s purely ‘non-coincidental’ and has birthed from the fact the blogger is a mallu, who has encountered many of his friends and relatives going through this. However, none of my mallu friends have an accent like the one I mentioned above. A salute to all my nursing friends – and this ain’t sacrcasm, for I really cannot do what you guys are doing!)

Station Names in Mumbai

2011-04-08T18:56:00.001+05:30

Growing up in Mumbai can make one get used to a lot of things – ‘names of stations’ would be one such thing. Until, that is, a new visitor to the city gives you those weird expressions when you take these names- expressions that would push Mr. Bean to the second spot. While these station-names have an interesting history behind them (at least a few of them do), a majority of them are weird and funny! Let’s explore a few…

Diva Junction: Whoever named this station must have had a lot of hope. If this was the only station left on planet earth, you would still struggle to find a single ‘diva’ in Diva! A couple of years back, you would have been lucky to find a soul here, other than a couple of canines.

Andheri: The name is as ironic as the behaviour of the place. Andheri could possibly be the brightest part of Mumbai. From my weird logic, those who christened this station must have actually meant it for Diva. This could be a case like that of ‘The-Taj-Hotel-Architecture-goof-up’.

Badlapur: Roughly translated to ‘Revenge-town’. Need I say more?

Goregoan: This is one racist station!

Charni Road: You won’t find any mangers here. Not unless Christmas is around and Christians start making those tiny ones in the area.

Ambernath: Master of Brownish Yellow. More racism! And to say that Goregoan and Ambernath are at two different sides of the city, I cry conspiracy!

Ulhasnagar: Happy Town! Considering all the filth around in this town, people should be honoured with a President’s Medal merely for surviving there, let alone being happy!

Currey Road: Now this is one name that would fit to any Indian station.

Chinchpokli: ‘Chinch’ means tamarind in Marathi. But I am told there are no tamarind trees nearby. In Mumbai, consider yourself blessed if you find trees at all! (Ok, I am exaggerating here)

King’s Circle: This one’s for the royalty. I would love to live here, merely for the name it possesses.

Wadala: Sure.

Sandhurst Road: For some strange reason, many folks just can’t the pronunciation right for this one, thus, making it sound like... I think I'd leave it at that.

And there are a few more. But I’ll stop at these, lest these begin to sound like a ‘force fit’.

9 ‘takeaways’ from World Cup 2011

2011-04-05T00:12:00.004+05:30

As the dust settles on what has been a ‘living the dream’ moment for many Indian cricket buffs, life would slowly trudge back, until at least IPL-4 begins. Meanwhile, here are a few moments that caught my attention (as if it matters) from a World Cup, that many calls the best ever!

Sree’s ‘almost breakdown’: In WC’s opening match against Bangladesh, it wasn’t as much Sehwag’s inning that I remember than the hammering that Sreesanth got. In fact, more so, his reaction after the five wides that he gave away in an over that cost India 24 runs, which till half-way through the tournament was the most expensive over of the World Cup. He almost broke down while going back to his mark and did a good job at holding it back by wiping his face with his elbow. Guess, he reserved some of those for the Finals!

Hot n’ Cold Minnows: While the minnows in Group B gave the big teams, especially England, a good-scare, the ones in Group A seemed to justify ICC’s decision not to have them in the next World Cup. A few players from these lesser equals made a good name for themselves a la Ryan Ten Doeschate and Kevin O’Brien. While fans are still trying to get the pronunciation right for the former, the latter with his ‘I-care-a-hoot’ innings against England earned himself a nick name ‘The Big Kev’! That fearless performance by the Irish, leading them to create the record of the highest-ever chase in a World Cup, stood out for ICC to take note.

Consistently Inconsistent England: Undoubtedly, the team that provided the most exciting moments in the World Cup had to be

England

. A tie against India after almost successfully pulling up an impossible run-chase, closely-fought defeats against Ireland and Bangladesh and edge-of-the-seat-wins against Netherlands, South Africa and West Indies, all of their first round matches had their fans pulse-rate racing ahead to weird proportions. Their campaign ended with an anti-climax of sorts when

Sri Lanka

thrashed them in the Quarter Finals. This tournament owes much to

England

for all that excitement!

The Kiwi Blitzkrieg:

Pakistan

must have been looking forward to chasing a target of not more than 240 in their league match against the Kiwis when they were struck by the ‘Ross Storm’. Read this – 175/5 in 42 overs; and 210/6 in 46 overs. You’d have virtually missed the whole match (I did) if you missed the four overs that came after! Shoaib concedes 28 off one over, making it the most expensive over of the World Cup. That record doesn’t stand long. An over later, Abdul Razzaq concedes 30. And he does a Sree, and does well not to break down! 92 runs in 25 balls. Carnage! This game, unfortunately though, would be remembered more for Kamran Akmal’s skills or the lack of it behind the wicket than for Ross Taylor’s explosion. Akmal became the latest topic for SMS jokes!

India

Dropped:

Pakistan

’s generosity in the field didn’t end with the New Zealand game. Not once, not twice, but four times was Sachin dropped enroute to his 85 during the much hyped Semi Final between the two arch-rivals. Fielding turned out to be the difference between the two sides as Pakistan lost way during the chase. Afridi’s post-match comments got him a lot of Indian fans, only for him to have thrown it all away in his sore interview to a Pakistani channel.

Slow Seniors: Apart from the Little Master and the Lankans, no senior batsman really got going. Especially noteworthy were the performances by the West Indians Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnaraine Chanderpaul and Pakistanis Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq. These otherwise-talented batsmen just couldn’t get the ball off the square when it mattered and turned out to be liability for their teams.

Chokers Choked Again: New World Cup. New Knock-out. Same old story. South Africans, before the start of the world cup, tried hard vocally to shed the age-old ‘tag’ that they carry with them. Skipper Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis were particularly vocal about this. But sadly, they couldn’t manage to translate that on to the field, as twice, we saw the famous South African collapse – against England and New Zealand – the latter knocking them off the tournament yet again in the knock-out stage.

Sidhu Never Stops: Every analyst who sat opposite Navjot Singh Sidhu must be commended. All of them kept their emotions under check, at least on air! One look at the likes of Sourav Ganguly, who turned out to be a brilliant analyst, and you won’t be faulted for thinking that he might swing his arm across the table in the direction of Sidhu. Simon Hughes, an Englishman, was relieved that Semi Final was his last working day with ESPN-Star (read Sidhu). When someone says, “Look at your hair man. You have gone bald. You have lost your hair!” on your face, it ain’t funny. Not one bit. The sweet victories by India against Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka were made sour by watching this gentleman. He would have been bearable if he at least stood by what he said. His opinions about the Indian team and certain matters kept changing match-by-match. Watching him is a lesson in patience. Sitting next to him is an entire education in that.

Captain Cool: This guy goes by instinct. Be it picking Chawla and Sreesanth ahead of Ashwin, which backfired every time or sending himself ahead of in-form Yuvraj in the final. MSD just backs himself. And it paid off in the final. That six to seal India’s World Cup win after 28 years will remain etched in the minds of all Indian cricket fans. But the moment that was worth watching was when Dhoni let emotions overtake him finally after the victory! Scenes of India’s ‘strong men’ a la Yuvraj, Bhajji and Sachin in tears won’t be forgotten too quickly.

PS: Sure, there were many more moments, but then, not everyone would read even to this point! :)

Newspapers after the euphoria…

2011-04-04T13:39:00.001+05:30

It is indeed slowly sinking in… even for a normal Indian cricket fan, if I may call myself one! I expected the hype and hoopla to carry forward occupying TV space through the week, and the media, so far, has not disappointed. And to be honest, I don’t mind. We’ve had enough of 2Gs, Rajas, Radias, Kalmadis Wikileaks, etc. For a country that was craving for some bit of positive news after all of the above, a bunch of 15 men and their support staff couldn’t have timed it better!

The day after India won the first ever World T20 in South Africa defeating Pakistan, I was so excited that I bought almost all English Newspapers home. Read it here.

And I wasn’t going to miss doing that after India went one ahead and brought home (or kept home) the ‘original World Cup’ after 28 years. After all, the next generation has already missed history and I can proudly tell them – “I was there!”

Here are the headlines and my thoughts (purely from a reader’s and a fake-journo’s perspective) of leading Mumbai dailies that came out the following morning:

THE WORLD AT OUR FEET

- The Sunday Times of India

Although I am not a big fan of the ToI’s reporting, their headlines have often impressed me. And this one’s no different. Compared to some of the others, this one’s more creative.

CHAMPIONS

- The Hindustan Times

The HT overlaid this headline on a half-page photograph of the jubilant Indian team after receiving the trophy. Although the headline in itself isn’t creative, the layout (I believe this is HT’s forte) makes it exciting and thus, to the point! HT, however, has done a brilliant job in getting columns out of Ian Chappell and Pradeep Magazine – something that they can claim exclusivity for!

WINDIA
World Champions, 2011

- The Indian Express

IE has carried a full page photograph with no report. However, this daily is the only newspaper to carry two mast heads and two front pages, with the second ‘front page’ carrying the headline – ‘The World in a Cup’. According to me, both headlines lack imagination, yet the full page photograph captures the moment well!

WE RULE

- DNA

Three-fourth of the page is occupied by a photograph of Sachin being carried on Yusuf Pathan’s shoulder. Somehow, both the heading and the photograph didn’t quite create the same kind of impact in me.

A CUP FOR THE MASTER

- The Free Press Journal

Layout was never FPJ’s strength and that remains a constant. Although the headline is in a font that’s hard to read, it still is ‘out-of-the-box’!

Sare Jahan Se Acha

- The Asian Age

The headline and layout lacks the kind of punch that would be desired of the morning after a World Cup win. The Asian Age carries the same photograph of Sachin on his team-mate’s shoulder.

THANK YOU!
- The Mumbai Mirror

Although Mumbai Mirror wouldn’t (and shouldn’t) fall under the category of a morning newspaper, the broadloid needs a mention for what it brought out post the victory. Kunal Pradhan’s article is brilliant. And the headline ‘Thank you!’ with the victorious Indian team’s photograph, according to me, was the best coverage of the lot!

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Having said all that, my thoughts with the journalists who actually sat down post the victory after watching the game - some of them in the stadium, some of them at their office desks- having to type away when the world outside was making merry in the streets. For them, it was a race to finish an error-free copy before the dreaded deadline. Their celebrations had to wait. Readers, like me, were waiting for them.

A challenge...

2011-03-22T19:11:00.001+05:30

“Take this challenge, Bless. The boundary is 80 yards to your leg-side. Clear it!”

“Ok.”

It took a few wickets for him to hold the bat. Somehow the burden seemed lighter to him. Not of the bat. But within his head.

Few moments ago, when he had nothing to achieve, he made efforts to play himself in, and try out some technically correct shots. Apparently, when a left-handed cover-drives, it’s pure bliss to those watching minus the bowler. But now, it was no longer a normal ‘number-number-12-balls-a-batsman’ format. It was what everyone in Mumbai calls ‘touch-n-go.’ So, the moment, the ball hits the bat, you gotta run. Putting both you and more so, your non-striker at risk of running out.

Yet, to ‘touch and go’ seemed to be the last minute on his mind. Before he took guard, he eyed the leg side. Saw the fielders. He had to clear them. By a long margin. “Remember the challenge, Bless?” Vijesh made it a point to remind him. He just nodded.

Very unlike him, he charged at the very first delivery he got. Connected it beautifully. On the off-side. What would be a beautifully timed boundary didn’t please him. His challenge was still incomplete.

A full toss outside the off stump. He stretched to swing, but nowhere close to the ball! He looked at Vijesh. Both exchange a smile. The latter’s smile had a question. “You’re going for it, aren’t you?”

A short delivery. Thumped. In the air for a fair while, but bounces well short of the eighty yards, as it hit the concrete steps.

Low full-toss. This time on the leg-stump. It’s slammed with disdain. Vijesh had already gone to retrieve the previous ball, when this one was coming straight at him. But much to the batsman’s relief, he doesn’t pick up the shout by the fielders. The ball bounces in front and over him. Another boundary.

Again he comes charging. Plays the ball on the full. Smashes it again. That’s towards the long-on fielder. He judges it. Absolutely imperfectly. He survives. Ball crosses the boundary bouncing a few times over.

Again a short ball. Asking to be hit. He does. Vijesh has placed himself deep. But this goes over his head. Again, poorly judged. The ball bounces in front of the concrete steps. The challenge stays.

Half-volley. Thonked straight down over the head of the bowler. Beats everyone. “Well-played!” says the ‘keeper. Four again. Challenge stays.

On the off. Thumps this one to point for four. Challenge begins to fade.

Meanwhile, at the other end, his partners are running out. Including Vijesh. For all it’s worth, he might end up not achieving the target, without getting out.

Another delivery on the legs. Gives himself a little bit of room and smashes it out of his sight. This one seems to be soaring. “Go go go!” Vijesh looks in anticipation. The challenge might just be achieved. 80 yards! From a tennis ball.

“YES!”

“Is everything ok, Bless?” his mom asks him. He opens his eyes. Wipes them. It’s time to brush the teeth and head for another long day in office!

PS: The last three paragraphs are born out of my imagination. Neither did I achieve the challenge, nor did I dream about it. See, basically, I was bored and had nothing better to do than write this. And you obviously had nothing better to do than read this.

Why Associate Nations playing only the World Cup make no sense?

2011-03-16T16:58:00.003+05:30

10 wickets; 210 runs; 205 runs; 175 runs; 215 runs; 9 wickets; 231 runs; 131 runs.

For those following the ICC World Cup 2011, the numbers above may not look too weird. These are the margins of defeat involving an ICC associate nation team. A few years ago, losing by such a margin was considered an absolute shame. Remember, India held the World Record for the largest margin of defeat in terms of runs (202 against England in the 1975 World Cup, thanks to Sunny Gavaskar’s famous 36 runs from 174 balls) – a record that stayed for almost 12 years!

This world cup (and the previous one) has proven that a top test playing nation can fancy breaking a few records against these hapless lesser fancied teams, unless of course, you are India or England!

I have nothing against the lesser cricketing nations playing the World Cup. My problem is the frequency at which they play. One can’t expect a Canada or a Holland to improve after playing just once in four years against the top sides. A classic example is that of the Kenyan side. World Cup semi-finalists in 2003 and now, three of the above eight numbers are against the African side. After the 2003 World Cup, Kenyans played just one quadrangular tournament and two matches in the Champions Trophy in three years! Imagine a World Cup Semi-finalist being treated like that, although the political unrest and match-fixing can be partly blamed for this! Between 2005 and 2007, the only ‘test playing nations’ that they played against was Bangladesh and Zimbabwe – definitely not the kind of teams you’d put in the top bracket. This team failed to even qualify for the World Twenty20, after nine months of absolutely no international cricket in 2008.

So here’s the point – you can’t throw an injured pigeon among the tigers, and expect it to come out unscathed! First, give them wings. Teach them to fly. (Am I sounding Siddhuish here?) For the game to develop in these regions, let these cricketers, and most of them really talented ones, meet the more fancied nations more frequently. Organise tri-nation and quadrangular events, inviting these associate nations as one of the teams. It would also do a world of good to these lesser countries if they are made to host with some financial assistance from the richer boards participating.

A case in point is Ireland hosting India and South Africa in Dublin in 2007. Although this wasn’t a triangular series, it still drew a good response from the local crowd. Irish team has won a lot of fans in the current edition of the World Cup, and was easily the best among the lesser equals. Obviously, that has something to do with their exposure to playing against the top test nations.

Sure, some of these matches in the tri-series/quadrangulars would be boring and one-sided. But then, at least, the World Cup matches won’t be! Hopefully. Besides, an upset in a tri-series/quadrangular would open the tournament wide open. Also, for players on an individual level, these would do a world of good. They can market themselves by performing against a top-side, and won’t have to wait for that once-in-four-years opportunity!

Imagine, what if the IPL world had seen a Kevin O’ Brien blitzkrieg much before the IPL-4 bidding? Imagine, what if Holland’s Pieter Seelar’s and Canada’s Hiral Patel’s skills had got noticed by the Mallyas and Ambanis? These guys would suddenly be living their dream by sharing the same dressing room with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne!

Time to re-think. Maybe.

When India wins the World Cup…

2011-02-18T17:04:00.001+05:30

Times Now: Times Now Impact: India Wins World Cup after 28 years
AG: Your channel can now confirm that India has indeed won the World Cup. Remember, we were the first ones to break the story on February 19, 2011, that Dhoni’s men has won the World Cup and this result just goes on to show that we were right. This is a historic moment. A very historic moment. Your channel dug deep into the future to tell you even before Zaheer Khan bowled that first ball against Bangladesh, that India HAS won the world cup! To discuss this historic moment with us, we have with us 16 guests tonight…

Listening to the first three names in the panel would be enough to let you know it’s time to switch to another channel before they open their mouths!
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Aaj Tak: Sachin ka armaan poora. Dhoni ke sheron ke pachaad diya duniya ko. Kar di duniya mutthi mein. Rach liya ithihaas ek baar phir Bharat. Kar diya Jaadu Zaheer ne. Sreesanth aur Bhajji phir bane dost!

When you see super-texts like these appearing one after the other in super-huge fonts with a bombastic sound-effect, why would you bother listening to the anchors and an ex-cricketer? Time to switch…
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India TV: Jashn ke beech sanaata aur maayusi. Kaun sunega inn becharon ki awaaz? Dhoni ke sixer ne lee ek maasum kabutar ki jaan. Saare kabutar nirash. Poore Bhaarat ke khushi ke beech kabutaron ka dard!
Repeated visuals of Dhoni hitting a six with a circular graphic zoomed in on the ball flying out of the stadium. ‘Yahee tha who khaufiya darinda shot jisne lee ek maasum kabutar ki jaan! Kya Dhoni denge iska jawaab?'

Jeez, I will break down if I watch more of this. Time to switch...
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Star News: Kya Tulsi Virani apne pothe ka icha poori karegi? Kya hoga Rahul ki shaadi Pooja se. Dekhiye Break ke baad…

Jeez, these guys sure have their priorities right!

An open letter to… who’s who of last few weeks!

2010-12-10T17:45:00.002+05:30

Since everyone’s in the spirit for writing ‘open letters’, I thought I should not be left too far behind. After all, I too have an audience… of five!

So, here is an open letter to not one, but everyone who made news in the few weeks or so. While every second person is busy washing someone else’s dirty linen in public, I sure as well hope that this letter would stir up a real storm in the parliament… well, there’s already some kinda 2G storm happening there… so I will skip that!

But I do hope it gives enough fodder for the Indian media, thus opening a floodgate to many more revelations… but they already have a ‘Barkhagate’ that they’re trying to secretly shut down!

Jeez, what the heck. I will still write… (so what if no one’s listening!) Please note that the content of this letter is purely fictitious. Any resemblance to any person or animal living or dead is coincidentally intentional.

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Dear Mr A. King,

With reference to your six-paragraph letter dated 31st October 2010 on ‘Give and take of 2G’, can you please clarify the first three paragraphs? And it would also help if you can explain the last three too? I do know to read Malayalam, but Tamil becomes a little ‘out of my territory’!

I agree with you on most points after your signature line, which mentions your office address. But I am being told that Mr. C-bal is now occupying your premises. Let me know how I can help.

Dear Mr. A-Shock Chai Van,

Sir, with reference to the missing documents, you can take my word – they aren’t with me! I thought I’d thrown them to my TV screen while watching a ‘loud’ news channel anchor. But I love my TV way too much. These papers could be found lying in the bathroom of the numerologist who suggested to you to make your name a little longer, eventually resulting in your reign getting shorter.

Dear Mr. Yedu-Rapper,

I wish I was a minister in your cabinet. By hook or by crook, I would have managed to complete five years in that chair, with a few add-ons in the form of land. It is good to know that you are a loving and caring father, who would put his job on the line to give his kids the best ‘deal’ possible!

Dear Mr. Moon PL,

I believe you already got a reply from my boss on your letter. And that should do. But you know, you might just have stirred a hornet’s nest and hit yourself on the foot with a few old heavy and explosive GSM phones!

Dear Mu-Cash Antila,

Can I use your bathroom anytime I walk along that lane? I promise, I won’t switch off the light after I use it. And since you’ve so much of vulgar money, if you’re going on a holiday for a month, it will be great if you can pass on the money that you’d kept for paying the electricity bill. It can buy me a big enough house for myself.

Dear readers,

I’m extremely grateful to the five of you who continue to read this blog despite being a disgrace to blogging.

Love,
Mallu Mumbaikar

A flashback: My first week in College…

2010-12-06T16:12:00.004+05:30

Even as I walked inside that massive structure, which was then, rated as ‘Asia’s Best’ (I think it still is), I couldn’t help but wondering, I must be the most ‘out-standing’ boy here. Literally! I was standing out in the crowd of youthful exuberance.

I hadn’t quite made that transition from a school-boy to a ‘college-dude’. And not to forget, I was (and I still am) a small-town boy. I disliked jeans. And you still won’t see me wearing t-shirts too often. So here I was dressed in formals from head to toe (or should I say – collar-to-toe). Neatly pressed formal attire. Nicely polished shoes. Formal ‘executive’ bag. A scrawny little fella walking into one of the yuppiest colleges in the country. Out of place? Understatement. I was to later find out that I was tagged as a ‘salesman’ by a few, who later became my good friends! Can’t blame them. But I really didn’t care. Neither did I face something that was termed as a ‘cultural shock’. I guess I was too ‘dumb’ then to figure all that out!

I was just trying to make sense of this sheet of paper, supposedly, the time-table. On it was ‘20B’. I had no clue what that meant, till I was told it was the classroom number.

I guess, the priority though was to get my concession form. And that was my first of many ‘encounters’ at the concession counter. It was an ‘adventure’ for many. I will leave it at that…

And of course, I had to miss my first lecture – Economics. I went within 5 metres of 20B. But, of course, didn’t have the courage to ‘excuse myself’ to enter the classroom. Didn’t want 110 odd people (only 14 of them being guys) staring at this ‘out-of-place’ guy walking in.

I waited for the next lecture. And walked in to sit next to a guy. The 14 guys had occupied two benches, one of which could seat 7 of us. History - a subject that I hated in school and had opted out for my Junior College (eventually ended up majoring in the subject). Where on earth do I go for Political Science? Sheet said, ‘20F’. The professor had already walked in. And there was no way that I would raise my backside to get out of the classroom now! First day – first two lectures – and I am yet to realistically ‘attend’ a single one.

Twenty minutes into break time. After briefly roaming around aimlessly, I came back and stood next to the window outside 20B. This was before ensuring that my next lecture’s going to be here. There was no way I was going to let this day pass without attending at least a single lecture.

1:20 PM – I get a tap on my shoulder. Bijoy (now we call him lambu for obvious reasons) –my first friend! It was difficult to keep pace with him, on the walk and even on the talk. With BJ, you have to walk fast and allow him to finish talking. He has changed on the latter aspect though. He, now, doesn’t finish talking at all! ;)

First day ended by 4 PM. I don’t really remember much of what happened after that, but am grateful that this 6’ tall guy put me at ease!

A week later, on 10th of June 2000, I found my second friend. Merwyn D’souza. This fella hasn’t changed one bit. Merwyn ten years back is the Merwyn you see now. His secrets? He doesn’t share them! Or rather, he has no idea himself. But this guy’s PJs, as much as his looks, have remained constant. They continue to make you wanna whack him hard, yet put that laugh on your face!

I am not sure when I befriended Carlo. It must have been during a Socio lecture when he happened to sit next to me and encouraged me to narrate a story to the class about a Near-Death Experience that I had. When he reads this, he would have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about. He remembers only what he chooses to… just like the 20 runs I gave away in the final over of the finals! ;)

With Anish too, the case was much the same. I guess we became friendly during our cricket matches or History classes. But with him around, there was always a prank around the corner!

And then of course, a lot of friends became a part of me through my college life, most of them left, but these four stayed on and continued to be a friend of this scrawny little guy from Dombivli who ‘needs his visa renewed’ and ‘his passport updated’ every time he comes to meet them in their ‘city’!

But despite all these changes in the environment, I survived. Rather, I enjoyed every moment of Xavier’s. Very subtly, it changed my attitude, but it let me remain ‘Me’!

Note:
This blogpost is a reaction to a photo-album that Carlo showed me recently. Some of those pics were taken about a decade back and they did what they were supposed to do – bring a feeling of nostalgia…

Queueueueueue...

2010-09-06T15:52:00.005+05:30

Well, Indian railways, or rather its commuters never stops surprising me. And true to a tradition of this blog, here’s another one dedicated to Indian Railways! If you are a frequent commuter in Mumbai (which of course means a lot of local-train travelling if you are ‘not elite’ like yours truly), you would be no stranger to never-ending, never-moving queues. And every queue would always witness one woman trying to ‘flirt’ her way in getting a ticket from someone who has stood for 45 minutes and reached the counter window, one guy going right up in front to buy coupons or to update his ATVM card and finally, someone trying to sneak right up in the front.

The first category in the previous sentence usually always gets a conditions-applied ‘Yes’ from a guy, who believes the girl’s going to come back to thank him and befriend him for life. Get real guys – all she was concerned was to get that ticket to run and catch that 8:43 CST fast! It’s not because she found you ‘cute’. She just found you to be the most ‘foolable’ among the lot! Of course, the condition to the ‘yes’ answer depends on whether the girl is young, beautiful and unmarried. The saree-clad fairer gender may not be as lucky!
The second category contains a group of people, who are perfectly within their right to be at the window, or at least the Railways have made it out to be. This group wouldn’t budge under the pressure of those who think they’re breaking the rules by intruding into their territory. However, these guys have to endure these silent curses from people, who by now, with slightest provocation, could use any heavy object they find nearby.
The third category has to be the most irritating lot. If caught sneaking in, and in 9/10 times they do get caught, these guys are recipients to some awesome music, exclusively available from born and bred Mumbaikars. I apologise that none of the lyrics of this music could be replicated here, purely because this is a family blog (or so I think since not even my family takes pain to read this). The music which starts off purely as a melody soon turns rhythmic with its tempo increasing as it goes on. To those who belong to this category – best of luck. Don’t try your stunts in Mumbai!

There are of course others too who could make it to these lists – cousins/distant relatives/long-lost twin of the one at the counter; animals and pests (the real ones) like dogs, rats and roaches, not necessarily to buy tickets; the ones who just got a change coming back to the counter to collect their ticket, etc etc! These reasons should be enough for you understand why I was astounded when I saw a queue being followed religiously – not at a ticket counter, but at a platform itself in Dombivli. Women (YES! Women!) standing in a queue to get into a train’s First Class Ladies Compartment! Yes, you can go back and read that again. Am I in Mumbai? Am I in India? Are things changing? Let me not jump too far!

