Life

The sun was way par its prime and was now fighting a losing battle. With less than a semi crescent visible over the seemingly unending expanse of water, its end was inevitable, darkness would eventually preside over. With the waters becoming ever more turbulent, the ocean had to bear the brunt of this ever impending clash. The Sun never went down meekly, putting up a brave fight whenever its reign was under threat and it was this determination and courage that empowered it to reconquer the lost land unfailingly.
“The curse is as bad for both of them. Both are destined for a complimentary life forever, for one can only survive at the expense of the other.”
The little boy looked up into his father’s gleaming eyes, he could barely sense the sadness and the pain through which those words were spoken, he was more intrigued by this impending battle. He picked up a small twig and carefully drew out a circle on the slightly wet sand. He stopped for a moment midway, his tongue hanging out at one end, his face tilted slightly to the left and seemed to ponder over his progress. Pretty satisfied with his effort he carried on. The little boy had brought down the sun right down to his feet, but this was only half the job done. He was now puzzled more than ever before for he wanted to en-capture darkness like the sun. He had a strange feeling that he could bring this battle to an end, that he could unite the sun and the darkness.
He looked up at his father who was watching him while with a mild expression of surprise. For a moment his father too had forgotten everything and had got mesmerized by the boy’s escapades. With a serious face, that had innocence written all over it, the little boy asked his father as to how to depict darkness for he had no clue. Thinking he hadn’t been able to convey his question to his father, who just gave a shrug and smiled, the boy stood up, went up to his father, and gently nudged him on his arm with the twig.
“Dad, I want to draw darkness.”
The father looked into his son’s determined eyes, who was slowly beginning to get impatient for he couldn’t understand why his father was unable to grasp the urgency. He let out a small clicking noise as if to proclaim that he was getting impatient. The father, sensing the increasing level of anxiety in his child, held the boy with his hands and helped him onto his lap.
“I’ll tell you how to draw darkness. But you will first have to listen to what I have to say.”
The boy looked up into his father’s eyes and a sense of calm swept across him. He realised that his quest would soon be fulfilled. He failed to notice the quiver in his father’s voice but the glint in his eyes told him that his father had something important to tell him. He made himself comfortable on his father’s lap, ready to catch on to everything that his father had to tell.
“There will come a time in your life when you will have to make a decision that will affect not only your life but also will be as important for those close to you. Whenever that time comes, remember that there will be a lot of people who’s lives will depend on that one decision. The sun and the darkness have both had to face such a situation and it is for the betterment of everyone that they have chosen this kind of life for themselves. It was a decision that has made life possible on this planet and it would be a really bad idea to alter their course of action. The pact has been made, and it must be let as it is for normalcy to remain forever. I will not be here for you forever. In fact forgive me for you have a very tough life ahead of you. Your mother died the day you were born. It was only her wish and sacrifice that has given me the courage to move on and live a normal life. But God hasn’t been kind on you, my son, and I will not lie about it. Its only a matter of days now before I will have to pay for my bad behaviour. Yes, my son, your dad is not the best dad in the world, in fact he barely considers himself to be one. I know, you are too small now to understand all this but please remember that in your future you will have to face hardships, obstacles far worse than what a normal child of your age will ever go through. And it is all because of my decision that I took a few years ago. Always remember my son; your decision will influence a lot of people. Always remember the Sun and the darkness, and remember that however tough a life they have to live they have taken that decision for the benefit for the entire world. This is a very small world where a lot of things are intertwined and your every decision somehow or the other plays a role in determining your destiny as well as those near you. Please remember this. And as for how to draw the darkness just cover the sun that you have drawn with a piece of black cloth. And you will have your darkness. But do you still want to go against the wishes of the Sun and the darkness?”
The boy was fast asleep in his father’s comforting lap. His father looked at his son, fast asleep and a tear fell a lump develop in his throat, a tear trickled down his cheek. He looked into the distant sea, now hardly able to make a silhouette of a fishing boat making its way back. The battle was over he thought. Darkness had once more thwarted the Sun. A smile spread across his face as another tear went down rolling on to the beach. His son shifted a little in his sleep.

