Recreation

Fans with short term memory, a board with nothing else on mind other than money, media which waits for every little opportunity to paint the team as a shame to India ...My god!! An unenviable position really !

I will never hold the players completely responsible for the 8:0 loss. Yes they deserve a bit of a flank, but there is a bigger issue that needs to be looked at.

The biggest hurdle that I see in Indian cricket progressing the way it should is BCCI and not to forget its golden egg the IPL.

Such is the zest for money in BCCI that a meaningless IPL 2011 was held within 6 days of the most memorable day of Indian cricket in the past 25 years. The players did not get to savour the moment,they did not get an open bus parade,they did not get time off with their family and friends, they did not get to bask in glory .. All they got was a lunch with our president Prathiba patil (Last thing on earth that players would have wanted).

To think that this world cup win was the same as the ones between 1975 to 2007 would be foolish. To me there has been no win that was as emotional as 2011 wc . Perhaps 1992 and 1996 run close for the second spot . This is no effort to belittle their victories but still, Pakistan did not have to beat India to reach the finals, Sri Lanka did not have a single game which is worthy of an India v Pakistan semifinal , but India did .

As if beating Australia in-spite of a pointing century was not draining enough we had Paki's lined up next . I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in thinking that it's okay to loose the cup but not the game against Pakis... To top all that a brilliant chase under lights with stellar performance by Gambir and a six that will be folklore for ages to come. I was emotionally drained!! Never mind the players .what did they get to offload all that pressure ? A lunch with Prathiba Patil. The WC was history within hours .. CSK , MI , KKR hogged headlines .

Such is the pressure on players to participate in IPL that my favourite Cricketer played the tournament during April , May and skipped the tour of west indies wanting to spend time with kids on their "summer vacation" during June and July . I am all for players taking rest against weaker oppositions and i do not blame them for wanting to spend time with family. Infact they should have got time to do all that immediately after the WC not after 2 months of high intensity 20:20 s .

The BCCI which behaves like local politicians throwing it's weight around in matters like Woolf report or the DRS was blinded by money then. A Board which could force other cricket boards to play unscheduled test matches to ensure that India sticks on to Number one position in tests could have postponed the IPL pretty easily. It did not care for the players .. It did not want quality cricket .Instead they wanted feed their never ending appetite for money and so they killed the goose which laid golden eggs - the players .

To blame just the IPL for all these losses would be amateurish ... The whole system needs to change ,specially our first class set up. Teams of poor quality ,poor pitches and Meaningless tournaments should go. Sensible , objective cricketers who think rationally without bias should be made to take all cricketing decisions, not the cement man Srinivasan . An Australian like Argus review of our current system should take place and the changes suggested should be implemented religiously .

Emerging players Should be made to play in county, perhaps even in Sheffield shield and south African first class system . Pitches should definitely improve . Expecting our players to play all their formative years on slow and low pitches and expecting them to cope with pace , bounce and movement is unfair . You can’t teach some one tenth standard syllabus and give them IIT question paper, Can you ?

If we don't act now we are going to be the new West Indies and the only prevalent sport in our country is bound to die.

Sanjay mankrekar's recent tweet said

"you know you are in a sports loving nation when you find 29 sports pages in the sunday newspaper here in oz."

We don't have that luxury , do we? A county ravaged by politicians and terrorists needs its favorite sport more than anything else .

Given that we have seen people wish for different things from fairy tales to super star Rajinikath’s Baba,I always thought that I knew what a “wish” meant .But when I thought of writing a post on it things did not fall in place. Questions like what is the difference between a wish and a dream came up.So here is the exact meaning for the benefit of confused people like me.

“Feel or express a strong desire or hope for something that is not easily attainable; want something that cannot or probably will not happen “ - is what my dictionary had to say on wish.Thats not exactly what I had in my mind!!!

Now that I know what exactly is a wish it’s time to come up with my wish list.Wishes of all kinds, from the small ones to the unrealistic ones have started flooding my mind.Lets start with our favorite topic Cricket. The first thing that comes to my mind is not India winning 2011 world cup (although it fits the definition of a “wish” perfectly) rather it is the complete ban on 20-20 that I wish to see.No one on this planet should ever play 20-20. That was a simple pick.

What about Afsal guru and Kasab? I wish our government Hangs both of them before another IC 814 gets hijacked to Kandahar.

What about census. Oh yeah!!! Big one isn't it ? Send those 20 million back. No two ways about it.

