Wednesday, December 30, 2009

All isn't well

3 Idiots is a refreshingly good movie. In the last three-four years, good hindi movies have become as rare as Harbhajan Singh taking a wicket. That added to the joy of watching it.
But really, unlike most others, I found no reason to go ga-ga over the movie. A few points kept coming to my mind while and after watching the movie:

1. Why cast Aamir Khan in the lead role? Here's a guy, who twenty-one years ago arrived on the scene with Papa Kehte hai, playing a third year college student. The same guy, twenty-one years later, plays a first year engineering student! Thats not only hard to digest, but it also shows. Aamir Khan looks old, not 45 but definitely not 18! The same goes with Madhavan. Why couldn't younger guys be cast in these roles? Why do we not trust the younger generation of actors to deliver? I'm not a big fan of Ranbir Kapoor but he could have fit well in the lead role. Someone like Shreyas Talpade (the guy from Iqbal) would have been a great fit for Madhavan's role.

2. Why do bollywood film makers feel the need to make a movie three hour long? The movie could have been done and dusted with in two and a half hours. People, atleast I, would have gone home happier. All WAS well, until interval. But the plot was lost in the second half with the inclusion of a lot of unnecessary crap that included a lecture on "how to have babies delivered" and over use of "all is well" mantra. Un-realism in movies is fine. But when the extent goes as far as three college students helping get a baby delivered or for that matter two "techies" not being in touch with their close friend for five years in the internet era, it only makes you laugh in desperation.

3. There were so many repetitions from Munnabhai and Lage Raho: The same ragging stunts, only medical college replaced by engineering college, Asthana replaced by Virus and Jadu kee jhappi replaced by all is well. Sometimes, all this makes one feel that coming up with a hit bollywood movie isn't that difficult: Cast a famous actor, have jokes similar to previously hit movies and there you go.

Overall, the movie was good. But only considering the lot of totally crap movies that had come out in the last four-five months. During the interval, we were rating the movie as high as a 4.5/5. But the second half was no better than a 2.5/5. The rest is pure math.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Give me some sunshine .....

Saari umra hum
Mar mar ke jee liye
Ek pal to ab humein
Jeene do
Jeene do

Na na na….Na na na….Na na na….Na na nana na….

Give me some sunshine
Give me some rain
Give me another chance
I wanna grow up once again
.........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t533PJnDMKg
.........
playing in an infinite loop these days ....... I hope the movie lives up to the expectations :)

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Happy Halloween

It was halloween yesterday. And the day brought with it memories of celebrations in the last couple of years, and school life in general. Oh how much do I miss those days! As I was standing in that queue yesterday at Chipotle to have my free burrito, the thought was I want to go back. Go back to school. And the irony was that kal chipotle khaake pet hee nahi bhara ..... probably something was missing!
Browsed through some pictures, in memory of some fond memories......some things just can't be expressed in words!


Ofcourse, not all's lost. With a decent horror movie, attempts to participate in the party by means of face painting, and good food and banter, the day turned out to be fun :)

Monday, October 19, 2009

Super Summer

It has been a great summer. Was thinking of what all I did on weekends, after my thesis defense on the 8th of June and here's what I could compile:

20th-21st June: Milford Lake Picnic

22nd June : Left Kansas for good, flew to Philly

27th-28th June: Washington DC, Baltimore
4th-6th July : Niagara
11th-12th July : New York City
18th-19th July: Philly darshan
25th-26th July: Atlantic City & NJ coastline
1st-2nd August: Pocono Mountains

7th August: Flew to Seattle.

8th-9th August: Snowqualmie Falls
15th-16th August: House Shifting + Cricket
22nd-23rd August: Cricket + Microsoft Ganpati
29th-30th August: Franklin Falls
4th-5th Sept: Olympic National Park, Boeing FOF museum
11th-12th Sept: St. Helens
19th-20th Sept: Rainier
25th-26th Sept: Lake Tapps + Space Needle
3rd-4th Oct: Golder Garden, Alkai beach
10th-11th Oct: Carne Mountain, Leavenworth
17th-18th Oct: Diwali in Philly

Take that for utilization of weekends :).
Indeed, has been a very fun filled summer. All prepared now to endure a harsh winter, the next 4 months are going to be crucial.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Laptops and I

In the last couple of years, Laptops and I have not gone well together. In fact, we've not just gone together. For the records, I haven't owned a laptop for the last two years almost. Why do I not have a laptop, why do I not buy one, and how I survive without one are questions I face often. But the questions had been on the rise recently, both amongst friends as well as at work, and that just made me think more about my quest with laptops.

