Mai zinda hu

Ok, the last time I posted something here was the time when Shah Jahan was approving the budget for the Taj or maybe when Noah was building his arc to save the humanity. But I have only sheer lethargy and my lazy bum attitude to blame for this absence.

Countless things happened during this time. Bangalore lost the IPL 2.0 final, Congress got re-elected at the centre, I relaxed at home for a fortnight, India had a disastrous T20, celebrated the silver jubilee of my life, met some new friends, lost touch with a few old ones, made plans for a new business venture then forgot everything about it, lost a very close relative and of course stole some more stationary from the office.

Overall, it has been a pretty smooth and a straight forward journey in the last 6 months except for few minor hiccups here n there. What brings me back to this blog site is the last week. One, a friend who used to read this blog regularly literally threatened to show me Himesh Reshammiya's 'Karzzzzzz' and 'Aap ka suroor' back to back unless I posted something. I also had an opportunity to have a very close and dear friend of mine in Bangalore. Abhijeet came here for some official work and hence could stay at my place for 4 days. Our friendship dates back to our school days some 10 years ago and as opposed to a common fate that most school friendships see, our bond of friendship kept on growing stronger and stronger by the day. Seeing each other grow from the then school pranksters to the matured and responsible guys that we are today (OK! Not so matured) has been a journey in itself. And the best part is, next month he takes the next and the most important step in his life. I wish him a wonderful life ahead.

Now coming back to me :). I completed 2 years with my current employer on the 15th of this month (apparently the same day when Sachin completed his 20 years in International Cricket) and that made me think “Sahi yaar! 2 saal tik gaya. Ab kya?”. Given my history especially the education related part of it, sometimes even I wonder that how in the world have I survived here! Basically, I am not a technologically motivated person and am least bothered about understanding how a blackberry can be connected to a computer or for that matter to dishwasher using just Java (ugggggh!). I have seen people around me trying different things one after the other. Sometimes the reason is frustration and sometimes it is the sense of adventure. For me, I am neither frustrated with what I am doing (not that I adore it), nor I have courage to take the plunge in an unknown territory altogether. I can therefore conclude that exactly 1 year later, I’ll be saying “Sahi yaar! 3 saal tik gaya. Ab kya?” And as far as people say that one should be driving one’s life, all I can say is “(Yawwwn!) Yeah that’s true. I’ll think about it (Yawwwn!)”

Anyway, ab time pass band karta hu. Wishes to Ankit, Harsh, Juhi, Siddhi, Amardeep, Himanshu and Abhijeet for their marriages in this order respectively. With so many friends getting married in a period of 1 month, I suddenly feel like dancing on the street on the tunes of “Aaj mere yaar ki shaadi hai” played by "The New Darbar Band".

Adios Amigos!

The only God I believe in!

"Nothing bad can happen to us if we're on a plane in India with him on the same plane." - Hashim Amla.

"Sometimes you get so engrossed in watching him bat you lose focus on your job." - Yaseer Hameed

"To the man we all want to be" - What Andrew Symonds wrote on an aussie t-shirt

"I HAVE SEEN GOD, HE BATS AT NO.4 FOR INDIA" - Matthew Hayden

"Beneath the helmet, under that unruly curly hair, inside the cranium, there is something we don't know, something beyond scientific measure. Something that allows him to soar, to roam a territory of sport that, forget us, even hose who are gifted enough to play alongside him cannot even fathom. When he goes out to bat, people switch on their TV sets and switch off their lives" - BBC

"Tuzhe pata hai tune kiska catch chhoda hai?" - Wasim Akram to Abdul Razzaq when the latter dropped his catch.

"He is a genius. I'm a mere mortal.”- Brian Charles Lara

"We did not lose to a team called India...we lost to a man called Sachin" - Mark Taylor, during the test match in Chennai (1997)

"The more I see of him the more confused I'm getting to which is his best knock." - M. L. Jaisimha.

"The joy he brings to the millions of his countrymen, the grace with which he handles all the adulation and the expectations and his innate humility - all make for a one-in-a-billion individual." - McGrath

"I can be hundred per cent sure that he will not play for a minute longer when he is not enjoying himself. He is still so eager to go out there and play. He will play as long as he feels he can play." – Wife Anjali

"I am fortunate that I've to bowl at him only in the nets!" - KUMBLE

Que: Who do you think as most important celebrity ?

Shahrukh: There was a big party where stars from bollywood and cricket were invited. Suddenly, there was a big noise, all wanted to see approaching Amitabh Bachhan. Then he entered the hall and Amitabh was leading the queue to get a grab of the GENIUS!!

"India me aap PrimeMinister ko ek Baar Katghare me khada kar sakte hain..Par is insaan par ungli nahi utha Sakte" – Navjot Singh Sidhu

"He can play that leg glance with a walking stick also." - Waqar Younis

"He has often reminded me of a veteran army colonel who has many medals on his chest to show how he has conquered bowlers all over the world" - Allan Donald

"I was bowling to him and he hit me for two fours in a row. One from point and the other in between point and gully. That was the last two balls of the over and the over after that we (SA) took a wicket and during the group meeting i told Jonty (Rhodes) to be alert and i know a way to pin him. And i delivered the first ball of my next over and it was a fuller length delevery outside offstump. And i shouted catch. To my astonishment the ball was hit to the cover boundary. Such is his brilliance. His reflex time is the best i have ever seen. Its like 1/20th of a sec. To get his wicket better not prepare. Atleast u wont regret if he hits you for boundaries." - Allan Donald

"On a train from Shimla to Delhi, there was a halt in one of the stations. The train stopped by for few minutes as usual. He was nearing century, batting on 98. The passengers, railway officials, everyone on the train waited for him to complete the century. This Genius can stop time in India!!" - Peter Rebouck - Aussie journalist

"There are 2 kind of batsmen in the world. One Sachin Tendulkar. Two all the others." - Andy Flower

A banner once said - ' I WILL SEE GOD WHEN I DIE BUT TILL THEN I WILL SEE SACHIN'

Food for Thought

This caption on a bike left me dumbfounded. What was he trying to convey? Anyone has an answer?