Stuck!

2010-04-28T20:33:00.004+05:30

Kaka's chai at tapri is one of the things that the gang of boys in my team look forward to post-lunch in our office! After our desi chinese lunch at the canteen, it was time for that drink that keeps us awake for the rest of the afternoon. Today however, only Susheel was giving me company, as the rest were either absent or out already.

Our elevator discussions usually revolve somewhere between nonsensical boy talks and brainless imaginations! I guess it wasn't too different today either... till after the second floor (we call it the hallowed floor) had passed, at least!

A sudden jerk... And a silent second later, darkness engulfed us in that little 6x6ft metallic structure. "Oh shucks!" was our first reaction. We stood still for about 10 seconds, when the lights came back revealing a nervous, yet relieved smile on our faces!

Not for long did that relief last, as we looked at the buttons and on top of them blinked a red light, which read, 'Overload'! Overload? Susheel and me? Surely, we've eaten too much of that chinese! Or maybe my paunch is making its presence felt again! It surely wasn't funny cause' the elevator wasn't showing signs of any movement. We pressed the '0' button again. We would have been happy with a jerk now. None!\

I pressed the 'Alarm' and waited for a response. We waited to pick any sound. I pressed it again. And we waited again. Silence. Susheel was smiling. I guess so was I, but it was a nervous one! "Should I bang the door?" I asked Sush. "No need. They might be on their way!" Silence outside made me feel it wasn't!

I pressed the alarm once again - this time for a longer time, followed by a bang bang! We weren't sure anybody was listening cause' we surely couldn't hear a soul. And the door being an automatic one, there was no point in us trying to do any stunts to make it obey us, regardless of what that 'Overload' signal revealed!

I wasn't sure how long this would last because I'm someone who finds breathing tough in closed conditions. I conveyed that to Susheel, albeit with that nervous smile still on. We removed our cellphones and lost hopes on that count when we saw Sush's Reliance connection showing no network!

A good 4-5 minutes had passed and I guess no one knew we were stuck. Neither did we about which floor we were on! I started bang bang again along with the pressing of that alarm button that looked and sounded useless.

Finally, some human voice outside, "Coming. Khol raha hoon!" followed by some noises of metal being slammed at. A deep sigh... A photograph to capture this one of a kind experience... And we finally felt some movement. The door opened and two pairs of relieved legs walked out to some inquisitive eyes! We could just smile and blabber whatever came out from our tongue.

Not too sure whether those eyes saw us as heroes or victims, but Susheel and I definitely got our few minutes of attention and a story to tell our friends who would have been our co-victims/heroes had it happened a day early or late!

All glory to my JESUS! No breathing issues, but just a nice little story to blog about (which possibly took you longer, to read than my time inside the elevator)!

Mallu invasion in IPL!!!

2010-03-23T11:53:00.001+05:30

During Season 2 of IPL (or was it Season I), I remember joking with my colleagues about a team from Kochi making it to the IPL rooster. Cut to March 21, 2010, and news channels across televisions could be seen flashing the ‘vulgar’ money spent on the two new teams, one of them as per my ‘predictions’ – Kochi! A few expats mallus, some Gujjus, Delhiites, Mumbaikars all forming a part of a conglomerate they call Rendezvous Sports, and a little bit of string-pulling from Mr. Twitter 2009-10 – Sashi Tharoor, and what do you have? A new franchisee – Kochi! Beware! Mallus have invaded the IPL too!!! And possibly in large numbers!!

So, now that we have Kochi in the fray, let’s see what we can expect during IPL Season 4…

Team Name: Except for Knight Riders and Chargers, none of the other six teams have a name that’s catchy enough. Here’s Kochi’s chance to cash in on a ‘fundoo’ name. My suggestion: Kochi Kokonuts!
Jerseys: As mentioned in one of my earlier posts last year, there’s too much of blue (and red) in IPL. Kochi has a chance to break that trend and be innovative. Expect sleeveless banyans and white moondus (dhotis) which will be tied upwards to reveal that blue-lined bermudas beneath!
Sponsors: No one can beat Malluland in the number of jewellery shops and craze for that yellow metal. Don’t be surprised if you see ‘Atlas Jewellery’ printed in large yellow font in those banyan jerseys. ‘Janakodikallude vishwasth sthapanam’ ads will now make its way to non-mallu channels!
Captain: Who other than the golden-eyed boy from Kerala? The now peace-loving and converted Sree will lead the Kochi Kokonuts. Another reason why the team should be called ‘the nuts’!
Coach: If Warne, at age 40+, can be coach and captain, why not Sree for KKNs? The other mallu leaders are busy in striking (not the cricket ball), but striking work – Kerala’s favourite past-time!
Support Staff: As far as physio and fitness is concerned, there are no shortages of nurses (read nerses) in Kerala! Oh, hold on- they’ve all ‘migrated’ to ‘the Gulf’ (read Gelf). Well, the expats can import them for the IPL time-slot.
Cheerleaders: Traditional Kerala’s chattayum-moondum (white kurta-like top and women’s dhoti – sorry, couldn’t find a better way to describe that) only please! We don’t like exposing in Kerala. All those exposing too much will be met with a protest march in red flags and red shirts!
Schedule: IPL will be wary of bandhs, hartals and strikes every second day. All of Kochi’s home matches will be on Sundays. There are no bandhs in Kerala on holidays!
Crowd: Times are changing. If you thought I am gonna say “expect moond and white shirts all across the stadium,” well, you are right. But that’s not because it continues to be Kerala’s ‘everyday clothing’, they are just showing support to their local team! If you can wear blue for Mumbai Indians’ home game and purple for KKR, why not dhotis, which will be the jersey for KKNs!
Sledging: Phaaaaaaa… ()*@#@)(!!@!_@! – That’s sledging in Malayalam!
Brand Ambassador: Mohan Lal (read Mogan) – “njan ilaathe njingalk entho IPL?” (What’s IPL without me? – for the uninitiated, it’s one of his famous ad quotes, twisted to suit this post)

All in all, things are looking exciting for IPL. Honestly, I was getting bored with scenes of Preity’s dimples and Shilpa shouting! Let’s have some puttum kadalayum! Let’s have some Chattayum Moondum. And let’s have a non-stop mallu-blabbering (that’s what we do all the time) wicket-keeper behind the stumps!

Sachin or Bradman – Who’s better?

2010-02-27T13:59:00.001+05:30

For those who are not into the habit of reading newspapers, my comment appeared in today’s (February 27, 2010) Mumbai Mirror, pg 10, in the section Mumbai Talking. Former England skipper Nasser Hussain’s comment that Sachin Tendulkar is greater than the great Don Bradman evoked them to ask a few lesser mortals like me the question that’s posted as the title to this post. So, while my comment was edited and cut to size by the broadloid, I thought I’ll use the liberty of owning a free blog-site and post my comment - unadulterated and in my words - for the fingerful (not handful) of the visitors to this ‘humble’ site:

It’s unfair to comment on which among the two will have the superlative. We are talking about two different eras here!

Uncovered pitches, little or no protective gears and for that matter, no genuine laws to protect the batsman from getting killed (a la Bodyline Series) defined Don’s era. Imagine facing a hard leather-ball being hurled at your face or on your body, which by the way, is minus any protection! And with Douglas Jardine and Harold Larwood (who supposedly was as quick as today’s Shoaib Akhtar and Bret Lee) going for the ‘kill’, almost literally, the batsmen were never quite sure whether they would survive to see the next ball, let alone the next morning! Not to forget, cricket was suspended for almost 10 years during the Second World War. Such situations demanded an army-man-like bravery, concentration and of course, focus to continue in cricket after a decade of break! Bradman, undoubtedly, had all of these in plenty and more. You may never again see a batting average of 99.94 for a guy who has played more than 50 Test Matches!

Switch to the current era: A match every second day, touring around the world visiting almost 3-4 countries/nations every year, three different versions of the game, a billion analysts, who in one moment can cloth you in adulation and eulogise you to godly levels and in the next, burn that very cloth into ashes with their criticisms – all of these define the current era, thus, requiring amazing fitness, unadulterated passion and quick adjustments to play at all levels – the longer, shorter and the shortest! You don’t need to look farther than the champion, who very recently scaled the peak which no man in the planet has reached before – Sachin Tendulkar!

There you are – You just can’t compare the two greats, in fact - the greatest, in two eras! I’d say, till the 1950s, Don was the best. And after that, there has been none greater than Sachin!

200* in an ODI - His name is Sachin Tendulkar!!!

2010-02-24T18:50:00.005+05:30

How true - India skips a beat when Sachin takes strike. He would be yet to open his account, or when he might be on 99, the nation wants to see him get that one elusive run. And at most times, he hasn’t disappointed!

Skip to 24 February 2010, Gwalior, India:
I’ve never seen a beautifully timed and powerfully hit six from an Indian batsman’s willow getting jeers, rather than cheers from fellow Indians! Never have I seen Indians clapping when an opposition fielder saves a boundary and restricts their own batsman for a single. I saw that happen today!

The Corp HQ canteen of one of India's largest companies that I work for jeered at a Dhoni six, and cheered when Amla saved a certain boundary and restricted Dhoni to just a single. For it was just a matter of time before the room exploded after that famous 'heart-beat-skip' as the little master dabbed a Protean delivery to point and ran those 23 yards to become the first ever player in world cricket to conquer the Everest of 200 in Limited Overs’ International!!! And I can proudly tell my grandchildren, "I was there. I was there!!!”

Lost in South Africa! Ask an Indian, right?

2010-02-04T18:16:00.001+05:30

Apparently, while in South Africa, you should never ask for directions from an Indian! Here’s why:

“Sir, how can I get to the Capetown Airport from here?”
“Well, you go straight, right. Skip the first turn to the right, right? Take the next right, right? Then, you go straight straight straight, right? From there, take the third right, right? From the robot (that’s a signal in India), take a left, right? Take the next right, and a left and right, right? Again straight, right? Then a left, right? And another left, right? And there you are- Capetown Airport right in front of you, right?”

Thanks to Carlo, who did his pilot training in South Africa, for this one. HAPPY BIRTHDAY (it was yesterday, right?)!

A dinner @ Rs. 6,600...

2009-10-16T19:08:00.001+05:30

Overheard that a farewell dinner of a top-notch yesterday (October 15, 2009) cost around Rs. 6,600. I don’t think I need to add that this price was for each person!

Consider this: In India, a family of four can survive a whole month on approximately $150, which comes to around Rs. 6750. This is true to close to 50% of the population in our country! As per the World Bank, about 42% of Indians are in the below poverty line (BPL) zone (surviving on less than $ 1.25 per day).

At around the same time that folks in the party were enjoying the expensive meal, I couldn’t help, but notice a family of three on the footpath on my way back to CST Station. A little kid, oblivious the world around and the condition his family is in, as old as my nephew Jonty, trying to reach to something unknown; a lady sitting still, looking at the third member of her family – her husband, who was trying to hide/cover his face supposedly crying! The scene, still as fresh as a daisy in my mind, hit me hard… Really hard!!!

Ironically, the (note the singular) dinner (@ Rs. 6,600 per person) was hosted just a day before UN’s World Food Day (October 16, 2009), celebrated this year with the theme – ‘Achieving food security in times of crisis.’

Voted!

2009-10-13T15:04:00.003+05:30

Voted, not after a few hiccups though, which ain’t surprising if you are a voter in India. Firstly, couldn’t dig out my name from the ‘online’ voters list. Secondly, I was told the Sr. No. that I had used for voting during the General Elections would do.

On reaching the booth, I was told that my vote has already been cast. Double-checking revealed that the name next to the Sr. No. belonged to a certain Shetty ! Had to wait for a few minutes till the Poll Officer dug out the name - Virgis Blissin Thom! Yes, that’s how I am recognized in the official electoral list.

Finally, the finger was inked and the button was pressed – my fifth such experience!

For the record, all candidates that I’ve cast my vote so far have lost… It won’t be any different this time around too! :D

Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize

2009-10-10T11:57:00.002+05:30

Ridiculous!

And here are some facts that you might have read or heard:

Date of Barack Obama’s swearing-in ceremony: 19 January, 2009
Last date for nominations for the Nobel Prize: 1 February, 2009
Nobel Committee’s statement that accompanied the award, “Obama has as President (in 11 days?) created new climate in international politics.”

Do I need to say more?

And FYI, Mahatma Gandhi has never been awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace!

Sign Boards in Mumbai

2009-09-17T12:29:00.001+05:30

Just couldn’t help but notice and re-notice some of the boards I’ve seen in recent and not-so-recent past:

Seen under the FoB in Grant Road Railway Station:
“Please do not urinate under the bridge. You may meet accident.”
- Well, hello Mr. Accident. How do you do? Long time no pee.. ah.. I mean no see heh?

In a board outside a railway institute next to Mumbai Central station. The words were painted in a semi-circular format in this order:
“Mumbai
Central Railway Training Institute,
Western Railway”
- We can’t make up our mind! Central or Western?

Outside a building not too far away from CST Railway Station, under which we stroll every afternoon after lunch:
“Warning: Old and Dilapidated building. Please do not walk under this building. We will not be responsible for any loss or damage to life and property.
Signed,
Life Insurance Corporation of India”
- Makes me feel so good that I am insured with the same guys!

About three years back at the CST Subway walking back from Xavier’s with a couple of friends:
“Pravins Thick Shake: Rs. 10/-“
- Ahem! No comments!

On a board hung outside Dombivli Platform No.2’s railway canteen:
“Free Drinking Water
Please Pay First”
- Hmm. Can you please pass my bill for the free drinking water?

At the subway in CST:
“Spiting persons will be fined!” [Note the extra ‘t’ missing, or is it?)
- Yes Please. They can be quite annoying!

Seen and heard at many stations across Mumbai:
In Marathi: “Krupaya Railway Line olaandu (pronounced ‘o-llaan-du’) nakaa”
- Translated to please do not cross the railway tracks. This finds entry in this list cause’ my colleague Kapil gets tickled by the word ‘olaandu’ and re-phrases the sentence as “Krupaaya Railway Line Orlando Bloom nakaa!”

At the back of a rickshaw in Dombivli, apparently quoting Dr. B Ambedkar:
“I am an Indian first
And at last, I am an Indian!”
- Ok. I was an Indian to begin with but finally I became an Indian!

And finally, after being critical of all the sign-boards in Mumbai, the blogger saves his writing in an MS Word file and names it - ‘sing boards_blog.doc’.

Back to blogging... again!!!

2009-09-15T19:19:00.002+05:30

Back blogging again (losing count on this statement now!) and I must say, a lot has happened over the weeks that I’ve been away having a writer’s block with a combination of the anti-busy ant syndrome (don’t ask me what that meant!).

Well, for starters:
In Cricket (as usual for me), Pakistan actually won the ICC World T20 2009.
- Refer to the last post and Fan B’s prediction proved true! Well done sir, however furthest the reasoning had to do with cricket!

Moving on:
Mr. Jinnah becomes party to yet another ‘split!’ BJP is in a mess (for want of a better word).
Jaswant Singh (who is apparently the uncle of an old classmate) will soon find his bank account heavier as his book becomes a best-seller.
L. K. Advani does not have retirement in his dictionary and Rajnath Singh only has “you’re fired” in his’!

The Poms have the Ashes back!
Ricky Ponting is looking as lost as the BJP. Aussies now knows how it is to be at a lower altitude of test rankings.
England once again has started thinking they can become the best side in the world a la India!
Freddie Flintoff finally says good-bye before his knees bid him farewell!

Indian Cricketers WADA – poda!
Non-mallus, ‘poda’ is a slangy way of saying ‘get lost’ and ‘wada’ is a casual way of saying “come here”!

Michael Jackson dead/murdered/committed suicide/whatever!
Resting in Pieces!

Himesh can now sing in two different voices (voices?)!
One would be the usual wolf-voice. The new one would be the werewolf-voice!

SRK was detained/arrested/questioned at New York airport and APJ was frisked by Continental!
Mr. Obama, you better watch out on your visit to India! Indians are hungry… ahem… angry for disrespecting our national ‘icons’!

India became the No. 1 ranked side in ODIs
So what if it was for only a day? So what if we got annihilated by the Lankans immediately afterwards?

And finally, I completed three years in my current organisation!
Great achievement considering that I was ready to pack my bags in three months. Also, explains why I gained 14 KGs in the last 12 months and now have eight-packs all rolled into one big round sack!

Overheard: A local train chat!

2009-06-19T14:38:00.002+05:30

Overheard this conversation in the train today:
Fan A: Arre, Sri Lanka Pakistan final mein aayega! Aur dekh, Sri Lanka jeetega dekh! (Sri Lanka & Pakistan will play the finals and Sri Lanka will come out victorious)
Fan B: Nahi! Pakistan maarega yeh baar! (Nope! It will be Pakistan this time.)
Fan A: Abbey, Sri Lanka dekh LTTE ko udaa diya. Abhi Pakistan ko udaayega (Sri Lanka has just finished LTTE. Now it’s Pakistan’s turn)
Fan B: Arrey Pakistan poora duniya ko udaa raha hain! Phir Sri Lanka kaunsi badee baath hain! (Pakistan is finishing off the entire world, then what can Sri Lanka do to them!)

Of DLF Maximums and Citi Moments of Success!!!

2009-05-05T19:03:00.001+05:30

While KKR might see some sponsors pulling out of the team for IPL 3 after their abysmal performance in South Africa, the IPL itself might see a lot of new corporates in their kitty.

This commercialisation of cricket has made a lot of “early” cricket enthusiasts lament about using brand-names as adjectives before a six, a four or a wicket! So, every time Robin Jackman shouts out “It’s another D L & F” for a Yusuf Pathan six and Ravi Shastri says, “Another Citi Moment of success” for a Suresh Raina blinder, the purists roll in their graves. I, for one, would like to call myself a purist, but a purist who enjoys cricket in all forms! And this blogger sees no harm in calling out these brand names! For one, calling a six, “A DLF Maximum” is much better than calling it a “Haywards 5000 Club Soda Solid Six!” Most of the little who read my blog wouldn’t have a clue of the latter! Well, that’s what the commentators “barked” in ICL! And by the time the Hindi commentators finished saying that long ‘paragraph’, you could be watching another “Haywards 5000 Club Soda Solid Sixer!”

IPL is all about cricketainment – cricket married with entertainment. And any fool would be able to tell you that neither cricket nor entertainment can survive without the corporate money! And there’s little doubt IPL entertains! And in a big way! Many call it a circus! For IPL followers like me, it’s a festival. Time to unwind after a hard day at work! And for a multi-mega buck event like IPL to survive, you need the DLFs, the Citis, the Vodafones, the Hero Hondas and the Fly Kingfishers! Call it an unholy marriage or a marriage borne out of compromise and compulsion, it’s, however, still a successful marriage, the gross product of which is a 40-odd day carnival!

Perhaps the only complain I’d have about IPL is over focus of television cameras (and commentators at times) on Lalit Modi! Surely a case of “you got to please your boss” to stay where you are (in this case, South Africa). But what’s a carnival without a few fingers being pointed? “Purists” would do well to bear with some commercialisation and instead focus on some good cricket being played at the IPL! So, just enjoy those DLF Maximums and those Citi Moments of Success!

Jersey "Blues" in IPL - 2!!!

2009-04-21T15:54:00.002+05:30

A few surprises, a few shocks and a few expected results! That’s IPL’s second edition so far! While I am not surprised at the huge turn-out despite it being held in South Africa, I must admit I didn’t expect teams to get bundled out to scores of around 100 and below!

The seven and a half minute strategy break apart, one other thing that has put me off in IPL’s second edition is the choice of colours for team jerseys! Check this out:

Mumbai Indians – A shade of sky blue
Rajasthan Royals – Dark blue
Delhi Daredevils – Prominently blue with red along the sides
Deccan Chargers – Another shade of dark blue
Royal Challengers Bangalore – Shade of red
Kings XI Punjab – Another Shade of Red with white at the sides
Chennai Superkings – Yellow
Kolkata Knight Riders – Black and golden

No issues with the last two teams as they definitely stand out! But some serious thought need to be given by the teams if they have to maintain some exclusiveness in their jersey colours! While MI and RR already had blue last season, it’s just baffling that DD and DC opted to change to blue! Surely, blue mustn’t have been the only colour in their designing boards! The Daredevils now look like the English cricket team!

Can we have more creativity guys? Or at least a better colour sense? No way would I want to see a jhataak and dinchaak colours, but take lessons from SRK’s KKRs!

My friend Carlo is already capturing moments at Port Elizabeth that he will surely like to show his grandchildren a few years down the line! Carlo, I hope you get to see one of those “I was there” moments! My next few posts will include the view through his lenses! Beware, some of them would make you jealous! It already has in my case!

IPL is here: My Loyalties

2009-04-16T15:08:00.002+05:30

Recently, the firm that I work for (by now, you all know which one) became the ‘Tech-Partner’ for the Rajasthan Royals squad in IPL. Must say, quite an impressive term is this ‘technology partner’! Ok, now without really going beyond the obvious (interpretation), the loyalties of some of the people in my firm have slowly shifted towards the Shane Warne-led side. No issues whatsoever! Everyone’s got their own choices! So, which team will be rooting for this IPL season?

Without the blink of an eye – Mumbai Indians! Reasons? Pretty Simple!

It’s my city and I am a Mumbaikar!
Sachin Tendulkar, the opening batsman alongside Sanath Jayasurya
Sachin Tendulkar, the captain in the shortest version
Sachin Tendulkar, the bowler who can bowl almost everything!
Sachin Tendulkar, the bubbly fielder!

These of course are reasons other than the fact that I love the involvement of Shaun Pollock (lovingly called Polly kakka by the MI paltan last year) and Jonty Rhodes (My nephew is named after him)! There’s no way that I would think twice before supporting MIs!

And where does this leave Rajashtan Royals in my scheme of things? Not in the top 3 for sure! Kolkata Knight Riders (despite the confusing multiple captain theory by Prof. John) and Bangalore Royal Challengers (despite it being owned by a ‘what’s that guys name?’) would be rooted for as well by this mallu. And now with one of my favourites Mohammad Kaif being shown the door by RR, they may not even be in my top seven! My company’s loyalist may not like this blog post at all! All I can say is I am waiting for Saturday! Fourty-odd days of fun! Go Indians go!!!

Right now, if you ask me who I am most jealous of. I’d say my good ol’ buddy Carlo Bugger! He’d be around in South Africa during the IPL! Carlo my friend! Have a blast at Port Elizabeth! Guys, check this blog for more as Carlo will be sending some of the pics he took at the IPL! Would be fun to watch them “from a viewer’s perspective!”

Mission Impossible?

2009-04-15T17:38:00.007+05:30

Place: 5 Spice, Fort, Mumbai

Date: March 13, 2009

Time: 1:55 PM

Number of People: 6

Food: Dessert - a 5 Spice Special!

Mission Impossible

Mission Accomplished!

A Confession: I ate about 70% of that! Was challenged to eat the entire thing, but the others around me couldn't resist and had to dig in!

Happy Eating! But watch that water falling from between your two sets of 16!!!

Why do women talk so much?

2009-01-30T12:42:00.003+05:30

I tried to ask MasterFind. Here's what I got (Click the image to view it properly yaar):

The mystery continues...

I think I gotta look for a gal now!!!

2008-12-05T21:01:00.002+05:30

Was on my way back home in the Ambernath slow, when suddenly this flood of thoughts hit me hard!

“I think I should start looking now!
And start looking seriously for a girl!
I think my time has come to find a gal!
And be committed to her forever!
I really think it’s time for me to get married!”

- Majority of the men who thought along these lines and went ahead with these thoughts have now lost the ability to think and find themselves not thinking any more! ;)

And all the married men said, "Amen"! ;)

God bless you!

Media: A victim of circumstances?

2008-12-04T21:19:00.001+05:30

A couple of days ago, I was quoted in the Indian Express’ supplement - Mumbai Newsline’s article ‘The Blame-game’ by my friend, Pooja Pillai. I must admit I wasn’t too surprised to find that I was the only one who went against the flow of the entire article.

Indeed, I too, like others, felt that at times, the media was insensitive when it came to the coverage of the attacks. And I don’t even need to mention the names of the ‘culprit’ channels that have ‘sensationalism’ tagged to their hearts. In fact, in the coming weeks, am planning to include ‘media reviews’ as part of my blog’s genre!

Coming back to the point I made in ‘Blame-game’, I honestly feel that quite often media’s (read TV channels’) sensationalism is generalised and thus, they all fall prey to the bashing-game. I was hooked on to CNN-IBN and at times, I was frustrated when the reporters kept saying, “We are unable to divulge too many details as of now as we have been advised against it.” Images and bytes that were taken about half-an-hour before being actually telecast could have made me switch to another channel. But then, these were understandable. The DG of NSG apparently later came out and thanked all the channels for not airing visuals of the operations live “except for one channel”!

Yes, shoving their microphones in the faces of the rescued hostages just as they were coming out insensitive to say the least. It was a race for that exclusive first byte! Ridiculous, I say!

Those who gave genuine coverage to the attacks would have found themselves in the wrong end of the stick and unfortunately for them, both there was only one end to that stick! Had they not covered the attacks in the manner they did, surely flak would have come with idlers like me sitting at home. And now that they did cover the way they wanted it, they gotta be ready to have some mud slung at their face. Well, they would have got it anyways!

Times Now, on the other hand, was very vocal (and you expect that with Arnab Goswami at the helm). Someone ought to remind him that the guests on air need time to answer his essay-length questions! But I thought some of Times Now’s questions were thought-provoking (they always claim to be), while some were plain stupid!

Post-terror attacks, coverage moved around debates on the action or the lack of it from the politicians, funeral of the heroes, visits by the politicians to their homes and their barking comments, which was idiotic to the core. Blame Kerala CM E. S. Achuthaananthan’s doggie remark for that! Exactly the stuff that the folks with microphones were looking for! Having heard E. S’ bytes in the past, I know for sure that his mouth is larger than his brain!

I wasn’t complaining about the coverage till I read Pooja’s article and today’s HT Café’s last page piece on the media coverage. I, do however, stand by what I said. Seems I missed out a lot by avoiding the ‘spicier’ channels! Thank God I did!

God bless you. God bless Mumbai!

Rallies... What next???

2008-12-04T01:19:00.002+05:30

I’ve heard of many “peace rallies”, but I don’t remember being a part of any of them. Therefore, I decided to be a part of the Enough is Enough Peace Rally organized close to Gateway. In fact, this was one of those ‘last-minute-yes-call’ I made as like other rallies, this too, was not really in my radar till I had a discussion with a couple of colleagues at my workplace.