If

As the clouds slowly begin to emanate their dominance over the scorching sun, the weather is not the only thing that is in a state of unrest, the sun is not the only thing that is feeling undone. If this is what the oncoming monsoons have in store, then I would gladly spend the rest of my life sauntering under the sultry sun.

As the innocent first drops of water gently kiss the perched land, with life oozing from every trickle, all its hope of a sublime welcome come crashing down the moment it touches the die-thirsty land and is unceremoniously soaked in. If this kind of an abrupt, cruel end is what in store, then I would gladly spend the rest of my life far away from this ill minded milieu.

As the delicate, young blades of grass, in their own artistic paradigm, make their way into this planet of life, they have to unwillingly become an adversary of their own siblings and fight for their very existence. If this is the kind of a living that awaits, then I would gladly be a lifeless spectator than be a part of this grotesque existence.

As the tiny little bud slowly blossoms into its prime, a spectacle more grandeur than any man made marvel, boasting of a smell more divine than any other, it is heartlessly plucked out – its grandiosity short lived – and not of any help against its fatal enemy. If this is what resplendence leads to, then I would gladly give-up all the external glint for a simple but rather friendly life.

The Cup returns Home

The wait was finally over. A first World Cup title of any description now sits gleaming alongside the triumphs of Ashes past, such was the eminence of the emphatic win for England, the nation that invented this format of the game, the nation that infact invented Cricket. They faught back the stature and prestige which they had graciously allowed the rest of the world to plunder.
The build up to the dream final had in itself been a lip smackering prospect for both the teams. Both the nations came into the tournament desperately in need to change the course of history. On one hand the Englishmen were radically in search of their first ICC tournament victory in the 35 years of existence of limited over matches while for the Australians, seeded a lowly 9th in the tournament, it was a chance to show the world that they could play this format of the game with an added incentive of completing a cleansweep – World Cup (50 overs), Champions Trophy and T20 World Cup. And both the teams did justice to their cause by playing some immaculate cricket throughout the tournament.
England, catapulted beyond the sum of the individual brilliance by a collective quality almost impossible to quantify, had a sense of certainty in the results this past fortnight, underpinned by refreshing competence in all areas. The Australian juggernaut on the other hand continued to roll on destroying their opponents with utmost of ease and a touch of their typical arrogance. Pakistan, although seemed to be on the verge of stopping their onslaught were not able to land in the final blow and the Australians scraped of with one of the greatest T20 wins ever.
The final, touted by many as the reincarnation of the ashes in the shorter format, never lived upto its reputation of being a tough encounter, a showdown unlike the India Pakistan clash three years ago. As was the story at the Kennington Oval during the 2005 Ashes, the Kennsington Oval and the occasion did not suffer for the trans-Atlantic transfer.
England continued with their cagey thrift with the ball and committed themselves to full-on attack with the bat– a strategy similar to the one Australia’s Test team used to thrive on. They were again quick to adopt their leg side short ball tactic. The slow bouncer is Twenty20’s bodyline. Just like the original tactic it is designed to intimidate, the difference being that it relies on frustration rather than fear to scare the batsman.
The Aussies were unable to match the exploits of their opponents with the ball and it was intriguing that they didn't seem to have a plan B. So far in the competition their bullying pace attack had it pretty much all their own way but after they failed to break through England, they had nothing to fall back on. This is where the attitude of the players and the captain come into the picture. The Aussies, although a better side on paper than their counterparts, found themselves in an unknown territory when their pace battery failed to incur any serious damage and their helplessness was for everyone to see. Once the England batsmen were able to see off the new ball, the result was just a formality.
The result has meant the upcoming of many new horizons in world cricket. The looming Ashes winter has suddenly become a mouth watering prospect. The emergence of a new resilient and united England means that we are unlikely to see a repeat of the last tour Down Under, which began with a reckless wide to second slip from Steve Harmison and ended in whitewashed mortification. Defeat is always possible, but not humiliation.

Tour de Monaco

If Formula One stands at the technological pinnacle of all motorsport with it being the richest, most intense, most difficult, most political, and most demading racing championship in the world then the Circuit de Monaco is surely the crème de la crème in the world of motorsport. The Monaco Grand Prix held each year on the Circuit de Monaco, is considered to be one of the most important and prestigious automobile races in the world alongside the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans (with which it forms the Triple Crown of Motorsport). The legacy, spectacle and charisma result in the race being considered “the jewel of the Formula One crown”. The degree of audacious eminence on show can offend but Monaco is synonymous with the glamour and wealth of the most expensive sport in the world.