Back in 2005, I was very happy to get a brand new thinkpad T42, from IBM. For the next 2 years, I was quite addicted and even emotionally attached to it. So much so that felt very sad while returning it back to IBM when my time there was up. Soon after, on landing in the US, I purchased another thinkpad, this time a T61. Used it through the first sem of my masters and I was very happy with it.

In Spring 2008, I had to surrender the laptop. That time, it was unthinkable for me to live without one. How will I do my homeworks without it? How about orkut, facebook, movies, music? My assignments and entertainment would suffer, I thought. Decided, I would buy a new laptop soon. For some reason I got a little too busy and was not able to order one for a few days. Days turned into weeks, weeks into months and the sem got over. It was unbelievable that I'd spent one semeter without a laptop.
What was more unbelievable to me was that it ended up being the best 4-5 months in my life. In terms of work, I was amazingly efficient. A kind of discipline had set into my routine, something that had always been missing earlier. Spent most of my time in department. What would I do going home without a laptop? So used to go home only for lunch, dinner and the night sleep. The extra time spent in the department helped. People: Friends and acquaintances, kept getting bemused about me not having a laptop. The difficulty associated with coming to lab in cold/heat/rain soon became a motivation, that spurred me to do even better in my work. It was because of these factors that I was really able to successfully juggle with a lot of things going on in my life then. In terms of entertainment, I never missed my lappy: Movies/music/mails were taken care of in labs. Being in lab also meant I never felt alone. Thankfully, the "working in lab" syndrome caught up with a lot of other friends as well even though they had their laptops and it turned out that the lab became one awesome "adda". Quite amazing those days were.

Looking back, I feel thrilled about having successfully completed masters in "Computer" science without a computer of my own. Back in IBM days, we'd discussed about the prospect of making an attempt to live without cell phones. Not sure if I can manage that, but living without laptop has been one step in rebellion to prove that we really don't need these gadgets to make our lives better. Its all in our mind really when we think we "cant" do something, "cant" live without something. Ofcourse we can, nothing is impossible if we give it a wholehearted try. And simple is sweet. Our life can be much better if we can keep it a little simple, technology-free and reduce dependency on these gadgets. Probably, that's the point I have been trying to drive through in the last two years!!

Ofcourse, things are a little different now that I've stated working. But they say never change a winning formula :). So here I am, still hitting an old fashioned metal keyboard and staring into a 22 inch monitor to type this in. Recently, I'd started thinking once again of buying my fav IBM thinkpad. But as it turns out, now I won't need to. More on that later :)

Friday, September 25, 2009

Random Thoughts

- Feels great to be a full time in a company. Difference between being an intern and being a full timer is huge! Internship is like an ODI where the time to prove yourself is limited. You've constantly got to be on your toes. One quite over, one wicket at the right/wrong time can change the course of the game. Full time position, on the other hand, is like a test match. You can take as much time as you want .... and the biggest advantage is even if you don't do well, you can always play for a draw :)

- So who says test cricket is tougher than ODI's and T20's! I think its completely the other way round: T20 is much tougher than ODI's which in turn are harder than tests. Now if internship corresponds to ODI and Full time corresponds to test, what does T20 correspond to? Interviews :)

- And that explains why the oldies don't like T20's and think its child's play. In their times, afterall, interviews were never so hard ..... so their thoughts that any Raina, Pathan or Rohit can play T20's well. Interviews of the modern times have got very critical and tough, so T20 is not easy by any means. For the oldies, sustaining for a longer period was hard then. The mantra now is live fast and play hard!

- I'm starting to get in love with this city. Not just for its scenic snowcaps, well planned landscapes, and disciplined public transportation. But mostly because for the first time in life I think I'm in a place where almost every single individual belongs where he/she deserves to be. Bloating of IT industry in India, and for that matter even in the US, have always concerned, sometimes even disappointed, me. In that regard feels great to be among individuals almost all of whom have worked very hard to be here, who in every respect have earned their place here and who deserve to be here.

