Adieu!!!!!

Time is a luxury that we humans don’t have. Four years back, time was measured in grades, hence then, it was semesters that quantified it. Well, that is about to change for many of my friends here in college as they are about to bid adieu. As you might have guessed, this post of mine is reserved for my friends who added all the flavors to my college life which is turning out to be a bikini cocktail. If not for them and a few of my classmates and juniors, my college life might end up much like my hostel food. Need I say more?

The Rendezvous:

My college use to be an open house. Trust me it really was when we were in the first year! If not for the literal sense, at least people had no problems to get back to hostel even at unearthly hours after a movie at sathy’s famed IMAX’S but the only option they had was to jump the fence. Let’s plunge headlong into the list of the notorious pranksters, the peters, the Johnny Bravos, the Gunners, the red devils, the motofreaks, the manish malhotras and the desperados.

The MeCH TRIO:

AnKaN:


This guy will be your best mate if you address him as HUNKan every time, he might respond to you if you call him Ankan and he’ll go absolutely berserk if you call him Gong. Jokes apart, Ankan is BIT’s Hariharan. Ankan, a Bong, in fact a proud Bengali is one bloke who can go to extremes as far as his humor goes and has immense potential in exercising his vocal chords. I can never forget our IIT face painting competition and the stay at his home was absolute joy. I need to mention Ankan’s parents and his brother Arnab. We guys had a fantastic stay at his place, amazing hospitality and great food. A great mate and at times, he’ll be too rude a self critic and that has confounded many amongst us.





Vinay:

Vinay is ankan’s roomie and they both have the ability to amaze you with sheer brilliance and can also make you gobsmacked with bizarre mokkais. To be precise, vinay is smart, very smart guy. Whatever he does, he does it with interest and purpose and that is something I personally envied of this guy. Very clear of his ideology and conducts his life as he wishes. There is always something that is informative when you talk to this fella. He is an ardent football fan and an Arsenal Fan, a man for all weathers and a no fuss guy.










Sandheep: Sandy, sandu are a few names that can invite this guy’s attention. Sandy is an F1 and Football freak. He knows much about Ferrari than Stefano domenicalli does. He won’t mind giving a few suggestions regarding the team’s formations to Sir Alex Ferguson as well. Sandy can speak loud, really loud. I mean it! Sandy is down to earth. He won’t hesitate to admit his ignorance and that is something I like in him. I have had his company in all the major cultural competitions that I have been to and I have enjoyed every bit of it.









The Mixed Bag:

Prabhu Shankar:

Pappu , chitappu, brubbu, coach etc……. are few of his nick names. Prabhu is BIT’s chella pillai. Everyone knows him. Hold on a second, let me put it this way, he knows everyone. He is a natural story teller. The best part is that it is not intentional. A cricket maniac and that’s a common trait amongst us. He can go on and on about cricket (in fact he can do it on any topic). He is an extreme hard worker and can fit into any role, be it a technocrat, a throw ball coach and obviously a cricket expert. He is a Genial Giant.




Saravannan:

Pottu, loosu kounda (that’s how ska calls him) are his nick names. A true eco freak, very passionate about animals, pets, plants and all that is related to flora and fauna. A humble person and an enthusiastic participant in all activities. All the major treks in our college’s Eco club were possible, truly because of this guy. His koundar accent is something that’ll stay in my mind for long. His hideout is my college’s cafeteria and you can find him there, nine out of ten times after college hours.


Prashanth:


Shanth is a motofreak and goes crazy for cars and bikes. He would rather be working in a pit stop rather than studying network protocols. An athlete, a good friend of mine and off late for some reason he badly wants to murder someone just because he feels bored. I got to know him only in the latter half of my hostel life and since then we have partnered in morning jogs, afternoon class bunks and a few cricket’ O7 matches in ska’s system.






