This is the way we are

Flash back to 2007. A normal day and I was brimming with confidence. It was India vs Bangladesh in the World cup being played in Trinidad. I thought it will be a cake walk for us since we were one of the favourites (we always are) and Bangladesh really were not a team to be feared. Don't really want to explain in detail we lost and so did our hopes once again. Lots of anger and I decided not to watch a match again.

Fast forward 4 years...

Tomorrow the 2011 world cup kicks off. India and Bangladesh are the co-hosts and the first match India vs Bangladesh. All these years I just managed to keep track of the "Men in Blue" but never watched any of their matches. As days got nearer to the first match I found myself involuntary following the team news, I managed to download the fixture list, found out in which group India played and all their matches and then thinking on the possible wins and potential tricky matches. This is the story of every Indian cricket fan, right back to support them whenever they need it the most and every time they are the favourites. THIS IS THE WAY WE ARE....

I followed a quite a number of interviews and read about every past cricketers reading out their prophecies and dishing out wisdom that no one in the world really cared for. The guys selected for the Indian team did have a lot to say but there was one common rhetoric they wanted to win the world cup for Sachin. It is probably going to be his final world cup and what a fitting tribute it would be to the greatest ever player to yield a bat. From the captain to the seniors to the youngsters everyone wanted to win it for Sachin, they felt it would be a great gift from them to a player who served Indian cricket for more than two decades.

Then there was an interesting interview from a former world cup winner, he mentioned how Indians shouldn't think about winning the world cup for Sachin. They should be thinking as a team, they should be thinking of winning it for themselves. I found it interesting yet not surprising. It's quite difficult to understand an Indian mentality until you have lived as one. Absolutely no wrong in what the gentlemen said but there are certain things (with a little bit of pride here) that sets us apart. Here was the Indian cricket captain (considered to be the most difficult job in India) declaring that it's the team's wish that they win the world cup for Sachin. Not for themselves first, but for someone else.

It's a something all of us Indian's stand for. Love and Respect. In spite of so much diversity and so many manipulating forces both political and communal we still manage to show a lot of love to each other. It doesn't  matter whether we win or not, but what a magnanimous gesture !! And to those who still can't figure this all out, all I want to say is, "THIS IS THE WAY WE ARE".

A quote from a book called Shantharam...

"That's how we keep this crazy place together - with the heart.... India is the heart. It's the heart that keeps us together. There's no place with people, like my people, Lin. There's no heart like the INDIAN HEART"

A year back and here again !

Years and years I yearned to be,

Along with thee, to live and to die.

A Zillion words I had in my mind,

On living a life both here and beyond.

Seems like it was just yesterday,

We dreamt of love and timeless joy.

So cunning indeed are the schemes of time,

With a cruel smile as if to remind,

They were dreams and nothing much.

Every new day is a bitter beginning,

Thoughts just keep knocking my door,

I swear again not to welcome them in,

Then it was that same old feeling again,

What can it be I never want to know?

With all the hatred I could fathom I stood,

All directions I walk, it leads to that place.

With hatred, with fear I open the door,
Then in a flash as if time stood still,
All those memories came gushing in,
Now into my world and what do they do?

Mock at me and chide a little,

So used to it I now have become,

Just about manage a sarcastic laugh,

What a splendid story it has been,

From miles apart yet never away,

Now a breath away yet worlds apart.

Last few talks I now come to hear,

A lengthy silence is all I have.

Last few hours I now come to think,

Time to pass by, is all that I wish.

Last few things I now come to feel,

I pray that none feel it forever.

Good times I sense are just around,

Love and kindness to embrace,

Every end a preface to something new,

As I show those memories the door,

Its a warm and nice feeling thinking,

I gave love the precious of all gifts,

Of never having to say good bye.

My world, My thoughts

I am a self confessed Bibliophilic. I read anything that comes my way from the usual stuffs (read novels, stories, sports literature) to the unusual (read cook books, philosophy, poetry) and is one of those things that makes me feel good all the time. I am happy to have taken refuge in the imaginary world emanating from the realms of those few pages in good or bad times, in exciting or depressing moods. May be the content of a book makes a difference but I am sure even the worst of books could still manage to trigger some food for thought.

It’s the age of the IPADs and kindles and I was just thinking about the relevance of those wonderfully bound, golden coloured pages. Kindle’s good but haven’t brought myself to part with my hard bound beauties yet. When you have a book in hand it’s an experience, it’s as if one shares all his intimate feelings with it, the creases at the ends (though I am quite careful most of the time) and the book expanding at the centre of the page and some words/sentences catching your eye and your hands automatically flipping through it time and again. Its like same two books can never be the same. That’s why I loved the idea of Tom Riddle’s diary in Harry Potter and the Chamber of secrets.