Post-26/11, there has been a lot of talk about action to be taken and the need for citizens to rise up and raise their voice. But honestly, even the most eternal optimist would have some sort of pessimism about a rally of this considering the way this city acts, reacts and then, forgets!

“What’s gonna be the outcome?”
“It’s just gonna fizzle out!”

Yup! These were at the back of my mind, when I was on my way to the rally! “But at least it’s a start! It's better than sitting back and doing nothing!” I told my colleagues.

It didn’t take me too long to realize that this one was not just another one of those small demonstrations or rallies. From inside the comfort of the car, with the A/C hitting your face and the tyres hardly getting a chance to move, it seemed half of Mumbai’s youth was out there for a ‘cause’ (Please note the inverted comas). But the young and odd-old were out in quite a few thousands (avoiding the phrase – large number – for it would then be an understatement).

We couldn’t reach the Gateway and had to be a part of the crowd by foot at the turn towards Regal. And that was as close to Gateway as we could get. The roads were jammed and so were the networks! I was to meet another friend at Regal and could only try my hand at messaging hoping that somehow it would break the network barrier and reach the other side. We did meet up. But where was THE Rally? Turned out that this wasn’t just one rally (or maybe I just missed the main one). At every turn-of-the-head distance, there were pockets of people, and attractive ones I must add, with their placards, slogans, white t-shirts with “I love Mumbai’ (which I later bought and wore too), tricolours, candles, etc. The ‘Free Hugs for peace and prosperity’ poster definitely caught my eye. I wished - for the hug, but more so to hold that poster myself.

At the end of it all, the question re-emerged, “What next? Blame-game again? Talks and protests about Government’s inefficiency?” I don’t know and I hope not! I will pray for my leaders and stop blaming them for once!

Outside The Leopold Café, where a week back, there was hardly a soul except a few men in khaki perhaps, amongst the large crowd and the ‘Mumbai’ t-shirt sellers, there was a group of youngsters with separate posters, each holding a word – “We-are-lucky-to-be-alive!”

‘Grace-of-God!’

Siege and after...

2008-11-29T23:09:00.004+05:30

As the siege on Mumbai ended, honestly, I don’t know what to write, for I now have mixed emotions. Relieved, disappointed, frustrated, saddened all rolled into one. Add a little bit of anger to that as well.

Relieved, cause’ I was just one phone call away from being a part of not-at-all desirable drama at VT (not CST). I got out of office at 740 pm. Took out my cell to call up a friend, who I was supposed to meet the previous day. Kept my phone back in my pocket, and told myself, “Some other day!” Caught a train back home at 8 pm. One and a half hour later, the station had become a war-zone.

Relieved also, cause’ it’s finally over!

Disappointed, cause’ yet again an intelligence failure, yet again a security lapse and yet again, Mumbai – my favourite city - fell prey!

Frustrated, cause’ I could just sit at home and do nothing, but watch the drama unfold on CNN IBN and Times Now.

Saddened, cause’ some of Mumbai’s and country’s heroes, other than the common man of course, fell victims to this dastardly act.

And angered, cause’ finger-pointing, blame-game and politicizing began even as brave-hearts were still fighting it out inside Taj, Oberoi and Nariman!

A friend told me, we must catch these terrorists alive and cruelly torture them in full public view. “It just won’t work. These guys would consider this a privilege to be tortured to death. Remember, they came to kill and to get killed,” I told her. Interestingly though, today’s Mirror’s lead story revealed this didn’t hold completely true. On seeing his colleague’s mutilated body, the terrorist caught suddenly “wanted to live!”

As is always the case, everything will soon be forgotten. The oft used and now abused phrase “Spirit of Mumbai” will re-emerge! We used it after the '92 serial blasts. We used it after July 26. We used it after 7/11. And am afraid we are gonna use this term again! And now I'm beginning to wonder if this is more a matter of the ‘paapi pet’ than the so-called spirit. Indeed it’s all about filling one’s tummy!

The sacrifices of the few heroes will soon be forgotten. For public memory is short! It’s even shorter in Mumbai!

All I can do is hope and pray that we don't need another November 26, 2008 to remind us of November 26, 2008!!!

PS: Like many Mumbaikars, even I got this particular message about Where is Mr. Raj Thackarey now? As NSG commandos (most of them North Indians) battle it out to save Mumbai, where are the MNS and SS now who only knows to destroy and create havoc on the innocent folks!
- Good point, and taken too

Moment of Truth!!!

2008-09-21T22:20:00.001+05:30

Being a holiday, I had nothing better to do than to surf through the many channels- an activity I was alien to for quite a while! And now that the internet at home was down, this seemed like the next best thing to do (come to think of it, there were much better things that I could have done)!!! I am not a regular to any Star World shows, but I had heard about “Moment of Truth” from a colleague and wanted to check it out!

The Moment of Truth is an American show that first aired in Colombia as Nada más que la verdad ("Nothing But the Truth"). Contestants answer a series of 21 increasingly personal and embarrassing questions to receive cash prizes.

Prior to the show, a contestant is hooked up to a polygraph and asked more than 50 questions; there is no polygraph testing conducted during the actual show. Without knowing the results of the polygraph, he or she is asked 21 of those same questions again on the program, each becoming progressively more personal in nature. If the contestant answers honestly, according to the polygraph results, he or she moves on to the next question; however, should a contestant lie in his or her answer (as determined by the polygraph) or simply refuse to answer a question after it has been asked, the game ends. [Source: Wikipedia]

Lauren Cleri, with her husband Frank, brother, sister, mother and father, in front of her, was the contestant on the episode that I happened to watch! “Mera dimaag ko shot lagaa”, I told my colleagues the next day after I saw the episode! I thought the affirmative answer to the question, “Did you ever get fired from a job for stealing?” was embarrassing enough! But what was to follow was even worse!

“Did you have the feeling you were in love with one of your ex-boyfriends on your wedding day?” asked Mark Walberg, the host. “Yes,” Lauren replied!

As if that was bad enough, the host then says, “Next question will not be asked by me, but by a special guest.” The camera’s focus shifts towards an electronic sliding door. Surprisingly, there’s no music. Not even a drum-beat! Or maybe I just didn’t hear! Out walks a guy in a blue shirt with a cue-card in his hand! Lauren’s face turns red as she sees her ex standing in front of her!

The question: “If I ask you out now, would you leave your husband?” Frank’s bows his head down! Lauren looks away! “Do you want to hit the buzzer?” asks Mark looking at Frank. “No, I want to hear her answer,” Frank says looking at Lauren. Lauren’s sister gets up and hits the buzzer which means the question will now be changed! She thought she did some ‘damage control’! Little did she know that the next question was also going to be asked by Lauren’s ex!

“Do you believe I am the guy that you should be spending the rest of your life with?”

Lauren’s eyes told a lot. She answers, “Yes!” Frank slips deeper in his chair!

Jumping on to the next question: “Did you have sexual relationship with anyone other than your husband after your marriage?”

I want to switch channels; I myself do not want to hear the answer and the resultant look on her husband’s face!

“I’d have to be honest and say, Yes!” says Lauren with her husband now looking absolutely distraught!

Did Lauren push the truth too far as the host, Mark Walberg, himself later said to the TV audience, “I strongly believe some things best remain unsaid”? Or was it all done to earn fame and fortune as Lauren told the New York Post later.

I am not too sure if I agree with the concept of the show! It definitely kept me glued, but later had me all disturbed thinking that this might just have broken a family! Or at least have come close to it!

Some might argue that at least now, nothing is hidden! I’d say, why hid it in the first place if you were planning to have a family together. And in any case, the NY Post report says, Frank apparently already knew these things!

Psalm 127:1 - “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it, labour in vain. “

Bindra wins gold!!

2008-08-11T11:12:00.002+05:30

To live in an era when history is made is special! To watch history being made is even better!

An irritating cough kept me at home this Monday morning! And woe unto me if I regret spending this day at home!

A loud set of claps followed by a loud grunt ‘Yes’ was enough for mummy, who was on the phone, to take the hint!

A little smile from the handsome young man was his only emotion as he turned to acknowledge the few Indians on the stand! Abhinav Bindra had just claimed India’s first ever individual gold medal in Olympics in the 10M Air Rifle Men’s Shooting event!

Coming to the final, Bindra was in fourth position. But a few good rounds first up pushed him up to third just behind the Chinese (obviously I forgot his name! To be very honest, that was all I expected from him, for Indians have a not-to-be-proud-of reputation of collapsing at just the final stretch. In fact, I feared the shooter in the fourth position, who too was having a fairly good set of rounds, might overtake Bindra! But wasn’t to be as Bindra maintained his consistent run and soon overtook the Chinese and was now closing in on the leader, Henri Hakkinen of Finland! One average round from Hakkinen meant Bindra taking the lead! Ninth round and Bindra had his worst score in the final! He was now sharing the lead with the Fin! Again the pessimist in me spoke “He is an Indian. He’ll falter just when it matters. Pressure will get to him!” But in Bindra’s case it wasn’t to be! If composure was personified, you would find it on Bindra’s face! Bindra shot his best score in the final round as the Fin fell prey to nerves and lost not just his lead but was pushed down to third position!

To hear the national on the background with our tricolour rising above the Chinese flag was a special feeling! Needless to say, it was difficult to hold back our tears of joy!

Like a good majority of the Indians, who had no clue what it takes to qualify for the highest level in a sport, I too had no expectations from the 98-member Indian contingent. This contingent had only 56 athletes, while the rest included ‘officials, coaches and others’! I’m told Sania Mirza’s mom too was one of them! But I am glad Abhinav Bindra proved me wrong (as if it mattered!) and how!!! Good on you mate!!!

I met Jonty!!!

2008-07-17T13:26:00.000+05:30

Finally! Here I was… with my favourite little Jonty! The little guy obviously seemed very happy on seeing his uncle! Played with him! Made him laugh! His crying voice was as cute as his toothless grin! We spoke a lot till he was hungry and again went “baaaaaaaah”! Then off he went to sleep in his favourite car-seat only to be woken up by his uncle who wasn’t done with him! Again, they laughed together and spoke! “Jonty is special,” his uncle thought. Seems he speaks with himself! “Gaa gaa gii gii.” Naah! Must be having a light-hearted convo with his beloved creator Dada and praising HIM! (From the lips of children and infants, You have ordained praise, said King David in Psalm 8:2) At last, it was time for me to grab his attention for he was ignoring me for too long now. Found a strange little toy which made an irritating noise and vibrated!

Sheesh! It was my cell phone’s alarm! “6:45 AM” it shouted! Time to get up! Alas! It was only a dream! But I still saw him!

The Story of Staci Stephens!!!

2008-06-24T14:47:00.005+05:30

Here's a real story I recently received from a friend: (sic)

Staci Stephens was a bright and beautiful 16-year-old high school student, who impacted the lives of so many of her friends and peers. She loved lost things and wanted to rescue them, according to her best friend Ashley. Around campus she was known for her love of God and her love of people.

Staci passed away on March 13, 2005 from Viral Myocarditis. Staci came home from school on Friday morning not feeling well and by Sunday morning her heart had stopped. Staci attended a public high school in Orlando , Florida . So many were impacted by her death. The students (and parents and teachers) realized that they too will die some day, and are they ready for that? Staci’s dream was for everyone to find Christ and to live with God forever.

Just a few months before her death, Staci was interviewed by Venture Media, telling her story of her relationship with God. Here’s what she said in that interview said about Jesus Christ, "I knew that he loved me and that he was there, but I didn’t know that it was to this extent that it could really impact your life."

"I think the most important thing I’ve learned was how to really live my life and what I’m living for. A lot of kids know that they are not living the right way and if they will say something about it, you know they have a heart to change."In her journal for a school class she defined tragedy as someone dying without knowing Christ; she wanted to help all her peers to have a relationship with God. Staci wrote: "Tragedy: something that happens that is really bad. I feel that a tragedy is someone who dies and is not saved (no relationship with God). That is an eternal consequence. It is a tragedy to me that they do not get to spend eternity in Heaven. It is a tragedy that they got too wrapped up in the world to recognize their need for Christ. It is a tragedy the way they have to be like that forever.

In a letter to friends and family this past Christmas, Staci recapped her past year: "This has been the most life-changing year I have ever experienced. On January 18, 2004 , I was reborn and found my Savior Jesus Christ at a conference put on by Student Venture . . . in Cocoa Beach . Since then, I have dropped my old ways of living and have completely given myself to Christ. My life has been changed for eternity and now everything that I live for makes sense and I don’t have to fill my heart with worldly things anymore. I am completely satisfied and Christ has filled every little void in my life. Through Him, I have learned so much about myself and have able to let go of so many things. Everything I do is for the glory of God and I finally know the life I have been missing. There was a hole in my soul and I was trying to fill it with every little thing but the very one who can heal it. Jesus Christ is my best friend, my helper and teacher, and most importantly, my loving God."

In a personal journal entry shortly before her passing, Staci described her desire to go beyond herself and help others. She asked God for a unique ministry on campus. Little did she or any of us know what God had in store.

When word got out at school that Staci died, hundreds gathered in the Media Center to grieve. Students, teachers, and counselors broke out in song, singing Mercy Me’s - I Can Only Imagine - Staci’s favorite song. Others read excerpts from her journal, such as Psalm 78. Teachers and students led times of prayer. A number of friends put their faith in Christ after her death. One friend of Staci’s gave his life to Christ stating that it was sad that Staci had to die in order for him to believe the truth.

Over 800 students, teachers, and members of the community filled the school auditorium the evening after her passing as six of her friends spoke about Staci’s life and faith in God. One friend said, "Life is short – we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, what is unseen is eternal."

At the close of the evening, students and teachers dedicated their lives to Christ. Prodigal students returned to God.

One young tough football player wrote that evening, "Staci and family, I want to thank you and Jesus to provide such a great person who helped me become saved." Another girl wrote, "Jesus, please forgive me. The last months I have not been what I want to be. Please change me and love me."

Even the night of Staci’s funeral, more of Staci’s friends believed in Jesus Christ and invited him to be their Savior and Lord. Staci and her friends in Student Venture had prayed all year that students at their campus would realize the God was real and would want to know him. They even dreamed of a day when the auditorium on campus would be filled with people hearing about Christ’s love for them. In one week, through the life and death of Staci Stephens, many of their prayers were answered.

One classmate of Staci’s was heavy into drugs and said he was an atheist. He had started dabbling in drugs when he was in middle school, and two years later progressed to using ecstasy, cocaine and anything he could get his hand on to numb his pain.

He described horrifying nights of crawling around on his carpet floor licking up whatever excess powder he could find to maintain the high. Though he didn’t acknowledge God at the time, God began to unfold a whole new life for him. He happened to sit next to Staci Stephens in one of his classes. He described conversation after conversation of Staci talking about Jesus Christ. His reply was always simple, "Jesus is your drug, I have my own."

The day he found out Staci was gone, an overwhelming sorrow rushed over him, along with a realization that he was wasting his life. Later that night he went over to Staci’s memorial service while trying to hold back tears of bitterness and confusion. Throughout the night as he watched Staci’s close friends pouring out tears of joy, and speaking words of hope, something hit him. He doesn’t know exactly when he believed in Jesus; but he will tell you that he woke up that day one person, and went to sleep a whole new one. He went home and asked to be helped with rehab, hasn’t touched drugs and has made Christ and his Bible study his priority. Christ is changing his life.

In the midst of Staci’s death, God brought forth life in other people.The last entry Staci wrote in her journal a couple days before she died was from Psalms 73:26:

My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever

Apart from our love for Christ, there's one other thing common between Staci and me. Our dreams!!!

Some of the readers might have quit reading half way through this story or at least they'd have wanted to! The reason? For many, God is 'uncool'! For many, Seeing is believing and hence, He does not exist!

For me, HE is the coolest! For me, BELIEVING IS SEEING!!!

Home-Management: Cooking!!!

2008-05-25T21:34:00.007+05:30

The headline is a give-away! So I guess I don’t really need to mention much! But me being me, I will!!! So you better read on! It’s my blog!!! (ok, if I continue to be rude, then the select few who visit my blog once in a while will start thinking otherwise… so, please please please stay on! Ok, now that’s the height of desperation!!)

Coming back to ‘home-management’, for more than a month now, I have been living alone! And I really can now empathise those who stay away from their families. Many, if not most, of my friends fall in that category!

“How are you managing?”, “What about the food”—just two of many questions that the concerned keep asking. Actually, those are the only two questions!

Ok, answer to the first question – It’s been a challenge! Was so used to lazying around the house, sitting near the comp, chatting (which still hasn’t changed). Early mornings, was so used to getting my breakfast and the usual cup of coffee served almost at bed, that all I had to worry was to have a bath and dress up on time, so as not to miss my usual 9:46. Well, now I got to do the first two all by myself!

Second question – I can’t cook for nuts (wondering who cooks for ‘nuts’ anyways!)! My usual answer is, “I can’t go hungry!”
“So, you cook by yourself?”
“Hmm…”
“Really?”
“Well, I eat by myself! The pav-bhajiwala at the hotel next to the station or the egg-bhurjeewala near the new signal corner or an aunty from church, cooks for me!”

I have been so spoilt that I didn’t even know how to even boil an egg, let alone make other stuff out of it! But, as the cliché goes, “there’s a first time for everything!” And there was no better time to begin my “experiments with cooking”! Perhaps the easiest thing other than boiling the egg is to make a bulls-eye! My first attempt wasn’t too bad, although the ‘eye’ wasn’t exactly at the spot where it was ought to be! My next few attempts, barring once or twice, failed miserably! So, what did I do? ‘Scrambled’ it around and gave it a more egg-bhurjee kind of feel! The result?

This!!

So, here was Blessen’s Egg-Bhurjee! Ahem… minus the bhurjee... and a lot of other things! The English can call it Blessen’s Scrambled Egg! Usually, a new recipe/dish is born out of an older recipe gone wrong! So, there’s nothing wrong with a Blessen’s Bulls-eye turned Messed-up-s-egg! After all, the experiment’s laboratory is my own stomach!

Little Jonty is here!!!

2008-05-19T22:11:00.004+05:30

My last update: Sometime in Feb!!! Feb 8th to be precise! At the risk of repeating myself, I am indeed a disgrace to the term “regular blogger”!!

But no better time to update than this! And even as I sit to write this, I got a major problem with what the literature world would call a “writer’s block”! But honestly, at the moment, I care a damn about what I write for yesterday was one of the happiest days of my life! One of those days where my eyes were damp with tears of joy!

Got a call from Abychayan, my bro who is in US, “Little Jonty is out! Little Jonathan is out!!!”
“Congraaaatsssssssss!!!! Wow!!!!!!! You saw him?”
“Yes, I was there inside all this while. Ekdum healthy hain!”
“Oh! Whom does he look like? I guess it’s a little too early too say haan?”
“I guess so, but I think he looks a little like Nisy (that’s my sis-in-law, whom I call chechi).”“Damn coooool yaar!!! I am gonna call up and tell everyone.”

We were talking about the new bundle of joyful addition in our family! My cute little nephew, whom we already had decided to call ‘Jonathan’ aka ‘Jonty’!!! True to the name, ‘given by God’ or a ‘gift of God’!!!

Ahem.. no points for guessing who named him!!! Jonty, the cricketer was always one of my favourite cricketers and our little Jonty too, jumped out two days ahead of the due date! Not surprising!! We are calling him Jonty after all!!!

It’s not the first time that I’ve become an ‘uncle’, although my cousins’ kids consider me more as a brother. This time, it was a different feeling! Just couldn’t thank my God enough!

Congrats to Abychayan and Nisychechi!!! I just can’t wait to see this little angel! I miss him already!!!

One day from death!!!

2008-02-08T14:52:00.000+05:30

Except for the fact that my outgoing calls became active again after my cell was flicked the previous Sunday, 23rd of January seemed to be another one of those ‘days in office’. At least till about noon, when my stomach decided to remind me of its presence. No, it wasn’t ‘upset’ but it sure was going bonkers! And I wasn’t enjoying it least bit! The pain was just getting unbearable to the point where I could barely sit on my chair. And soon, I was down on the floor grabbing my tummy rolling with pain. My project teammates got tensed and tried their best to cool me down. But the heat was definitely on me and the sweat on my forehead was another indication that not everything was alright with my body. Eno, Digene etc. brought no relief. My concerned friends, Ullhas, Nishant, Kuldeep and Rishad took me to the nearby Lok Hospital.

The doc at Lok was suspicious of something, not completely sure of what, but she ordered for a sonography, which, if I opted to admit myself there, could happen only in the evening. Friends called my mom and an obviously worried mom preferred to have me somewhere close to her than four stations and a few more miles away! The painkiller’s effect ensured that I could reach home safely, accompanied by Nis and Kul of course. Had a light lunch at 4:30, but I could almost feel the rice entering my stomach! ‘Weird” I thought, “I’ve never felt this way before.” A little sleep and I might be alright when the medicines given from Lok will take its effect. Or so I thought! Wasn’t to be! As soon as the painkiller’s effect died, I was rolling in bed with extreme pain. Soon, I was vomiting. My lunch was out of my stomach after making its presence within! Poor mom was really worried. I was stopping her from taking me to the hospital. Dad was away at Kolkotta and Abychayan and chechi had left for US two Mondays ago. Both, my mom and I thought this could be a case of food poisoning and acidity. The vomiting just wouldn’t stop and through the night, I was groaning and moaning with pain. Mummy too didn’t sleep that entire night.

Wednesday morning—the pain, groans and vomiting continued! Mom had already informed our neighbours the previous night about my condition and she told them in the morning. The uncle forced me to accompany him to his family doc, who quickly prompted for a sonography. I was yet to have something and sonography could be done faster. The result was conveyed over the phone to the doc and I realized not everything was alright.

Soon, I was in the hospital, getting admitted for the first time in my 23 or so years of breathing in and out! The loose hospital uniform signaled that I was going to be a prisoner to the room for sometime. I was told that I have an appendicitis problem and will have to be operated that very night. A blood test result little later confirmed that the problem wasn’t a minor one as my WBC count had increased three times over causing a serious infection problem. Now, I started shivering too and three blankets couldn’t stop my teeth from shattering! I was thirsty, and not a drop of water had passed through my throat ever since I was in hospital. I just couldn’t drink water, as per the advice of the doc. Not even a drop was to be on my lips! Mom, all those from church and my friends were really worried!

“Gimme a drop of water or put me off to sleep by some medicine,” I was getting desperate. I could now imagine what hell would be like. I now know, what the rich man in hell meant when he asked Father Abraham for a drop of water on his tongue! On second thoughts, I didn’t want to imagine what hell would be like cause’ I am sure it is even more fearsome!!! I was just waiting for being in the OT for that would mean an end to my ordeal and a dose of anesthesia would ensure me dozing off!

Eleven at night— I was inside the operation theatre. To say “I was a little nervous” would be an understatement. I wasn’t scared, but I sure wasn’t brave either to face my first stint with a surgeon’s knife.

I had no idea when I was back again to my hospital room for all I remember was that light was off and I started grumbling again for that elusive drop of water! I felt a pain in my stomach, which is when I was told the surgery was complete and the pain’s a result of the stitches. A painkiller shot and another dose of antibiotic ensured I was off to sleep again. Early next morning, I was shown the part which was removed off from me. The appendix seemed bigger than what I had imagined. I was told that it had swollen way too big for comfort! Philomina aunty, also a nurse, and Nisychechi’s dad had seen it even before it was taken out! Yikes!

For the next five days, I was heavily on antibiotics and for two days, I was only surviving on the glucose. My throat and tongue were dry and I could hardly speak now. Didn’t and couldn’t attend any phone calls. Was relieved when I was told that by Saturday morning, I could drink something, but strange as it may sound, now I didn’t feel like drinking, let alone eating! The antibiotics had taken its toll and my tongue had lost its sense of taste! And in any case, I wasn’t a big fan of kanji—the only thing I was ordered to gulp for sometime! Even tea was tasteless! At least for me, it seemed like!

I took my first step to the floor after operation on Sunday afternoon. And it seemed like an eternity! My first step brought with it, a flood of forehead sweat, and breathlessness! My ‘first step’ lasted for a good 15 seconds and off I went back to the bed trying to catch my breath. But soon, I overcame that and was walking albeit slowly!

Monday morning and I was out on bail from my first ever experience of hospital admission vowing to the nurses there, never to be back to the room!

Allow me to get a bit senti here, but I was really touched by the many messages, calls and visits made by my near-and-dear ones! Really meant a lot to me when people from far and wide made visits and calls (even international)! Showed how much they all loved me!!!

So, what was so great about a ‘normal’ appendix operation? I was told after the operation, that I wasn’t too far away from being on the other shore. One more day’s wait or a couple of meals to my stomach could have been fatal! Not many who has had a leaked appendix were lucky to have it operated before it got ruptured and hardly a few who had a ruptured appendix lived to tell the tale. I did! And it’s just my faithful and merciful Saviour who has great and mighty plans for me who helped me to continue breathing. Am I making this thing sound big? Not one bit! Ask my doc and the many qualified nurses, who I’m sure, would testify with me!

How can I thank Jesus, my Saviour enough? For I know, I was just one day away from death, if it wasn’t for His ‘otherwise’ plans!

Psalm 23:4: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Massaging!!!

2008-01-08T19:27:00.000+05:30

The firm of which I am a ‘proud’ part, recently started a ‘Massage Service’ at our gym. Currently, it’s open for all male ‘associates’ (as our company would like to describe its employees). Of course, it is NOT free of charge and I’m not too sure if it is subsidized either. The payment, to be made directly to masseur, is Rs. 100/- for half an hour and Rs. 200/- for one hour of massaging! I am a regular to the massaging centre and I can assure the few reading this blog, that, this is a total rip off!!! I get my massaging done at Rs. 125/- on a monthly basis! That too, twice, for duration of half an hour every day for five days a week! And trust me, the massaging is of the highest quality too!!! Take my word, no other place will ever come close! And to top it all, you get many masseurs for and at your service at one time! Price ranges might vary as per the duration everyday, but never out of your limit! Amazing deal right? So, where and how would you get this service?

Just get inside the 0945 fast local and you’d know!!!

The Guide!!!

2007-12-22T22:58:00.000+05:30

If you are a regular to this blog, then chances are that you might have stumbled upon a couple of blogs on the lifeline of Mumbai- The good ol' local trains!!! And it still continues to amaze this regular-turned-irregular blogger!!!