- The place sometimes feels to be too perfect, almost like a utopia. It feels like a mega developed, clean Pune with all un-wanted things/people removed. Mahabaleshwar seems to be replaced by Rainier, Khadakwasla by Snowqualmie, Kokan coast replaced by the Pacific! The people, the food joints all seem familiar, just like back home.In short, a better home away from home.

- In short, life's great here. Cannot ask for anything more really, but I'm still not happy. Why? missing bayko!

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Sc-air-y

I have always felt scared of flying. It didn't need me to watch Final Destination or Air Crsh Investigation series to catch that fear. Its just been there forever since my maiden flight, I remember, which was about 20 years back.

And I keep thinking why do I scare it? An airplane and a computer are two inventions that keep amazing me even today. To be quiet honest, I don't think I completely understand their technology. I am still awed by how a 100,000 kg (or is that less) thing lifts itself off the ground, let alone staying up there. But with that awe comes fear. Combination of hardware, in this case the airplane, and software is almost magic to me and magic can fail sometimes.
What can you do when/if this magic fails on you? Nothing, absolutely nothing. The Air France crash a couple of months back and the AP CM's chopper crash yesterday left me feeling very wierd. I thrive in believing that you are responsible for whatever happens to you. Hate being in situations where my fate is not in my hands. Those few hours in the plane are the times when our fate is not in our hands. And then, it doesn't matter if you're a VVIP or you're flying even the world's best airline. Your fate depends on weather, technology, and two unknown persons. You have to just accept, whatever happens, as your destiny. So the news of AP CM's crash was frightening, shocking and hugely disappointing. It provided a reminder of how cruel and uncertain destiny can be .... without even giving you a chance to reflect or introspect on it.

But as much as one feels grieved about the mishap, what follows in the country is definitely not encouraging: Seven days of mourning followed by a detailed investigation of the crash!!! Its hard to believe that people have time to keep crying for a week! Who pays for the loses? And the investigation seems to be an even bigger farce. "Don't hit a cliff if you are flying a plane" would probably be the conclustion! The committee would have chai-biscuit and talk about how big a tragedy it was. Is it worth spending money on the investigation then ... we all know the cause of the accident!
But its disappointing that some things never change, we would just not learn to bite the bullet and move on.

In addition, it seems there is a new disease in India. Unbelievable as it seems, 140+ people have died off shock, after the chopper crash news announcement. That number is more than the number of swine flu deaths, worse even this "flu" has no cure!

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Quotes

"The first testicular guard was used in cricket in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974. It took 100 years for men to realize that the brain is also important."

"Don't drink and drive, you may hit a bump and spill your drink."

"When you copy one person's work it is plagiarism, when you copy multiple peoples work it is research."

Ofcourse, these quotes have been plagiarized :P

Monday, August 17, 2009

Management Lessons

Had come across this forward loooooong way back, in the years when I used to "read" forwards. This one'd etched into my head then, can't help but remember this today :). Here it goes:

Four Management Lessons
************************

Lesson Number One
*********************
A crow was sitting on a tree, doing nothing all day. A small rabbit saw the crow, and asked him, "Can I also sit like you and do nothing all day long?"
The crow answered "Sure, why not."

So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the crow, and rested.

All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Management Lesson:
To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.


Lesson Number Two
*********************
A turkey was chatting with a bull. "I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree," sighed the turkey, "but I haven't got the energy."

"Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?" replied the bull. "They're packed with nutrients."

The turkey pecked at a lump of dung and found that it actually gave him enough strength to reach the first branch of the tree.

The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch.

Finally after a fortnight, there he was proudly perched at the top of the tree.
Soon he was promptly spotted by a farmer,who shot the turkey out of the tree.

Management Lesson:
Bullshit might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there.


Lesson Number Three
***********************
When the body was first made, all the parts wanted to be Boss.

The Brain said, "I should be Boss because I control the whole body's responses and functions."

