This is probably the shortest I've written but the one that makes most sense to me
Dreams do come true. Maybe not exactly how or when you wanted it to happen but it happens..Saying goodbye is probably the hardest thing to do... But 3 points to remember here are:-
1. You have got to be so lucky for the very fact that you have friends and dear ones in your life whom your going to miss so terribly.
2. Goodbye is a two way handshake. Chances are the other party involved will miss you just as much.
3. The internet is an amazing invention... so.. its never goodbye forever.
"True friendship isn't being inseparable, its being separated and nothing changes"- anonymous
Obliviate and poof! Your memory is lost forever. Or was it because of a spell really?? No, there is no spells that work in this real world. It is we as humans who "forget" the simple fun things in life or may fail to notice them in our daily life and forget to smile and laugh. Why? Does our life get that busy?? Do we just grow out of these phases in life?? Do we have to change ourselves on the inside and out? Where is the joyous reckless laughter that was in us as kids?This really interesting question popped up in my mind when I was out for lunch few days back and watched few kids playing on the sand with kids playing tools, enjoying the sun and sand with some supervisors. It was nice to see them enjoy their time while their supervisors busy speaking on their cell phones. It made me wonder all the fun we miss out on nowadays.
I recall all those “childish” things which but still give u the ultimate pleasure and joy. Think about it. How much fun would it be to race with your friends and jump over a compound?? Yeah!! How many of us remember to do all these??
How much fun would it be to
Scream out loud until you feel your throat goes soar? Remember all those cheering we had as kids on the cricket ground!
Sit upside down on the sofa?
Stand on the table and feel tall?
Go dance in the rain?
Hide behind a door and do "BOOOO" for the next person who comes in?
Run behind someone and hug them from the back? (Too Girly ah!!)
Pour a mug of water on someone and get the same right back at you?? The festival of Holi, Ed and Diwali celebrated together. (Shahid Bhai- can you forget the Holi and Diwali celebrations we used to have back in those days)
To go on a race, n get ready on the line, but run backwards and let the other person run to the finish line?
To lock your siblings when they are in a shower??
To go down a lane in your bicycle without holding the handle?
To wear your dad's shirt and also try out his big huge round glasses if he has one?
Go down the stairs by jumping two at a time?
Or much better, sit on the railings of the stairs n go "wwwhhhooooeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"
Meet school and college friends on weekends and Play Galli Cricket every Sunday afternoon
I can go on and on about these small but really refreshing things. One thing I must confess in spite of writing this blog, that I miss doing all these small things. Next time you feel stressed out or feel that u have grown up, just try one of these "how much fun??" rules and get that hilarious laughter out of u. Do not "obliviate" all these simple things from ur mind!
This is one of those blogs that I wrote because it reminded me of the days at college and home. From being a voracious reader to not much today, it took me down the memory lanes. Countless visits to Brigade Road and MG Road to buy books either from road side vendors or from Book stores. Long journey !!! Good Old days.
The day was 19th May 2009 and the man came down to Bangalore for a book release. Lord Jeffrey Howard Archer – an English author, actor, playwright, convicted criminal, and former politician (and my favorite author). How I longed to meet him but it never happened. An Indian Vacation is always filled with appointments that are subjected to change any moment. I grew up reading his novels after the “Hardy Boys”, “Tintin” and “The Three Investigators” stage of childhood. My first real novel was “Honor among Thieves”, the novel I cherish the most till date. Once I started working, I had absolutely no time to keep up with reading. I was an avid reader with a huge collection of books stacked up at home. My parents were always kind enough to help me in accommodating my books. Right from Sidney Sheldon, Dan Brown to Jeffery Archer, Daniel Steele, Mario Puzo, Ayn Rand, Thomas Harris, Robin Cook n many more. As a teen, I was so fascinated by Sheldon that at times i would sit up all night trying to finish a book. 'Tell me your dreams' was the first Sidney Sheldon book I ever read after which comes "The Doomsday Conspirancy" .
It was then that I started looking up to Sheldon n read all his books. My most favorite book of all times until 'Kane & Abel' came along was 'The Godfather' by Mario Puzo. Man, that’s the most fascinating book I've ever read and my most favorite character till date. So does the movie too.
I had 'The Prodigal Daughter' and 'Not a penny more, Not a penny less' by Archer neatly stacked up in my shelf for quite a while. I don’t recall buying them, probably got it from a friend. Initially I had tried reading 'As the Crow flies' by Archer. That was the second book which successfully put me to sleep.’ The Enchantress of Florence' by Salman Rushdie was the first one. “As the crow flies” was not so bad, but it wasn’t that good either. A few chapters done and it’s collecting dust in the corner, safely stacked away from the world.