I might have gone with wish to see an unbiased media if my dictionary had defined wish as “Want something that will never happen” rather than “probably will not happen”.Okay! thats enough politics for two days!! Lets move on to the lighter ones.

Office - I wish I get to appraise my manager.(Please God, grant me this one!! I will never ask for anything else).And I would not mind 2 months vacation like how we used to have when we were at school.

Romance - My Father might read this post. So we will park this one for now.

What next...where am I heading? - I wish I knew that and I wish I could make a pick. This one is not as easy as the others topics.

Pretty interesting words I should say. Because, depending on the way you use it, you can either end up dreaming big or you can end up having nightmares after treading along the path of pessimism. I have had loads of both these categories. I have dreamt big, even some unrealistic ones and I have had nightmares.

One of the earliest ones I remember is the one I used to have on the eve of every difficult exam, what if there is a pen which could memorize all the answers and reproduce it on the answer papers. On the other hand there have been nightmares asking what if the question paper just has the questions which I conveniently decided to omit. Unfortunately the pen never materialized, but the question papers did.

Then I have had dreams of what if I become a pilot, a vet nary doctor, an engineer, an astronaut, prime minister what not? But yes, there was always a scary thought “what if I end up just grazing buffaloes like my math teacher often insists I would?”

What if I get caught while I copy is one seriously thrilling thought during exams and Yes! At times it has stopped me from going too far which is good. But the fear of what if I drown in water hasn’t helped my swimming lessons in anyway. I’ve tried so hard, but even now my swimming instructor says I’m too rigid in water and I need to relax more to be able to even dream of swimming.

So what if I put a couple of dents in the rented car was one positive thought which spurred me on to rent a car and go for a long drive. But given the amount of money that I stand to lose this positive what if thought slowly moved towards the negative side and I don’t rent cars anymore.
What if I am the prime minister is one positive what if that has got me dreaming right from schooling days. I am pretty sure it is the same with most of you as well. I only got as far as no exams, no teachers, no home work and more holidays back then. These days it’s more sensible. But my surname is not Gandhi so this one is going to be one of those pen dreams. But that doesn’t stop us from dreaming does it?

What if I quit my job and go back to studying and writing exams is one what if for which I don’t know if I should go with the positive kind of what if or the negative kind.

Given all the experience I know that “What if’s” of the positive kind have more often than not taken me forward whereas “What if’s” of the negative kind have mostly been hindering my progress. But with age I think it’s more of the negative kind which fills up our mind. The fear of losing plays a decisive part in deciding which kind of What if we should choose. The challenge is to keep this aside and weigh the options rationally.

It’s been 20 years now!!Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar has been an important cog in the lives of every cricket fan for 20 years!! At a time when the whole world is showering praise and affection on the little master (http://www.cricinfo.com/sachinat20/content/site) it’s only just that I pay my tribute too. Here is my bit to my hero, the man with whom I could relate to some of the most memorable moments in the past 16 years.

I was 3 when Sachin made his debut. So I am one of those unlucky people not to have followed Sachin for initial 4 years of his career as I didn’t understand cricket then, but from the times I started understanding cricket there has been only one hero, only one person who has answered most of my prayers cricket wise – Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.

Fanaticism Stage 1:

With Sachin anything that he did both on the cricket field and off it was instant success. The first innings that I remember with good clarity was the hundred against Kenya in the 1996 world cup. From then on Sachin has always been there just like every other friend just that I could see this friend only on TV. I used to cut his pictures from magazines, paste it in a note book and look after the note book like it was a prized possession. Any class mate who criticized the way Sachin played would be dealt with a barrage of arguments some of which even Sachin might not have found sensible. I still remember writing “Cricket is my religion; Sachin Tendulkar is my God “on the first page of every note book in my seventh standard. Every new pen bought should only write Sachin’s name first.

Fanaticism Stage 2:

As I got a little older I got a little sensible, very little though. I collected articles on Sachin and bound it into books. When I took cricket seriously it was all about being Sachin. Copying his drive, his stance, his bowling action, his mannerisms like the grin while he bats which almost looks like as if he is laughing at the bowler with utter disdain. I am not sure if I really liked the game of cricket as much as I liked Sachin. India winning or losing didn’t matter; it was only what Sachin did that mattered.And I am pretty sure that this is not just me. There must be millions of people In India who have been following Sachin with the same levels of fanaticism. No wonder his career is being celebrated as it is today.

