Happy Diwali...

So finally its Diwali time. This happens to be my first Diwali away from home, away from the company of my loved ones, away from those who care for me. But somehow I don't really miss the festive spirit. Maybe because it's still close to midnight and the real deal would start only in the evening. Maybe coz I prefer it this way, in the company of a couple of friends, away from everyone. Is that so? No, I don't think so. At least not yet.

Despite all this a few things have emerged over the last couple of days. I now understand why people crave to be with their families at the time of the festivals. At the same time it has got me thinking of those who, by a quirk of fate, are forever destined to stay away from their families even on days like today. Just think of those soldiers who patrol the borders so that we all could celebrate a prosperous Diwali. I wonder if their hearts don't ache for their loved ones, or if they don't feel a longing to be with their families on this day. Then there are millions of those who have nobody whom they could call their own in this world but themselves. I wonder what Diwali means to them.

I am away from my family on Diwali by choice and not by compulsion. And now i realize what a lot that choice means. There are so many out there who would give anything to just have that kind of choice. Its strange that i never thought of these things all this while. All these years when i was with my family celbrating Diwali, these thoughts never crossed my mind. I guess sometimes you just need a different setting, a different sort of environment to stimulate your mind. You tend to appreciate and cherish things more when they aren't with you.

And one more thing. Try going Green this Diwali. For a change let us celebrate Diwali and allow Mother Nature to enjoy the occasion as well. Say no to crackers.

And when you are gorging upon all those sweets and mindlessly forwarding text messages to those scores of numbers in your phonebook, do spare a thought for all those for whom Diwali is just another day at the office, for whom Diwali is just like another day, a day that has to be survived, for whom Diwali is yet another challenge to be overcome...

Happy Diwali :)

In the pipeline...

I have been meaning to write upon these for quite some time now, but somehow it just keeps getting delayed. I guess putting it out there in front of my loyal readership would goad me into writing at least some, if not all of them. So here's the list..

• Synapse: This one should have been written a long time back. I have learnt a lot from it and some of my happiest memories relate to Synapse. Quite committed to writing it.. :)

• The Chosen One: This would be a piece on Sachin Tendulkar. Since I have to in any case write it for Entelechy, so I guess this too would be done!

• The Date with Destiny: Most of my loyal readership already knows the story. But just for the sake of the writer in me, would write it...

• Hmmm... dunno wat else ! ;P
  

The Off-Side God

The upcoming test series against Australia would mark the end of the career of India's most successful captain, the Prince of Kolkata, Sourav Ganguly. Sourav Ganguly, the man who along with John Wright transformed the face of Indian cricket; the man whose cover drives could find the fence even with a 7-2 field; the man who along with Sachin Tendulkar formed one of the most potent opening partnerships that the world of cricket has ever witnessed.

After a forgettable ODI debut on the tour of 1992 in Australia, Ganguly spent the next four years in the wilderness till he was chosen for the Indian team to tour England in 1996. Ganguly made his Test debut at Lords and oh boy what a debut it was! After making an imperious century at Lords, he followed it up with an equally impressive one at Trent Bridge in the next test. Later that year, in an ODI at Jaipur against the Proteas, the world, for the first time, witnessed the greatest opening pair of all times in action. Both Sachin and Ganguly helped themselves to fifties as they put up first of their many several century plus stands.

The next couple of years saw Ganguly at his imperious best as bowlers all around the world watched in awe as Ganguly threaded the off side field with nonchalance and deported spinning deliveries over the bowlers' heads and into the stands. However more than Ganguly the batsman, its Ganguly the captain that the fans would cherish. In Ganguly, India was lucky to have a captain who wasn't afraid, who had the self-belief to go out there and beat any and everyone in the world. Most importantly he was a captain who galvanized a number of talented individuals into a competitive outfit.

Ganguly was passionate and wore his heart on his sleeve. Though it would be feats like stopping Steve Waugh's juggernaut in 2001 and leading India to the World Cup final a couple of years down the line that would define his career. It were small things like making Waugh wait for a toss and waving his tee shirt at the Lord's balcony that endeared him to his fans.

Ganguly came from Bengal, and was made captain in times when Indian cricket was dominated by the troika of Mumbai, Delhi and Karnataka. The fact that today a young lad from Ranchi is leading the Indian one day side wouldn't have been possible had the Ganguly era not unfolded. Under his captaincy Indians became better travelers. He backed the youngsters in his team to the hilt. Harbhajan, Yuvraj and many others owe their positions in the Indian team to their then charismatic captain, Sourav Ganguly. He ushered in what could rightly be called the Golden Age of Indian cricket.

Ganguly was perhaps at the nadir of his career when Greg Chappell was India's coach. Ganguly wouldn't have imagined in the wildest of his dreams the impact that his decision to support Chappell against the wish of his teammates would have on his career. The last year of his captaincy was marked with batting failures and more batting failures. Captaincy was wrested from him and in no time he found himself out of the Indian team. But Ganguly was a determined man, determined to win his place back, determined to prove that he still deserved a place in the team he had so patiently built.

The determination was for all to see when Ganguly made his comeback in South Africa. He was composed against England, and when South Africa and Pakistan visited India, he was once again at his imperious best. He notched up his maiden hundred at the Eden Gardens and followed it up with a magnificent double hundred.