Varun:

I call him Vroomm, a name inspired from Chetan Bhagat’s One Night at the Call Centre. He is BIT’s student’s voice in any important function and don’t mistake him to be a students head. He sings the lullaby in every function from the MC desk. He adores sleep much more than his B.E degree and he is up there to compete with ska as far as afternoon naps go. I first met him in the English department for a MC rehearsal in the first year and even then, he was the king of that trade. Varun, along with his gang mates relish pulling my legs and obviously ska’s too.



Gokul:

Goka has a fantastic dressing sense much like maali, prashanth and few above mentioned characters. He is studious, a quite operator and a good dancer. He taught me the important step for the ringa ringa part in our recent “flirt with danger attempt” (I mean, our hostel day dance).















Mahesh:


Maggi, matter are few of his famed nick names. This guy had his base in the hills for sometime and was literally chucked down to the plains. Jokes apart, mahesh can prove to be a silent assassin and he is adept at pulling other’s pants down and still act as if nothing had happened. Matter, is an easygoing person and makes girls go crazy over his hair style.















Anantharaman:

Anda is Bio-tech’s Bheem boy. Anda is varun’s roomie and both come from the same school as well. I know Anda right from my school days when we use to go to the same cricket coach for daily nets. I was surprised to see this guy when I joined the college. He is The Big B (big brat). A famous Rotarian in our college and can get very candid at times.














Marshal:
Malli is the chocolate boy of our gang. His dressing is impeccable and carries a soft demeanor and obviously, a ladies man. He is very polite and has a clean sheet in whatever he does. A brand freak and like a few others, an absolute no fuss guy. Malli shares a good rapport with ambi and he is ambi’s roomie.








Tarun:

Appachu still has this habit of irritating me with the question that he asks me every weekend “dude how come you are still in hostel instead of going home?” (Well! To be honest quite a few of my friends, juniors and seniors would ask me the same question and that makes no difference to me) Tarun rarely talks and barely comments on anything. He has his own world out in the backyard of mysore and coorg. He too is an automobile freak and his room walls stand testimony to this fact.











Kadambari:

Well KD is the personification of Bharathi’s pudumai penn! She has enough ammunition in her armory to rattle down everything and anything that is thrown at her. Her response would be as blatant as one could imagine. She is a knowledge hub and would not hesitate to help you out if her help is sought. A very good friend of mine and history says that she was in my batch and in my school. A Bhavan’ite!











Amrutha:
She is a real brat. She is one person who would start joshing casually and then can go up to the extent of making you completely mum with her spontaneous responses. She is one of my very few friends from the opposite gender and she really is a worthy friend of mine. A chatter box and a die hard MSD fan! .








The list is non-exhaustive and I only hope that those names that I have missed out don’t get cross with me. A statement is beautiful only if it is complete. On that note, separation is as important as instigation. Any relationship derives meaning not on the proximity but on the longevity (wow! I never knew I would come up such an authentic, awesome one-liner!). Anyways, let the best of luck accompany you in all endeavors.

Team India is only one test match away from scripting its famous series victory in New Zealand that has eluded them for more than four decades. The just concluded test match at Napier has added more to the fact that team India is now covering grounds on all aspects of the game. India has managed to pull off a draw after being completely outplayed by the kiwis for almost three and a half days of the test match.

The Kiwis piled up a mammoth first innings total of 619, thanks to Jesse Ryder’s marauding double century and tons from both Taylor and Mccullum. The strip at Napier served as a batting paradise and there was virtually no assistance for the quickies from it. Sloppy ground fielding from the Indians aided with ordinary bowling ensured that kiwis batted India out of the game. India started their daunting quest of scaling the huge total on an ordinary note with the Delhi dasher getting out cheaply for a very ordinary shot. Gambhir too perished yielding to sudden rush of blood. The Indian batsmen played one too many shots and failed to put up any considerable partnership throughout their innings. All three senior pros failed to convert their starts and that cost India dearly. India was asked to follow on and that meant India had to bat for two and a half days. Even though the wicket was true enough and had even bounce, it really required an out of ordinary effort to stick it out for all seven sessions. India has quite often succumbed to pressure when it comes to saving a test match in the last innings, but this new Indian outfit seems to be averse to losing games and this is the quality that has transformed the poor travelers to a top draw team. Much was expected from Viru but he failed again and India was one down at stumps on day three.
MARATHON INNINGS:
Day Four:

All that was required of India was Bat, bat, bat and bat on till dusk and that’s exactly what unfolded from the Indian batting camp. Rahul Dravid and Gautam Gambhir did exactly what was required off the duo. The Kiwis tried all that they had in their arsenal but couldn’t make any inroads early on. Dravid has finally come out of the shell that subdued his batting in the recent past. Even in the last test match his batting was flawless and very fluent. Dravid was at his best in both offense and defense. An absolute shocker of a decision sent the dejected dravid back to the pavilion. Sachin who walked in as India’s number four did not put a foot wrong. The Master is in sublime nick and that was evident in each of his outing. Dravid was the sole wicket to fall on the day and India raised their chances of pulling out a draw out of nowhere. The black caps had a long and toiling day on the field.
Day five:
Things looked rosy for the master blaster to add another ton to his kitty, but a stunning catch from Brendon Mccullum consumed his wicket. It was crucial for India to keep the wickets intact as we know history has often surprised us with team folding up like a pack of cards on the last day in fact, even in the last session of the match. Just as the kiwis smelled blood, Laxman yet again performed in trying situation and made sure that the kiwis did not get under their skin. The match was nicely poised and both the teams had a chance of getting home. Gambhir, on the other hand played an innings of his lifetime occupying the crease for almost eleven hours. For a natural stroke maker, it really is coming of age for this Delhi youngster. Gambhir finally got out and even then, Kiwis had a fair chance of winning the game. Yuvraj Singh was under pressure right from the word go of his innings.

Laxman Silken:

Post tea session witnessed vintage laxman. Laxman was all class and poise as he caressed his way through for his fourteenth Century. The wristy player scored hundred of his one twenty four in boundaries and this says the complete story. India finished the job with much ease and lead the series. All set for a humdinger of a contest at Basin River.

Carnage in Christchurch

New Zealand tour has always proved to be a nightmare for the Indian Cricket team but, this time around the situation is altogether different. Team India is on a roll now and in the past two years they have only grown from strength to strength in all formats of the game. While India remained the undisputed champions at home, their overseas performance has always come under criticism. Fair enough! Who would tolerate a quality test team from not even posting a total of 200 in neither of an innings of both the test matches played, when they toured New Zealand last time around? When India toured New Zealand the last time around in 2002-03 just before the start of the world cup, the Indian batsmen just couldn’t put a proper bat on ball. The lethal bonding of Bond – Tuffey tamed the famed Indian batting with much ease. Moreover, Christchurch has so far only proved to be a Devil’s Den where India vs. NZL has a 0 – 5 victory ratio. So, as always the thought of watching a cricket match on T.V, laid back at home proved irresistible to me.

India took on the Kiwis in the third ODI at Christchurch on Sunday (8-03-09) in the five match National Bank ODI series. The second ODI was washed out due to incessant rain. India were already one up in the series and the make up of the third ODI was all the more luring with the Little Genius Sachin showing glimpses of his batting geniuses in the second ODI. I got back home on Saturday (7th of March) and was dying to watch the match the following day.

Friday, the 7th of March, at around 19:15 Hrs, I met a couple of my school friends at our very own RK paani puri stall. As always our conversation touched all spheres of possible imagination and at last settled down to Sunday’s plans. Decision making was never a tough task for us, if it was on hangouts. We decided to go for a movie (sorry, they decided and as usual I just nodded my head pretending to be okay with the decision). I would never sacrifice a chance to watch a match for some dumb movie. My friends did their best to persuade me for the movie and even went on to state that the Sunday’s match would definitely be a rain washout. I tell you, that did not please me one bit.

Beep, beepp, beeppp….. Like a visually impaired individual, I stretched my hand across the table to shut the screaming cellbore (My MutePhone). I woke up hastily and switched on the T.V set, only to find out that I was a touch late to miss the toss. A sigh of relief to watch the stadium bathed in bright sunlight contrary to what was predicted by my friend. Shewag and Sachin strolled in. I dislodged my blanket, adjusted the pillow and comforted myself to watch, what promised to be a splendid game of cricket.