When a friend suggested that I try Kane & Abel, I was least interested. But when I knew that it was a prequel to The Prodigal Daughter, I thought trying it wouldn’t be such a bad idea. I was one of the weirdoes who read the 3 part book in reverse order - first “Shall we tell the President”, second “The Prodigal Daughter” and then “Kane and Abel”. Well it turns out that it’s the best book I've ever read till date. The book tells the stories of two men born worlds apart. They have nothing in common except the same date of birth (April 18, 1906) and zeal to succeed in life. William Lowell Kane is a wealthy and powerful Boston Banker while Abel Rosnovski is a Pole born into desperate poverty who eventually immigrates to the United States. How their life entangles, n their hatred for each other forms the rest of the plot.
I'm soon going on a shopping spree for all Jeffery Archer books and also I must also start my reading habits once more. Blogging habits are back to business, now its time to get the reading back on track.
Until Nezt Time, Adios AmigosThis is one of those blogs that I wrote because it reminded me of the days at college and home. From being a voracious reader to not much today, it took me down the memory lanes. Countless visits to Brigade Road and MG Road to buy books either from road side vendors or from Book stores. Long journey !!! Good Old days.
The day was 19th May 2009 and the man came down to Bangalore for a book release. Lord Jeffrey Howard Archer – an English author, actor, playwright, convicted criminal, and former politician (and my favorite author). How I longed to meet him but it never happened. An Indian Vacation is always filled with appointments that are subjected to change any moment. I grew up reading his novels after the “Hardy Boys”, “Tintin” and “The Three Investigators” stage of childhood. My first real novel was “Honor among Thieves”, the novel I cherish the most till date. Once I started working, I had absolutely no time to keep up with reading. I was an avid reader with a huge collection of books stacked up at home. My parents were always kind enough to help me in accommodating my books. Right from Sidney Sheldon, Dan Brown to Jeffery Archer, Danielle Steele, Mario Puzo, Ayn Rand, Thomas Harris, Robin Cook n many more. As a teen, I was so fascinated by Sheldon that at times i would sit up all night trying to finish a book. 'Tell me your dreams' was the first Sidney Sheldon book I ever read after which comes "The Doomsday Conspirancy" .
It was then that I started looking up to Sheldon n read all his books. My most favorite book of all times until 'Kane & Abel' came along was 'The Godfather' by Mario Puzo. Man, that’s the most fascinating book I've ever read and my most favorite character till date. So does the movie too.
I had 'The Prodigal Daughter' and 'Not a penny more, Not a penny less' by Archer neatly stacked up in my shelf for quite a while. I don’t recall buying them, probably got it from a friend. Initially I had tried reading 'As the Crow flies' by Archer. That was the second book which successfully put me to sleep.’ The Enchantress of Florence' by Salman Rushdie was the first one. “As the crow flies” was not so bad, but it wasn’t that good either. A few chapters done and it’s collecting dust in the corner, safely stacked away from the world.
When a friend suggested that I try Kane & Abel, I was least interested. But when I knew that it was a prequel to The Prodigal Daughter, I thought trying it wouldn’t be such a bad idea. I was one of the weirdoes who read the 3 part book in reverse order - first “Shall we tell the President”, second “The Prodigal Daughter” and then “Kane and Abel”. Well it turns out that it’s the best book I've ever read till date. The book tells the stories of two men born worlds apart. They have nothing in common except the same date of birth (April 18, 1906) and zeal to succeed in life. William Lowell Kane is a wealthy and powerful Boston Banker while Abel Rosnovski is a Pole born into desperate poverty who eventually immigrates to the United States. How their life entangles, n their hatred for each other forms the rest of the plot.
I'm soon going on a shopping spree for all Jeffery Archer books and also I must also start my reading habits once more. Blogging habits are back to business, now its time to get the reading back on track.
The one reason I hadn’t published this was the Lord’s test. Something told me few days ago about the end of Australian dominance at the Lord’s for 75 years and finally today it happened. The story of one of the greatest players Australia – and maybe, the world has seen. Ricky Thomas Ponting – Australia’s captain courageous, Punterwinner of two World Cups, owner of 38 Test centuries and yes, one of the most successful skippers in the game but this story of a boy who never grew up. This is also a story of a player who probably ranks third in the history of modern cricket.
The great Roman Philosopher Seneca had said: “There is no great genius without some touch of madness.” When a player has scored 11,153 runs in Test cricket, with 11,523 in the shorter version to match, you can’t help but marvel at the abundance of talent at his disposal. We still can’t help but feel embarrassed when you look at his behavior, on and off the field. After all, we are talking about the man who’s leading the 'No. 1' team in the world.