The feet said, "We should be Boss as we carry the brain about and get him to where he wants to go."
The hands said, "We should be Boss because we do all the work and earn all the money."
And so it went on and on with the heart, the lungs and the eyes until finally the asshole spoke up.

All the parts laughed at the idea of the asshole being the Boss. So the asshole went on strike, blocked itself up and refused to work.

Within a short time the eyes became crossed, the hands clenched, the Feet twitched, the heart and lungs began to panic and the brain fevered.

Eventually they all decided that asshole should be the Boss, so the motion was passed.

All the other parts did all the work while the Boss just sat and passed out the shit!

Management Lesson:
You don't need brains to be a Boss - any asshole will do.


Lesson Number Four
*********************
A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold, the bird froze and fell to the ground in a large field.

While it was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on it.
As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, it began to realize how warm it was.

The dung was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy and soon began to sing for joy.

A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate.

Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung and promptly dug him out and ate him!


Management Lessons:
1) Not everyone who drops shit on you is your enemy.
2) Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend.
3) When you're in deep shit, keep your mouth shut!

Monday, August 3, 2009

Back on the road

I love exits along freeways. Particularly after a long and tiring drive it feels so refreshing to see a service-area at an exit. You can look after yourself, stretch, rest, relax, re-fuel, rejuvenate. These exits provide you the boost for the next leg of your journey, for yet another long drive. These exits keep a motorist going, they are the breaks that travelers look forward to. Without these exits, drives would become dull, drivers would lose interest.
Had stopped at one such exit .... for the last one and a half month. And boy, wasn't the break refreshing! Every week there was something to do - We explored an unbelievable number of places: New York, DC, Maryland, Niagara, Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania, Atlantic City and the NJ coastline right up till Cape May. Drove thousands of miles, it was so much fun getting up every weekend picking up a car and heading straight to the highway. Ate great food: Home-made, desi restaurants, pizzas, mexican, lots of starbucks .... shopped king size: blew up hundreds of dollars shopping .... In short, everything was nothing short of spectacular. Life was perfection personified. Seriously, it doesn't get better than this.
But now its time for the engines to roar once more, its time to get back to the freeway and zooooom ahead. After all, too much time at an exit would mean lagging back .... behind the rest. Looking forward to the drive ahead, and even the bumps if any. The driver and his car are all charged up now.

PS: Forced exits or mistaken/mistimed exits can result in unnecessary stress, loss of time and other problems. So beware ;)

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

A restless mind

An idle mind is a devils workshop
What is a restless mind

Idle mind is like a barren land devoid of rain,
Restless mind is like a place with storms and pain.
Idle mind is like an undeveloped town with lot of empty place,
Restless mind is like a crowded city with absolutely no space

An idle mind is a devils workshop
What is a restless mind

Idle mind is like a position with no options to choose,
Restless mind is like a position with plenty to lose.
Idle mind is like a radarless ship,
Restless mind is a life with no grip.

An idle mind is a devils workshop
What is a restless mind

Do not know but I end with this note
Both idle and restless minds me thinks are in the same boat.
Both problems have the same foundation,
They both do not know their final destination.
It all boils down to discovering your passion,
and following it with extreme obsession.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Car

I am the one who you depend on so much
On weekends, holidays, emergencies any day as such
Without me your lives would stand still
Even if you walk or show any will

I am fast, I am sleek, I look good
I am not fussy, you provide me the same food
Faithful I am, selfless is my nature
Agile I am, attractive is every feature

Year over year, relentlessly I serve you
I tire out, but give no clue
and when I get old and start to pain
you dump me and I still dont complain

From you nothing do I expect
But encouraging would be that prospect
If you acknowledge my presence, not take me for granted
that will be my moment, and I'll be delighted!

Monday, June 29, 2009

Never apply for OPT to Vermont!

Here goes the story of my OPT, something that has kept me intensely frustrated for the last 3-4 days.

- On about the 15th of May I approached ISC (the International student center at KSU), letting them know that I wanted to apply for OPT. It took them about a week to generate a new I-20 for me and to review my application. On about the 20th of May, I posted the OPT packet .... to Nebraska service center.