In fact it’s not just the common man, test cricketers are no different. On a day when Sachin had reached yet another milestone , Krishnamachari Srikkanth (under whose captaincy Sachin made his debut) was on CNN IBN analyzing the game when the reporter remarked that every test cricketer would love to be in Sachin’s shoes. Srikkanth replied that he would love to carry Sachin’s shoes, forget being in his shoes!!!

So what’s so special about Sachin? Why should people be so fanatic about him? Perhaps it is his devotion to the country starting off with small things like requesting BCCI to allow him to sport the Indian flag on his helmet to big things like the 136 innings against Pakistan that he had to complete in lot of pain. May be it was the image of a man crying in agony when he met the family of Jawans killed in Mumbai attacks or maybe it was the image of the boy smiling after saving the game for India against England with his maiden century. I am not sure. To me it’s the complete package. On the cricket field he is a Genius. If there is one thing that he can’t do it is just that he can never look awkward with the bat. He was born to bat as Peter Roebuck has written in his article on Sachin .On the field he is one of the safest fielders in our team. With the ball he is an absolute magician. A team man in every respect.

Off the field he carries himself like how every hero ought to. He’s always been politically correct. Barring the recent “Mumbai for all” comment I have never heard of Sachin making statements that hog headlines. Headlines are reserved for his achievements on the field. With the sort of adulation and limelight that he gets it should be easy to get carried away. He has never let success get to his head. Rather he has always been focused, he has loved the game like a 16 year old and he has always been there for India. That is why he makes an excellent role model for every Indian….not just the cricketers ….every Individual in India.

God!! That’s a frightening thought. I don’t remember what I was like when I was a baby. With only pictures and memories that my parents recollect it’s the part of life that my parents cherish more that what I do. From what I see with babies now if I were baby again I really don’t know what I would gain but I certainly stand to lose a lot of things. Where is the freedom? Freedom to wear to what I want to, go where I want to, eat what I want to… the list goes on not to forget if I were a baby again I should grow up again and in the process write all the exams all over again … Don’t tell me !!! That’s definitely not my cup of tea.

Anyway I am going to try and be a baby now … let me see how a day in my life would be like.

Early morning: It’s still dark. The other two other people (My parents obviously) in the room are still sleeping.

Me: God, I am hungry…. Get up ma. Get up. Ok!! These grownups don’t respond to my thoughts. Its time I make some noise. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA………

My amma wakes up cribbing.

Amma : Ok !! there goes the alarm. Wait ..wait …let me get you milk.

Me: Oh yeah!! It worked as usual.

Amma would bring some milk in a bottle, while she drinks her coffee.

Amma: Here you go. Drink it and for God’s sake Dont cry.

Me: Yikes!! I hate the smell of milk. Damn! Why don’t they give me coffee.

Amma starts her daily routine. Appa is still asleep. That’s not right, is it? I crawl next to my Appa and somehow manage to wake him up. Appa gets up and hugs me happily and brushes his unshaven cheeks on me.

Me: Somehow I laugh every time he does this and yeah that familiar fragrance with Appa – divine.

Appa gets up and starts his daily routine which also includes giving me a bath.

Me: Water!! Yeah!! This man sure knows how to keep me happy. But damn, this soap keeps irritating my eyes...WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA………..

Breakfast time: While they have all the idlys and dosas …poor me, I am given something mixed in milk again.

Me: God this tastes sweet .Grrrrrrrr…why don’t they give me something spicy and why is that amma never finds a smaller spoon to feed me.

Appa starts to office, Amma carries me to the gate, takes my hand and waves it to my appa … TA TA. I start my work with newspapers, and to all the other things in the house that are within my reach. From keys to remote everything has a taste of its own you see. Amma struggeles to keep things away from my reach

Me: Phew.Thats too much work. I am tired, Time to sleep again.

Lunch Time: Dhal with ghee is the recipe.

Me: chicken would be good. But that’s ok Dhal is not bad too.
After wandering around for some time I am put to sleep again. This time because Amma is tired.
Evening: The best part of the day.
Amma chats with her friends in the neighborhood. One or two talk some nonsense and some make funny faces.

Me: {Sulk} Can you please maintain some distance? Amma come with me .Don’t talk to all these lunatics. Let’s get inside.
Amma doesn’t listen.

Me: WAAAAAAAAAAA….

Amma spanks me … but in a split second realizes that she need not have done that. To make up for it, she cuddles me, points fingers in all directions, diverting my attention.
I forgive her. After all it’s Amma. No issues.
Finally she takes me inside and lets me play around with my toys. Both of us wait for Appa to come back from office.
And then the hero enters (Appa).
He lifts me at once, makes some funny faces and calls me by some names. That joy is back on my face. And then it happens. Appa puts his shirt back on.