Wednesday morning's 9:56 slow local starting from Dombivli had a visitor. He hopped in, rather, was helped inside the compartment in which I had set my foot in about 10 minutes early. This was a blind man who, like me, was on his way to work. On the contrary, his work had already begun. He had a begging bowl in his hand. And what is so 'amazing' about a blind beggar in a local train. Of course, that's not something new! Not at all, if you happen to miss the 'guide' who was helping the blindman across the compartment -- a healthy street mongrel!!!

Hypocrites of the Highest Order!!!

2007-10-24T10:29:00.000+05:30

Reporting Times?
Me: 1030-1040
Him: 11 or later

‘Breaks’ between work?
Me: Interacting with other colleagues, so as to take my eyes of the computer. A little break of 10 minutes after every hour. This helps in refreshing my mind and body (especially THE back).
Him: Work in between the breaks. Orkut through the day. Go over to other colleagues/friends and chat with them. The occasional work helps in refreshing lazy bones.

Work?
Me: Finish off my work in the allotted time or faster.
Him: Outsources work to other TM and colleagues who are at the same level.

But, who gets the firing/blame?
Me (and my teammates): Yes!
Him: Nope, sticking around with the ‘higher hands’ helps! How can the one who fires get fired himself?

Finally, the Punishment?
Me (and my teammates): An explanation, a threat for an increase in workload. (In one colleague’s case, the threatening turned to reality).
Him: …ahem…

I believe you've got to encounter such characters at least once in your lifetime. They do teach you a few lessons, and the most important of them being, "Do not always 'follow the leader'"!!!!

Do we need words to express this feeling???

2007-09-26T23:28:00.000+05:30

The ball stayed in the air for only about 2 seconds! But that was enough to send a billion minds into an imaginative world where they could see men-in-green celebrating with pumped fists and villainous smiles! For those two brief seconds, the hearts of the same billion, watching ESPN, didn’t just skip a beat, it almost stopped functioning. Then good old Ravi Shastri shouted “Sreesaaaaanth… takes it. India win!!!” No one cared what Shastri said next as the nation erupted even as Misbah sank to his knees ruing the only blunder he committed in the match! I need not describe what happened next for by now the scenes of wild celebrations would be etched forever in mind of a nation that was formerly dwelling on the glory that was 24 years old!
Those who never understood and never even cared to bother about the simple basic rules of cricket became ‘experts’ overnight. Almost everyone did a pre and post match analysis! Few would argue that in India, these ‘experts’ were available aplenty. But so far-reaching was the impact of ICC World T20, that some of the fairer gender that had hated the game from the bottom of their hearts (still don’t know what that phrase means) left from work early just to see the finals, in which their heroes eventually did not disappoint! Those who never knew how Yuvraj Singh looked like, now knew who Misbah-ul-Haq and Stuart Broad were!

It will take some doing for me to forget a few defining moments for India in the T20 World Cup! This is purely my opinion!

1. Misbah's mistake, Sreesanth’s catch: The simple, yet pressure-filled catch by Sreesanth after a scoop/paddle-that-went-wrong by Misbah-ul-Haq will now be played over and over again by the television channels, every time India prepares for a World Cup campaign. Not easy to forget this as the dugout ran out to join the Indian team celebrating for the first time as T20 World Champions.

2. Yuvraj’s Onslaught: Flintoff’s mistake. Broad pays the price. Provoked by Flintoff and with revenge on his mind, there was no stopping Yuvi as he murdered Stuart Board for six consecutive maximums in an over! Not to forget, Yuvi was hammered for five sixes in his over by Masscarenhas only about a week and half back. First over deep midwicket and out of the stadium, second a flick over square leg, third over long off, fourth an upper cut (his favourite of the lot) over deep point, fifth and sixth over deep midwicket!

3. The Bowl Out: The first ever time that I saw a bowl out and what a game to witness it! India-Pakistan. Misbah runs himself out in the last ball and we have a tie. So, what next? A bowl-out to decide the winner. Five bowlers each from the opposition will bowl one delivery each on the stumps at the batsman’s end minus a batsman! Indian’s practice and Pakistan’s ignorance about the rule was on display as Sehwag, Harbhajan and Uthappa hit the stumps and four of Pakistan’s prominent bowlers missed! India continued their 100% win record against their arch-rivals in World Cups!

4. Sreesanth’s War-dance: India’s victory against the Aussies in the semis may not have been possible had Hayden and Symonds continued to stay till the end! Sreesanth, wild as always, sent Hayden’s timber cart-wheeling! But the sight to behold was Sreesanth’s war-dance-like celebration running right close to Hayden and slapping the pitch with both his hands before giving Hayden a farewell in the way that only he can do!

5. Out-fielding South Africa: I never thought I’ll see a day when the Indians will outfield the South Africans! The South Africans dropped a couple of sitters! And the Indians meanwhile fielded as if their lives depended on it! Karthik took a blinder, Rohit Sharma hit the stumps when it mattered and clearly, brilliant fielding and clever bowling meant that the Indians not only defeated the hosts, but also knocked them out of the tournament! What’s new with South Africa anyways?

So excited was I after the Indian victory, that I went out and bought all the English papers next morning! So, here are the headlines from a few prominent dailies:

The Times of India
Headline: WE ARE THE WORLD
Intro line/Subhead: Pakistunned. India Win See-Saw Battle In Last Over

Hindustan Times
H/L: Top of the World (with one whole page pic of the team huddle)

The Indian Express
H/L: Young blood in a billion hearts

The Asian Age
H/L: INDIA IS WORLD POWER

DNA
H/L: WE WON
I/L: Through guts and grit, Dhoni’s Demons bring home the first T20 World Cup

The Free Press Journal
H/L: DESTINY’S CHILDREN
I/L: Men in Blue demonstrate great self-belief, confidence, passion and a never-say-die attitude

Mid Day
H/L: Abhi khushi Tabhi glum (with two contrasting images of the current victorious Indian team and the team that sat sulking in West Indies after being knocked out of the World Cup)

Mumbai Mirror
No front page matter about the WC, but the headline with a whole page pic on page 23 read ‘WINDIA’.

And what is my opinion on the young guns, who have stood up and are begging the selectors to take notice? A few should be picked immediately! But those calling for the Big Three’s heads should think more than twice! This was Twenty20! In ODIs and Test Matches, not all these youngsters will fit the bill without proper guidance from The Three! They are experienced enough to know when their time has finally arrived for them to either join their family or join the commentary team!

As of now, it’s time to just sit back and cherish the feeling! A feeling that does not often visit the Indian sporting arena! A feeling that we would never want to part with! A feeling that left me speechless and yet let me shout “Yes! Yes!” A feeling that made me proud to be an Indian!

23 and how!!!

2007-09-19T20:54:00.000+05:30

“So, how did your day go?” – a cliched question immediately after a birthday! I got these a-plenty! But for once, I was ready to reply to this cliché! Naah, not one of those sarci replies I usually end up giving, but an honest one!

To start with, it turned out to be a three-day long birth’day’! The actual day happened to be a Tuesday. But I was planning to go out with family, and maybe even, treat them in advance, on the Sunday before my bday! Abychayan (my bro) and Nisychechi (his wife) will be in Pune on Tuesday and hence, an early celebration will do no harm (Yea right! Who wouldn’t mind long celebrations?) But the plans remained just that—plans! Pappa wasn’t keeping too well and hence, we had to cancel the much awaited treat at KFC! And with me not going for my usual Sunday ICPF meet, the day… evening rather, was turning out to be rather dull! Bro and chechi went out for some shopping! And my net connection was still down. So dull was the feeling that I went for a little nap at 615 in the evening! Woke up at 7 having nothing much to do, but watch the T20 match! No, India wasn’t playing! They had already lost to the Kiwis by 10 runs! So, there you have it! What a waste of a Sunday evening! Or so I thought it was!

Lisammama (my aunt) and Siji (her daughter and my cousin) came over! I love to irritate Siji for any and every little thing she does and does not do! Then, a call from a good friend! The evening suddenly seemed to have taken wings! While on the call, Julia (my cute little 3 year old niece) walks in with her parents and Jestin (my nephew) with his mom! I am still on the phone, with my house all of a sudden abuzz with noises from the kids! Abychayan and chechi comes back from their bit of shopping! I am still completely unaware of the hidden agenda behind everyone turning up all of a sudden. Didn’t seem new to me! This ‘gathering’ has happened way too many times earlier! It was only when Lisammama spilled the beans that it struck me why chechi had carried the Monginis bag as she had walked in! It struck me then the reason for the sudden invasion of all my cousins! To cut a long story short, chechi, the conspirator-in-chief and Abychayan, the co-conspirator, had set it all up when they went out for shopping, calling my cousins to come over!

Turned out to be one lovely family get-together! Of course, the Dutch chocolate cake was as yummy as it looked, if not more! The ‘2’ melted and ‘3’ had broken down by the time I cut the cake (talking about the candles)! But it was the cake that mattered! Then, there was chicken lollypop too! According to chechi, my bday “will be incomplete without chicken”! Bang on! A little jig, by the ‘baccha party’ (Julia, Siji, Jibi and Jestin) and yours truly, later, the surprise party was over! A first ever for me and how I loved it! So, thank you Abychayan and chechi! Love you guys!

Monday—the smell of actual birthDAY being just round the corner, is something irresistible! At times, I wish this day would never end! At certain other times, I want it to pass asap! Wishes started flowing in from late night on Monday from some sweet friends, who admitted staying awake at 12 would be a tough ask and hence, wished me about half an hour in advance!

Tuesday—calls right on from midnight (or a little earlier)! The bday song welcomed 18th of September on the first call from a friend, who thought she missed out my bday on the 16th (had informed her about the happenings on Sunday). Then the calls flooded in! And messages too, from those frustrated they couldn’t get through as their call was on “waiting”! I picked up the calls with a “thank you very much” even before the wish came through! I was really touched at the frequency of the calls I received on the midnight of the 18th of September! Especially at the efforts made by some friends to continue trying and call back despite having to “wait” for their turn! Another sweet friend, who I know sleeps by 11, woke up at 12, barely managing to open her eyes! Tried my number! Couldn’t get through! Woke up again 10 minutes later to give me a call, which I eventually did receive!

Never have I received so many calls at midnight for my birthday! The usual culprits (read BJ, Merw) were finding it tough to get through! But they waited and did call! I was on seventh heaven even before the sun had risen! The calls continued till 130! I wouldn’t dare to complain for sleeping late! It was only then that I realized that I needed to make a call that was the most important of all! A call to my loving Father up above! To my Saviour Jesus Christ! If it wasn’t for His grace, if it wasn’t for His loving kindness, if it wasn’t for His goodness, I wouldn’t have been seeing this night (one of my earliest posts is one of the reasons)! I thanked my Abba Father and bid the midnight goodbye to be woken up by more calls in the morning!

I still had to make a choice of whether or not to go to office! Eventually decided, it’s better to go rather than to lie on a birthday about the ‘reason’ for me bunking! So off I went towards office with more calls accompanying me all along the way! Decided to make the most out of my ‘visit’ to the office. Made sure everyone from our department wished me! Had to ‘bribe’ them all with a 5Star of course! But doesn’t matter! 23rd Bday was a “birthday of many wishes and a few surprises”! If I thought what happened on the 16th was my last surprise for some years to come! I was in for another little surprise! My friends from office bought a cake and made me cut it while during the break! Another sweet little surprise that I’d remember for some time to come and would take some doing for me to forget!

And as the birthday drew to a close, calls kept coming! And of course, there were plenty of scraps too!

Edited on 20th Sep: And just when I thought the storm had calmed down, my two lovely friends from Bangalore, whom I had never met, Feni and Deepa, decided to give me another surprise (Jeez!! I'm using this word for the nth time now)! Saw a beautiful card lying on the tea-table! Checked the name! Yup! All the way from Bangalore through courier!

Updated on 26th: Actually, this update was long overdue. On the 22nd to be precise! Got a gift from a friend (who passed it through another friend) whom I’ve never really interacted in person! As I check the wonderfully designed pack, it read, “check out the 23 reasons that makes you special”. I open the packet with some curiosity (as is the case with everyone who opens a bday gift)! First thing I see is a stuffed toy! A monkey/teddy with a specs (Chechi told me later that it was self-made). Next, I get a handful of chocolates in a mug with a cartoon of a little baby with the number ‘1’ next to it! And I was still wondering what the 23 reasons were when I look into the packet and finds quite a handful of cards! Self-made cartoons! This was made by the friend herself with cartoons of little Blessen (she considers me a kid although I am a good 2 years elder to her) on the front and the ‘reason’ inside! The cartoons resembled the reasons! And guess what? There were 23 of such cards all made by that sweet friend herself! She later told me that it took her about 2 weeks to make all that! As was expected, I was on cloud nine or maybe even above that! Could never have imagined someone investing this much time for my birthday! So, thank you so very much Pooja aka Kichoo! Will treasure that for a long long time!

Indeed one of my best birthdays ever! Made very special by the people I mentioned above! So, thank you guys! I love you all! May my Lord Jesus bless you all in abundance!

PS: This might just seem a little dull/boring to those reading! But I couldn’t help but mention everyone who made my birthday special!

My New Relationship!!!

2007-08-08T21:57:00.000+05:30

I don’t know how this relationship will work out! But if it works out as well as my last one, then I will consider it successful! Honestly, I was very skeptical before starting out on this new and latest journey in life and hence, I had to take my brother’s opinion! He, surprisingly, gave me the nod, and thus, the green signal.

It hurts a lot to ditch and call off my old relationship! But I knew I had to take that harsh call sometime soon and be rude to my ex! I had to be selfish. But I think my effort to be patient with her and stay with her as much as I did must be appreciated. But she just was not ready to cooperate and it almost seemed to me as if she wanted to move away from me! Yes, she was rude to me! Or at least she seemed to be!

Well, as they say, everything happens for the good! My new love is nice! Real nice! She’s good looking! She is colourful! She can sing well! I have just started speaking to her, but I know this relation will last long, unless some smarty tries to snatch her away from me! But I ain’t gonna let my new Nokia 5200 go, but have kept my 3315 with me to show it to my grandchildren! It was after all their grandpa's first cell-phone and trusted lieutenant for three years!

My opinions on... (Part 2)

2007-08-06T15:49:00.000+05:30

Sanjay Dutt’s sentence

Seems so filmy! No, not the sentence and its many post-mortems, but the fact that the longest running trial had to end with the sentence to Sanjay Dutt.

My opinion about this won’t be too different from the opinion of the majority! Or at least that’s what I think. Judge Kode’s judgment seems very much fair to me. The guilty, no matter who you are, should not go unpunished in the eyes of the law! If I read the papers right, the punishment for the crime committed under the Arms Act can be anywhere between five to nine years of RI. So, six for Sanju seems harsh, yet reasonable under law!

But, and this is a big but, I am not too sure if I’d agree with the statement, “Law is fair to all.” Because if it was, then Sanjay Dutt would have had a few high profile politicians as his inmates in prison! Am talking about those who were found guilty by the Srikrishna Commission Report for inciting the 1992-93 riots! Check these numbers: People killed during the 92-93 riots: more than 900; People killed by the blasts: about 250! They do tell a story. I am not justifying the blasts by any means, for it was one cowardly act by a bunch of losers who cared not a bit for innocent lives! But if law was fair in bringing those involved, directly or indirectly, in the blasts to justice, then why can’t the same law of the same land put those politicians behind bars! The fact of the matter is the current government is scared. Scared that arrests of these big-wigs might well lead to a burning Mumbai! And the previous government, because its own were going to be on trial, accused the inquiry commission’s report as “politically motivated”!

And to be honest, even I am scared! All I can say is, Bad Luck Munnabhai!

My opinions on… (Part I)

2007-08-01T18:13:00.000+05:30

Pratibha Patil becoming the President

A women becoming the first citizen of the country was long overdue and the fact that it came 60 years after independence kinda makes it a little too late. However, I do feel India deserved a better ‘First Woman President.’

Sonia Gandhi has once again showed how shrewd a politician she can be! Two instances come to mind! One, when she appointed Manmohan Singh, a man with impeccable character, ahead of her as the Prime Minister! Two, when she resigned as the MP and contested to win by a huge margin again, after she was accused of holding an office of profit! And now, when the Left was clearly against any of the earlier names doing rounds (Arjun Singh, Karan Singh, Pranab Mukherjee, Sushil Kumar Shinde etc), she came out with a real googly, stumping the opposition and garnering the support of the Left and other allies by bringing out with a woman candidate, who till that point of time, was never even heard of by commoners like me!

The then-incumbent President Abdul Kalam deserved another go, despite accusations that he was soft on certain issues. He was rightly called the “People’s President”! Truly, no other president was as accessible or as friendly as Kalam! And this statement is not just from what was seen from news clips. But from a personal experience of a close friend!

Never did India have any Presidential-nominee with a tarnished image! Not until Patil came into the fray. Pratibha Patil may not have anything to do with the controversies, but the fact is that these establishments in question were in her name and it’s a touch difficult to believe that she didn’t know much about it! And even if she genuinely did not, then she should have! But the blame-game is over and done with. Just turned out to be another point for opposition to lurk on! Unfortunately for them though, it didn’t bring any fruitful returns as Patil had it easy, with even some of the opposition’s ‘very own’ disowning Shekawat.

So, does a woman President mean better times for the fairer sex in India? I doubt! But, it’s way too early to comment on that as the President usually turns out to be a rubber stamp of the government! And the way this presidential election was politicized, chances are even higher that we might just see another of Government’s rubber stamps at Prakash Vir Shastri Avenue (formerly, North Avenue). But, let’s give Patil a fair chance! She’s got about 60 months! I hope she proves me wrong and I will be surprised, pleasantly so, if indeed she does!

PS: Don't get me wrong. If given an authority to vote during Presidential elections, I would have picked Pratibha Patil! But no points for guessing who I'd have voted for if Kalam was also contesting!

The Third Day... Two Years Back!!!

2007-08-01T15:38:00.000+05:30

Our two days of ‘fun’, if one can call it that, was over! Now, as the trains had started working to some extent, the ‘family’, as it was called then, was taking its leave— one person or a small group at a time.

In our two days, we had all fallen in love with this great city! I had always loved Mumbai, but my experience/s on 26th and 27th July, 2005 made it special for me! The group of 10 made the most out of getting stuck at South Mumbai, as elsewhere, rains were playing havoc. I saw Mumbai by night and soaked in drizzling rain and the yellowish light made it just so spectacular. For two nights, bus stops and Sterling steps were our over-head roofs that doubled up as our resting houses! Day time, we were back to our good ol’ Xavier’s catching up on lost sleep inside the Foyer.

But now, as Mumbai crawled back to normalcy, the group trickled down to just the two of us! Biprorshee and Blessen! One from Kalyan, the other from Thakurli. We were more than one and a half hours of train ride away from home. In simple words, we were more than 50 kilometers away from our folks! Both of us were really tired! We had gotten tired of staring at the white ceiling of our foyer! We had gotten tired of warming the Foyer benches stretching out our stinky legs to another bench, resting our head to the back-rest! We had gotten tired of eating the food at Mess!

Frequent trips to the majestic Victoria Terminus (now CST) gave us disappointing news! “No trains beyond Thane until further notice” was what we got to hear time and over again! Both of just came back and did what we could do best—“wait and watch!” It was more than 2 days back that I had last seen my the ‘Brave New India’ poster that was stuck to my bedroom. It was more than two days back that I had worn my blue shirt with dark-cream trousers. It was more than two days back that I had last seen my mummy and pappa! Ditto with Bipro for most of these things!

This is when my stomach suddenly started reacting, maybe to the drenched and soaked Pav Bhaji I ate at Cannon! But the loo at Xavier’s beckoned me every once in a while! And trust me, it wasn’t a very pleasing thing to happen! Make no mistake about it, the Xavier’s loo is clean and tidy, but a loo is after all that—a LOO! I had gotten tired of my stinky socks and shoes that I had been wearing for two days! I borrowed Bipro’s floaters to make my trips to the Loo!

In the meanwhile, the time that we were there, we had befriended this SYJC guy, Joel, who was from Dombivli! All the members of the then family had reached home, safe but not so dry! That was about the only positive news we were getting! We again went to VT and there, people were giving us different ideas on how to reach our homes! We weren’t convinced! We came back! I was tired! And weak! Drained and drenched and stinky too! And so was little Bipro! The time was way past 2 on our third day!

I got up and went over to Bipro. “Bipro, we gotta get out of here man!”
“How Blessen? Where to?”
“I don’t know, but I just can’t stay here for one more night!”
“Dude, I think it’s much safer to stay back than venture out and getting stuck at no mans land!” Bipro was making sense. But…..
“The trains are going till Thane! I don’t know, but in this condition, I don’t want to stay here. I have one of my Pastoruncle at Vikhroli. I am sure you can join me and we can stay over there for the night!”
“That’s fine. Even I have my friend at Matunga. I can drop in at his place. But are you sure you want to do this?”
“Yea man! I don’t want to be here for another night!”
“Well, ok then!” Bipro agreed reluctantly!

And we called our concerned people at Vikhroli and Matunga and told them they’ll be having an extra guest for dinner tonight!

I made my, what I thought was, my final visit to the loo. We packed our bags, the contents of which were wet and ‘stenchy’! We ourselves smelt like dead fishes I am sure! But we had lost a good percentage of our sense of smell! Our PoA (plan of action) involved first heading towards Gayathri’s PG and hand her Nokia charger back. So, off we went! Bipro turned in another direction for a smoke and told me to carry on and he’ll be there in sometime! So, I went ahead and called Gayathri downstairs! And as we both were talking, Bipro came over with a worried look on his face!
“What happened?” I asked him.
“That guy, Joel. I just met him on the way. Well, he’s alone! He doesn’t have any friends with him! And as he came to know that we are leaving, he was about to cry. He doesn’t even have a single paisa with him! I gave him about 15 rupees that I had with me!” Bipro said in a dejected tone.
“Where is he now?” I asked Bipro.
“I don’t know. He will be going back to college I guess.”
“Well, in that case. He’s coming with me! And if he’s not ready for that, then we ain’t going anywhere. We are staying put! Lets go back to college and ask him.”

So, we were back again at the place where it all began! Joel wasn’t there. So it gave me time for one more visit to the loo! As I came back, I saw Joel sitting with Bipro. I told him about my offer. He readily agreed and seemed happier at seeing us back in college! I called up pastor uncle again. Praisy, his daughter, also my friend, picked up! She said it won’t be a problem at all to bring in my friend!

So, with a sigh of relief, all of us headed towards the station. Gayathri gave us company till the station! We crossed the subway, but it dawned onto us that we might have to wait for one more day to see our folks back home!

It was nearing 4! And as we were about to get closer to the entrance, my ears went wide open when I heard the word ‘Kalyan’ getting announced through the microphone! Both, Bipro and I, hurried up the stairs from the subway and to the station! The writings on the indicator were blocked by a pillar in between! Both of us ran side ways saying, “wait a minute, waaaaaait a minute”! And to our utter disbelief, we saw what we wanted to see! In red was written, “3:51 K” (Indicating, the train will leave at 3:51 PM to Kalyan). We didn’t know how to react! “Yahoooooooooooo! Wohooooooooooo!! We jumped hugging each other! We did not care if people around us termed us as “whackos”! We were definitely whacked out then! Even Gayathri gave us her blank expression!

We wasted no time and hopped into the train! I fell in love with Mumbai’s local train again! I smiled at my co-passengers! Bipro and I, even got seats! Surprising, because it was only the second train to leave out of VT after the deluge! I guess people who were stuck, were yet to be informed! Joel stood by the footboard! He came in for a brief while and with a little smile on his face, I saw him giving Bipro some money back, saying “thanks”! Bipro smiled back! My stomach now was behaving quite alright!

We had updated our “family” about the latest! A few of them called back to check on us! Matunga passed! Bipro sat still in his seat! No ways was he going to get off now! Vikhroli passed! I stayed put too! Prince and Praisy will have to wait for me some other day when I will at least be better dressed!

It took us around 3 hours to reach home! I got off at Dombivli as the train wasn’t going to stop at Thakurli! Joel got off with me! We walked back home!

There was no electricity as I reached home! But it didn’t matter! My cell rang. Birporshee! “Yea Bipro?”
“Yesssssssssssss! Home Sweet Home!!!”

Return of the blogger!!!

2007-07-26T14:58:00.000+05:30

“This blog will not be functioning for sometime due to the unavailability of the blogger for the coming days.” I had intended to publish this and take a break from blogging! But then it dawned to me that I’d have to put his up every once in a while as I am a disgrace to the phrase— ‘regular blogger’. And then the reason for unavailability is pure sluggishness and so, I have no right to put that up!

Many, I believe, paid a visit to my blog expecting another one of those drama-cum-suspense written blog about anything and everything, but they all got bored by “Yes, I loved her!!!” And I am now getting bored by regular cries of “Blessen, update your blog!” (Unbelievable, but true! People love reading my nonsense)!

So, what all have happened since I posted about my love life?

1. To begin with, I am still with my love and may not forsake her for a couple of months at least! And if you are a late-comer to my blog, then realisation will dawn only after you read my last post.

2. I have completed a year after getting into the ‘earning class’ category.

3. I have grown my French beard again (only the second time in my life), but will soon be off again!

4. My back continues to trouble me, but Jesus, my Saviour is in control of that.

5. I was told that I’d have a chance to go to Australia sometime in November-December for six to seven months as part of the onsite team for the third phase of a project I worked last. I am not sure about this, for all you know, I might be selling coconuts at Dhobi Talao then! Why coconuts at Dhobi Talao? That’s a random statement! You guys should have known me by now!

6. Many of my friends have gone off from Mumbai either for further studies or through transfers!

7. I finally have a passport after all the fuss with the police! (This deserves another post)

8. And, I am still a mallu!!!

Yes, I Loved Her!!!

2007-05-15T19:34:00.000+05:30

“I’ll be your friend till the last leaf falls,” she declares every once in a while as I look at her with hopeful, yet sorry eyes!

She became a part of my life sometime around in July 2004, when I was in my third year doing my History majors in Xavier’s. Very rarely has she not been with me ever since. She is easily the one whom I’ve heard the most from and also with whom I’ve spoken the most. I doubt if my mom has interacted with me as much as she has!

Everyone keeps telling me she is one of the most dependable around! Who would know it better than me! I use the word dependable cause I can’t find a better word in the English vocabulary. She has been through the best and worst of the times. She has heard my cribbing! She has helped me in consoling others. She has seen me cry. She has heard me laugh out loud! She has seen me jump for joy. She has seen me fall. She has seen me getting royally bored, be it at some boring lectures or at my workplace! She gave me company when I was pulling someone’s leg! She brought a lot of joy to my life and also passed on my joy to a lot of my dear friends.

