A Word Worthy of Entry in Oxford

“Somebody who has not gone through this will have only questions, not answers”

This thought is so meaningful and profound. This was a kind of perfect statement said very simply and with utmost humility. I was awestruck and it kind of resounded in my ears several times. Wow! It is very easy to point fingers and put several questions which create doubts in one’s mind as regards ability and tenacity.

Life is a journey and each one of us has our own share of pains and joys. Ifs and buts are easy to manifest and speculate but the real deal is when one is confronted in a specific situation. Sad part though is that even people who have treaded along a path of learning, difficulties and challenges end up being part of the finger pointing mass. I find it really strange.

It is within one’s right to speak his or her mind but one expect the words to be encouraging and constructive. Constructive thoughts bring answers to the table; they carry lamp of hopes and bundle of energies. It requires humility in understanding the fact that there may be turmoil behind a smiling face. It requires dignity in perceiving the fact that the turmoil may be more painful to that smiling face than anything else. It requires sentiments in realizing the fact that the turmoil needs solace and love irrespective of severity.

Plainly deriding something or criticizing someone is the easiest thing to do, especially if one has had been through critical stages of life smoothly. Overcoming such situations on the other side is the most challenging and remarkable thing to do which at the end breeds plenty of modesty and reinforces faith in ability. There is one person who has done it so many times that it is hard to look beyond him for inspiration, gentility and greatness. The aforementioned statement was made by him today in a post-match conference when asked about the questions doing rounds in media of his performance off late.

Take a bow! Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar! Someone aptly said, Microsoft word should not give grammatical error when someone types Sachin!

Randomness!

It is hard to break the rhythm and it is even harder to be back in rhythm. I wonder how past several days have passed in a flash. No thoughts there to introspect either. It has been like flowing like never before. Thankfully, finally sometime to rejoice and rejuvenate.

It has been very good busy time for media these days. One would hardly blink before the other news breaks. World is within thumb’s reach these days which is somehow occupying one corner of the mind in lives of each one of us. It is therefore very important to be with at ease with your own self once in a while. Very important. Some time to spend peacefully with people who matter in your life and who inspire you to live strongly, gleefully and cheerfully.

Imagine one sip of coffee with your dear ones at one remote café and loads of soft music aiding to the wholesomeness of the ambience. No mobile phone strictly! Imagine late night phone call with one of your close friends discussing each and every thing. No facebook status/ likes strictly! Imagine embracing your parents/ spouses for all the strength and tenderness that one needs. No diplomacy allowed in that zone! Indeed, life is made up of all those wonderful moments which often are taken for granted in the mundane daily affairs.

All I say today is:

जी लो ये ज़िन्दगी कुछ इस तरह, गुज़रते लम्हों के साए में,

कागज़ अगर कोरा भी हो तो, मुस्कुराहटो की बहार लाये,

अगर कुछ लिखा भी हो तो बेशक, दास्ताँ बन के रह जाए,

एक बार जो मिली ये ज़िन्दगी, जी लो इससे पहले हाथो से फिसल जाए!

Will-Power Can Beat The Hell

For a moment, I gladly accepted the fact that it can be beautiful without my hero. I wondered what if bodies would break. I left behind the idea of supporting either of them plainly because of nervy moments and sweating palms. But the show kept going on and on till a divine intervention made its presence felt. I say divine because it was only divine that could stop them.

Ever since I saw Roger Federer playing the game, any grand slam final without him never stirred my interest enough to catch a glimpse of the match. Somehow, I managed to watch the first few minutes of the Australian open final on Sunday which featured Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic – world no. 2 and no. 1 respectively. If there was any indication of what was in store, it could not have unfolded in a better way – majestic tennis of 353 minutes. We will leave the thought of winner and loser for some other day.

Yes, it ended 353 minutes later. I thought that the Melbourne will have to wait for Monday sunrise to decide the winner. It was a game one would seldom witness in a lifetime. Close matches and long five setters are not uncommon and time and again we have seen a few epic stuffs. But this was something special. It was not a test of technique. It was not a test of knowing each other’s game well. For that matter, there was nothing that Nole or Rafa had to prove. Ever since these guys started playing grand slam, there was writing on the wall as regards their glorious careers.