- On 4th June, I received something from Nebraska: My application packet was rejected. On one of the forms submitted as part of the OPT application, I had indicated that I would like to receive my OPT card at Philadelphia address because I may not be in Kansas when the card would arrive. Philadelphia falls under Vermont serive center, not Nebraska. I would therefore have to apply to Vermont, it said.

- Now, I always thought the service center to which you apply depends on your university. So K-state students would always apply to Nebraska for OPT, I thought. My bad. But the ISC, when reviewing my application never pointed out to me that having a differnt "state" address on form 765, alters the application course so drastically. But anyway.

- On 5th June I went back to ISC asking them for an advice. I asked them: 1. Should I send my application packet to Vermont? OR 2. Should I put a Kansas address of some friend in Manhattan on form 765 and send the packet to Nebraska? Is the Nebraska service center any different or faster than Vermont Service center in processing applications etc, I asked. A lady at the ISC adviced me to send the packet to Vermont. All service centers are the same she said, there is no difference!

- On 6th June I sent my application to Vermont. And now I realize what a joke it was on part of ISC in saying that all service centers are similar. Since the 8th of June my case is pending with the Vermont center. Last week I sent them an expedite request to process my application faster. This request was rejected, the ISC now says that Vermont center does not accept expedite processing requests.

The result: I still do not have my OPT card and I may not be able to start work on 20th July! And it is so damn frustrating. Everyone asks me why did I not start the OPT application earlier than 15th of May. The answer to this is that you are supposed to apply for OPT in your graduating semester, not the semester before that. So as soon as spring-end was approaching, I approached ISC with my OPT application. Now while I am not starting any blame-game here, I cannot help thinking what was ISC doing all this time in advicing me to send the application to Vermont. They should have made it explicit, very clear, to the point of warning me that application processing at a center other than Nebraska would be time consuming. They had a chance to do it twice, but I was never warned!

My advice to K-state students who would be applying for an OPT:

1. Always put a local address on form 765 so that your application would be processed at Nebraska.

2. Do not blindly trust ISC. Make sure you've filled up the forms correct, attached all required documents etc.

As far as I'm concerned, its the beginning of a painful wait for me :(

Sunday, June 21, 2009

So many things to do, so less time

So many people to meet, so less time,
So many places to visit, so less time,
So many friends to hug, so less time,
So many things to say, so less time,
So many memories to share, so less time.
I said hello not because I needed to, but because I wanted to
But now its time to say goodbye not because I want to, but I need to.

Alvida K-State, its time to move on !

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Parting blues

21st of June is my last day here at K-State. My home sweet home is no longer going to remain mine. I would no longer be coming to this lab, which I have always felt so attached to. I'm no longer going to be a student of this department, my second home here in Manhattan. Friends who were a phone call away are no longer going to be around.

It freaks me no end to think that these things are soon going to end. It is unbelievably painstaking to leave this weird yet beautiful place where routine seems messed up if you sleep before 3 in the night and get up before 10 in the morning. A place where something just doesn't feel right if you don't eat at Chipotle every other night. A place where feet, by default, turn towards union/radina's at 5 pm daily for coffee hour. A place where weekend doesn't seem complete without a movie on projector followed by dance party. In such state of bliss we've lived our lives here, its hard to imagine the day when I would step out of the lab one last time, out of the department one last time, out of the university one last time, out of the house one last time to board my last roadrunner. For a change it would feel like the cab should not just come to pick me up.

It all feels similar to what went through my mind on the last day of engineering, five years back. But then, I was going to live in the same town, in the same house and moreover with the same group of friends. The transition then was not as steep and abrupt. Moreover, then, I did not know the real worth of college life. I always knew college life is the one of the best phase's of one's life. But its only after you start working that you well and truly realize the seriousness and veracity of those thoughts. The same goes with Bachelor's life. Its not until you get married that you understand and appreciate the simplicities in life whilst being a bachelor, and the complications involved when you are no more single. In the last two years I've got a chance to experience both these phases, student and bachelor, once again after having experienced corporate and married life and having got to know their pros and cons. Though being a bachelor again has been hard, it sometimes feel glad to be amongst the lucky ones. Life is more often than not a one way traffic, very few people get a chance to go back in life . And in a sense experiencing bachelors and student's life once again has felt like the clock has ticked back on me.