She was with me when I became a graduate. She was with me when I completed my journalism. She was with me when I became a journalist! She was with me when I changed companies! She was with me through the disaster of July 26th, 2005, when I got stuck in college/town for two and half days! She got drenched in the rain too! She made sure I informed my folks back home how I was and where I was!

But I must admit, I’ve hurt her a lot. Many a time, I’ve taken her for granted. Yet, she never left me! Once in a while, albeit very rarely, she gave me the cold shoulder and just wouldn’t let me talk or wouldn’t talk to me either! I shifted my loyalty when she refused to cooperate. But then, my new ‘loyalty’ ditched me after just a month! But she was ever willing to accept me back and now we are back!

She isn’t too well now! She won’t let me talk for too long and she doesn’t talk much either unless she is constantly kept ‘in observation’! I am afraid I am losing her!

I loved her and I still do and I hate to be rude but I need to look for better options! I know she won’t survive and be with me forever and I can’t stay committed to her! I got to think about my own future and for my own good! I got to be selfish and look for a better piece to replace my good old Nokia 3315.

Phir Aayega India!!!

2007-04-04T16:46:00.000+05:30

Got this wonderful forward from a dear friend!!! Really says a lot!!! I think this was a true Indian fan!!!

Daily we are receiving countless mails, showing pictures of Indian cricketers as barber, milkman, coolie, cook, butcher etc etc. Just answer these questions before we go ahead…
1. We go to temples, make lots of wishes to god, some of them come true, some don’t…will you start burning effigies of gods and goddess.. If god can fall short of our expectations…they are just human beings!!!!!!!

2. India is still a developing nation; most of us come from average middle class families. Tell me if tomorrow..microsoft,google or sun comes to you and offer you ten times what infy is paying. What will u do????Every one of us is striving for more money..these cricketers are not the family members of TATA n Birlas…like us they do have every right to make money. They do so bcuz they have the stuff. Like we are here in a software company bcuz we are gud enough for it.

3. India ranked no.6 prior to start of wc-2007…!!!!!!!!!!if a no 6 team can so easily win the wc….guys n gals…be ready all of u r going to onsite tomorrow..as a PM/GPM/SPM or who knows Nandan might nominate us as the next ceo of ITL tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4. How many among us are IITians or have come even from top 10 engg colleges of India…(????)but be honest haan…you must have taken all these exams n entrance..after class 12th but u didn’t succeed!!!rite as simple as that!!accept ur failure!!!what ur parents did…they started mourning over the dummies kept as your dead bodies..or they also burned your effigies..did ur mother stop giving you food or father stopped giving u pocket money!!!!haan..they backed you..always supported you paid heavy donations and fee to let you complete ur engg and beared all your other expenses till u got the right job!!!!!!these cricketers are our fellow Indians our very own blood…they are going through a rough patch of time so instead of backing them up we are abusing them..

5. Your mom n dad calls u late in the night ur still at ur office..they say ..son ..go n have ur dinner..work hard..do your best….when u will get salary hikes..promotion..or remember your college days…dad calls u..son why r u getting less marks in every subject…YOUR REPLIES::::::::::"oh common…dad,mom u don’t understand..it really tough,only I can understand bla bla ….guys….same is the agony of these cricketers…no one can understand how it feels to be in the middle..n burdened with expectations of a billion ppl….shame on us we hardly live up to expectations of merely two persons(our parents!!!!)!!!!

6. We produce false certificates,claims to get posted at our desired locations..or if not we will run away to our hometown..on a leave…saying "I am feeling homesick"!!! Remember Sachin…wc-1999 his father died in India…while he was in England he came n rushed back to support and play for his team n country!!!!!!how many of us can even think of this !!! Now ppl are covering his face on the posters with lipstick. Hell ppl mourn over their lost love life. Sachin lost his father.

7. Lastly it’s the mistake made by ourselves that we don’t consider a game..just as a game…its we the ppl of India who made these cricketers dummy gods..simply fanatic..thank god fans in Zimbabwe,Canada and Netherlands are not like us or imagine what they would have done to their teams if expecting them to win world cup!!!Try to live up within the spirit of the game…take a game like the way it should be.

8. Frnz…this is a tough time for our cricketers and their families..stand beside em’ support them they badly need it..they are already upset don’t add up to their agony n pain..

N lets get together n say…HOO-HAA INDIA…..PHIR "AAYEGA" INDIA!!!!!!!!!

Hope this makes sense to at least some of you..
So please stop forwarding those nonsense mails/jokes on them…
CRICKET is only an entertainment for us…but its LIFE for them…
They always wish more than us to "WIN".

Thank You Greg!!!

2007-03-29T12:54:00.000+05:30

Dear Greg,

We owe much to your shrewdness for the help you gave in re-changing the face of India cricket. So, here goes a list of things that we need to be thankful to you for.

Thank you Greg for:

1. forcing India to learn the term ‘Process’, without really making them understand what it really meant. Not just the common masses, but the Indian team itself may not know what it was supposed to be!

2. making cricket in our country more exciting than it already was by your ‘leaked’ emails and smses to a few of our favourite journalists.

3. almost ending the career of the best ever skipper India has ever had.

4. making us realize that every defeat was a ‘learning curve’

5. persisting with underperforming players (read Suresh Raina) averaging just about 15 odd in the last few games and destroying the confidence of players who deserved better (read Mohd Kaif)! By giving such people more chances, he was moulding them to become better. Anyway, those who were performing better didn’t need that opportunity!

6. helping us realize that if you have an injury to the middle finger, then it heals faster when it’s left standing as the other fingers are bent.

7. giving Indian cricket fans the best ever performance in a world cup after what the team had done in 1979!

8. giving Indian cricket back the old tag it had throughout the 1990s – ‘consistently inconsistent’! During John Wright’s reign of four years, we got bored by the single term— ‘consistent’!

9. defining roles for individual team members, but not for the team as a whole!

10. introducing the concept of diversity in unity in the Indian team. 'Divide and rule' still can work wonders!!!

11. giving us action-packed and thrilling press conferences.

12. helping us realize the importance of team-spirit by watching our opponents play as a unit and defeating us convincingly and consistently.

13. killing the champion bowler in Irfan Pathan by forcing him to come at one-down. It improved his batting skills and opened the way for other bowlers to enter the team.

14. enlightening us on an important management lesson that ‘sucking up’ can take you places. That explains how you retained certain players despite a string of terrible performance.

15. lots of other things that I really am not able to remember now.

We really are grateful for all that thou hast done for Indian cricket and for taking Indian cricket to a new level altogether! We wish you a nice farewell and have a nice trip back home to Australia! I am sure they all missed you! Hope you enjoyed the Indian hospitality.

Thanking you.

Regards,
A sincere Indian Cricket Fan.

The 'Other Side' of being Blessen!!!

2007-03-28T18:09:00.001+05:30

“Someone told me that a few years back, you were arrogant. Is it true?” A friend messaged me a couple of days ago. It got me thinking! Who was I arrogant against? Only when I realized who that ‘someone’ was did I know why he would have said so.

The first time he had seen me was at a camp, when we played basketball! And in that game, I was getting on my opponents nerves and this guy happened to be in that team!

People know me as a calm and cool customer, someone who never gets angry! But those that have seen me play any game on the ground would know that I am diametrically opposite to what I am otherwise! But fortunately, only a few have had that ‘privilege’! I get extremely aggressive and argumentative. If I see something unfair happening, then I raise my decibels to a not-so-desired level! I play to win. Period. I am a very bad loser. That explains why I’ve cried a few times after ending up on the losing side. But I do believe I am a good winner!

My friends hate me when I am playing cricket (or any other sport), but only if I happen to be in their opponent’s team! The first time Carlo and Anish played against me was when we played some friendly matches and called it Mallus versus Non-mallus. Anish happened to say something when I was bowling and immediately I burst out with some really rash and harsh words! And every time I took a wicket, I had aggression and anger written all over my face. I batted with venom that day! I don’t know what got into me but Carlo and Anish were not amused and they made that clear later on! Even I was embarrassed after it all!

I wasn’t going to change though! Because I am quite sure the same two loved it when they played for the team I skippered, in a box cricket tournament in college. In a game, I got quite angry with the umpires and used some choicest words. Well, not exactly! Because I would rather die than use abusive words. And me being me, there’s no question of me picking up a physical fight either! So, these were just in the form of ‘rude’ (for want of a better term) words! “Dude, you need better glasses,”, “They’ve paid you or something,” “Try umpiring in a game of marbles”—just examples of an array of words I used on the umpires!

Maybe I have taken inspiration from Sourav Ganguly! Maybe I am just over-passionate about winning! But on a sports field, I might never change, even if it is just a friendly game! Maybe that is why God never made me a sportsman!!! He didn’t want people to hate me!!! If my first meeting with all my friends was on a sports field, I wonder if they would ever have wanted to meet me! I guess I am arrogant after all, but only when I am playing something on a sports ground!

The Story of Mumbaikar

2007-03-27T18:57:00.000+05:30

As the young politician unwrapped the pack and showed it to the crowd, I turned around and sat down, not wanting anyone to see me. A year has passed and I still don’t know why I did that, but there sure was a tear or two in my eyes then. Or maybe, my eyes were just moist. Maybe I was exhausted. Maybe I was just relieved that it indeed was all over. Maybe I was overjoyed! Maybe it was all of the above!

About a year or so back, inside one of the large classrooms of XIC, Milind Deora released the magazine ‘Mumbaikar’, a project undertaken by the journalism students of XIC. Now, each student was supposed to interview and write a feature on someone who stands out as a mumbaikar. So, out went all the wannabe journos hunting for prominent and not-so-prominent mumbaikars, who best describes (or described) the city. We weren’t just supposed to hunt for mumbaikars, whom we were to interview, but also for mumbaikars who were willing to pay and thus, advertise for a student project. The second somehow seemed tougher than the former task!

More than a month into the project and there were no signs of any money for the ‘soon to be released’ magazine. I roamed around the city trying to find a willing mind or two who’d be ready to ‘donate’ their hard earned shilling for a magazine that would be read by only a couple of hundred people, about 50 of these 100 would be the developers of the magazine themselves! Found none! Either they were already ‘taken’ by a few early-birds from our class or they weren’t interested. Finally, I found a ‘saviour’ in the form of an uncle from church, who readily agreed.

The mumbaikar I interviewed was Adrian D’souza, the Indian hockey goalkeeper. I wrote my article and thought a major worry of mine was over. But, little did I know that the headache had just begun. The layout and production team was supposed to take up the responsibility of designing pages. I was in production and unofficially, the leader of the team! Although certain guidelines were given about the way in which the pages are supposed to be designed, it seemed very few were in the mood to follow them. One of our tutors for the project, who also taught us pagemaker, told me that 90% of these pages would have to remade or redesigned! But the most unfortunate part of this whole mess was we were way past the date of release and some people were yet to find a mumbaikar! On the hind sight, we did have a lot of money and sponsors aplenty. But the possibility of these cheques being returned back to the advertiser seemed possible, as bringing out the mag seemed just a distant dream! The mag would have seemed like a mini-version of yellow pages!

Finally, after a lot of pushing and prodding, the class found just about enough so-called ‘mumbaikars’! Interviewed them. Wrote articles—some of them just for the heck of writing! But then, the tougher part started. Designing them on Pagemaker. I had initially thought this would be easiest part since everyone by now, was supposed to be well-versed with designing. But wasn’t to be!

Pages now had to be designed again and redesigned and again designed. And the pain started when we were to create a dummy for the mag to know where to adjust the huge amount of ads and how to place the articles. It took Pooja, Mayura, Sami, Priyanka, Gayathri and me one whole evening (and a night) to sort out the dummy correctly and yet, there had to be some compromises. This now meant, that the layout and production team, comprising of two mallus, had to redo the entire designing again—about 44 articles and 80 odd pages!

Bijoy and I made the computer lab on the 2nd floor our home from thereon. Romeo, the in charge there, became a family member. Life for us between lectures revolved around Mumbaikar, the supposed-to-be-already-released magazine, shuttling between the lec halls, computer lab and a little grab at Pav Bhaji from the canteen! But every time we got into a good rhythm and speed, a new complication arose. A lot of ‘minor adjustments’ had to be made at many places to fit in articles in a page! And after all the articles were fitted in, it was not turn to make the centrespread, index page and the editorial. The editorial and the centrespread took me an entire day at home to finish. As if that was a big thing, designing just the index page took me another day! Seemed like a simple index page with not much creativity needed. But then, two pages were to be filled with ‘non-creativity’!

Finally after all the designing was done, it was time to take the final soft copy to the printer. I had already made a couple of visits to the printer and had finalized the costing, the type of paper and the cover page paper. The printer had his eyebrows raised when I told him with confidence that we were ready to pay the amount he estimated!

The day I took the final copy was action-packed too! It was the day of our final editing for radio production module. Reached the studio a little late cause of a minor mishap but with a major back pain. I could hardly move about. But I had to rush back (to the computer lab of course)with Bijoy and do some final ‘touch ups’. Poor Bijoy had to be pulled back for another one of our modules (News Broadcast). He had to clean the studios!

So, I headed for the printer and there was a powerpoint presentation I had to make in another half an hour for the Public Speaking module. Had to go to Byculla and come back within half an hour!!! But off I went! Reached back to the lec hall about 15 minutes late, but thankfully, much before my presentation was to start!

The planning for the release took very little time and our Chief Guest, who had to be a high profile person, was also decided and agreed upon! South Mumbai MP—the young Milind Deora! Caterers and food was also decided and I was to take up the presentation on the ‘Story of Mumbaikar’!

And a few more phone calls from the printer later, Ida, our XIC office secretary, called us to the office. “The magazines have arrived!” Our joy couldn’t be controlled. And off we ran to the room where the mags were stored. I told a couple of my friends about the arrival, as I ran upstairs. Ida took only four of us inside the room and told us to lock the room. Those couple of friends were not amongst the four! They came up, just stood outside as the doors shut on them and went back angry! Ida opened the packet and the magazines looked awesome and remarkably professional. Everything looked so perfect and original! Right from the cover page picture, for which Rishi took pains to get the right shot of the Queens Necklace, to the photographs in the articles.

Somehow, I had something else in mind! I went back and apologized to the two friends but I realized it will take much more than that to get them out of the ‘insult’ they suffered. The words spoken were little, but it conveyed a lot! The mag was to be released in two days and the last thing I needed was two of my good friends getting angry. That put me off and I told my other friends I ain’t coming for the release. I walked off the college without attending the last lecture. Next day was a holiday and I hadn’t at all prepared for the presentation I was to make for the release. A friend called up and I told her I wasn’t coming! “Don’t be stupid ok? If anyone deserves to come, it’s just you!” I don’t know what made me so upset. Maybe I was just drained out! But then, I knew I couldn’t possibly avoid not going for the release of a magazine that I would dare to call my very own!

And all dressed up, I was in college much before the release. Some last minute rehearsals of my presentation and a few more adjustments here and there. Bijoy, Priyanka and Rachita did a good job coordinating the programmes for the release. Perhaps, the least I worked for the project was on the day of the release! But, even the release was done professionally! Not everyone from the class felt like being a part of the project and hence, came for the release with little or no interest. A few others were missing. But I cared a damn! This was a day that I should be proud of!

As Milind Deora unwrapped the covers to release the magazine, there were shouts from around the room! He held the magazine high and showed it to the audience. The clapping continued. I was standing next to the PC. Found it hard to hold back my emotions! The entire class could see me and so, I just sat down hiding myself behind the table and with my eyes wet, I covered my mouth! Bijoy sat down asking what’s wrong! I just shook my head unable to utter a word in the English vocabulary!

My presentation—‘The Story of Mumbaikar’—was well received! It was complete with a lot of humour and yet, the ‘story’ was conveyed with an ‘Amen’ in the end! “I dare say this, the batch next year will try to come out with something better, but this (a pause as I held up the copy) will still be THE BEST,” I said as my sign-off line!

Mumbaikar brought out the best of all emotions within me. Frustration, anger, depression (kinda), discouragement, sadness, ecstasy and finally, a great joy and relief. I lauged. I cried. I spoke harshly against my very own. I held my head and finally, I punched the air in delight! Mumbaikar would never have come out if it wasn’t for a few names I mentioned above and especially, Bijoy! I had the same thing to say what Bijoy said, while heaving a huge sigh, during his vote of thanks, “It’s over!” I indeed was glad it was all over! It’s been a year since this magazine has come out, but everytime I look back, I still feel like patting myself on my back for a job very well done!

Out!!!

2007-03-25T00:22:00.000+05:30

A post about the World Cup missing from a cricket freak… So, finally, here it is…

Woolmer murdered! Pakistan out! Records tumbling almost every second day. This had to be THE most happening cricket world cup ever! Yet, for some weird reason, this World Cup didn’t give any birth of excitement inside me. Almost every Indian is an eternal optimist when it comes to India at the World Cup. So, I joined the million others in ranking India as one of the favourites to bring home the cup.

But now I am just sad and disappointed. Just like the million others are! Not just because India showed their worst ever performance after 1979, but also because of the way a few Indian legends will bid adieu to the World Cup. It is indeed sad to see Sachin, Sourav, Rahul and Kumble go out to such a sad self-inflicted farewell.

Indians still had hopes of making it to the round of Super 8, despite the first loss. Memories of a slow start during the 2003 World Cup came back. But that team was different. They believed in being like Phoenix—rising from the ashes! This team was hit by the huge roadblock tried on them by a coach with his weird and ‘out of the box’ ideas. He called it the ‘process’. Every defeat (and there were many at that) was termed as a ‘learning experience’ for the youngsters. I am really sorry Mr. Process, but your two years of experimentation with the process cost us dear, broke our hearts and almost ruined the career of a best ever left-hander India has ever produced.

Post mortems will flow out in the media and a few questions will be raised and be left unanswered. Fingers will be pointed. ‘Dravid’s captaincy desired more’, ‘the process failed’, ‘Sachin should retire’, so on and so forth. What’s the point? We can only watch a worthy winner lift the trophy a month from now.

But then, all will be forgotten when India heads for the Twenty20 World Cup next year in South Africa. That will trigger a fresh ray of hope and prayers, but the team will have a new foreigner (read coach) on board and possibly a new leader too.

The Hand that pushed me in!!!

2007-02-21T12:05:00.000+05:30

Any regular traveler in and around Mumbai wouldn’t need a second-hand description about the traveling ‘adventures’ that a Mumbaikar goes through every day. Pushing, pulling, squeezing your way past a thousand bodies trying to do the same is like daily chores. Add one more to this list of activities—‘Hanging on for dear life.’ For relatively new travelers, this term is apt, as this would be their last and only choice during peak hours. For the others, who seem to be hanging on to keep their souls breathing, it’s their way of having fun, also perhaps, a way to impress a few from the fairer gender in every passing station.

I don’t fall under the category of a new traveler. But, and this is a big ‘But’, my idea of fun does not include acting like a super-hero in a vehicle that takes about 2,000 lives in Mumbai every year. A couple of times I have had to hang on to the pole by the door the reason for which was mentioned in the first paragraph of this post—it was my only available choice to reach college on time.

Now, I fall under the category of ‘working class’. This means I have to get off and on the trains at stations where the word ‘crowd’ would seem an understatement. Come to Dadar and you will know why! Getting off at Dadar isn’t tough for me for I go along with the flow of the hundred others in front of and behind me. But getting on to the train, I always think twice before trying to leap (literally) in!

So, here I was at Dadar waiting for a Dadar-starting heading towards Titwala. For someone from Dombivli, getting inside a train, while it is nowhere near its halting point, is a piece of cake. Or so I thought it was! This one came at a fair speed. There were a few hanging by the door wanting to get off. I looked at one door. Found it unmanned. And jumped in grabbing the pole. Well, almost! I did grab the pole, but the jump wasn’t good enough to reach the footboard. I had completely misjudged the speed of the lifeline! I was ‘hanging on for dear life’! My hands gripping the pole hard, my feet suspended between the train and the platform. A red and black costume and I would have looked like a junior Spiderman! Those three to four seconds seemed to last an eternity. I have heard the phrase, ‘heart in the mouth’ a lot of times. I was experiencing it now! Suddenly I felt a strong hand pushing me making me swing inside using the pole in a typical Spidermanesque way! On my way to catch the seat, I looked back and those behind me were still running behind the train. I had no clue who pushed me in, for the people who came in behind me came a good 4-5 seconds later!

Sitting by the window seat that I managed to grab, I was still shivering at what just happened. Or what was about to happen!

The drama didn’t end there. The train became so jam packed that people who were inside wanting to get off at Dadar couldn’t get out even after the train had stopped and restarted on its way back! These were the ‘new-comers’! In an attempt to get off at the next station, Matunga, a couple of ladies from that group fell off from the train on the platform. I watched in horror as the train stopped again! The ladies survived! Phew! I let out a sigh of relief and a big one at that. That could have been me at Dadar about 5 minutes ago!

All I can surely say is I didn’t use any super-hero-like power to swing myself into the train. And I did feel a Hand pushing me in. It was the Hand of God!

Win or Lose... It was a special feeling!!!

2007-02-03T10:33:00.000+05:30

It is not always you feel special about something you achieved. It is almost never that you feel special about something that you were NOT able to achieve. I have been fortunate to be a recipient of both these scenarios. Those who know me well wouldn’t be surprised when I say these have come at a sports field. But, they will be surprised when I say it happened at a badminton court—to be more specific, the court at my beloved St. Xavier’s College.

My second year of junior college. I was an absolute disgrace what one call ‘textbook badminton’! So, here I was playing the selection tournament. I went past my first two rounds with relative ease. My semi-final match was pre-poned leaving me under-prepared and over-dressed for the game. I actually was looking like an executive, dressed in formal clothes, coming straight out of a high-level meeting looking for a break from work. I borrowed a racket from a friend and started off my match with Nikhil, my opponent! If anyone was looking out-of-place in that court, it was me, with my formals minus any footwear for I had removed my floaters before the match.

Half-way through the match, I was already looking down the barrel hardly able to breath. My friends Merwyn and Anish had joined in, cheering for me! Nikhil made me run around the court. Most of his shots were directed towards the baseline, something that I was totally unaccustomed to as I was more an ‘at-the-net’ player. Nikhil clearly had the upper-hand, leading 12-3 in a race to 21 points. I shook my head looking at Merw and Anish, struggling to get even the words “I can’t” out of my 32! Breathing heavily, I desperately looked around for a miracle and lease of life in me out of somewhere. I wanted water. I needed air to breath! An oxygen mask would have been welcome. After losing one more point, I just sat on the court trying to gather some breath. The word, “God” came out repeatedly at every breath I took. My arms were shivering. The score-line read 14-5 tilting towards Nikhil. Not a long match for someone reading the scoreboard for the first time. But each one of the points had marathon rallies. My shots to Nikhil kept coming back at me. And after coming to terms with Nikhil’s strategy, even I had found answers to his baseline shots. My shirt was drenched. I cared a damn if I was stinking! My eyebrows were heavy and sweat pouring out in front of my eyes was making sure I didn’t get a proper view of my opponent. “Quitting” while on a sporting field is not in my dictionary. I gathered myself all over again. Took a deep breath. Waited. And waited. And wiped off the sweat from my brow. And served. And that new lease of life was pumped in. I start hitting the shuttle well. It was time to give Nikhil back a taste of his own medicine. It was time to make him run around the court. I made him play to my strengths. His shots stopped going towards the baseline, rather came just where I wanted it. Now, Nikhil was getting worn out. The score-line: 19-12. Still in his favour. But, I knew I was peaking and I couldn’t let it go from here, every now and then opening my mouth wide to let in some air! A couple of smashes and drops later, I was breathing down his neck. But Nikhil still had it in him to win a point to reach match point! 20-18. I broke his serve. And came back to win a couple more points. Scores tied. 20 all! The match extends to a game of 23! Huffing and puffing, both of us look at each other. Wiping our sweat, catching our breath. It’s like a boxing match. Round one to Nikhil. Round two to Blessen. Round three will decide who will be the finalist! We both are so dead tired that we can hardly get that occasional ‘Yes!” from our sets of sixteen. We restart our game. A smash, a drop and a mistake by Nikhil later, I was walking towards Merwyn not knowing what to say, where I am or what to do next. I had just done the improbable! Down and out about 20 minutes ago, I was now a recipient of a well-deserved ovation by the crowd for fighting through my condition and not just coming out of it, but coming out of it victorious. I was so lost after the victory that I forgot to shake hands with Nikhil, who also deserved the ovation he got. Nikhil’s fitness let him down, my resilience got me through! It was a special feeling!

My second year in Junior College. I was one of the pre-tournament favourites to reach the semis! I’ve hardly had any match practice. But I was confident to overcome my first round opponent, whom we nicknamed ‘Elvis’ for his side-locks! The match was totally tilted in my favour right from the start. I had quite a few supporters. Carlo, Anish, Bijoy, Jasmine, Fiona and Rahul—all rooting for me! The court was more crowded than usual! I was leading 9-3 in a race to reach 21. I was just getting back in the grove finding my old touch that I had lost because of a temporary lay-off! Elvis was playing good, but not good enough! But then, a moment of what-one-can-call ‘over-excitement’ came in. In one of the points, Elvis plays a decent smash away towards my right. Standing at the left side of the court, I dive full length parallel to the ground and manages to reach the shuttle before it touches the ground. The shuttle sails over to the other side of the net towards Elvis, who was surprised to see feather-laden coming back towards him. The crowd lets out a huge ‘Wooh’! Elvis keeps his nerves and plays a drop. I have just regrouped after my dive and am only on my knees when the shuttle is dropping on my side of the court closer to the net a few yards away from me. I go for another dive using the force of my knees and still, manage to get the shuttle across. The spectators, now, are shouting! Elvis keeps his nerves and plays it to the baseline. But getting back up from my second dive, I knew not all is right! I struggle to hit the return at the baseline. I avoid jumping and smashing and instead, just play a safe return. Elvis pounces on the high shuttle and smashes it in front of me. I can hardly move, let alone think of another dive to return the smash. I lose the point. The crowd still applauds and shouts at the circus I just did on the court.