It was a test of mental toughness between the two of the mentally toughest sportspersons in this era. It was a test of overpowering every bludgeoning cross court forehands or baseline winners. There was tremendous display of high class professional tennis coupled with a will to smash each other to the extent of beating the hell out of each other. Final hour of the play had it all. Bodies were literally howling in never ending rallies. Nole almost broke his body in the longest rally of the match deep in the fifth set. Yet, it never looked like anyone of them was willing to offer a single inch of room. Each point was fought harder and harder.

The game eventually ended because it had to end. But, there was not one winner for me. If there was a rule, I could think of stopping them at some stage and declaring both of them as winners. Both of them displayed Great Spirit, Competitiveness and Will-Power to say the least. It is our fortune that there are so many great tennis players around us who play hard and fair game slam after slam. Take a bow – Nole and Rafa! You both deserved to win!

We are with you, Maahi!

For most of us, New Year means new hopes. With this very hope, we have embarked a wonderful journey of 2012. By journey, essentially I refer to the experiences – good or not so good, heartening or at times heart-breaking, jolly as well as somber. Who says life is always going to be a mattress of pink roses. And when there are thorns, there comes learning which makes one go wiser, steadier and balder ;)

Perhaps, this is what MS Dhoni meant during the post-match conference after Sydney test which India lost to Australia by unbelievable margin. Over four years of his captaincy, he has been through a golden patch which never seemed to end and people wondered at one point whether it will ever end. When India faced the ignominy in England few months back, a lot of factors were attributed to the mass failure which looked ok and sustainable to the cricket crazy nation including fans, media and experts. We not so open-heartedly accepted the defeat but eventually moved on. New Year has not changed the fortunes for Dhoni either – a master of leadership, humility and sportsmanship.

Two consecutive losses in Australia – first Melbourne and then Sydney – took the tally of test matches lost by India on foreign soil to a consecutive six. Now, there are questions being raised on the man who could never do wrong. Captain Dhoni finds himself on the firing line. Well, there may be some tactical errors which could well be one of the reasons behind such failure. And Dhoni admittedly understands the learning in the process. If you follow media, there are hundreds of other reasons that one may hear.

This post is not about getting into details of any specific reason. It may sound a voice of a sentimental cricket fan, but I tend to believe that these are the players who can deliver the results lack of which is being scrutinized to every detail. Can’t we just keep things simple and humbly accept that opposition has played better than us? May be, our preparation was not up to the mark? May be, we did not click collectively? May be, there are some issues within the team management internally?

I am sure that Dhoni knows it well within his jurisdiction and he is not the one to sit back and relax. For God sake – give him time to work through the system of test cricket amidst crazy limited overs environment (including bizarre scheduling) and ever-changing team dynamics including fitness management. Let him take a call which he is quite aware of (he openly admitted to the fact that he may not play in world cup 2015). He never expressed the responsibility that he has carried over past four years and therefore, we don’t even come close to appreciate that. Don’t write him off for he has given us every reason to smile in his short term of captaincy. If at all anyone has to be blamed, it has to be the infrastructure which has undergone radical and stupid changes due to boom-boom hitting caused by T-20 format.

I would instead admire courage of Dhoni who understands gravity of each question posed to him and answers honestly to his best. He may sound stereotype but isn’t he balanced, isn’t he calm amidst chaos, hasn’t he put his head up and sounded ready to face the next challenge and immeasurable pressure built by media. Not to forget the pressure of leading the team and working with administrators who are hell bent to transform the gentleman’s game into money-generating case study. His is the leadership we must treasure. His is the leadership we must respect. And his is the leadership which we must handle with care for his is the leadership so rare.

A great year and few underrated heroes

Bidding adieu is one of the toughest things to do and the time has come again to say goodbye to another year. The term goodbye is so powerful that it moves hearts, drenches the eye-lashes and leaves memories forever. The term goodbye is so powerful that it gives “the hope” its meaning and “the optimism” its importance. Before we say goodbye to this wonderful year, I would dedicate this post to few individuals who have been so underrated in their long-lasting career in their respective fields.

