March 27, 2010

Aha

Life's changing... Slowly but surely.

March 26, 2010

Me thinks..

Compatibility, looks, age, likes/dislikes are fairly over-rated parameters in relationships, aren't they? The basic parameter must always be respect. If you cannot respect your partner, all other things would fall apart sooner or later. If men could respect women the way they must be, we would not need a Women's Reservation Bill. Stop taking your partner for granted. Mutual respect is the essence of a beautiful relationship.

March 25, 2010

Never say never

Well yeah, never say never! Really.

March 24, 2010

The IPL thread

I love cricket. I love IPL - the concept, the conduct and the clink. Like the last two seasons, I have been closely following this third edition too. The matches till now has been superb and the quality of cricket on display in most matches are top-class. If there were doubters of whether cricketers would play whole-heartedtly for a franchise based format, they can now go and have a cup of tea because the format clearly works fabulously well.

It needs either a fool or a brave-heart to be able to put money on who will go on to win the tournament. For, firstly the format of the game is such that it is absolutely unpredictable and secondly (and more importantly), there is a long way left to go. Having said that, my money is on the Deccan Chargers and I hope they win this time too. Will they? We will wait and see. Can they? Surely, absolutely.

RCB, MI and DC are looking very good at this stage. Yet, the match of the season till date came in the form of a tied-followed-by-super-over match between KXIP and CSK. It was an important match, not just for the entertainment value but for the way KXIP won the match from almost being nowhere. That result will shower a lot of belief on many teams who might find themselves is a similar situation in the matches to come.

Interestingly, the mainstays of most teams have not been the high-ego-high-reputation youngsters, but their sober, senior team mates. Be it a Gilchrist/Symmo for DC or a Tendulkar/Sanath for MI or a Hayden/Murali for CSK. I am not taking away anything from the yonger lot but we will do well if we do not take anything away from the older lot too. Look at Kumble's accuracy in delivering bowls or the catches being plucked out of thin air by Dravid/Ganguly or the crisp textbook shots played by Kallis, and you will realize that they might be still calling the shots in T20 like they have in the more beautiful Test match cricket.

The beauty of the IPL lies in the lack of loyalties to a country/state/language. So when a Southie in Karthik leads DD against a Northie in Raina doing the job for CSK, the regional bias gets thrown out of the window. It is amazing how cricket cleans up the stains of regional politics. For, it is very plausible that Mumbai wins the league due to the talent of a Dhawan or Tiwary. Will some regional politicians suggest Sachin not to accept the trophy?

The pleasure of seeing Kumble bowl to Hayden with Boucher keeping wickets - three stalwarts from three different countries - is beyond words. It emphasizes the passion they bring in to play the game they love. How many of us manage to do that in our lives? I am truly jealous of them. Many say they play for money. Anyone who understands the intensity of cricket being played in IPL can only laugh at such observations. Money can be a motivator but cannot be the foundationstone for what Tendulkar does with the bat.

How can I not talk of the Mongoose bat! It looks weird to see Hayden holding something that looks more like an axe than a bat. But then, it is apparently effective. Symmo, like Hayden, is also a user of that bat. Would love to see what the monster can do with the mongoose.

My sense is that in insipid tracks of India, bowlers can not be the ones who decide the outcome of the game. And so, the quality of batting will decide the winner. Team with the best bat would go on to win the league. On their day, any line-up can do that as Dravid rightly answered to a Harsha Bhogle question after one of the matches. Peaking at the right time holds the key. Or else it will be like what DD experienced the last two times. Will they be third time lucky? Lot of people do think so. I am not one of them though. As I said earlier, we will wait and see.

So, here's to IPL and here's to awesome display of cricketing talent. Looking forward to more moments of brilliance. May the best team win (and may DC be that team!)