Now these two phases are about to end ......... in fact a completely new chapter is about to begin. Its kind of been a hard climb and as I stand at this final step looking back at the road traveled, there is again a medley of emotions: satisfaction for achievements made, regret for the mistakes committed, anger for opportunities missed, happiness for the moments lived. Of course a lot of sadness around this whole thing of leaving. Met some really good people here. They say some people come in your life for a season, some for a reason and some for a lifetime. Not sure who came for what, but I sure got some real good friends and to all those folks .... I'll really miss you guys. Its been an absolute pleasure to have experienced life here, with you guys, in this cute little town they call the Little Apple.

In spite of all this nostalgia though, I must say I'm quite ready to move on. What I've learnt from the past is that its quite natural to feel nostalgic about things. But do not hold on to your past. Never think that your best days have gone past. In fact always look forward and keep thinking that the best days in your life are yet to come. So I'm completely positive that the best is still to come and looking forward to move on to a new phase in life. Will meet new people, hopefully make great friends and the new place would have something exciting on offer. Infact, Seattle was the vision, the dream I've had for a long long time. I'm soon going to be living this dream and that makes me happy no bound. Looking forward to getting sleepless in Seattle!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

End of the beginning or beginning of the end

Its been a terrific day. As a teen, I had two dreams: 1. Doing MS, 2. Getting into MS. I am happy that both these "childhood" dreams are now checkmarked. Strangely though, the first dream was achieved after achieving the second one .... but who cares. More importantly, there are 2 less things now to "dream/achieve" in life.
But as is always the case "manzil se behtar hote hai ye raaste". Its been a terrific two years in Manhattan and after today's presentation the realization has suddenly dawned upon me that the countdown to leave this place has just begun.

Monday, June 1, 2009

The Curious Case of Mysterious Blogger

last year a tornado hit k-state during fun cricket ..... and this year it is this

.... http://fakeksuplayer.blogspot.com/ ......

its impact seems to be no less devastating, atleast as far as the desi community is concerned :)

Monday, May 25, 2009

IPL Review

The IPL is finally over. I did not follow IPL much last year because of the hectic schedules so I did not have much idea about how it is like. It was fun this year following all the games. Fantasy cricket made it even more interesting.
Its all a good concept. But you can't help thinking that its too long. Its hard to understand why every team has to play each other twice. The home and away concept seems to be flawed. Moreover, waiting for 37 days to know who the winner is, is just not done. One of the best things about T20 is that you get to know the winner in 3 hours. So waiting that long to decide the winner is just like watching a 4 or 5 test series to finally know who is going to win. And that defeats the purpose of T20! I also think that most of us guys even lost interest in Fantasy cricket half way through!
So while IPL promises fun, an overdose of cricket can get nauseating. And thats what happened this time atleast. I hope the organizers do something about it next year.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

A lesson learnt

It hurt, really hurt. For some timeless moments I feared the worst. I feared that all my dreams have come down crashing. As I gathered my wits back, I kind of got a feeling that things were not as serious as I had earlier thought. Still, I was worried. I hoped it was not threatening. Moreover, I was shocked. Shocked thinking that how little wrong you've got to do to spoil all your good work, done perhaps in a life time. Its amazing really that one small wrong is equal to, and can negate, a thousand huge rights!
The question I asked myself is Was it really wrong? Whatever happened, was it really my fault? It was sheer bad luck, the probability of being precisely at that point at that time and being hit was really one in a million. Yet, I was hit. How cruel can my luck be!
Its easy to blame your luck in such cases. But as I introspected, I quickly realized that on that day and at that time I should not have been there in the first place! I really should have been here, sitting on this very chair and working on this very computer. Before I went there, I had a decision to make: Should I continue working OR should I go there .... and I took the easier decision, I succumbed to the temptation. And it was not just yesterday, I had been taking this easier, tempting and incorrect decision of going there for the last three days! There have been times when "He" has been very kind on me. "He" has made me believe that hard work never goes waste. "He" has made sure that as I sow, so shall I reap. Yesterday, it felt like "He" wanted to teach me a lesson, the hard way. "He" wanted to remind me of my responsibilities and warn me of my wrongs. "He" wanted me to realize that things should never be taken for granted.
Though painful, it has been a useful lesson.... or as they say every dark cloud has a silver lining. It is through these incidences that you learn about how to treat your falls and how to rise from them. Literally. It is through such events that you grow and mature. I'm grateful to "Him" for putting me through this. I have still not recovered though, so hoping that "He" helps me recover soon and hoping that things are not serious :)