But from thereon, I can hardly stretch or run. All I can do is walk and hit those returns close to me. Elvis smells his chance and grabs the opportunity. He plays all over the court. I limp all over the court. Fiona, a sportswoman herself, comes to the court and asks me to try some stretching. She fears I have pulled a hamstring! Friends standing by ask me to quit. I just shake my hand and tell them I am ok. I wasn’t! I was grimacing in pain! “Hang in there, blessy!” I kept telling myself. Friends around me are concerned about my health. They keep asking me to leave the game midway! But I am of the adamant kinds! And I continue. Playing with pain all the way! At match point, Elvis hits one beyond my reach. I watch the shuttle thudding the ground in horror. Elvis won the game. I lost! And perhaps, an end to my short badminton career too! I limp off the playing area. But I could hear the crowd applauding and still shouting! I saw a couple of them standing up from the temporary seats to applaud. They came forward and shook my hands. “That point (where I dived twice) was worth recording, dude! Great fight!” one of them exclaimed, with a little salute! I limp to the washroom. Bijoy gives me a little smile on the way! I smile back. I am disappointed at losing, but I know I had given it my all! Elvis might have won the game, but, (this might sound like a self-promotional sentence), I won the crowd there!!! I left the court feeling proud of myself with a few still smiling at me! It was a special feeling!!!

Limbless to Limitless!!!

2007-01-18T21:32:00.000+05:30

“From a life without limbs to a life without limits”- Thus read the entry pass for the programme that featured Nick Vujicic. Few around the world have already heard this name. Many among this few have had a positive impact because of Nick’s words!

A few months ago, I had received a forward from a dear friend, where Nick shares his testimony. Ever since, I have had this desire within me to see the miracle, that is Nick, in person or at least hear him speak. My prayers were answered as my brother called me up early on a Saturday morning to tell me that Nick is in town and he will be speaking that evening next to Wilson’s. I called up Deepak, a good friend and one of the organizers of the meeting, to book two entry-passes (free, of course) for my brother and me.

Nick is a motivational speaker. But as Nick makes his entry, the crowd of 700 stands up to give a well-deserved ovation for this warrior of Christ. There is a wave of sympathy flowing across that BVB auditorium. The reason—as is evident from the lines on the entry pass, this speaker from down under was born without limbs (a body minus hands or legs). This wave, however, doesn’t last too long! One would expect a person with a disability as that of Nick to be soft-spoken. All the initial assumptions are laid to rest and Nick starts off by shouting Hallelujah to God! The glow and happiness on Nick’s face is worth a thousand pictures!

“I was angry with God for creating me this way,” said Nick about the initial phases of realization about his disability. He complained constantly and at one stage, almost thought of ending his life! He kept asking God to give him hands and legs and thus, let him lead a normal life. But then, he stumbled upon John Chapter 9, where Jesus was asked by a few in the crowd the reason for a blind man’s situation. Jesus answered, “He was born this way so that the glory of God can be revealed through him.” Nick got his answer. God had said “No” to Nick’s request. But Nick knew it was for the better! For God had seen a purpose behind his condition. Nick quit complaining from thereon and gave his life for Jesus Christ. Little would this handsome guy have known that not only his life but lives of those around him would undergo a dramatic change as well. Nick now saw a purpose behind his life. He stopped dwelling on his problems for he knew that his God was mightier than all his problems. Nick completed his Bachelors degree and now aims higher!

The gathering was just awe-struck by what Nick offered them that Saturday evening. It was a whole package of happiness and hope. Every third sentence from Nick called for applause. The applause, however, was for his Saviour, who had changed his life! Nick says that if God had given him arms and legs when he had cried out, he might never have been a motivational speaker. He might never have been able to pull in the crowd that he can today! True... very true... It was because of Nick's condition and the gift God gave him to remain happy in that condition that made him such a darling to all.

Nick loves freaking people out and sees the positive side to everything in life! He remembers the time when he freaked out a little kid after the latter thought the former was an alien!

He remembers how he freaks people out on the beach, by suddenly sprouting of the water like a strange amphibian!

He remembers the time when a huge wave crashed against him as he was swimming to throw him completely off guard and deep inside the water. Nick had drowned, or so thought his friends around him. But Nick was holding his breath deep inside the waters waiting for the waves to pass! And as waves calmed down, Nick emerged out of water to get back to swimming! "Waves crashing against your lives shall pass!" Nick declares.

There is no fakeness in this Aussie’s happiness. The joy of the Lord is reflected all over his face and body language. Nick knows that his sufferings are nothing when compared to what his Saviour suffered for him on the cross, leaving all the pleasures of heaven behind!

Nick then calls on to the crowd, describing to them what Jesus Christ did for them on the cross of calvary. Some youth teary-eyed, some others smiling, as they called Jesus Christ in their lives. Their lives will never be the same again.

Next up, Nick prays for the sick. And immediately, the results are there to be seen as a beautiful young lady from the front walks on to the stage. She had fallen off the stairs just half an hour before the programme and could barely move her arms. She came forward and hugged Nick, moving her arms, unable to talk fluently as the joy just engulfed her!

Not a single person who came to the auditorium that day left disappointed. They came to see a person without limbs. They went back seeing a person without limits!

I dedicated the 50th post of this blog to Nick Vujicic, who definitely has changed my outlook towards life! Considering that I it took me more than three months to post my 5oth, despite already having some stock of other posts, shows the impact Nick has had in me!

THE MAN Who Owned Our Car!!!

2006-10-09T12:33:00.000+05:30

Three months, and I still did not have a tinge of idea about it! One fine June evening, in my absence, a deal was made and a four-wheeler was added to our family. Of course, I knew about the second-hand Santro that we were buying, but was in the dark about THE MAN, who had actually owned the car. So impactful was the name of the first owner, that not just me, but a few friends of mine also lost their sleep over it! “Moron, you own the car. I haven’t even seen it and I still can’t sleep,” exclaimed one such friend while continuing, “Blessen, take this as a sign from God. Your car has been passed on from people, who made it big in the profession that you want to be in and I don’t even need to mention about the very first owner. You are literally in the driver’s seat, dude.”

Last Friday, the pastor and his younger son were watching CNN-IBN's discussion on the Bragelina couple’s visit to Pune. “Naah, not my kind of news,” thought the son as he headed to his room to do "better things in life (which would be Orkutting)!" This is when something that his dad uttered got him really interested and made him rush back to the hall. “How do we know that?” he asked his dad. “Check our car’s registration book and you will know. I always thought you knew that.” “No, I had absolutely no idea whatsoever!” exclaimed his son, as he scanned the very first page of the RC book, in deep shock and excitement.

Well, it so happens that our car is actually a third-hand buy. It belonged to a BBC lady journalist, who left the country leaving the onus of selling the car on her driver, whom we knew fairly well. The driver, at the time when the deal was being made, had informed my folks and bro about the initial owner of the car. But because the piece of information seemed a little too difficult to digest, my family did not really believe the driver’s 'story', which is what they thought it was-- just a 'story'. As for me, I hadn’t heard him, so there was no question of me being in the know about it. But after seeing the RC book, my dad had no choice but to believe the driver.

Apparently, the BBC journo had left the country for the fear of her life. The first owner of the Santro was kidnapped and killed by some terrorists in Pakistan. He was also a journalist, although he became renowned only after his death. He is the very reason why Bragelina is in India! The name in that registration book, which got me excited, thus making me call all my good friends at and after midnight, was of a certain gentleman called Mr. Daniel Pearl!

Beginners Guide to Traveling in Mumbai’s Local Trains

2006-10-03T16:53:00.000+05:30

1. Travel as light as possible with little or no luggage. If you do have a luggage, then make sure you also have your name on it or else some stranger might come to the happy realization that his great grandfather’s uncle’s brother-in-law had lost a similar bag/suitcase in 1936 and stake his claim over it.

2. Avoid peak hours, which would be, let me see… ahem… almost throughout the day! Basically, avoid traveling!

3. Make sure you are not allergic to the combination of sweet ‘aroma’ of oil, fish and sweat! If you are, constant traveling will make you get used to the same.

4. If you are a first-class traveler, then be sure to apologize for accidentally pushing or stepping on someone. If you are traveling by second-class, then be street smart and blame the ‘accident’ or ‘incident’ on the person standing behind you. Before doing this, make sure there IS a person standing behind you or else, you will be in big trouble.

5. Amongst all the good qualities that a Mumbaikar possesses, politeness is NOT one of them. So, if someone is hell bent on picking up an argument with you, be polite and remain as quiet as possible. Your attitude will surprise him. The guy that is picking up the argument might just have had a fight with his wife at home and may be removing it all on you!

6. If your stop is just five stops away from the starting point, then don’t be dumb in trying to find a seat, for if you do, you may never be able to get off even after the tenth stop. Remain standing, and do so closer to the door that you will be getting off from! If you do not know which side your platform falls, then ask your co-passengers. But make sure the person you ask is not a mirror image of you yourself. You might just end up either on a wrong station or on the tracks, the latter being not a very exciting prospect!

7. If you are going to be a regular traveler, catching the same train and hoping onto the same compartment will help you make new friends. These guys will stand by you whenever there is an argument.

8. Local trains are awesome when it comes to catching up on lost sleep. The sleep that you have been deprived of for either working late in your office, or for doing assignments, or for simply chatting with your friends online through the night (I have been a victim of the last two cases). If you are a ‘long distance’ traveler within Mumbai (like I was for six and a half years), then take advantage and try sleeping for at least an hour (like I did during a good portion of these six years). You must, however, also learn to stand and sleep. This is one ‘skill’ that you would acquire over time!

9. If you indeed get a seat, consider yourself lucky and make the best use of it. But while catching up forty winks, acquire the skill of ‘staying still’. If you are a pendulum dancer like I sometimes am, then be sure that person sitting next to you has really high levels of patience! Else, the mouthings you get from that person will be music to your ears which won’t stop accompanying you unless you use the same on another person and the epidemic spreads!

10. Extremely crowded trains can be used to your advantage in terms of catching up on lost sleep. Once you have achieved the hardest task of getting inside the train, you won't have an inch to move, which is when you can just depend on the flood of ‘inactive yet alive’ bodies standing all around you. Use these bodies as your support pillars and doze off! But this is totally dependent on whether the whole of your body is actually inside the train. For if you try to doze off with half of your symmetry hanging out (don’t ask me how), then your ‘body’ will be just that—a body but with ‘dead’ added as an adjective!

11. Respect the people standing on the footboard or at the door. They might seem to be, and some of them indeed are, wanna-be Romeos, but it is because of these five gentlemen that you have some place to stand or, in some rarest of rare cases, sit! Also remember, you are at their mercy when it comes to getting down, for if they decide to stay put at their place, you sure will be caged till the point of their destination!

12. Women can make great use of traveling standing at the footboard. I have seen many women using the natural wind and air to dry their hair!

13. Avoid pressing your clothes from your home, if you travel by crowded trains (which would almost be every time). For, by the time you come out of the train, your clothes would seem like it is freshly out of the washing machine! Also, consider yourself fortunate or your shirt to be of high quality, if you have all your buttons still on!

14. ‘Beware of pick-pockets’ is a warning that appears throughout India and Mumbai is no different! The only difference being, in Mumbai, the ‘artist’ to execute this skill would be the well-dressed lady/gentleman standing near you. At times, you might feel that the train seems crowded than it actually is. Beware of situations like these, for these skilful people work in a group and are the actual creators of this ‘fake-rush’!

15. ‘Beware of homosexuals’ is NOT a warning that appears throughout India but Mumbai IS different! Guys/gals who appear over-friendly might suddenly sprout out a question—"wanna come with me for ‘fun’?" Traveling in averagely-crowded trains, you might come across someone sticking a little too close for your liking. Every time the train jerks, these people might try to hold onto you for support! Make sure you hold your bag, or whatever it is that you are carrying, in front of you acting as a ‘separation’ between you and the desperado!

Blogging To Continue...

2006-09-27T20:46:00.000+05:30

Despite the loserly begging I did in my last post, only six comments (at the time of posting this one) was registered. Jeez, what was I thinking when I had initially put 10 as the upper limit. This six comment includes two by one person!!! So, does this mean an end to my short period of blogging? Naah... There's no easy escape from crappy writings to the not-even-a-handful visitors to my blog. The reason why I posted my last message was purely out of frustration and discouragement. I realised that if I do get discouraged by such silly matters, then I might as well call myself a real high-quality loser! My blog may not be popular and would actually be an example of one of the crappiest around, but deleting it would be an absolute waste of the time and effort I had put in posting my earlier posts, some of which has been, allow me to be a little immodest here, decent enough!!!

So, the mallu-blogging shall continue!!! I hope this pleases the five gracious 'commentators' of my previous post.

PS: One of my friends recently told me to "use my good voice to good effect and create an audio blog. Surely, you will have a greater fan following, especially amongst the fairer sex" (not exactly in the words of the person, but somewhat like this)... Well, I won't really be opening up an audio blog, but a photography blog is definitely on the cards and will soon be up!!! For the love of photographs and visual images, I hope a few more will visit that blog of mine. Right now, I am contemplating an URL that I should have for that blog. I was thinking somewhere along the lines of 'Thru the Mallu Eye'... Any suggestions???

To or Not To!!!

2006-09-15T14:08:00.000+05:30

Off late, the amount of visitors to this blog has reduced drastically, as is evident by the 'Hit Counter' and the number of comments I have in the last two posts. Either the handful that used to visit my blog has forgotten the URL of the site, or has finally gained their senses to notice the really pathetic writings and posts. So, is there a point in me continuing to blog? I am not sure if I can yet answer that. Maybe this post can. So here’s a call to anyone who accidentally hits the URL of my blog: If you do happen to be one of those rare guests to my blog, then be kind enough to post a comment on this piece. Any number less than 10 would mean me saying ‘Bye Bye’ to the world of blogging (Am I asking for too much? I think I am. Bargaining the number down to 8.)

I left my first job because...

2006-09-06T20:42:00.000+05:30

Your behavior a disgrace to XIC. Please put in your resignation and return ID card immediately. (sic)

This is to inform you that you have been terminated from the service according to clause 2 of the appointment letter…

For all those who came in late, you may not know that I was working with a leading media company in India at its head-office in Mumbai. Ever since I saw the imposing heritage structure, it was my dream to walk inside the premises as an employee. Not many get the privilege of realizing their dream in the very first instance they try. I did!

Although my name was never going to be seen or read by a good part of Mumbai, who swore by the most-read English daily, it still could be traced at a corner of the second page of a supplement that came along with the daily. This supplement however, was read by only those who had the time to stretch their legs, sit back and scan through the happenings of their locality. My job profile included editing and proof-reading some terribly written articles. After editing some of them, I was quite often tempted to include my name as well in the byline. So my actual post was that of a sub-editor cum reporter, although I reported for the supplement only once and am yet to see my byline in print for that! I am glad I haven’t seen my byline for that particular article for it was more a glorification of the supplement itself, as the event I covered was co-sponsored by the broadsheet.

I wasn’t great at editing and my immediate boss (IB) made that clear just second week into my job! Some of my friends still feel that the decision I made wasn’t a wise one since I left an institution that boasts of being second to none in the media industry. But they are still to understand the reasons why I walked out of my first job, quite literally! Well, I just stopped going to work without informing anyone at my workplace. That explains why my main boss (MB) text messaged the very first line of this post.

There were three instances in my three months of work that led me to take the decision to ‘walkout’, the impact of which is still being felt at the supplement. Just to clarify—these three instances form just one ‘reason’, for there are a couple of others as well!

1. The IB came and told me that the layout artists have complained against me to the MB, that I keep changing stories and headlines at the last moment. Now it so happened that despite being a fresher, a lot of artists had become my friends. I went to them to clarify, which is when I got to know the actual story. They had not even uttered my name to the MB! The complaint was against the team and my IB in particular! The IB very smartly passed on the blame to me when the MB asked her for clarifications!

2. My IB cannot come on Saturdays to work at all for reasons perhaps only she and God can tell. And the other two senior members of the team were also supposed to have their comp-offs that weekend. So it was left to me and one other colleague, who too was a relative fresher although a senior to me by around 5 months. Every person in the team is supposed to take responsibility for a page wherein a decision is to be taken as to which stories will go in that particular page. That Saturday, I took the responsibility for the first page and before calling my day off on Friday, I had clarified with the seniormost member after the boss about the stories I will be carrying and she had given me a ‘go ahead’. One of the stories that I carried on page one was an investigative report and apparently, one of the authorities that the reporter mentioned she had spoken to, said that journo had last spoken to him about four months ago! There were calls to my IB from the municipal corporation asking for clarifications. And again, I was taken to task by my IB for not ‘clarifying’ with her about the story. She had herself advised me to consult the other senior member!

3. One day, my IB decides to have a one on one chat with me, in which she tells me that she wants me to be her right hand person (whatever!). And among other things, she mentioned that the MB thinks I am the ‘weak link’ of the team! That was it. I didn’t even wait for any more ‘clarifications’! I didn't need any other sign from Above telling me to quit. I had got three in three months already!

The other factor, which is perhaps even more a reason for me leaving than the above mentioned blame-games, was the attitude of my IB! Our working day used to start anytime between 11:30 to 12:00. But for my IB, it started after 2! Why? Because it wasn’t she who worked, it was us, the lesser mortals, who were supposed to slog it out. All she had to do was to check the final product, make sure the freelancers are well paid and pass on her mistakes to others! Even before settling down after coming to work, she would head straight to the canteen along with a couple of colleagues. After having her fill, she would come back, sit at her comp and play some really childish online games, while her ‘subordinates’ stared blankly and tried to make sense out of statements, which had adjectives aplenty and pronouns in rarity, for every second person was ‘on the condition of anonymity’. Every once in a while, you could also hear her say, “I am so tired!” Tired? Of what? Pressing the direction keys of your keyboard trying to maneuver your online duck? I could see the IBs of other supplements slogging like us mortals and this Lady Lazy having a ‘perfect job’, redefining the term ‘idleness’!

Apart from these, after taking up this job, I had also felt a great deal of emptiness within me. I realized I wasn’t spending anytime with the One who took me this far! I knew I had to do something before I went too far away from my God!

The rest, as the cliché goes, is history! A couple of weeks after I gave my IB and MB a shock, I got a ‘dismissal letter’ from the HR head of the company (second line of the post is an excerpt of the letter). I don’t know what they mean by ‘You have been terminated’ for I had already terminated myself!

ICC: Idiotic Cricket Council/Idiots Creating Controversies

2006-08-21T21:16:00.000+05:30

Cricket—just when you think the game is getting a little boring, new twists and ‘turns’ brings it back to the front pages of the newspapers. Off-the-field cricketing actions have always created newsworthy stuff for the media men. And in the past week or so, similar actions have ensured that cricket, as a sport, will never be too far away from controversies.

It all started with the Proteas calling their tour to Sri Lanka off, following a bomb blast just a couple of kilometers away from the hotel. The fear-factor reigning large on the players from Africa is understandable, considering that the term ‘bomb’ struggles its way into the international pages of the newspapers in that country. But a question begs to be asked here. With the Indian team staying back, wasn’t there a security threat for the Indian players? But then, eventually hardly a match would have actually taken place as the subsequent bilateral India-Lanka three match series had to be abandoned due to heavy rains. An anti-climax of sorts, but very much along the expected lines!

The second incident that will take some time to die down is the Pakistani boycott of post-tea session in the fourth test match against England at Oval. Darrel Hair! This name has become synonymous with controversies related to the subcontinent. This name will ring more than a thousand bells to the Lankans. The owner of this name was the first to call Muralidharan a ‘chucker’. His list of ‘chuckers’ ran large, but none in that ‘list’ included any from outside the subcontinent. The latest ‘Hair’ raising controversy includes no chuckers or an individual, but an entire team and the cricket ball. On seeing the roughed up side of the ball, Hair, along with his Caribbean colleague, Billy Doctrove, came to the conclusion that the Pakistanis were upto no good and had tampered with the ball, thus, not just calling for a new ball, but awarding England with five penalty runs! Not once did Hair or Doctrove warn the Pakistanis about their suspicion. Not a single one of the 20+ cameras caught any of the Pakistani players tampering with the condition of the ball. In fact, not even did the two umpires see any players messing around with the leather and seam! A look at the scuffed part of the ball was enough for the two to come to the conclusion that the subcontinent men had ‘brought the game to disrepute by altering the conditions of the ball’. In protest, Pakistanis who were well on their way to a consolation victory, refused to come out to the field after tea, making the two batsmen and umpires wait. The cameras focused on the closed Pakistani dressing room.

After a few anxious moments, the protesting players walked out to the field, but this time it was Hair’s turn to act childish and be the protestor! The umpires called the play off for the day and didn’t come out! The Pakistanis eventually forfeited the game—the first ever time a country has done so in the 129 year history of test match cricket!

Did Inzy and co do the right thing by not protesting in such a manner? YES! Period. ‘Childish’, people would say, but enough of Hair’s anti-Asian attitude! I am not a big fan of Pakistan, as considering their history of ball-tampering incidents; they might well have done something wrong on this ball as well. But, show us the proof, Mr Hair. ICC apparently, has decided to stand behind its umpire. This is not a surprise as the cricket’s governing body has not once, supported the cause of Asian cricket.

In 1994, when England played South Africa, the English captain Michael Artherton was caught red handed on camera applying some dust from his pocket on the cricket ball. Was that not trying to ‘alter the condition of a cricket ball’? The skipper was let off with a fine! Inzy however, faces a fine and ban of one test and/or two one-dayers! This may not be for tampering, but for leading or for that matter, not leading his team out on the field and protesting. Hair, on the other hand, will go scot-free for his counter protest. A definite case of double standards!

Who is the eventual winner in this? No one! Who lost? The people who had paid money to watch some cricketing action! And of course, the game itself!

ICC—Idiotic Cricket Council or Idiots who Create Controversies, indeed!

Retirement Plans...

2006-08-15T22:25:00.000+05:30

“I think I’m gonna retire!”
“Why?”
“Like Ganguly, my form seems to have disappeared with age. I can’t win matches anymore.”
“Age? What age? Don’t talk rubbish. Form is temporary, class- permanent!”
This was just one of those cricketing clichés that my best pal, Vijesh used after a game, as we were brooding over ‘what could have been’. Both of us ended up being in the same team, for once, in a four-over friendly. The previous Sunday was the only other time I’d faced a delivery, after the September of 2004, when the Xavier’s ‘selector’ thought that “undedicated players” shouldn’t be a part of the team (mentioned in my first ever post). Coming back to the game, I thought my bowling in that game was lackluster, but I knew I had to make up for it with my batting. We were chasing a rather modest 26 in four. After the fall of the first wicket, Vijesh and I put up a partnership as we inched closer towards an easy victory. But, just as we needed five of the last over, Vijesh was run out and I was left with having to score just five of the last five. ‘Easy’, one would think, considering I have accomplished more difficult asks earlier. But Appu is one of those bowlers I hate to face. He has been my nemesis time and over again. And as this left handed batsman played and missed the second ball from the left-handed bowler, I knew this wasn’t going to be as easy as the equation suggested.
Five of four. But Appu’s impeccable line did me in again as I charged down and missed again.
Five of three. I just couldn’t trust the batsman at the other end for, to borrow Geoffrey Boycott’s words, ‘my mum could play better than him’. I made up my mind to stay in the crease and play the ball according to its merit. The ball was on my legs and I flicked it down to the fine-leg area, but alas, only if runs were allowed behind the wickets. We were not playing eleven-a-side and therefore, couldn’t afford to keep men behind the wickets.
Five of two. A thousand thoughts ran through my mind as I was clueless about what my PoA will be in the next delivery. Another excellent delivery and I played and missed. Again!
Five of one! I had no choice but to go down the track in this ball. Appu marked his run-up and ran in with the green coloured tennis ball gripped firmly on this left hand. And as soon as the ball released itself from the think yet long fingers, I charged down the pitch. The ball turned out to be a full-toss close to my legs. I heaved it to the leg side, this time making sure it stayed in front of the wicket. Vijesh let out a huge cry, seeing the ball high and seemingly about the clear the field. But to his dismay and to my own, the ball bounced about five metres within the boundary. As I was jogging the 22-yards watching the ball sail high and bouncing twice, I was pleased to even secure a tie. But wait! It wasn’t over. I thought the ball might hit the iron fence. It would have, but for that narrow ditch dug up just before the fence. The ball died inches before the fence inside the ditch only to be picked up by a joyous fielder. We lost! I banged my bat to the green grass and looked up to the heavens.
I couldn’t help wondering to myself—‘Blessen, the match-winner is dead! Blessen, the cricketer is dead!’ But again, inevitably, an ‘inner voice’ (or was it Vijesh?) told me, “He never will.”

When the nation prayed for a Prince!!!

2006-07-24T13:52:00.000+05:30

Scenes that one occasionally see in Hollywood movies came alive, as a good part of the nation, glued to news channels, prayed for the ‘re-arrival’ of a five-year-old Prince. Well, he was five when he fell in the 60-ft-deep pit, six when he came out! No one would ever want to spend their birthday inside a dark cavity. But, almost every one would love it when an entire nation wishes him/her. The irony however, was such that the birthday boy himself did not even know that he had become the talk of the town, rather, of the country.

A walk down the roads from my ‘new town’ to my ‘old village’ was enough to convince me that the Indians were desperately in need of some positive news. The TV mechanic shops had a flood of people around it watching the army try hard to get the little six-year-old out of darkness, literally. The motorists, for once, were not complaining of the jams that the crowd caused. Last time, someone saw this many out on the roads catching a glimpse of television screen was perhaps when Sachin Tendulkar was going berserk against the Pakistani bowlers at the 2003 world cup. For once, the nation was rejoicing, and the reason was not cricket!

As the jawan brought Prince out wrapped in a white blanket, shouts of joy and celebrations en masse was just a matter of time. A little tap on the jawan’s back with a stick by his senior officer. The Prince was alive and ready to celebrate, finally, with the nation. Noise of the fire-crackers could not quite match the one that followed Indian victory against Pakistan, but sure sounded sweeter. Proxy cake-cuttings ensued and ‘vote of thanks’ rose to the heavens, even as Prince’s mother did the latter to the nation.

'Prince'- the name itself had no caste or religion! He could have been a Hindu, a Sikh, a Muslim or a Christian! Many are yet to know about it. I don't even want to! All that mattered was that he was an Indian and a six-year-old at that. The nation wept together, the nation bit its nails together, the nation prayed together, the nation finally celebrated together!!!

Happy Birthday, Prince. Long Live the Prince!

...

2006-07-12T15:18:00.000+05:30

I can sum up the recent happenings of Mumbai in just these few lines!!!

Rain, Riots and Blasts...
Flood, Fury and Fanatics...
What IS happenning IN Mumbai???
Yet, nothing WILL happen TO Mumbai!!!

Blogger's Note: The headline is left with just three dots on purpose, indicating I have nothing much to say!!!

A Shoulder To Lean On!