March 22, 2010

The zing of life

Every time you think life's a cool ride and you know the route, there's a change in plan. With each day passing, the noise around is unending. The scenes change, the characters remain. The plot change, the actors remain. New happenings, different beginnings, several endings, old woes, new joys, an old face taken off, a fresh one added, an enemy here, a friend there, missing someone now, being with someone the next moment, a hope there, sometimes a wish, at times dreaming, most times chasing.

In all this, there has to be an underlying generic theme, isn't it? What is that constant?

March 21, 2010

Giving while living!

There was once a very rich man in town who had everything that any one would want. He lived a life of extravagance and had all the worldly pleasures that anyone could ever think of: expensive attire, jewels, delicacies served everyday, innumerable mansions, a fleet of cars and help at his every beck and call.

However, despite his lavish lifestyle, he neither gave a needy person a penny to comfort nor did he say a kind word to soothe a hurting soul. Thus, everyone ended up calling him a miser. This perturbed the rich man and so he decided to do something about it. He informed one of his friends to let the enire village know about his plan to donate his entire wealth to the village after his death. Despite knowing this, however, the villagers spoke behind his back and continued to make fun of him. This further aggrevated his depression. One evening, the same friend came to meet him and sensing his disturbed mood, he narrated to him the story of "The Cow & the Pig".

There was once upon a time a pig who was unhappy that despite all the perceived help and assistance provided by him, he got only rude comments in return whereas his friend - the Cow was loved by one and all. So, one day the pig out of sheer curiosity, the pig asked the cow as to why the world treated her so reverently and the pig so crudely. The pig said, "All you give them is milk, while here I am, who gives them a lot more – I give them my hair to make brushes, I give them my skin, I give them my entire body but still they treat me so badly."

The cow heard all his complaints very patiently and then after taking a few munches replied – "maybe if you try giving something, even a little something while you are alive, you may be treated differently. Think about it!"

Received this as a forward. Source unknown.

March 18, 2010

For the teacher in me

Someone sent this to me today and asked me to replace Math teacher with FM teacher! Thankfully, it was a friend who sent this and not a student :)
I'm sure a lot of my students would read this and say 'I wish'! :D

On a kind-of-related-note, I think I'm starting to lose traits of a professor/teacher. Ofcourse, the assumption here is that I had those traits at some point in the past!

March 5, 2010

March 3, 2010

Flickering lights

It was a ‘blanket of blank’ as far as I could see,
Came tearing through the darkness, a tiny little refugee.

The tiny tot, small at his might, trembled,
Will I be able to survive the world, he fumbled.

Couple more joined him, to render strength,
Soon there was an array of flickering lights through the length.

The flickering lights…
Give me courage to face the world,
Wisdom to gather every stone hurled.


In togetherness, they lit up marooned streets gazed by yearning eyes,
In creativity, they give a new dimension to horizon-less skies.

In deafening silence, they create musical symphony.
In excess of stillness, they give a ‘reason to be’.

In times of rue, they epitomize victory over despair,
In times of iniquity, they symbolize en era of just and fair.

The flickering lights…
Give me hope for life,
Strength to cope through strife.


We may not be as bright as the big street halogen lights, they say,
But at least we provide twinkle to the eyes that pray.

We may not help you see all obstacles that lay,
But at least, through the falls, we give you strength to rise and walk away.

We may not bring jazzy colors, shapes and patterns to the variety tray,
But at least we bring variety to someone’s life’s monotonous, melancholic play.

The flickering lights…
Give me inspiration to light others’ lives,
Chance to spread optimistic vibes.

An en-route experience by Payal Sinha
(PS is a dear friend of mine, based out of Noida. Feedback & comments on the poem are welcome.)

March 1, 2010

Double ton

Few days before my blog turned 100 posts old, Sachin had surpassed a Test record. This time, when my blog turns 200 posts old, Sachin has just surpassed an important double ton too! I noted this little co-incidence today when I realized about my count (with the posts-count displayed in Blogger, it is easy to keep such track).

Do not have much thoughts to write about. Been a lull period, blogging wise. No real reasons to offer, just avei. :)