Thursday, April 30, 2009

"That" one moment

Its been exactly a year since "that" moment. One of the most memorable fortnights of my life had already begun. I did not know it then. But in that period, I perhaps experienced all emotions that one could possibly experience: dejection, depression, desperation, anxiety, happiness, satisfaction, pain, relief, regret, anger, solace, love, hate, tiredom, peace ..... I fought, I wept, I smiled, I laughed. I seemed calm but I was not, I seemed fresh but I was not, I seemed normal but I was not. It was the best "cocktail" of feelings I have ever had, its THE best "cocktail" one can ever taste.
All through it, I almost seldom slept, the dream did not let me sleep. My mind, body and soul were stretched and stressed to unimaginable proportions .... limits that I'd never thought I could withstand..... "I broke my heart, fought every gain". I channelized every ounce, every bit of every possible energy I possibly could have ever had ....... all for one cause ...... "to taste the sweet, I faced the pain".
Then, on "that" day, I could not find the right words to summarize my emotions. One year later, I know "that" day was "A moment when I was more than I'd ever thought I could be, A moment when I was racing with destiny, and "that" moment was the moment I felt eternity".
In remembrance of "that" moment ..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx4v6cO1GMk ..... a beautiful song. Thanks Madh for sharing :)

Friday, April 3, 2009

Yuvy should bat at no 3 in tests

I know people are calling for Yuvy to be axed from the Indian test side but I have a very contrasting opinion on this. We all know Yuvy is a player with infinite ability. But for some reason that talent has never been translated into consistent performances in test cricket. Axing him is not the solution because Indian cricket needs him, even at test level. Instead, they should try something different with him, change his batting position.
Actually, if you think about it, there are a lot of similarities between Ricky Ponting and Yuvraj Singh:

1. Ricky Ponting, in his early twenties was known to have tremendous potential. But he was brash, arrogant, considered a party animal and got involved in a lot of off-the-field controversies. Ditto with Yuvy.

2. In the first half of his test career, Ponting could never bat in the top 4 due to big shots like the Waugh brothers forming core of the middle order. Batting at no. 6 then, it would be fair to say he did not get too many chances to fully showcase his talent, to score big hundreds. Same has been the case with Yuvy. Due to fab 4, he has never got consistent opportunities in test cricket and whenever he has, he has had to bat at 6.

3. Ponting, as a youngster was a tremendous fielder. He was Australia's answer to Jonty Rhodes and Herschelle Gibbs. Again, ditto with Yuvraj.

4. Ponting is considered weak against spin, he has a dismal record in the subcontinents, records say he is bhajji's bunny. Bhajji says he can get ponting out in 6 balls. Yuvy too is a dead duck against quality spin. Records and Murali both say and prove that.

Till about the year 2003, Ponting was just another good player, there was nothing "great" about him. But then, something struct someone and they decided to entrust Ponting with some responsibilities. The first of those responsibilities was batting at 3 (the second ofcourse was captaincy). With that responsibility, Ponting turned out to be a different player altogether. With Hayden, Langer and Ponting as their top 3, Australia could play at their agressive best scoring at over 4 an over from day 1 of test matches and that definitely helped them win all those test matches in the last decade or so.
Thats why I say India should gamble with Yuvy at 3. He needs responsibility, the captain and selectors need to show faith in him, to get the best out of him. Also when batting at 3, Yuvy could well get a chance to face the new ball and so may not have to play spin first up. Having Sehwag, Gambhir and Yuvy as their top 3 would give India their best chance to score fast and win more test matches. Those 3 men could be India's answer to the Australian top order of the last decade. One may argue that Yuvy does not have the technique to play moving/seaming fast bowling, which is so important for a no. 3. But who would have thought that Sehwag with the kind of technique he had (and still has) would end up in emerging as India's best opening bat after Gavaskar, when he opened for the first time in England!
I think a major reason for Yuvy's lack of success in tests is that he is never sure whether to attack of defend. Sehwag and Yuvy have similar styles, both are extremely attacking. But unlike Yuvy, Sehawag gets to open the batting so does not have to think about playing according to the situation (well, not that he would have thought anyways). Sehwag "builds" the situation, he lays the platform and the other batters play accordingly depending on whether Sehwag has succeeded or not. I think Yuvy needs to be given a similar license. License to set up games, license to play his natural game. Then if he fails, have guys like Dravid at 6 to stem a collapse and play according to situation. Also, guys like Dravid and Sachin are not going to be in for long now. The other guys should now be given the lead, while these senior pro are still around to help, to set up games. It is time for transition, it is time to defy logic, it is time to get unconventional. Yuvy at No. 3 can help team India transit from a good side to a great side.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Was that really me?