In the middle of vanishing trust in politicians and vastly contaminating field of politics, there is one Congressman who has seen it all in his long political career and stood firm on his credibility not only amongst the people but also in the ranks of opposition. He has served more than four decades in the parliament. In a year when central government has been found lost amidst several social, economic and political issues, he has been the saviour of the government and aptly termed as the crisis manager. Mr. Pranav Mukherjee is a true statesman and hugely understated amongst the masses for his efforts in helping Indian National Congress (INC) run a coalition government which INC is not used to since the independence. May he continue to leverage his long political experience for the betterment of our country which badly needs it now!

This was a year when Indian cricket was supposed to prolong its number one position in test cricket. This never seemed possible and was never possible. Amidst heart shattering performances in test cricket by team India, which eventually cost us this number one position, there is one true individual who came out of a rough patch and emerged as only successful batsman. A true and down-to-earth gentleman, a great team-man, he has always put the team ahead as the team needed him. He survived tough demands of one day cricket over 15 year long career and in the fading years of his limited overs cricket, even matched the stroke making requirements of T-20 cricket. As a matter of fact, he will now lead Rajasthan Royals in the next IPL. Now second highest run-getter in test cricket and highest run-getter in tests in the year 2011, Rahul Dravid is a cricketer very understated compared to what he has done to Indian cricket.

New Delhi hosted common wealth games in the year 2010 and the event was a great success. The infrastructure of New Delhi benefitted enormously from this event and Delhi metro led the development story in the capital. Just upon completion of phase II of Delhi metro project, the metro has been able to connect all the major areas of Delhi. The man who has been behind all this has retired from his office today. Famous as a very sincere, honest and hardworking professional, he has delivered projects to Indian railways, Calcutta metro and DMRC which were of highest standards. His integrity come to the fore when he offered to resign as MD of DMRC taking moral responsibility for collapse of under construction bridge during Delhi metro project. I truly salute Mr. E. Sreedharan and several like him who work relentlessly in the background and are never known to the general public who indeed owe them a lot.

P.S. – I wish a very happy and prosperous new year to all the readers. Love you all! You all are so wonderful! Happy Blogging!

Flashing in the mob

It is holidays season once again and we are about to say goodbye to another year which had its own share of mixed events. Well, past is something which always had some good and some bad. What is definitely good is the future. I am more optimistic than ever today as several exciting moments of a wonderful life keep on unfolding. Indeed a wonderful journey the life itself is!

I thank all the readers who come here on this space and give me inspiration to write random thoughts. Most of the times, you will find this space serious and heavy. Therefore, I thought of bringing something entertaining on the plate today. In this particular year, we saw the concept of flash mob hitting metro cities and few other cities in India. It took me some time to get used to the term but this was something very very interesting. The idea dates back to 2003 when it was coined for the first time in Manhattan. However, it is now that it has come to India.

We all have seen what a Kolaveri can do. The audience prefers natural way of presenting the songs and videos these days. No wonder the flash mobs have drawn large amount of interest on the similar lines. All of a sudden, you see volunteers picking up in numbers in the middle of a busy street or a huge mall to entertain the public who is so engrossed in the daily affairs. Few in the public take weeks to smile whole heartedly. And the flash mob does the job of bringing back those smiles amidst a tough and tiring day out of nowhere.

Check this for instance. This is easily the best shot flash mob and deservingly attracted maximum hits on youtube among Indian flash mobs. You would see a lot of jaded face in the public which Mumbaikars can relate to easily. But then, look at what these youngster brought for them all of the sudden – smiles, fun and joy which perfectly matched with the flavour of the song.

I personally liked this one. Never thought this could happen in Kochi. They know how to add flavours in life and that too in true Indian spirit. Those kids seem wonderful and they really entertained big time. Three cheers to the dancing passion that can be seen only in southern part of India. They dance and they dance wonderfully.

Now the last piece that I thoroughly enjoyed is this one. This can happen in Park Street only on a lazy Sunday. I was chuckling to see the choice of song for a typical Kolkatan. You can be easily forgiven to assume that this was not Kolkata. What is missing in Kolkata these days is perhaps the vibrancy that came along with this song. I could only wish for its rubbing effect on to Didi! :)