After an indifferent summer in Australia and a forgettable failure in Sri Lanka earlier this year, doubts began to surface again. His ODI career had been brought to an end in Australia and there was a question mark if Ganguly still had the hunger to go on. It's ironical that the last chapter in the Ganguly saga would perhaps be written at Nagpur, where he drove the first nail in the coffin of his captaincy by withdrawing from the Test against Australia. He has one last chance to do what he does best, getting under the Australians' skin. But no matter what happens in the series, his legacy would remain intact.

Good Bye Dada...

Musings...

I never actually got to penning it down. Perhaps I thought that it would do more harm than good. Perhaps I thought that it was better left unsaid. Perhaps that’s the way it was meant to be. But then, are things ever the way they are meant to be ?


Why am I doing this now? Now, after all this time; when it's all over, or at least that's what I am made to believe. What I have been forced to believe. Forced to accept as truth something I know is wrong. But then, just because it's right doesn't make it true, isn't it?


I never really expected it. In most cases you know what is coming and when it happens, there's a sense of inevitability about it. But with me it was the proverbial bolt from the sky. I never knew what hit me. I never knew why it happened. What I knew, was that this was not how it was supposed to end. But then, we don't always get what we want.


There were pitfalls. But then there always are. For most part they were negotiated without any damage. Hardly any in fact. And that made it even more hard to believe. What I believed in, what to an extent defined me, completed my existence was no longer around. Exactly one month after that memorable morning I found myself alone, out at the high seas, with the lights of the life boat getting dimmer and dimmer. But then, I wasn't supposed to drown, not yet anyway.


Over the next couple of days I alternated between trying to cry and salvaging the dream. And at neither did I succeed. The eyes had dried, how and what for purpose I don’t know and I guess I never will. While the non-existent yet ever-present tears had run dry, my efforts encountered a wall of steel on the other hand. The voice was cold, the emotions absent. It was as if there had been a transformation overnight. I screamed that it was wrong; I pleaded. But then, all pleas are not meant to be answered, all screams not meant to be heard; some of them fall on deaf ears.


What was it ? Was it a beautiful dream with a tragic end ? Was it a betrayal ? Would I ever be able to forget, and more importantly, forgive ? I wish I had the answers to these questions and many more like them that keep rearing their heads. But then, all wishes are not meant to be granted.


I have come to accept it in a way. But not in a way it was hoped I would accept. That could never happen for that would have meant that everything that led to it was nothing but a bunch of lies. And that is not the case. But I have changed. Rather, I have been changed. A part of me died that evening. Faith has been shattered, trust has been broken, beliefs have been belied. More than anything, love was denied. But then I ask myself, what really is love ?

Ridiculous

Had been home the past few days and thus had the opportunity to feast upon the newspaper every morning., and that's when I came upon these ridiculously ridiculous statements made by people no less distinguished than the members of the Government of India...

• In the wake of the recent terrorist strikes, our hon'ble Home Minister was in the limelight quite often. And you just couldn't help getting pissed at his comments. Strike after strike he came up with comments like 'we will not tolerate this..' , 'they will be punished' and blah blah blah... Again and again he repeated those statements without ever bothering to back them up with actions. Hail the Home Minister!

• Recently it was in the news that a mob of fired employees atatcked and killed a CEO of an MNC. Guess what one of our Ministers had to say? According to him the CEO had it coming! Oops!!
  

• And yeah this is the biggie! Its not exactly a statement but more of a decision taken by our Telecom ministry. A few months back they sold 2G spectrum licences at the prices determined in 2001. And you don't need to be an Einstein to guess that the private companies who got those licences are not making a killing. Recently a private operator sold its licence at a premium of 600%. Estimated loss to the exchequerer: a whopping 44,000 crores.

Statements...

These are the statements that I have made over a period of time.. and being the narcissist I am, I couldn't help but complie them...

• What is Life is not a Risk?

• Sometimes the people who teach us how to love are the same ones who end up teaching us how to hate...

• I know the questions. Answers are what I am looking for...

• Even Mathematics, the most rational of sciences, has Irrational entities...

• A narcissist is one who understands that to love onself is the beginning of a life long romance.

• Forgetting a problem doesn't make it go away.

• In the end it all comes down to the people we love the most; they are the ones who matter and it's all about them.

• Isn't Life all about looking for a solution? There always are problems, and we always look for solutions. If the problems end, so does life...
  

Why......

Why would a person drive at over 100 Km/hr after consuming certain unmentionables?

Why would a person go and just sit in front of a building ?

Why would a person do all these at 4 in the morning?

These are the questions...

The answers are what I am looking for....

Last Night...

Hmm.. last night was nothing if not interesting... from the roof of the club house to the stairs of F wing... from liquids to fumes... from the college to Adalaj... from bottles to packs.. from a certain hostel to Pathika...from 0 to 100 km/hr.... from 12 am to 5 am.... and conversations.. conversations during which stories closest to our hearts were told... the pain was shared... grief was reduced... conversations which showcased the often hidden side of people... stereotypes were broken....

There are some things you never forget... some things that always stay with you... this night was one of those...

My take on Narcissism

A narcissist is one who understands that to love onself is the beginning of a life long romance.

I am a NaRCiSSiST...

Am lovin it !

Ahh.. there's nothing like a great mock to boost your confidence and to urge you to start being serious about your preparation.. AIMCAT 0909 was one such mock... city rank 1 after all :D

this one's even more satisfying... the rage, the fury, that had threatened to destroy everything was overcome... naah not overcome rather channelized in the right direction...

for a fleeting moment today i actually thought what it would feel like to be in those exalted institutions... living a life, that i must be honest in admitting, i have always dreamt of living...

guess the Renaissance has begun...

Cheers to Life...