Man, its wierd to hear your own voice .... realized it so very much while watching this video ....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yc_pI3r9Kdg

Was embarassing, don't know if it was tooooooooo bad, but definitely thought there is a lot of scope for improvement.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

All in the game

First you say you're always with me,
Coz being with me is fun.
Say you'll go the whole distance,
Since the love that you found all right.
Come on. What's going on?
What you're thinkin'?
Then you say you need me,
Like the garden needs rain.
Then you go and deceive me,
Like it's all .....
.... in the game...
All in the game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R00T80pwKmE

Love the ad .... and more so, the jingle.....fabulous it is.

Recession Times

There was an interesting analogy that came to mind while reading through a cricinfo article today. The article said that Tendulkar recently criticised the pitches on the last tour to New Zealand thus: "The wickets are great [this time around]. Not only players, but the spectators are also enjoying it. Last time we came here the bowlers got false confidence and the batters were looking for technical problems which didn't exist. I have at least not played on tracks like those and it wouldn't be ideal for the spectators either."

Most of it is fair comment, but the pitches are not great this time either. Not with the small boundaries at least, where edges and dabs go for boundaries and sixes. Won't the easy runs give some of the batsmen false confidence? Wouldn't bowlers be looking for faults that might not even exist when they look at their figures?

A booming economy, like it was in the last five years or so, is like a batting paradise: small boundaries and a flat pitch. Even edges and dabs go for boundaries and sixes and batsmen get a false sense of confidence. There is no distinguishing between a Tendulkar and a Ryder, everyone scores hundreds.

On the other hand, a period of recession is like a hard seaming pitch. Or a pitch that offers sharp turn and bounce. Only batters of the highest quality can survive, score and do well. Champions flourish wheraeas others perish in such conditions. I bet the Dravids and the Chanderpauls get more pleasure scoring runs in such testing conditions. Its in such conditions that they get distinguished from the rest. Flat track bully's like the Jaffers and the Laxmans who score tons of runs in good batting conditions, are not good enough to survive on such a pitch. They blame the pitch and the conditions for them not doing well.

I think this is a perfect analogy with what is happening with the economy right now, we keep blaming the economy for whatever is happening with us.

Thats why I think batters should try to improve their batting skills rather than blaming the conditions! Atleast not unless the pitches are as bad as the New Zealand pitches of 2002-03 tour :)

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Its a new day

A busy but refreshing trip to India is over and I'm back to US. I have quickly got a reminder that things cannot be taken for granted. Howsoever good you are, in howsoever good nick you might be in, you have to take a fresh guard, you have to start from scratch in a new innings. You have to remember that when you face a new delivery, there are no past reputations. You cannot relax and rely on your past laurels. It was my mistake, I just did not deserve it this time. There just wasn't enough perseverance and more importantly desperation. I just kept hoping for some miracle. But I have been quickly grounded, and its disappointing and hurting.
But the important thing is to learn from your defeats. This is a hint to me to work on my game and my game plan. Never relax and chalk out plans to conquer future games.
And also, as I said earlier ..... if there is no desperation to win, there can hardly be enough perseverance. I think that's an important reason for my current form slump. There's just not enough motivation in there. I need to find some pretty quickly to avoid more embarrassments. Need to be on the right track otherwise it doesn't take long for the wheels to come off and the train to derail!