2006-07-03T00:53:00.000+05:30

There are times when one desires to be close to someone. Someone who would listen to you—your ramblings and cribbing. Someone on whose shoulder you can lean on and cry your heart out. Someone, who can pick you up when you are down. A close friend, with whom you can pour your heart out. I had gone through similar cravings. But those remained just that, cravings until I came to a beautiful realisation of that Someone who I know will always be there!

Many a time, this thin shoulder of mine has been a place where a head leaned on and some tears found a resting place. My ears have been a recipient of a lot of stories that flowed along with the liquid of the eye.

There were times when at the point of breaking down, I always somehow manage to keep it within myself. I know the friends that I can rely on will all be there for me, but they are at most times, a little too far for comfort.

This is when I stumble upon the beautiful hymn:

What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and grieves to bear,
Oh what privilege to carry?
Everything to Lord in prayer!

Oh, what peace we often forfeit?
Oh what needless pain we bear?
All because we do not carry,
Everything to Lord in prayer!

Can we find a friend so faithful,
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness
Take it to the Lord in prayer

The hymn has been my ultimate encourager! And when I started sharing all my sorrows to God, I felt someone not just lending me a shoulder, but carrying me on it. When I was down, He lifted me up and when I was empty, He filled my cup. I felt lighter and from that point on, a smile always lingered on some corner of my face. One of my closest friends once asked me, “Blessen, how do you manage to have a smile even when you don’t go through the best of times?” It was the comfort of God at play!

'Soccer' or 'Football'???

2006-06-18T21:00:00.000+05:30

Some call it the ‘soccer’ world cup while some others refer to it as the ‘football’ world cup. I play safe by calling it the ‘FIFA World Cup’! So, what exactly is the actual name of the game, where 20 players kick around and fight for an eight-inch diameter ball, while two at the extreme ends of the ground in a different form of clothing are the only ones allowed to handle and kick as well? Well, the fact is that in India, you will be correct if you label the game with any of these names. But in US (Oh, these Americans!), if you want to see ‘football’, chances are you will be taken to a see 30 ‘huge’ men fighting (quite literally), kicking, running around and doing all sorts of things with an eye shaped ball. The score line will read similar to that of a 5-over cricket game. Dubya’s men call this game (which is very similar to rugby) ‘American Football’.

But the origin of the word ‘soccer’ has a little interesting story behind. The game of rugby football was very famous in the UK towards the end of the nineteenth century and so was the trend, started by the Oxford University students, of adding ‘er’ as a suffix to every shortened word! Rugby football was referred to as ‘rugger’ (‘rug’ of rugby+ er). Charles Brown, a student of the University, was asked if he played ‘rugger’. A witty reply flowed from Brown’s mouth, “No, Soccer!” Witty, because ‘soccer’ as a term never existed at that time and the Oxfordian had shortened Football Association as ‘soc’ and added ‘er’ to the word. A new term, ‘soccer’, was born and possibly, and in a way, a new sport was born too! Brown went on to represent England in soccer. The rest, as the cliché goes, is history as soccer became one of the widely used terms in the sporting world and needless to say, the game itself is undoubtedly, the most popular sport!

After Thought: For me, ‘Football’ seems to be an apt term to describe the “the beautiful game”. Unlike its American counterpart, the game minus for the goal-keepers, only involves the legs unless the ball is out of play. ‘American Football’ should actually be called something like ‘American do-anything-with-the-ball’ or ‘Americans fighting-over-a-ball’!

Eat Your Words, Mr Chappell!!!

2006-05-29T22:50:00.000+05:30

“West Indies have forgotten how to win!” Greg Chappell made a statement to this effect to the media just before the Indian squad left for its tour to the Windies. Five one-day matches later, Brian Lara and co have ensured that the Aussie had to swallow his words. The final score line that reads 4-1 is a far cry from what Mr Chappell would have imagined. The Indian team, having convincingly defeated Sri Lanka and England at home, was at its peak of confidence as they left for their venture in the Caribbean. But after two weeks of cricket in the islands, a huge question mark hangs over the team’s ability to perform abroad.

Now that the series is over, post mortems have already begun in the media. A team that was languishing at the eight spot in the ICC’s ODI rankings humbled the third placed team, considered about three weeks ago to be favourites for the 2007 world cup. Chappell’s policies and experimentations were praised and even this blogger, in an earlier post (Indian Cricket… On its Way!!!) had ‘expressed’ his happiness on the progress of the Indian team. But I had also mentioned- It is very important that India does not get too carried away for most of these wins happened in the sub-continent. The real test will come when India visits the Caribbean next month as the World Cup will take place there in 2007. They have to maintain the standards they have set and prove, more to themselves, that they are ready to rule the world.

What I feared came true! Indian team did get carried away. The standards they had set for themselves weren’t maintained, especially while batting! More than the Indian team, it seemed it was their coach who got a little too carried away. Making a statement like that was really uncalled for, no matter how weak your opponents are! Brian Lara, in fact, made it clear that it was Chappell’s statement that made them push that much harder to almost blank out the Indian team. Something that Chappell’s predecessor, John Wright was respected for was his ability to respect his opponents and open his mouth only when it was needed. Chappell’s true Australian attitude came to the fore when made that statement. The West Indians made sure that he not only had to eat his words, but also was made to pay for it! Arrogance is good, but only when on the field. Off the field, one might do well to mind one’s own business and I am afraid the Aussie failed in it. Every sport is won or lost out on the playing area.

Blaming Chappell alone won’t be fair, for the young players performed way below par. But what were selectors thinking when they knew Sachin won’t be available for the ODIs? It was obvious Robin Uthappa won’t be a part of the squad until about the last match. He was the only other opening batsman along with Sehwag, as the selectors conveniently ignored a few experienced hands. Yes, I am talking about Sourav Ganguly. Expecting Dravid to do well every time he came out to open was asking a bit too much from the Indian skipper. VVS Laxman, the other player to have done well in the last tour to West Indies, also missed the ODI bus. It’s alright to pick youngsters, but when on a tour, it is safer that you carry a couple of experienced heads too! Indian selectors would do well to remember that next time they pick a squad. Also, surprising is the omission of Ajit Agarkar for test matches, the best Indian bowler during the ODIs. One really can’t comprehend the logic behind Mr More and Co’s decision.

But, I hope Greg Chappell, More and more importantly the Indian team proves me wrong and retains its pride my winning the test series in the West Indies. They have the ability. All they have to do is to put it to good use. Easier said than done, I suppose!

Someone's Missing from the Field, Mate!!!

2006-05-20T21:10:00.000+05:30

A really funny and strange incident happened on the cricket field today. It’s my first and possibly the first ever time in the world of cricket! Second ODI between India and West Indies… The Caribbean side has lost two wickets with the board reading just 16 runs. Ajit Agarkar just completed the eight over of the West Indian innings. Irfan Pathan starts a fresh over. Batsman on strike—Ramnaresh Sarwan and at the non-striker’s end is the great Brian Lara! Pathan bowls and the bowl hits Sarwan’s left pad and rolls about three metres away from the crease. The batsmen quickly call for a single and goes for it. Suresh Raina, who had just dropped Lara’s catch in the previous over, reaches the ball in a flash and with a little underarm throw, disturbs the stumps. The Indians start to appeal. Raina looks around appealing. Sehwag, standing at square leg turns around to appeal to the square leg umpire. He throws up his arm, but soon realises there is someone missing there. The square leg umpire! Where is he??? The Indians are scanning the infield to find the whereabouts of a gentleman in blue formal shirts. The cameras manage to catch him walking in with both his hands half raised from behind the wicket-keeper. Mr. Billy Doctrow was apparently adjusting something next to the sight screen and not a soul noticed this man walking off! The Indians are stunned, the West Indians are stunned, the crowd is stunned, the commentators on air are stunned and more importantly (or is it funnily?), the two umpires themselves are stunned! After a long discussion, the umpires decide to call it a ‘dead ball’. Dravid clearly wasn’t amused at the incident but Harbhajan saw the funny side to it (and so did this blogger)! Although Lara was safely home, it would have been interesting how the Indians would have reacted had he not made his ground!

Funny or not, it sure makes up for an interesting tale to share to our grandchildren (considering they are cricket buffs as well). One can always say or at least I will, “I was there! Well, at least watching it live!”

The Da Vinci Code- Popular among Protestors!!!

2006-05-20T00:58:00.000+05:30

A good majority of Christians all over India are protesting against the release of the movie, the Da Vinci Code! So, what is my opinion regarding the protests? A staunch Christian that I am, one might expect me to support those protesting against the release. ‘RUBBISH’ is what I’ll say. In fact, you might just find me protesting (if there was any) against the protestors of the release.
A few dignified Catholics formed a part of the censor committee to review the film and amongst them, were the Director of my institute (or should I say former?) XIC, Fr Myron Pereira and former Police Commissioner of Mumbai, Julio Rebeiro. The committee cleared the film minus any cuts only asking the producers to put up a disclaimer saying the film is purely fiction. Still, doubts lingered over the release as protests intensified. My questions to the protestors are these—
When Christian countries the world over including Italy and US didn’t have any objection, why India why? Why can’t we treat this as just a fictional story?
In fact, protestors have made sure that the film has got undue popularity although the reviews from Cannes Film Festival suggest that the film was disappointing. A lot more people who perhaps didn’t even know what the Da Vinci Code was all about would now want to watch the movie! Protests against Dan Brown’s book by the same name no doubt, increased its popularity. The fact that other Brown’s books weren’t as popular as the Code drives home this point. I recently finished reading the book and I must say that I wasn’t too impressed with it. The story sure was interesting and intriguing but I’m not sure if I admired the style of writing (and the ending I thought was slack). But there is another point to be noted here! Some people who read the book didn’t completely take it as fiction, which is why I agree with the censor board to add in a disclaimer. One of my brother’s friends, after reading the book commented in front of my bro, perhaps unaware that the latter was preacher’s son, “This is the end of Christianity man! Christianity ka toh waat lag gaya!” (or something along those lines) Because Mr. Brown mixed a lot of fiction with little facts, some were of the impression that what he wrote were only facts! Few people bother to turn the book and notice a portion of the bind which reads ‘Fiction’.

The foundation of Christianity wasn’t laid by a few mortal men who wrote the gospels and the rest of the Bible. It was laid by Someone who walked on this earth, performed miracles and died a criminal’s death only to be resurrected on the third day. How then can one think that this foundation will be shaken by a badly-made movie or a fictional book? Over the years, many such books have come out, some even claiming to be non-fiction, but not one was able to do any harm to the faith!
All I’ll say to those who object to the movie is, ‘If you don’t like the movie, then don’t watch it!’ It is as simple as that! Believe in the four gospels. Don’t make Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, the fifth gospel! It (both the book and the movie) is after all just a fiction!

An Encounter!!!

2006-05-16T00:15:00.000+05:30

We were done for the day (night would be more appropriate). A nice, yet stinky Marine Drive breeze hitting our faces as we were lazily trying to move on. Rishi’s treat at Pizza Hut was yet to get digested. At least that was so in my case! We had refreshed ourselves by little cuttings and a strong coffee. Pooja and I were supposed to head towards VT (now CST) and the rest towards Churchgate.

Suddenly, a family of three approaches us. A 30-something man, a lady and a child. The lady is holding a little bag and the child’s hand is firmly gripped on his dad’s. The man closes in on Rishi and all of us are almost certain he is here asking for directions. But to our surprise, he asks the birthday boy, who turned 22, for some money. Apparently, the family hadn’t eaten anything! Rishi just nods his head giving a reply in the negative, the reason for which is in his blog. The man looked disappointed. Home-bound people, meanwhile, are trying to cross the road. I can’t help but feel extremely bad for the family. ‘They look hungry and lost,’ I think aloud besides adding aloud to my friends, “I feel bad yaar.” I understand why Rishi denied giving them a helping hand. These days, whom do you actually trust and believe? Rishi’s earlier experience had taught him a few lessons. He wasn’t going to make the same mistake again. But, as all of us somehow crossed the road, my mind is deeply troubled. From across the road, I see the family approaching a couple facing the sea. The couple also seemed reluctant to help. They get up and walk away. The family sits down facing the road watching the speeding vehicles in front of them. My eyes go back time and again to the three especially to the little thing sitting between his parents. “I am feeling really bad yaar. I feel like I should give them something!” Mayura and Pooja tell me to “go ahead.” But at the back of my mind, I am also wary of the fact that you can’t trust every person and especially here in this great city. I finally heed to my friends and instincts and cross back walking towards the sea-phase. The man sees me approaching. He’s sharing a packet of mixture with his family. I suddenly feel a ray of hope in that man’s eyes as he sees me get closer to him. I had already removed a ten-rupee bill from my wallet and kept it in my hand. I am about a hand’s distance away from the man as I hold out the bill to him. He takes it willingly, folds it in half and keeps it in his shirt pocket. I ask him his whereabouts and how he landed up in Mumbai. I learn that he is from this place called Yavatmaal and had come to Mumbai to meet his brother. But his brother, in the meantime, had gone to Manmad and he had no clue where he lived. ‘How can someone come to this huge city without even knowing where he lived?’ I ponder. But at the very next moment I realize that this is after all Mumbai. He continues that he needs about 150 bucks per person to reach his place. And they were chucked off from the train by a TC as the trio was traveling ticketless. “Now we don’t have money to eat. Only if we could get money to buy one ticket, we could have adjusted.” I sense that he expects more than the tenor I gave him. A thought crosses my mind whether I should part with another tenor. But I decide it is best for that tenor to remain untouched for the time being in my wallet. I just vaguely say something and heads back towards my friends standing on the other side. I say to Vanessa, “I might as well be fooled rather than feel bad for not having done anything.” After hearing their story, I am a little put off, although deep within I don’t know whether to accept what that guy said whole-heartedly.

I am still not sure whether what I did was the right thing. All I knew is, I had parted with ten bucks and that, considering the situation, didn’t mean big to me. I had much more in my wallet. I don’t even know if what I did was charity. But I definitely know that it made me feel slightly better. As I walked back with my friends, I kept thinking ‘we had filled our stomachs with food that cost us more than half a grand.’ It made me think about all the other families. Then, realization dawned. I shouldn’t really be going too far thinking about other such families struggling for money. An example of that, was in my very home. My dad in his youth! It made my eyes dense. But I concealed it pretty well and made sure the liquid doesn’t roll over to my cheek, as the birthday boy walking alongside me was on the phone answering yet another birthday wish!

(My dad’s story is stuff for a later blog)

Not Just A 'MOM'!!!

2006-05-15T00:45:00.000+05:30

So, another Mothers’ Day just passed by without this blogger wishing his dear mom! I got this email recently, the writer of which is anonymous. But, it can really make one think! When we go across looking around at people’s profession, ‘mother’ as such never figures as an occupation. I dedicate this post to all the mothers around the world. (Not that any mother reads my blog. But here’s wishing all those moms whose children take pain (almost literally) to visit my blog—a belated Happy Mothers’ Day!!! I wont do much talking here… the piece that I got through email should speak a lot about what a ‘mother’ is all about and proves that a ‘mother’ is not actually just a ‘mother’!!!

A woman named Emily renewing her driver's license at the County Clerk's office was asked by the woman recorder to state her occupation. She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself.
"What I mean is," explained the recorder, "do you have a job, or are you just a..."
"Of course I have a job," snapped Emily. "I'm a mother."
"We don't list 'mother' as an occupation... 'Housewife' covers it," said the recorder emphatically.
I forgot all about her story until one day I found myself in the same situation, this time at our own Town Hall. The clerk was obviously a career woman, poised, efficient, and possessed of a high sounding title like, "Official Interrogator" or "Town Registrar."
"What is your occupation?" she probed.
What made me say it, I do not know... The words simply popped out. "I'm a Research Associate in the field of Child Development and Human Relations."
The clerk paused, ballpoint pen frozen in midair, and looked up as though she had not heard right. I repeated the title slowly, emphasizing the most significant words. Then I stared with wonder as my pronouncement was written in bold, black ink on the official questionnaire.
"Might I ask," said the clerk with new interest, "just what you do in your field?"
Coolly, without any trace of fluster in my voice, I heard myself reply, "I have a continuing program of research, (what mother doesn't), in the laboratory and in the field, (normally I would have said indoors and out). I'm working for my Masters, (God as well as my whole family), and already have four credits, (all daughters). Of course, the job is one of the most demanding in the humanities, (any mother care to disagree?) and I often work 14 hours a day (24 is more like it). But the job is more challenging than most run-of-the-mill careers and the rewards are more of a satisfaction rather than just money."

There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk's voice as she completed the form, stood up, and personally ushered me to the door.
As I drove into our driveway, buoyed up by my glamorous new career, I was greeted by my lab assistants - ages 13, 7, and 3. Upstairs I could hear our new experimental model, (a 6 month old baby), in the child-development program, testing out a new vocal pattern. I felt triumphant! I had scored a beat on bureaucracy! And I had gone on the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable to mankind than "just another mother."
Motherhood--What a glorious career!
Does this make grandmothers "Senior Research Associates in the field of Child Development and Human Relations" and great grandmothers "Executive Senior Research Associates"? I think so!
This Sunday, don't forget the Research Associates. God sure cherishes every one of them!

The Predictions and The Results!!!

2006-05-12T00:00:00.000+05:30

‘I am terrible with predictions and I won’t hesitate to eat my words. But I hope I don’t have to!’
--Me, a couple of posts earlier….

The results are out and I guess I had to eat my words… but mind you... only in one case!

Tamil Nadu
My Prediction: Amma retaining power.
Outcome: Dark shades are back! Mr. Karunanidhi had some surprises in store for me. This is one place where my political brain got it all wrong. It was indeed the DMK-led Democratic Progressive Alliance that romped home winning 161 out of 234 seats, thus gaining a clear majority. However, unlike AIADMK last time, DMK will be at the mercy of the Congress Party as despite being the single largest party, it fell way short (93) of the figures required for the majority (118). So, while DMK can play its cards at the Centre, Congress can do the same in Tamil Nadu. Both parties will have to accommodate and appease each other.
CM: Who else, but the man who sleeps with his shades on—M Karunanidhi.

But in the other four states, I seem to have got it reasonably right.

Kerala
My Prediction: Left Democratic Front (LDF) coming to power.
Outcome: While the scoreline might suggest that it was an easy ride for the Left with victory in 95 seats out of 140, it (scoreline) took many poll analysts by surprise. Not many believed that UDF (United Democratic Front) will get more than 30 seats. The tally of 43 seats therefore, wasn’t too bad a performance. It’s hightime that Karunakaran starts thinking of hanging his political boots. His newly formed party could win just a solitary seat as his own son Muraleedharan faced his consecutive election loss! BJP, as expected, still hasn’t opened its account.

CM: There are two candidates for the CM’s post here—Achuthananthan and Palloli Mohammadkutty. Penarai Vijayan, who I thought had a chance, doesn’t seem to figure in the scheme of things.

Off the topic: Karunakaran’s newly formed party is called Democratic Indira Congress followed by the initial of his name in the brackets, which when converted into an abbreviated form will read DIC(K)… Ahem… I wont comment any more on that.

West Bengal
My Prediction: Left Front
Outcome: Buddha smiles yet again!!! As if anyone had any doubts about that! The only question at West Bengal (which will soon start to read as Left Bengal) was the margin of victory. I will just let the numbers speak for itself. The Left Front garnered 231 out of 294 seats. Here, the CPM alone can form the next government winning 173 seats, comfortably ahead of the required majority of 148. With these kind of numbers, there was little Left for others like the Trinamool Congress and the Congress.
CM: Who else… Buddha is smiling again, as I said…. Bhattacharjee!

Assam
My Prediction: Congress may retain power but will find it difficult to gain numbers to form the majority.
Outcome: Out of the 126 seats, the Congress along with a couple of independents have won 54 falling short of the majority by 10 seats. Now as I’d predicted, the situation here gets interesting! This is one state where the ‘significant others’ will play a major role. There are 20 independents in the ‘Other’ category and these are bound to the ‘king-makers’ in the state. Besides the ‘Others’, the newly formed Assam United Democratic Front (AUDF), that won 8 seats, will have a say in the formation of the next government. One reason why the Congress managed to scrape despite the anti-incumbecy that was supposed to work against them, was Prafulla Kumar Mahanta’s faction of Asom Gana Parishad (Progressive) [AGP(P)] and the BJP digging into the ‘original’ AGP’s votebank. It is also said that AUDF ate up a lot of Congress’ votes. While Congress might just about manage to form the new government, the picture is still not clear as to who will be the next CM. It is very likely that Tarun Gogoi might well be the man, again.

Pondicherry
My Prediction: Congress will complete a hat-trick.
Outcome: The Congress-led DPA won 21 out of 30 seats. But the Congress will have to cling on to its partner DMK to remain in power. As I had predicted, a few rebel candidates proved to be a bane for the DPA, yet it wasn’t enough to keep them out of power. AIADMK could garner just six seats completing a bad phase of elections for Amma.
CM: R Rangaswamy

Meanwhile, at the Rae Barelli re-elections to the Lok Sabha, Mamma Gandhi won by a whooping four lakh votes! All the other candidates, excepting one, lost their election deposits. This really begs the question—why were this election held in the first place when the result was a foregone conclusion. Just another way to spend (read waste) people’s money, I suppose!

So, there you go... since we are playing with numbers... an 80% success rate in my predictions ain't too bad, heh? Especially when it concerns Indian politics where anything can happen any time!!

Note: All the numbers mentioned in this post are during the time of going to blog and can vary with little or no difference.

An Obituary...

2006-05-09T23:35:00.000+05:30

Rest In ‘Pieces’…
In affectionate remembrance of Mr./Ms. ‘Anon’ whose brains died a slow death after reading this very blog about a couple of times. The untimely death of his/her sense of judgment has left us all in deep shock. He/She is mourned by all my partners-in-blog. His/her legendary piece of work can be found in my blog (at the tag-board) and possibly, in a few other blogs that he/she decided to honour! The body of his/her other work/s could never be found, as he/she feared Kavya-Vishwanathism and his/her inspirational work might make others follow suit on his blog. He/She is survived by his/her family members—Coward, Insulter, Mean, Jobless etc etc.
I dedicate this obiturial blog post to that great sole (can also be read as soul) who time and again, helped me in increasing the count in my HIT COUNTER!

Stanley... Healed and Being Healed!!!

2006-05-03T01:08:00.000+05:30

“Stanley, do you know you are standing at an obtuse angle?”
Stanley gave no reply to my query, instead just stood there at 100 degrees continuing his talk with the children. But the pain was written all over his face. He could no longer perform action-songs at a stretch. Even as he sat down, the upper-part of his body was at an angle that seemed uncomfortable even for those that saw him. Stanley was in pain. His back was giving way and the grimace on his face said it all! Both hands on his waist, he was struggling to stand, sit and sleep.

A few days later, I heard he was admitted to a hospital nearby. I paid a visit and saw his back suspended to weights. Yet, he had his ever-optimistic look on his face. His mother, bed-ridden for two years, wasn’t next to him. Neither was his father, who had to take care of the household all by himself. Stanley slept on his hospital bed with a Bible, a spiritual book and an occasional visitor or two to give him company. My visit, it seemed, brought with it a wider smile. Doctors had advised him to be ‘suspended’ like this for three weeks after which they will review his status. X-rays had revealed that not everything was right.

Three weeks had passed and there were no signs of improvement. MRI scans and tests were conducted and the results were not encouraging. Stanley’s L-5 Bone in his spinal column was damaged and needed immediate replacement. Stanley will have to undergo an operation on his back. The doctors stated that without an operation, in two years, he may end up in bed paralyzed from waist down forever! But they also could also not guarantee him the chances of that not happening even with an operation. Although, he was out of the hospital bed, he knew he will have to make a decision pretty soon. He was just 19. Stanley was having nightmares of him limping along.

Stanley, who was a firm believer in God, looked up to the heavens, quite literally. Every night as the world around him slept, he used to go to the terrace and cry out to God asking for deliverance. He knew healing was round the corner.

During one of our seminars in Gujarat, as the preacher spoke from the Word, Stanley started experiencing an increase in his faith. The preacher called out people to the stage saying, “Believe that healing is yours for the taking and testify before Him.” Stanley, who was sitting a row in front of me, got up and marched towards the stage testifying that God has touched him. He says, he believed and that mattered! A few days after he returned home, it was his mother who told him that he had not been using the belt that the doctors had prescribed him to wear till his operation. He, himself never noticed the healing. He never again went to the doctor, but has saved his MRI results to show the world the mercy that his Saviour endowed on him. Stanley is 23 now! Very much alive and kicking!

But as he recovered from his back trouble that threatened to make him bed or wheel-chair-ridden, he had to confront another problem in his life. Yet again, it was his mother who noticed a patch of hair missing from the back of his head. And as Stanley inspected the patch wit his hand, a good chunk of hair came out with it. He ignored the problem for sometime, but every now and then when I banged into him inside the Xavier’s campus, I could see the patch developing bigger and covering a majority of his head. I told him, an African continent is developing in his head! He shaved off his head in the hope that they might come back, but to no avail! Very soon he lost all the hair from his body and this time there were no signs of them growing back. One day as Stanley came for our ICPF meeting, I noticed that he had lost his eyebrows. Stanley was looking very different from the time that I saw him last and that was just a week back. Pretty soon, he was to lose all the hair from his body. “I hated looking at myself in the mirror,” said Stanley. This one-of-a-kind problem of complete loss of hair is called alopecia areata universalis. Alopecia areata is considered an autoimmune disease, in which the immune system, which is designed to protect the body from foreign invaders such as viruses and bacteria, mistakenly attacks the hair follicles, the tiny cup-shaped structures from which hairs grow. Ask former FIFA referee Collina of Italy. This is indeed a rare disease; a disease, that can make people stand and stare at you. And one of my best friends was suffering from it and was having a tough time coping with it.

It was at this time that Stanley went to the South Asian Biblical College in Bangalore. This, he says, did him a world of good. He was away from the people he knew so well and had seen him. Just what he had wanted. At a new atmosphere, people around will accept him as he was! He looked up to the heavens, quite literally, once again. At midnight hours, when his co-students around slept, Stanley explored the big open ground, sat down and cried out looking to the skies. One of his friends at SABC advised him to go for a hair transplant, at least at the eyebrows! Stanley, to please the friend said “I’ll look into it.” But what he really was looking was ‘unto God’. For he knew, medicines again could not guarantee him hair growth.

A dawn of a new day brought with it an increase in faith for Stanley. He had avoided the mirror on most occasions, but that day he felt like staring at himself. He looked at his own reflection, something he’d hated for a long time! He stared again and closer he went for a better inspection. There was a little growth right at the corner of where his eyebrows were supposed to be. Stanley knew he was witnessing and experiencing yet another miracle.