The circuit boasts of numerous elevation shifts, tight corners, chicanes, a blinding run through the tunnel section and a narrow course, all adding up to make it perhaps the most demanding track in Formula One racing. The famous tunnel section (which infact runs under a hotel) is touted to be one of the most formidable and ardous racing circumstances in motorsport since the tunnel has a flat out kink which is,by far, the quickest corner in Formula one(with drivers hitting the corner at speeds well over 260 km/hr). Apart from the body crushing g-force that is generated during the turn, what adds to the complexity is that the drivers have to cope with the quick switch from light to dark, and then back to light again, at one of the fastest points of the course. The fact that this track also possesses the slowest turn in Formula One(the Grand Hotel hairpin, taken at just 50 km/hr) perhaps simply sums up its difficulty. Despite the fact that the course has changed many times during its history, it is still considered the ultimate test of driving skills in Formula One.

However, the tight and curvaceous nature of the track restricts manouverablity and greatly reduces overtaking opportunities. With the track being so narrow and dangerous, the slightest of errors on part of the driver can transform into a deadly acident. As a result, race outcomes here are greatly influenced by grid positions as well as pit strategies.It is one of the few tracks around the globe where a driver with better skill and finesse can outclass those who drive relatively faster cars. As Nelson Piquet puts it, “driving in Monaco is pretty similar to riding a bicycle round your living room.”

So as Formula One heads to its Mecca, the tension and apprehension among the drivers and the masses are becoming more and more palpable with every passing moment. The drivers love it, for Monaco’s tight and twisty streets provide a challenge different from anything else and the thrill is almost as great for spectators – nothing compares to the sensory assault of an F1 car pushed upto its limit. With only 10 points separating the top three drivers in the current standings, there will be a lot at stake when the five lights go out in front of a packed Grand Stand this Sunday.

Believe to live another day

The writings have been written on the wall and the final testament has been read. For India to imitate their triumph of 2007, the road that lies ahead is devoid of any junctions and bifurcations. Logically the task has abridged down to its minimal complexity and there is only one possible solution left to re capture the lost glory. India needs to win every match that it plays from now on in order to be crowned the champions. If at any point of time, it fails to satisfy the criterion, all that would be left is packing the bags and checking the flight timings, that will be the end of the road for this year’s World Cup race. Full Stop. Thank You for flying down to the Carribean.

However slim and tender may be the odds more than one billion hearts always find the courage to conjure up that tiny ray of hope that finally decides on which side of the border you finally end up. However grim the chances may appear, more than one billion hearts pray incessently as if the world was struck by an apocalypse. That is the amount of pressure that the players have to bear and that is just one side of the coin. Add to it the mind games, sledging and the counterattack from the opposite team and you are surely looking at a pressure cooker scenario.

Call it a blessing in disguise or a killing curse, the choice, although is yours, they say it hardly makes a difference on the final outcome. As eleven of the country’s top cricketers take the field tonight against the erratic West Indian squad, every Indian’s hope of them making through to the semis would have reached its pinnacle. Every move of theirs will be scrutinised to the atomic level by the media, every mistake would be magnified a million times. Such is the magnitude of this sword wielding pressure that a pessimistic of the lowest degree would not have a seconds hesitation in terming this to be a deterrant.

But there have been miracles in the past and more are yet to follow. The Men in Blue have had to face such do or die situations in the past and on more occasion than one have they been able to make the cut. They have shown in the past that they have the mettle to survive through such intense situations and end up on the winning side. That is one of the reason why this country boasts of having cricket’s most frenzied followers on the planet. That is also one reason why the little ray of hope never extinguishes from the hearts of some billion odd people. And that is one reason why cricket is revered as the greatest sport of all by many around the globe.

It is as they say that a wounded tiger is a more dangerous opponent. Call it a blessing in disguise or a killing curse, the choice is yours, and I believe it is this essence of hope and fidelity that makes all the difference in the end.