Initially, Sachin was very cautious and selective in his shot making and at the other end; shewag had no method to his madness and soon perished playing a tail ender’s slog shot. His Delhi teammate Gautam Gambhir walked in as the number 3 batsman for India and he too looked off color and was very tentative in his shot selection. He got out trying to run down a delivery to the third man area. He got out in the same fashion for the second time in this tour.

Yuvraj started off his innings with a splendid cover drive and looked good right from the start of the innings. Sachin and Yuvaraj resurrected India from the initial jitters and gradually stepped on the gas and started playing some beautiful cricket shots all around the park. Sachin carried his momentum from his last game and outclassed and dictated terms to the Kiwis. Just as everything looked bright for India, everything turned dark at home. Power cut!!!! Imagine my plight! Once in a while I get to watch a cricket match and when I do get a chance to watch sachin in full flow, these things happen. By the time my T.V got back to life, the Kiwis hopes had already died. Sachin had butchered their bowlers all around the park and with cameos from Yuvaraj, Dhoni and Raina, India piled up a huge total of 393 on the board.


As expected, the black caps came out all guns blazing and Jesse Ryder proved too hot to handle.

The Ryder bazooka fired time and again and with Mccullum playing the way he normally does, the duo batted India out of the game. The Indian captain led from the front but, this time for a lost cause and dropped an absolute sitter behind the stumps off the bat of the marauding Ryder, then followed a flurry of drop catches, high school bowling and sloppy fielding. The ball sailed past the ropes time and again and the opening partnership was soaring at a pace of 8 runs an over. It looked as if the Indians gave up hope and their body language on the field was evident of this fact. They were waiting for the Kiwis to make a mistake and fortunately for the Indians, Ryder obliged to their unsung request and committed a fatal mistake by chancing Raina’s arm only to leave his helpless partner in absolute despair. That very run out cost New Zealand the match and that triggered a string of wickets to fall and all of a sudden the black caps were down in the doldrums.

Even after losing 8 wickets, the Kiwis never gave up. The spectators got their moneys worth and were treated to some delightful stroke play even at the fag end of the match. The new ball partners Southie and Mills used the long handle to good effect and sent the spectators in the crowd for cover. Munaf Patel, the weak link in the Indian pace attack experienced the drubbing of the summer from the Kiwi tail Enders. The best part was that, even after such humiliation he managed to project a smile, Kudos to the selection committee. Much to the relief of the Indian fans, he was removed from the attack for sending down two consecutive beamers in the same over. India finally managed to get their noses in front across the finish line.

The only consolation of the match was that of Sachin’s delightful innings. An absolute treat to watch. SACHIN, 43 AND COUNTING…………

Midsummer Night’s Dream

I could hear the murmurs from the other side of the door. The shadows gradually sneaked into the room. I tried my best to avert my attention from the engulfing dark shadow and turned off the lamp hoping to fade away the stretching silhouette. The rhythmic spattering of the rain drops on the asbestos knocked on my senses with equal intervals. The thought of spending the remaining six hours alone in my room haunted me. For once, time haunted me! The beautiful white curtains which had its moments of admiration and praise have now turned its ugly face on me. Familiarity breeds contempt but that very night it catalyzed the willies. My little room out of no where started showing ominous signs of hostility. My pupil dilated as I tried to discern the aberration in the normalcy of my room. I slowly slid into my slippers and ambled across my study table and edged close to the windowpane.
I couldn’t digest the fact that my yellow bordered little window that portrayed the finest of morning hours that embraced the golden rays with balanced dignity is now pretending to be a host for several hundred raging, blood thirsty demons. I turned around at a pace that would have made the wachowski brothers proud. I looked at the wall clock, a sigh of relief as the clock ticked past four. A sudden gust of wind pushed me back and it howled out in the trees. I threw myself onto the cot, rolled under the blanket and slid my face amidst the pillows. I began to chant all my forgotten prayers; I started cursing myself for opting not to accompany my parents and for resorting to stay all alone. Little did I move, I could feel the pulse motoring up, the bedspread wrinkled into a spider’s web in no time. The illusion of someone breathing down my neck loomed large. Phat, Phat, two familiar heavy blows on my back. I was on the verge of letting the world know how loud I could yell. I did the superman thing, stood up all of a sudden holding onto my blanket and starred at a figure that has co-existed with me for 21 years. The darkness has evaded and everything looked the way it used to be. Time to School, blurted the silhouette standing in front of me. Gosh! Chimera was better than reality.