                                                       

I think I have got this habit from my dad, a voracious reader with philosophy, religion and Tamil Literature his forte. I have kind of picked up from him and the habit’s not going to die for a long time to come. We have this huge book shelf at home stacked with all kinds of books, my younger sister’s books on medicine with bare bones/muscles as the cover page (doesn't make good viewing though) and my elder sis’s books on Maths and Physics and mine with Computers and novels. It’s such a lovely sight, one of the best things I like about my room.

My first book was the “Wren and Martin” high school English grammar my dad got me when I was in 2nd Standard. I can still remember the book bound in a black cardboard with a red ribbon around it. It was a gift for coming 2nd in the class. I remember enthusiastically scanning to search the meaning of “noun”, “adjective”, “pronoun” then, not that much hasn’t changed of late, I still look at it for those confusing jargons now J

Just recollecting the books brings back so many memories as if time travel were to be true. Standing next to Gandhi when he tells his dad the truth in “My Experiments with Truth”, sitting next to a dejected Kalam when his first project was a failure in “Wings of Fire”, listening to Atticus Finch when he explains his daughter about civil rights in “To Kill a Mocking Bird”,  running with Forrest Gump when he tries to reach out for his long lost friend in “Forrest Gump”, flying with Harry, Ron and Hermione on their quest for the Horcruxes in “The Harry Potter Series”, Fighting the oaks alongside Frodo in “Lord of the Rings”, Nodding in appreciation when Howard Roark gives his defence in court in “The FountainHead” and so many more.

But what gives me so much joy in a book, is it the content or is it the pictures ? Or is it about the philosophy or is it about the use of language. I think it’s because it helps me build my own world, a self-made world with all my imagination and creativity, a world that none can ever take it away from me, now or ever.

Thanks for the that first “red book” from my dad ages ago, I have just built a beautiful world from it.

The nemesis close by

Whose our enemy ? For most it's the world but I don't think that way. I don't find any fault with anything around me, for me I am my own nemesis :) A simple philosophy helps to take everything around lightly and trust me it works !

I wonder about things I don't want to think but then can't stop thinking. College days when I didn't have a care in the world, may be when I was at home during vacations not bothering about work, or may be a few funny days with some close pals.

These things remain for good or for the worse and along they bring a cycle of thoughts, a  plethora of emotions and ends in a state where you don't know if you are happy or sad...

You bring me my memories,
My memories brings me my smiles,
My smile brings me my world,
My world brings me my hope,
My hope brings me my goals,
My goals brings me my strength,
My strength brings me my success,
My success brings me my life,
My life brings me my love,
My love brings me my joy,
My joy brings me my everything,
My everything brings me my time,
My time brings me my choice,
My choices brings me my pain,
My pain brings me my memories,
My memories bring me you again.

The untouchable curse...

Life is a living hell, death a distant dream and to smile a sin.. Hippocratic world.

Deprived of the right to choice, feelings stamped deep under the earth and life a colourless rainbow. Emotions lost just like a bird forgetting to fly. World seems cruel, only tears for company. The gift of life that was meant to shine sinks beneath the ocean of superstition, callousness and blind beliefs.

But there is hope, I always think there is hope. A young and resurgent generation awakens which:
Doesn't care about caste but people,
Doesn't think about the wrongs but the right's,
A mind that doesn't do what the world says but makes the world do what it thinks.

A generation waiting to bring message of free thinking and equality to one and all !

A wish for 2011

Something random I wrote to welcome the new year...

A new year and a new day,
A new start and a new wish,
A new dream to conquer older ones,
A new hope to reignite fading ones,
A new light to brighten the impending darkness,
A new voice to dispel the hatred amongst,
A new thought to enlighten the soul within,
A new smile to spread the gift of life,
A new prayer for me and for all,
For an year of success and infinite joy !!!

I got to do what I don't do now

Sometimes I think I shouldn't say this, or shouldn't say that. Not that what I am saying is wrong but just that for some unforeseen reason I always seem to sound quite insistent (at least to me). For some time now I have wondered whether to spit out my opinion or not and to my dismay this question seem to be occurring quite frequently now a days.

The free tips, consultations have started to slow down now and I hope to bring it to a prematurely end in the new year :) I believe "That which is free is never appreciated", so I guess the "not to anybody's use" e-mails, the "have you booked this" smses and "why don't you have a look at this" calls will stop from hereon in.

"The only constant thing is change", do I believe in this ?? Now more than ever.