I met Stanley next time at Ulhasnagar station on our way to ICPF. “Stanley!” I exclaimed, “You have hair on your eyebrows and you have side-locks too!!!” “Yes,” said Stanley calmly! And hair continues to grow all over his body again; he just can’t stop praising the One who showered His mercy on him.

'Conned' vocation!!!

2006-04-29T11:41:00.000+05:30

At the memorial service of an old family friend. You want to stay back but at the back of your mind, you know you got to attend the convocation ceremony due in about three hours. You decide to miss half of the memorial service and whole of the funeral following up and rush back home, have your lunch, rest for some time and then dresses up in the 'formal' dresscode prescribed by the Institute. You reach the campus about 45 minutes early.

Now let the first person take over...

I meet a few classmates there who arrive one after the other all 'dressed up' in formals, looking smart. We are all looking forward to our names being called out a few minutes later. After a little bit of usual banter about the party the previous night where I was "missed", we slowly make our move towards the large and magnificent college hall. I remember my first gathering in college was also at the college hall just before I started my college life in FYJC. Appropriately, it will also end, six years later, inside the same college hall. I had my dad sitting next to me that time but this time, unlike a few of my other friends, I do not bring my folks (Mom and Bro at the funeral and Dad in US). I wished they could have come to see their son go up and collect the diploma, but circumstances!

We take our seats towards the left of the auditorium and wait as the compere takes the stage and asks us to stand for the XIC hymn. After about 90 seconds of a really silent hymn, we are told to sit down. I crack my usual PJs there... ("I think she was referring to 'him' who is silent there"). We are again told to stand up as the technical glitches are sorted out and the hymn plays on, finally. We sit down after 'We are here to praise You'. The guests and the who's who are introduced after which a presentation of best works of the students of every course is shown starting off with 'Reaping New Lives', a documentary done by a group of students from Journalism that included my partner-in-blog, Pooja. A flurry of other presentations followed. I was waiting for our news magazine 'Maximum City' to be showed on the big screen and appreciated! But the lights came on after the last presentation (which wasn't ours) and the chief guest was introduced to speak! Hey, what happened to our news programme? My classmate sitting two chairs away to my right said that every class is alloted only 10 minutes of their work to be presented! Alas... My first disappointment!

After the chief guest's speech, the awards for the best students in various categories were given out! We were all now on our marks ready to get up and collect our diploma's as soon as our names were called out. The friend sitting next to me donned his overcoat in anticipation, which so far was in his hands. And the classmate sitting behind him had his overcoat on right through the function!

The compere then announced, "All the students are requested to please collect their Diploma Certificates from their respective course assistants outside the college hall. We request the staff and guests to please join us for dinner at the college canteen to your left and the students can have their refreshments from the back of the hall." "Is it over?" I remarked! That was it! It was all over just like that! Angry, frustrated, sad, disappointed, I got up from my seat. Feeling slightly relieved that I didn't make a fool of myself by overdressing! I went out and collected my certi! 'Chindi' was the first word that came to my mind after seeing the certi!

I was introduced to their folks by my friends, some of whom had come from far far far away to see their daughters receiving their diplomas amidst thundering ovation. (the guys in journo were all mumbaikars) Everyone would leave with a heavy heart!

I decided to check out the 'refreshments'. I'd told at home not to prepare dinner for me cause' there was dinner at our convocation. Or so I thought! The refreshements consisted of a bag of chips and God-knows-what inside the brown paperbag for I didn't even open the bag. "More chindigiri" I cried! Is this the reason why I paid all that money? I guess to become a journalist!

Craving for good food, I went with Sago and gang for a bite at McDs. XIC's got to learn a lot about event-management and convocations. (among a lot of other things which is best left untold)!

A day that had begun with such good hopes turned out to be an absolute dampener! Funeral would have been so much better. Connedvocation indeed! Grrrrr..........

Sporting Legends of Our Era!!!

2006-04-27T21:44:00.000+05:30

“Hey, am just thinking. What to post next in my blog?”
“Hmm… write something about Roger Federer!”
“What about him? But you know what? You have given me another idea!”
“What?”
“Think about this… the era that we are living in… and think about all the sporting legends it has produced! I think I’m gonna write a blog about that… The legends that this era that we live in, produced. Take Cricket for example! We have/had so many of them—Sachin, Lara, Warne, Akram, Dravid, Waugh etc etc.”
“But don’t you think there was something amiss about these guys that set the legends of an earlier era apart! Maybe it’s consistency. See Don Bradman for example”
“True, but since we weren’t a part of those earlier eras, we really can’t say much about them, can we? Maybe they also lacked something that we don’t know about. And I don’t think we can compare Don with any of these guys. He was way ahead of the field. But, it’s also not fair to compare two different eras. I’m just telling you how fortunate we are to have so many sporting legends in our era”
“Yup, that’s also true!”
“C’mon, did you hear of any cyclist before Lance Armstrong?”
“No.”
“Neither have I”
“And Michael Jordan revolutionalized basketball in a way”
“Yea, there were a few before him whom we could call ‘legends’ but none like him!”
“Tennis! There are so many! Pistol Pete Sampras tops the list followed by Andre Agassi. In women, we have Steffi Graf and, Martina Navratilova started playing again at 45! That is what legends are made of!”
“Remember, when everyone had counted Sampras out, he knew he had one more big one left for him! And there it was! US Open! What a way to end a career!”
“I do believe Agassi too, has one big one left.”
“And of course, your favourite Roger Federer is on his way to legendom.”
“Yeyeye!!!”
“And then we have F1. Love him or hate him, Schumi is the best!”
“But I think there will be debates over whether he is the best ever.”
“True. BUT we can’t compare two eras as I mentioned earlier and now, Alonso is on his way too.”
“How can we forget the golfing god, Tiger Woods!!!”
“Yes! It would have been a cardinal sin had we left him out of our list!”
“Ronaldinho! A legend in the making!”
“Definetely. That guy is a magician! I'd hate to be a defender when the ball is with him!”
“We also have Valentino Rossi in motor-bike, Mcgrath, Muralitharan and still a few others in cricket, Ian Thorpe and Michael Phelps in swimming! The list just goes on and on.”
“Don’t forget Gary Kasparov in chess! 'Genius' would be an understatement when we refer to this Russian! And there are still other sports about which we don’t have much knowledge about!”
“I’m sure, we missed out on a lot of names there.”
“The best part about this era is that these guys are actually becoming legends from a very young age.”
“I just hope there are more to come.”

Note 1: This is a corrupted version of a conversation between Sami and me.

Election Time!!! My Predictions!!!

2006-04-26T22:37:00.000+05:30

‘The assembly elections are in full swing across four states and a union territory.’ ‘Full swing’ is a phrase that is oft repeated in India along with what has become its twin word—‘elections’.

I really have a great deal of admiration for the political analysts and election statisticians, not to miss out the Election Commission of India, for the way they manage to keep themselves updated every time an election is held in India, for ‘every time’ in Indian electoral scenario actually reads ‘always’.

News channels, this time around have kept a low profile as far as opinion polls and exit polls are concerned. So, while they have gone ahead with their polling, they have also made sure that they play it safe by addressing that ‘these are not the actual results’. No channel would want to find themselves in a similar situation as that of General Elections 2004 where each and every channel predicted ‘iNDiA Shining’. Before I move on further, let me explain the difference between an ‘Opinion Poll’ and an ‘Exit Poll’. A poll that is taken amongst the public before they have cast their vote is an opinion poll while an exit poll is the opinion taken from a sample of voters as they leave after casting their vote.

I haven’t taken any such polls, but I will jump the gun and predict as to who will form the next government in each of the five states.

Kerala: It could have been a land-slide win for the Left Democratic Front taking into account the strong anti-incumbency factor against Ommen Chandy’s United Democratic Front, led by the Congress, but for the infighting within the CPI (M) and also the confusion as to who will be their Chief-Ministerial candidate. Also, the old man K Karunakaran supporting the UDF is an added advantage for the UDF. Love him or hate him, he still has a huge say in Kerala politics. But it will still be the LDF coming out to form the next government.
Chief Minister? Ahem… I’d say Penarai Vijayan

Assam: The anti-incumbency factor could again have been at play against the Tarun Gogoi-led Congress government. But Asom Gana Parishad and BJP deciding to fight it out all alone means Congress is back in the fray to regain power. The anti-incumbency votes will now be divided amongst two. However, A post-election alliance seems distinctly possible. However, I do feel Prafulla Kumar Mahanta will have to wait for some more time. Congress may retain power but will find it difficult to gain numbers to form the majority.
Chief Minister? Tarun Gogoi

West Bengal: Left Front. I don’t think I need to say more.
Chief Minister? Mr. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee again!

Tamil Nadu: This is supposed to be another close race, but Amma shall rise again! Apparently, the AIADMK government has done commendable job post the general-election 2004 debacle when they couldn’t win a single seat. Now, even Vaiko, the guy who was dragged to jail in the darkest hour by Jayalalitha’s police force is with Amma. The DMK led Democratic Progressive Alliance might give AIADMK a good fight, but the latter will emerge to form the government again!
Chief Minister? J Jayalalitha

Pondicherry: The Congress is trying to complete a hat-trick here and might well succeed in doing so. The alliance with DMK is an added advantage along with the absence of anti-incumbency factor. A few rebel candidates might however disturb the Congress’ equation.
Chief Minister? N. Rangaswamy

So, I have spoken! I am terrible with predictions and I won’t hesitate to eat my words. But I hope I don’t have to!

A Decade of Partnership!!!

2006-04-25T14:24:00.000+05:30

On the 20th of June, 2006, two Indians will be celebrating a decade of their involvement with Indian cricket. ‘Celebrating’ is a word that should be used with some disparity as only one of the two will actually be doing what the word literally means. The other might be cooling his heels in his room. One is now doing the toughest job in Indian cricket, the other has already ‘been there, done that’. But, the contribution that both has done for the good of Indian cricket can never be over-looked, irrespective of whether the person in question is in the Indian team or not.

Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid both made their test debut against England at the ‘Mecca of Cricket’, Lords a decade back. Dravid’s entry in the Indian team was very much expected. But the Prince of Kolkata’s (then Calcutta) selection sent a few eyebrows rising and a few tongues wagging. As a 20-year-old, Ganguly had already disappointed in his ODI debut scoring just three against the Windies in 1991-92.

So, while Dravid needed to justify the faith shown in him by the selectors and supporters, Ganguly had a bigger ask to prove his critics wrong and silence them once and for all. And both the 24-year-olds delivered and how! The man from Kolkata scored 131 sublime runs but the Bangalorean was unlucky to miss a century on debut like his partner-in-debut, by just five runs. Both the youngsters had loudly announced their arrival in international cricket. From there on, there was no looking back, at least until recently in one case. Dada’s and Dravid’s career graph complimented the form they displayed. No one dared to doubt their abilities. “On the offside, first there is God and then there is Sourav Ganguly”, commented Dravid about Ganguly’s ability to time and pierce the ball through the off-side with a precision of a surgeon. Meanwhile, Dravid’s class and technique drew him comparisons with the great Sachin Tendulkar. While Ganguly was aggressive in his approach, Dravid was the accumulator who put a price tag on his wicket.

Both though, had their fair share of downs as well. Dravid was considered a liability in the shorter form of the game. Ganguly’s ‘problems in personal life’ affected his on-field performance as well. But like in their debut match, they fought out of the crisis themselves. The two, along with Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath, became the saving grace of Indian Cricket after the match-fixing scandal. The Prince was made the King of Indian Cricket. But assuming the captaincy was like sitting on a throne of thorns with the match-fixing scandal still ripe in the minds of the people. Cricket’s popularity was at its lowest. Every match India won or lost was a ‘fixed match’. Ganguly, pitched in for young blood in the squad and the results were almost immediate. Dravid was made his deputy, yet the latter’s place in the ODI squad was in serious doubt.

In order to accommodate more batsmen, Ganguly forced Dravid to don the ‘keeper’s gloves. Dravid, not a natural wicket-keeper, was not too comfortable with the job but, the skipper had the last say. And Dravid in the long run benefited as his batting in ODIs improved vastly, a fact that he himself acknowledged. It was a dawn of a new era as far as Indian cricket was concerned with Ganguly at the helm and Dravid supporting him ably. The trio of Ganguly, Dravid and coach John Wright worked with perfection producing amazing results, thus laying the ghost of match-fixing to rest once and for all.

As a captain, Ganguly became some one who looked at the opposition in the eye and dared to challenge them. Most didn’t like it too much! He himself admitted once, that he might be the ‘most hated captain in world cricket.’ India was no longer at the receiving end of sledging. A scene that will remain forever etched in the memory of many Indian fans will be that of the bare-chested dance performed by Ganguly at the Lords balcony in 2002 as a payback to Flintoff’s jig at Wankhede. School-boyish attitude one might say! Well, that’s what made him click with the youngsters in the side and made India from an ‘also-rans’ to a real winning squad that was only a couple of steps behind to challenge the mighty Australians. One of the reasons India won that Natwest Final was because of Dravid’s sacrifice to become a wicket-keeper in order to accommodate the likes of Kaif and Yuvraj. Most tend to forget Dravid’s contribution to many such Indian victories under Ganguly’s regime.

Ganguly’s slump in form was followed by his sack as the captain and then, also as a player. His deputy and a long time friend Dravid now took over the mantle of leading a side.

If Ganguly had to deal with the ghost of match-fixing when he took over, Dravid had to deal with the ghost of Ganguly, which in a way continues to haunt him till date. But Dravid proved to be a worthy successor as his team is proving now! Dravid is reaping the benefits of the seeds (read Sehwag, Yuvraj, Kaif, Pathan) that Ganguly had sown.

SACH is Life!!!

2006-04-24T21:15:00.000+05:30

The living legend of Indian Cricket turned 33 today! But, the cry to axe him after every tournament just gets louder. ‘He isn’t the same anymore’; ‘the body is rusting’ etc etc are just few of the comments about the Little Master that the self-proclaimed ‘experts’ of the game utters after every Sachin failure

No one seems to realize that Tendulkar is not in fact, as he is made out to be, a God! He too, like all other cricketers of his era is just that—a cricketer. As far his fitness is concerned, no other cricketer in the current era has been playing cricket for almost 17 long years. The body, after all these years of carrying the burden of a million prayers, is bound for some repair work. The only concern is the fact that these repairs are now needed quite frequently. Back, toe, ankle, elbow and now shoulder—almost every part of the maestro’s body has been put under the scanner, almost literally.

Every Tendulkar failure means that he has actually failed to hit a century or a 50! That is what a nation hopes he will do every time he walks out to the cricket field. Only a handful acknowledges the difference he makes by just being a part of the Indian side. Statistics and records, they say, can be misleading, but in Tendulkar’s case, they are not! I tried to put in a few stats and records of this Bombay Bomber, but I realized that it’s going to occupy a lot of my space in this blog. And besides, almost every Indian cricket fan, whether they like him or not, know his records in and out!

Until very recently, in order to chase down huge totals set in by the opposition, the nation looked up to Sachin to dig out the runs. I remember in July 2002 during the Natwest Finals, India chasing 326 were 140 odd for four, when Sachin played a rank bad shot to be bowled. Most of my friends switched to other channels, but being an eternal optimist as far as Indian cricket was concerned, I kept watching the game rarely missing a ball. No one really expected the two youngsters in Kaif and Yuvraj to come good and do the impossible!

Quite often, Sachin’s ability to disappoint during the finals of any tournament is highlighted. This however, must hold true for every Indian cricketer who under-performs in a final. I am not trying to defend Sachin’s under-performance in a final by any means for I know that his last notable performance in a final came in 1998 (an year when he batted like a dream) against Australia at the Coco Cola Cup in Sharjah. His performance at Sharjah was so destructive that Shane Warne began to have ‘night-mares of Sachin charging down and hammering’ him over long-on. The late Sir Don Bradman paid the ultimate tribute to the Master Blaster when the former recognized Sachin as his modern-day incarnation.

What also makes Sachin what he is today is his off-field demeanor. Controversies have come his way once in a while, but Sachin has always managed to steer clear, without much of a fuss. People respect him not just for his cricketing abilities but also for his attitude off the field. No surprise therefore, that he is still one of most-liked sporting icons of the country, despite his ‘bad form’.

I agree with Wasim Akram in his article today to the ToI: “Write off the Master Blaster at your own peril.” Sachin Tendulkar is still just 33 and according to me, he has AT LEAST four years of cricket left in him! Agreed, one must not live in the glories of the past. But when, it comes to SRT, it is very hard to forget the man who is truly the Living Legend of World Cricket. Hold on to your seats folks! For, I dare say this; the best of the man is yet to come.

So, here’s dedicating one of my longest post till date to Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, to whom the millions in the country owe big time for the sheer joy and hope he has provided for more than a decade and half. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIR!!!

Indian Cricket....On their Way...

2006-04-21T22:30:00.000+05:30

“Zaheer scampers through for the second. India has won! This is an amazing win! Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh have scripted one of India’s most amazing wins.” Commentator Ravi Shastri could not contain his joy even while on air as India chased a near-impossible target of 326 runs set by England at the ‘Mecca of Cricket’, Lords, in July 2002. The then Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly was seen doing a bare-chested dance, waving his blue Indian jersey over his head, at the Lords balcony mouthing a few ‘words’ aimed at the English all-rounder Andrew Flintoff who had performed a similar ‘jig’ in front of a packed Wankhede crowd and Ganguly in Mumbai.

On the pitch, the two 21-year-olds, Singh and Kaif, had made the cricketing world take notice of the ‘Men in Blue’. With the right combination of youth and experience, the Indians seemed like the only ones who could threaten the mighty Aussies. But, the Indians surrendered meekly to the mighty men from down under in the 2003 World Cup finals.

Then came the slump in form. The victory against Pakistan on their home soil in 2004 was the last decent performance of a side that had shown a lot of promise. Pakistan returned the ‘favour’ on their Indian tour in 2005 and Indian cricket was suddenly looking down the barrel, when a need to shake the system was felt. A new coach was appointed and a new captain was selected. The old skipper, despite all that he had done for Indian cricket, was asked to prove his form and fitness to regain his place. The message was clear—‘There was no place for under-performers’.

With the influx of new, fresh and energetic legs in the squad, the Kaifs and the Singhs took the mantle of ‘senior players’. Virender Sehwag donned the deputy-skipper’s crown. The cricketing fraternity witnessed a whole new India. Not just with regard to new and young faces, but in relation to the attitude and performance. A new era had dawned on the horizon of Indian cricket. The older successful era had been during the reign of Sourav Ganguly.

Lesser known states on the cricketing map, like Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Kerala, now find their representatives in the Indian team. India can now also boast of possessing world-class allrounders who are not just bits-and-pieces cricketers. Players like Irfan Pathan and Mahendra Singh Dhoni have lessened captain Rahul Dravid’s burden in the batting department. In fielding, Mohammad Kaif, Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina have made the thirty-yard circle their home. Indian bowling attack no longer revolves around spin. A flood of genuine pace bowling talents have given Dravid a problem that he will want to have throughout his reign as captain—the problem of choice.

India’s tag of ‘chokers while chasing’ is a thing of the past. A world record 15 victorious run-chases in succession is testimony to this fact. Besides, most of these were done without any significant contribution from Sachin Tendulkar shows that Indian batting no longer lives under the Little Master’s shadow.

It is very important that India does not get too carried away for most of these wins happened in the sub-continent. The real test will come when India visits the Caribbean next month as the World Cup will take place there in 2007. They have to maintain the standards they have set and prove, more to themselves, that they are ready to rule the world. But right now, India has the perfect team to light-up the Caribbean and bring home the World Cup in 2007.

Note: Special thanks to Pooja for her editing!

Heaven's Gates and Hell's Flames!!!

2006-04-18T00:34:00.000+05:30

Slowly, they lowered his casket with ropes hanging from either side. His cold breathless body stayed still inside the dark box with the lid closed. Yet, he could see the priest in white shirt and black trousers holding a black leather-bound Holy Bible with his right index finger dug into one of the pages.
He could hear the heavenly ‘In the sweet, by and by, we shall meet on that beautiful shore’ being sung by his fellow friends and mates. However, he couldn’t comprehend the few, leaning on the wall of the chapel-cum-rest house, without a drop of tear or sorrow in their face. He looked around and was soon to find out that it wasn’t just ‘the few’, but ‘all’ that had gathered around the 6 feet pit, had not a tear to shed. He saw his best friend walking out through the gates.
Soon, he developed wings and began to soar. He had always wanted to soar high and away from this world and here he was soaring far out of reach for the world to catch him, yet a gloom set in his heart for he knew he might never return. He wanted to walk again!
The song that he loved a lot had stopped. The priest had started with his prayers. As he ascended further away from his casket, which was slowly disappearing in a heap of mud and sand, he saw two winged Angels accompanying him in the flight. They led him from one world into another. The peace and serenity of the new world captured him. All he could see around him was a colour, the worst description of which will be ‘white’. They passed through a pavement which, for him, seemed to be made of gold, the purity of which was unmatched. He was led through huge gates that seemed boundary-less. There was no way he wanted to go back from where he came from.
The Angels carried him past huge mansions of which there was no demarcation. And suddenly, he saw someone that made him stand and stare in front of one of these beautiful-beyond-description mansions. ‘My grandpa might have looked him when he was young,’ he thought. The person waved from inside his mansion and smiled at him. He was now sure that ‘the person’ indeed was his grandpa. A few more mansions down, he saw another familiar figure and that of his grandma! But she looked so young! How? Each person owned one mansion for himself/herself! ‘Wow! Even I might own one of these,’ he thought.
Passing a few mansions, he reached a stairway. He followed the steps with his eyes as much as it could lead him. And a bright light appeared from the stairs. He couldn’t see the Person’s face! Soon the Force opened a huge book and scanned through it and with a voice that could shake every nation told him, “YOU DON’T BELONG HERE.”
He was swept off his feet. ‘No, this can’t be right!’ he cried out loud. Soon, he found himself at a place where darkness new no boundaries. He heard moans and cries of desperation. There was fire and flames all around, yet it was so dark! He could see a few familiar faces, yet it was so dark! A sudden gush of heat hit him as he gasped for breath and air.

He wiped the sweat from his brow, forehead and hands. Looked at the blue clock on his yellow wall… 7 33 a.m. Ah! Time for the MSEB power cut! Will last for an hour… I can afford to close my eye-lids a little longer… said a little prayer… And off I went zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz……………..

Unfair World...

2006-04-05T23:25:00.000+05:30

Ever felt you deserved better for the effort you'd put in?

Ever felt you've been unfairly treated despite having worked harder?

Ever felt that your work should have been better acknowledged?

Ever felt like kicking yourself for putting in that extra bit of effort for which you THOUGHT you would be rewarded?

Ever felt you should have just sat around looking at others work thinking the reward you get is eventually going to be the same or perhaps in certain cases even worse?

Well... ask these to this scrawny li'l fella and he'll reply in the affirmative for each of the above queries...

All I can say is thank God... for atleast He looks down and notices every bit...

And... A greater reward awaits!!!

After Shit... it's Spit!!!

2006-02-24T23:15:00.000+05:30

Shitting isn't the only thing that Mumbaikars do on and around the railway tracks!!! The other day I was standing at Dombivli station waiting for the train. Suddenly, I see this middle-aged guy squirting the white liquid out on tracks. Well, that's not an unusual sight for someone from Mumbai. But what amazes me is the fact that this act spreads like an epidemic!!! The moment that guy spat his 'contribution' out, a flood of others joined him. Some red, some white. Some on the tracks, some on the edge of the platform, some in the corner of the pillar of the FoB under construction. Then, there are those who are too lazy to walk over to the edge and spit out on the tracks. They just try their luck using their effeciency in flat trajectory squirts!!! Some of those white/red liquid matter falls on the edge, while a good chunk falls on the track!!! These guys are true experts and master exponents in the art of spitting!!! They will easily go one-up on Di Caprio from Titanic!!! Those champions with the flatter trajectory are also able to generate pace in their squirt!!! They press their tongue between their two uneven and colourful set of sixteen (and perhaps lesser and in strange circumstances more!!!), collect the saliva in their mouth and releases the liquid with some force such that it comes out between the little gap in their two upper teeth!!! Quite a talent that... I must admit!!! One that I don't possess and I dont think I want to!!!

The amount of saliva that comes out, if collected, purified and converted into water, this could easily solve the problem of water shortage not just in Mumbai, but also in Maharashtra (well... even this seems an understatement... could easily quench the whole of India's thirst!!!.... YUK!!!)

Shit!!! (This ain't the swear word!!!)

2006-02-08T23:51:00.000+05:30

About a month back, when I was travelling my usual route from Dombivli to VT (oops... CST), I decided to do something out of the ordinary that might gross many of you out!!! Normally, I decide to catch up on lost sleep while travelling- something that I have been doing quite frequently after joining XIC. Somehow, that day, my eyes were open even after Thane had passed (which is when sleep calls me).

I thought I'll do something interesting here. My attention went to this man in his 30s going about 'it' sitting on the railway tracks. And the train on the move wouldn't even have passed 100 metres when I see another little fellow emptying himself but this time he is on track number 3!!! I decided it's time for me to take a count. And mind you, this is happening sometime in the afternoon around say 1ish! This explains how I got a window seat from Dombivli!!!

Anyways, my count it seems started increasing after every 200 metres!!! 3...4...5...6... and then there was a sudden pause. The area between Mulund and Bhandup!!! There isn't much population around the tracks there!!! But again it goes... It increases when I approach Vikhroli!!! I have already reached 13 by the time the train leaves Vikhroli... I have had enough.. I have seen a lot of shit (literally) already!!! I was sure I would have found almost the equal amount of people just between Sion and Matunga!!!

Now, picture this... What if I had decided to take the count during one of the morning time travelling that I do? And what if, during that morning, I had decided to carry on with my counting right till I reached VT? I am sure I would have messed up my count by the time I reached Matunga!!! And I'll still be having nightmares of shit all around me!!!

And I am being told it's even worse towards the Harbour side!!! What is it that makes these people risk their lives just to empty their bowels? Lack of Toilets of course, is the major reason. But it's not just that!!! There are toilets built in some of these areas that I just mentioned!!! Then, why don't people use them? The answer is simple and lemme explain it to you in a gross manner... The moment you open the door of the toilet (if the toilet ever has one), it is all right there!!! No one bothers to clean them... I know for a fact that I would rather die of constipation than of breathlessness using that toilet!!! SHIT (Literally)!!!