3 SHADES OF TRIVIA

The desperation to make my blog better than my previous posts has for once turned trivial to me. Well, as you guessed it right, I am very much not in the mood to blog. The very thought of today’s flop show (21-02-09) gets me worked up a little. Defeat has embraced me as frequent as victory has but, still it annoys me when I get so close to tasting success and at last end up with bitter defeat. To be fair enough I haven’t even made anything clear as to what I am talking about. Okay! Let’s get on with it.

Wednesday (18-02-09):
This week (16th of Feb ’09 to 22nd of Feb ’09) has been a mix of fortunes as far as my quizzing stint goes. On the 18th of Feb ’09, “The Economic Times” hosted a quiz competition at GRD College. The quiz master for the competition was “Tata Crucible” famed Giri, a burly man whose voice could well be classified as Death Metal genre. GRD has always proved to be an exotic college if not for educational aspects but at least for other reasons. It wasn’t a working day so, our anticipation went in vain. Much to our surprise we came to know that it was an out and out business quiz and not a general quiz. We were under-prepared as always but, still stuck to the ritual of giving it a shot. The prelims proved to be relatively easy and we did fairly well. When the results were out, we were a bit upset that we couldn’t make it to the finals. The frustration peaked all the more when the Quiz master disclosed the prizes for the top six finalists. As always we stayed back to watch the finals and that did not go in vain as we managed to grab four audience prizes. Post Quiz, we managed to have a word with the Quiz master. We told him about our Quiz club and that we also have a proposal of hosting an open quiz in our college.

Thursday (19-02-09):
The department of Computer Science hosted an intra college Quiz competition as part of their 3 day fest which they termed as Sieger. We managed to win the quiz even though there was stiff competition from my club mates. That proved as an impetus for us and the win in the quiz competition made us to top the list after Day 1 of Sieger.

Saturday (21-02-09):
/>My outdated gizmo missed out to wake me up by 5 ‘o’ clock and fortunately, Deepak did the work of my alarm but understandably with a humanly delay of half an hour. We were instructed by our Placement officer to be ready by 6-15, that meant I had only 45 minutes before hell broke loose. I managed to be there on time, only to find that not all are as foolish as I am. Only a few had come. We (I and Deepak) decided to take a look at the proceedings leading up to today’s (22-02-09) eco club trek, a trek primarily organized for the first years. We reached the cricket field where around 50 first year students were present along with a handful of club coordinators, who were supervising the others. We started from college by 6-45 and reached PSG medical college by 8-15. The event TRANSITION’09 organized by CTS encompassed many events like movie making, paper presentation, ultimate techie, stall presentation and the all important Quiz (“AWE”). It was clinically organized and the event got underway at around 10-20 a.m. Much to our surprise, around 100 teams were there for quiz alone. The prelims got underway with “Lloyd” being the Quiz master. The preliminary round was easy and we got 15 out of 20 correct.