Last Sunday, England pulled off one of the greatest escapes in the longer version of the game. With just one wicket between the Kangaroos and a 1-0 lead in the Ashes, England’s 10th wicket pair of James Anderson and Monty Panesar disillusioned the mighty Aussie attack for more than 11.3 overs to do the unimaginable at Cardiff. Earlier, the Australians were frustrated by Paul Collingwood’s marathon 245-ball 74.
After the game ended, we were reminded that modesty is surely not our man’s best acquaintance. But couldn’t we see that coming didn’t we? Ricky had to say after the game: “They can play whatever way they want to play. We came to play by the rules and the spirit of the game. It's up to them to do what they want to do.” Obviously, the great man was troubled by the ‘gamesmanship’ shown by the English. But then, look who’s talking! He speaks of playing by the RULES- is this his rules or the rules of the game!! The masters of sledging want to teach their opponents a thing or two about sporting spirit.
His take on England’s retaliation : “I'm not sure if they look at it like a win, they're not 1-0 up, and they've been outplayed for four days... They'll have more soul-searching and selection issues than we will." Today we can see who is soul searching and 1-0 up in the series. Glenn McGrath , Gilly and Shane Warne are missed dearly.
But really, haven’t we found the Tasmanian with his foot in the mouth once too often to let this one pass? A few days back, Sunil Gavaskar celebrated his 60th birthday. As accolades and wishes poured in, one reflected what cricket’s bad boy had to say about this Indian genius a few months ago. After one of the many escapades on the field by the Aussies, Gavaskar made the mistake of saying things as they are. Gavaskar wrote that Australia had been an “awesome" team over the last decade but are "awful in the way they have sometimes behaved on the field". Thanks to Ponting, Andrew Symonds and company.
Ponting’s snap: "I don't mind if 'Mr Perfect' comes out and goes on about our team. I know we are all not perfect. We are not going to keep everyone happy 100 per cent of the time. Gavaskar would do well to look at his own team whose development programme he has been part of at various levels. I know who I would rather be going to watch. Have a look at how many Test matches they have won.” Great praise from someone who’s the Little Master’s junior by 24 years. We all know about things that Gavaskar achieved for India when Mr Ponting was in his mother’s womb and then diapers.
Ponting’s love affair with India is a long one. It probably started when Harbhajan Singh bamboozled him in Sharjah in 1998. Never been comfortable against the Indian spinner since then, spitefulness has been the Aussie’s greatest amusement. Two years ago, when India lifted the T20 World Cup, Ponting, clearly not pleased, attributed it to luck. “Teams that are outclassed in five-day matches and even 50-over games are much more competitive in Twenty20. India offers a good example of this. The shorter the format of the game, the more dangerous they become… Some of their batsmen, Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni, are classic examples, can hurt you more in shorter games." Check your facts, Mr Punter. Not for nothing is the world afraid of the Indian duo. The willow speaks of their achievements and not the players.
For the record, if we go back to the T20 world cup match that Ponting was talking about. Luck? Australia managed to pick up only five Indian wickets; is it that the luck he’s talking about? Or is he talking about the 70 off 38 balls that Yuvraj scored? Or the five sixes and five boundaries that Yuvi hit in the semi-final clash is the luck he’s talking about? India was lucky first time, then it was Pakistan. Pity, lady luck never smiles at Australia.
Obviously, the reasoning is simple. When Australia wins, it’s all fair and square. Just because they are the No 1 team. When India do, it’s called luck. Lucky for England that they managed a well-fought draw on Sunday and a hard fought victory today. Sporting spirit? With two wickets away from victory, Ponting, standing close-in, claimed a bat-pad catch, when the ball was nowhere near the bat. Maybe, it was Collingwood’s lucky day, no? Skipper Andrew Strauss shouldn’t mind much though, he knows all about Mr Ponting.
Anyway, no one's going to forget in a hurry the compliment the great Anil Kumble gave to Ponting & Co after the last series Down Under: "Only one team played with the spirit of the game." Relax Ricky; the world knows who he was referring to. And to support the cause, we have Steve Bucknor.
Meanwhile, though the Ashes score line still reads ONE-NIL, England was a distinctively superlative team for much of the Lord’s test match. And that’s what matters, mate !! August 24th is a long way to go!!
Disclaimer: This blog post is not intended to draw rude comments or to show what's supposedly a characteristic of this blog - put down "popular figures" just for the heck of it. But you're welcome to reject this disclaimer. In addition, my thoughts and opinions change from time to time…I consider this a necessary consequence of having an open mind. This weblog is intended to provide a semi-permanent point in time snapshot and manifestation of the various memes running around my brain, and as such any thoughts and opinions expressed within out-of-date posts may not the same, nor even similar, to those I may hold today.
PS : Just in case. If I say something stupid in the future, it’s better to be able to point out that the stupidity is mine, and mine alone. My stupidity! You can’t have it! :)