A (Holi) Day to remember

After a long and relaxing vacation which constituted a strict regime of stupendous meals, inhuman sleeping hours and a constant urge of playing cricket; I am now back in Bang. Instead of a long boring post, I would rather write this in a bulleted format.

• On the beautiful morning of 20th December, I woke up before time justified by the sheer excitement of going home. In the wee hours of this day, I was off to the airport. Accompanied by an old friend, I insisted on taking the aisle seat when we boarded the flight hoping that there is some turbulence, the air-hostess loses her balance, falls in my lap and hence we end up living happily ever after. But then, there is something called destiny. I ended up in the middle seat, with my friend on my right and on my left, a 70 yearish old uncle with snow-white hair who kept on complaining to the hostess about the amount of refreshments they serve. Not to mention he ended up gobbling 4 juice packs, 3 meal cartons and countless water bottles.

• The moment flight gates were finally opened, there was Indore everywhere. Suddenly I heard a voice saying “Array bhiya, jara aggay le le yaar” (Oh Brother! Please move it a bit in the front). This was a man guiding the driver of the mobile staircase. I headed towards the conveyor to get my luggage. As I proceeded to get a strolley from the stand, a young man standing there said “Bhiya vo baylt ke side mein lagi he traali” (Brother, there is a trolley right next to the conveyor belt). I was just thankful that I didn’t hear the air hostess saying “Peeche wali savari peeche se or aggay wali aggay se niklo. Ye aakhiri ishtaap hega”. (People in the back get out of the back gate and people in the front get out from front gate. This is the last stop). I was totally Indored.

• We immediately left for Bhopal as we had to attend the marriage reception of an old colleague (That’s why my friend had accompanied me). When we reached the venue, my “antar aatma” posed me 2 questions which had no relation to each other. First, was this really her? With loads of makeup the bride looked so different from what I remembered but then I think that’s the whole point. The most special day of one’s life, one has to look special too and I have to admit, she did look beautiful. I wish her a great life ahead. Secondly, am I getting old? The origin of this question lies in the fact that till now, off all the marriages that I have attended, they’ve either been of a distant cousin or of some acquaintance or other such elderly figures. But this was the first time, when I attended the marriage of a friend as a friend. This really made me feel much older. However, I also believe that wine and wisdom get better with age. I’ve seen the wine, its wisdom’s turn now.

• I stayed in Dewas for a longer stretch this time and cherished the opportunity to visit my Alma Mater. I was amazed to see some major infrastructural changes in my school after 6 years but the sight that caught my attention was that of my teachers who really looked old now. Unfortunately, some of them could not recognize me. They tried to justify it by saying that I have inflated much more than Satyam’s balance sheets over the years. I account it to their old ages and loss of memory.

• My mom kept on requesting me to take a look at the “Developments” in Dewas. I successfully dodged the request when I was asked to bring ‘bhindis’ from the new and first ‘Reliance Mart’ in Dewas. But then I was physically tortured, when I refused to accompany her for a show of ‘Rab ne Bana di Jodi’ in the state of the art ‘Adlabs’. Just 1 experience in the premises will show you how sophisticated Dewas is. My mom brought the highest standards of safety and security measures being followed to my notice when she pointed towards a long queue of people being frisked by the security staff for any possible bombs, guns or other ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’. When observed carefully, I noticed that people were being frisked not for bombs or guns; but for tobacco pouches, betel nuts etc. That’s Dewas for you.

• As always, I spent quality time with some of my college friends. Surprisingly, there were no booze guzzling sessions, irresponsible hap-hazard drunken driving or puke plethora this time. Instead, deep long conversations accompanied by other responsible behavioral traits have simply made these meetings memorable.

• I also saw myself settling (Important notice: This ‘settling’ should not be even remotely misunderstood to getting married) in Indore. Somewhere down the line, it is Indore where I would love to spend my life. Being closer to family is another plus. After all, I am the “budhaape ka sahara” (snobbish smile accompanied) for my parents. On a serious note, I have always loved this city, I still love this city and I see no reason why I’d stop loving it. Still have a lot to think about the “When’s, What’s and How’s”.

• Cherry on top was the 1 day I got to spend with my chuddy buddies in Mumbai. We met after a goliath gap of 11 months when once there were times, when we used to spend 11 hours a day with each other. All of us have been working professionals for 2 years now but once we meet, all are 17 year olds again. The sheer magnitude of fun we have is at times out of normal human comprehension levels. Looking forward to meet you guys again. Soon.

In a nutshell, I did everything one wants to do when at home on a vacation. Getting up late, reading news paper in the sun on a chilly morning, unending sessions of tea and conversation, playing long cricket matches, homemade food on demand and most importantly, the feeling of being with my family. For me, that’s what vacations are all about.