We had to endure a long break between prelims and the finals, which was the final event of the day. Fortunately, the anchor kept me occupied for the major phase of the idle period. She reminded me of my school senior. A tall and fair complexioned lady tidily attired in a dark green saree. She was gorgeous till lunch, (doesn’t make sense eh?) well, post lunch had a different story altogether. After lunch, I went in search of the free ice-cream that everyone was relishing on. I grabbed my cup and tasted it standing in front of one of the entrances to the auditorium. I accidentally happened to spot this girl sitting on the steps along with few of her friends. She was the odd one out of the bunch because, she was in salwars and the rest wore jeans and t-shirts. Coincidence you may call it, we both glanced at each other at the same instance. She looked like a mallu and that spurred my inquisitiveness further. She had the look of an innocent chubby kid with gleaming eyes beautifully bordered with an eye liner. I then resorted to concentrate on my ice-cream (this is how I portrayed myself) and occasionally I gaped at her. I decided to seek my classmate’s assistance to confirm what unfolded before my eyes. I then, asked ambi (rengerajan) to check if she was looking for me and I decided not to look at her again. Ambi as always proved to be a master in these matters, answered me in the affirmative and tell you what! That pleased me in fact, that delighted me. She then went inside the auditorium and I obliged to her silent invitation and convinced my friends as well to enter the auditorium. For about one hour this fairy tale continued before she left the place. I couldn’t do much as the results for the prelims was about to be disclosed in a matter of minutes.

I was a bit tensed and was on the edge of my seat. The quiz master disclosed the first name and much to our surprise we found ourselves as the first team to qualify. I was very much excited and we ambled across to the stage with huge applause from the mammoth audience. I was so absorbed by the moment that I just did not notice the beautiful anchor giving us some instructions. The quiz then got underway with teams from KCT, PSG TECH, AMRITA, CIT AND GCT (I GUESS) completing the top six teams. The first round did not fetch us any points but, by the end the second round we were tied at first place with CIT. The next three rounds were buzzer rounds which meant pace had to be mixed with caution, caution of earning negative marks for a wrong answer. We were out of sorts and couldn’t do much about the remaining rounds. The last round had only 3 questions and carried +15 for a correct answer and a -10 for a wrong answer. We had no other option but to go after the questions if we were to finish among the top 3 spots. Two wrong answers and that put us on the darker side of zero. Disappointment, frustration, anger and everything except happiness crept in one by one. Though everyone consoled us saying that it was a brave effort to risk in the final round, we couldn’t digest it that easily. I had to return home so that I could finish off the police verification for my passport.
SO CLOSE, YET TOO FAR.

Black Constitution

It is intriguing to notice the nature of us – the lesser mortals. I seriously doubt if I explicitly need to qualify the word mortals with the adjective “lesser” when there are concrete reasons for the fact that it goes without saying. The recent Mumbai carnage has really been shocking and it is has left a deep scar in the hearts of many innocent people for sure but, it once again stands a proof for the sphere of duality that we have encircled for ourselves. The same people who now make the fullest use of their intellectual ability to reason and question the acts and the negligence of our so called Government, have always remained quiescent when no personal loss happened and when some distant compatriot was the sufferer. In Independent India (except for the liberation of a few thousand issues like communalism, terrorism, capitalism……..I still wish to term my country as Independent) egotism has outraced patriotism. Our reluctance to stand up for our fellow citizen’s cause against our own fellow men is still the reason for us being done in by even lesser mortals like the terrorists and politicians. It is comical to even think about using phrases like lesser mortals, even lesser mortals etc…. but, I find nothing wrong in doing so, for we as Human beings are constantly on the lookout for bastardizing Humanity. My intention here is not to vilify the human race in totality but to talk reality. Now that I have given an introduction about human nature for those of you who don’t know (Ahem…) lets narrow down on my intention.






I started this piece of blog on the first day of the Mumbai attack and due to unprecedented events happening in the due course I mean, I had my VII semester and I had no other option but to delay the completion of this posting. I guess some of you might be wondering how could semesters stretch to a span of one month or more then, all I can tell you is “If you are under Anna University everything is possible”. The subsequent proceedings of the Government conveys a rather humiliating sign that we pretend to sleep until our as*** are on fire. This is not the first time our neighbors have failed to check whom they call “non state actors”. This is not the first time the noble terrorists who fight for a greater noble cause have intruded into our border. In fact, the intrusion is so deep that they don’t find it tough even to peep into our parliament, which is the rendezvous of our legally elected terrorists who meet up quite often, if not to devise beneficial measures to their compatriots but, at least to drive the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha speaker crazy. To be fair enough we, as the masses need to take the brunt of the blame. Ignorance might be bliss in many aspects but, it is not when it comes to electing your state’s and country’s representatives. When you know that the gentlemen clad in white are no better than the tidily attired terrorists, why do you have to cast your vote in favor of them? If prohibition of the fundamental right of a citizen is a crime, so is exercising the same right for a wrong cause.