Me: Yes …I’m going out. Finally!!

The trip to the neighbouring streets with Appa is always the highlight of the evening. I am shown all the dogs, cats, bikes, cars…anything and everything under the moon.
Finally the day comes to an end. Amma puts me to sleep again. Nothing can be more comforting than her gentle hands patting me in regular intervals.

I have become very good at procrastinating my work these days. So much so that I call it an art!! There is simply no bias at all. From eating to sleeping, from studying to working the tendency to procrastinate knows no bounds. Over the past year or so I have completely mastered this art .Not that I wasn’t good at procrastinating earlier. The talent was always there, but without people around pestering me to do things at the right time I have become a better exponent of this art. I will try and share my valuable insights in mastering the art of procrastination here. Hope it helps some of you!!!

To master the art we should never, ever have second thoughts about being lazy and the next important thing is to find some kind of reason or a lame excuse if I might say to procrastinate. Let’s face it. Being lazy is no big deal, is it? Nothing can replace that feeling of being lazy. But the challenging part is to find a reason to support our cause and to convince ourselves that the reason is really reasonable. Once you are through this difficult part it’s all bliss. My day yesterday could be used as an example to explain the art. I got up around noon with the list of things in to do like laundry, cleaning the house, studying for an exam, writing a blog but actually ended watching TV whole day doing nothing else. Here I am finally writing a blog hoping to finish it at the earliest and hoping that I tick off at least one task from my To Do list. The reason was a TV channel was celebrating first year anniversary. They threw a party by playing “Friends” all day. That was good enough reason for me to postpone all the other work.

I am thinking about starting a community in ORKUT to try and get inputs from all the other exponents of the art. I have been thinking for a long time though. But topic being procrastination it won’t make sense to create it immediately. That’s a valid reason to procrastinate, isn’t it?

I am also looking at taking a New Year resolution – I should never procrastinate. Problem is I have been thinking which year should I start 2010 or 2011.After all there are only 365 days in between!!!

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 3; the third edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

As a typical Indian child I dreamt of becoming a veterinary doctor. Luckily for the animals, the only diagram that I could draw with panache in my biology exam was the Amoeba. That was that!!

Then I dreamt the default ones like scoring high marks, topping my class and making my father proud!!! My father has only had to console himself every time my exam results were out. Without reading much history, without really knowing why there was a partition in the first place, the Indian in me used to dream of Pakistan vanishing from the face of earth one fine day. Fanatical yes, but don’t blame me… blame the Anwars, the Inzamams and the Akrams.

With time I suppose I have matured and so has my dreams as an Indian. Sure, there are plenty of dreams but one dream that props us every time patriotism runs high (which happens quite often) is to become a journalist. Don’t mistake my intentions. I am not after Avantika Singh these days. I have even left her fans community in Orkut. The actual reasons behind this dream of mine might be of interest to most of you. Why? Because I believe the reason is most of our dreams as Indians is the same “To see India really shinning” – The Indian Dream.
So what has my dream got to do with India Shinning? To answer that question we should think of factors which hinder India from shinning. To me the answer is simple – Hypocrisy of the highest order and not to mention ignorance of “We the people” in believing these Hypocrites. No prizes of guessing, by saying hypocrites I mean the Politicians of India. Now, for India to shine we have two options.

1) To eradicate the hypocrisy.
2) To eradicate ignorance.

I know everyone of you will agree when I say that only second option is viable. Educating people of facts is the need of the hour. We need to know the truth, not in bits and pieces but all of it. We should not be feed with facts which are fabricated to suits sections of the society. The more we are told of facts the lesser will be the chance for Hypocrisy to thrive.

I have a strong belief that the current trend of journalism that is being practiced in our country is as pseudo-secular and as hypocritical as our politicians are. How many of us would have the discretion to take the fabricated facts from the media and believe just the parts that are true? Let alone fabrication, at times they don’t report some important bits of information just because it goes against sections of our society.

I am not a journalist yet. But if and when I do realize my dream, I dream of being a journalist who doesn’t pass his judgments on issues, one who doesn’t force his perceptions on the society, one who builds up consensus amongst the people only for constructive purposes, who doesn’t deprive important bits of news from the society regardless of its nature and yes! one who contributes to the ultimate dream of every one of us – To see India Shining.

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