Communalism is worse than terrorism and the politicians are adept at exploiting it. The public of Maharastra remained mute when Raj Thackrey proclaimed that no non-maharastrian should stay in the state. No one gave a damn about what was said and what was done. Every one of us saw footages of many innocent non-maharastrian being beaten up by Raj Thackeray’s men. Even the Bachans were not spared. Every crime in this country is candid and each one of us know the entire story behind it and the men behind the screen as well but we seem to ignore it. Not once or twice but it happens so regularly that some even say “chod dho yaar, yeh tho mamooli hae”. Are we consciously blind or are we so self absorbed that we adorn patriotism and religious tolerance only for a cricket match. I certainly respect those few unbiased and patriotic souls who lost their lives fighting to save others. The aftermath of the terrorist attacks were even more disheartening. One politician quotes “But for the NSG commander even, dog wouldn’t visit your home”, and this statement was the only commiseration that the politician could afford to a dad who lost his only son, a major aged 31 who died fighting the terrorists. Another politician even goes to the extent of saying that the death of one of the policemen is politically motivated. Our politicians even go to the extent of opting such down market ploy to bank the election votes.




Human values seem to be an outdated commodity. I have always said and believed that Darwin was a prophecy. It’s down to the survival of the fittest. An unwritten rule that speaks little about human values and more about materialism, inconsiderateness has embedded itself in our consciousness.





If innocent lives have to be massacred,
If blood is the only answer to wash our opacity from kindness,
If a perpetrator is the only teacher who could teach us the wisdom of oneness then
None is holier-than-thou.

Beautiful delivery!!! Just short of length drawing the batsmen forward making him to reach out for the drive... Bowled himmmmm!!! Done the batsmen in with an absolute peach of a delivery... Well disguised googly did the trick this time… Well these comments and much more will not be heard anymore with the Legend Kumble calling it quits on Nov 2nd at the Feroz Shah Kotla. It was a shock for the entire Nation as the retirement came much earlier than expected. Relentless, perseverance, impeccable precision …….. All these qualities can be attributed to this humble cricketer who has been a fantastic ambassador for the game of Cricket. Cricket is known as the “Gentlemen’s Game” but, only a few contemporary players know that Cricket carries this tag also with it. Kumble is definitely a great role model for up coming cricketers. He has showed us the right way to go about the game on and off the field. In a career spanning over 18 years, this Gentle Giant has always proved to be a fierce competitor who would be always at you, relentless in his approach, very aggressive but, still without involving in sledging that has almost consumed the modern day cricket.

The Indian Cricket team has done exceedingly well in test matches for the past 8 to 10 years or so. Overseas victories which were nothing more than a dream slowly started to become tangible results. Series victories in England, West Indies, Pakistan and test match victories in Australia, South Africa all were witnessed in the last decade. All materialized purely due to some great contributions from the old horses like Kumble, Sachin, Sourav, Rahul and not to miss out the under-rated VVS. These guys have done yeoman service to Indian and World Cricket. Now that two will be missing from this list is really sad news for any Indian cricket fan. First Sourav and now Anil have decided to hang their boots. These are huge shoes to fill in and I’m supremely confidant that this void created by their departure will not be filled that easily.

“Everything has an end”. True! But the manner in which one gets to retire is worth mentioning. India has always been a myth and will continue to be one, not just for outsiders but also for many of us. This is a land of extremes. One even gets to see someone building a shelter for 8000 crores and at that same time you could also get to see significant proportion of the population living without shelter. The Media in particular can even be termed as The Prophecy .These guys have their own flair of getting things done just for the sake of commercializing their business. Constant pressure on the senior pros regarding their retirement has done no good to these great players who deserve an even better farewell than what we have and what we are about to give them. This era for me is the Golden era of Indian Cricket. This is my personal opinion and I give a damn for those who would want to contradict me. For many sports is all about results and for a few souls it’s all about professionalism, clinical approach, technique and charm. These “fab five” all have stamped their authority on the game with their unique style.










Sourav - the Prince of Kolkata, the God of Offside is by far the most aggressive captain India has witnessed. His entry to the Indian team in the One Day format is not so significant but the way he blasted his way into the pure format of the game is incredible. The sparkling hundred against England on his debut at the Mecca of cricket will always be remembered by many of us. The way he drove the ball on the offside , his square cuts split the gap with utmost precision . It wasn’t a flat deck on which he creamed the bowlers but, it was pretty hostile for batting when he came onto the field for the first time. Overcast conditions, movement on and off the pitch and to compound it England had Mullaly, Tudor and Cork in their ammunition. Sourav established his authority with many great knocks like the 124(if I’m not wrong) against Pakistan in Dhaka, his consecutive four man of the match awards at Toronto , 140 odd at Brisbane , Nat west finals and many more are worth cherishing. He was a natural timer of the cricket ball, his offside play was Godly and the way he transformed the Indian team from a submissive unit to an aggressive outfit was remarkable. He was brutal against spinners and the way he dances down the track and clears the boundary is a sight worth treasuring. He led the team with flair and confidence in the 2003 edition of the World Cup and that would go down in the record books of Indian Cricket. I certainly feel Sourav did not deserve the ill-treatment he got from the spectators, media, the selectors for sure when he was out of the team. He still proved his mettle by making a remarkable comeback and showed that class is permanent and form is temporary. He would always be remembered as someone who would never say die even at the dearth of motivation. A remarkable one day player and an elegant left hander who had his own panache of going about his work .Dada, we’ll miss you for sure.


Now this section is about someone whom I admire and respect so much. Well, it’s no big surprise it’s Anil Kumble. I developed a penchant for his bowling at a very young age. I still remember my school days when I was in fourth or fifth standard and we use to play tennis ball cricket at my friend Abinow’s place in Tatabad. It really is comical to revisit the past when as a kid I was over-ambitious and tried to bowl leg spin with a tennis ball. I admired his approach and his relentless nature. I could see a warrior in him, with a thick moustache and his run up is something that I always try to mock whenever I get a ball in my hand. I never bowled leg spin and never could because; it’s not an easy art. It takes invariable practice, dedication and hard work to master that art. Jumbo as he is rightly called has a real big heart and his career span and records speak for it. Many talk about his perfect 10 as his career best. By no means can I discount that feat but, for me the test match at Antigua where he got hit by a bouncer and broke his lower jaw. No one would have expected him to even be by the boundary ropes but, this great bowler got onto the field and even got the Caribbean prince,Lara out. Even now in his last test where he injured his finger and had eleven stitches on it and still came out and had 3 scalps. He even ran backwards and took a catch in spite of being injured while many in the team dropped sitters. Anil was an underrated cricketer by the media and he made no big fuss about anything. Even when new comers were complaining that they deserved to be the next captain, Anil never spoke a word. This speaks volumes about this man’s character. Respected all over the world’s Cricketing Fraternity he truly is a Legend. Here again, I would like to add that the press played an ugly part towards the fag end of his career. He was not given his due and at the same time he was constantly under pressure questioning his fitness, lack of form and retirement plans. He himself came out openly and stated that he found it difficult to handle two teams when India toured Down Under. Here, by two teams he meant the Aussies and the press team which was always on the lookout for topics apart from cricket. Everything said and done, he still managed to conduct his leadership with élan and a style of his own which has become synonymous with dedication. It really is a sad day for me and I will definitely miss my childhood hero for sure when the Indians adorn the whites for the next time. Hail Jumbo for his contributions to the world cricket.