Time to drop Duckworth and Lewis?

Cricket appraises its double acts — be it the great English pre-war opening batsmen Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe or the more recently retired West Indies fast bowlers Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose or the charismatic pair of Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly. Cricket has always been a game where an individual brilliance rarely equates to a victory; what is required is teamwork and coordination and that is what makes this sport so special. Yet it remains ambivalent about potentially the most influential duo, Frank Duckworth and Tony Lewis.

Duckworth and Lewis, joined at the hyphen, have made their presence felt on the cricketing field on numerous occasions while being miles away from all the action. As the grey clouds start hovering around over the ground, the couple suddenly soaks up a major quantum of everyone’s domain of imagination. The D/L method has been in use since more than 13 years now and it still continues to baffle the masses all over the world. One does not have to be a rocket scientist (but it certainly helps) to understand the intricacies of the calculations but by and large the world of cricket has embraced the method.

But as is the case with great players, during the course of their career they come across an opponent that more often than not seems to get better of them like the exploits of Pedro Collins against Sachin Tendulkar or Graeme Smith’s helplessness against Zaheer Khan. But the point is that one needs to adapt and acclamatize to the situations, you cannot just go on playing your natural game without taking into account the external factors. Pretty similar is the case with this method. Although it has served the cricketing quite amicably for so long, the D/L method finally seems to have met its meddlesome opponent.

With the onset of the T-20s, the works of Mr.Duckworth and Mr.Lewis have suddenly come under the scanner. And the point that is being raised against their theory is a valid and a logical one. You simply cannot superimpose a mathmatical principle built up for a particular format of the game onto another format. It is very obvious that this superimposition will surely be less effective as compared to its effectiveness in the original format for which it was developed. The entire mindset of the players and their approach to the game is different in the shorter version and hence implementing the same technique is infact a contradiction to the basic principle on which the method was incorporated.

Hence it is time we moved forward and let Duckworth and Lewis savour the monopoly in ODIs and leave the T-20s for something newer, something closer to this version of the game.

Calleth the hour, Calleth the Champion

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 those who are gifted enough to play alongside him cannot even fathom. When he goes out to bat people switch on their television sets and switch off their lives.
Such is the aura and countenance of the great man that it has invoked respect and reverence from all corners of the planet. Such is the propriety and humility of the man that it has prompted millions to revere him as God.
Sachin Tendulkar is arguably the greatest batsman to have played the game of Cricket in modern era. Many might still argue that the title should be reserved for Sir Don Bradman but personally I believe any such comparisons between the two legends is incongruous simply because of the fact that Cricket itself has evolved a lot over these years. Ranging from the rules and regulations to playing conditions to the amount of pressure every cricketer has to cope with, Cricket has transposed in all realms. Cricket was not always this speed driven generation’s game, there was a time when they played timeless Test matches where the matches went on until they got over, with time not being a constraint. All I want to say is that comparison of players of different eras is totally out of place and uncalled for.
What makes Tendulkar stand a class above the rest is not his talent and genius but rather his attitude and his work ethic. A consummate part of excellence has not much to do with talent. In fact, in the course of time, as one goes beyond a certain level, ability or talent is the most useless virtue that he/she can posses. It’s what is done with that talent counts. Talent might open the first door, it might open the second door but talent alone will never open the last door. And this is where Tendulkar stands out. His work ethic and his passion for the sport is unparalleled. As a 14 year old, Tendulkar played 55 matches on the trot, he used to practice for two hours in the morning, then play a match and then again practice for two hours after the match. This is where Tendulkar really scored his runs. He didn’t score all those hundreds 90 plus because of his genius alone at the crease, rather he achieved the implausible feat more so because of his unrelenting work ethic off it.
After the 2003 World Cup, Tendulkar was bombarded by the media and cricketing greats alike as to why he refused to take a runner during the just concluded World Cup. His reply though a simple one, staunchly elucidated why he is hallowed as an oracle. He said that the entire motive of taking a runner was squandered because of the fact that the runner would always be a couple of strides behind him in the sense that Tendulkar, before even playing the ball gets a fair idea as to how and where he is going to place the ball and with what power. Simply put, he takes his first stride even before playing the ball, a feat his runner if he tried to emulate would have got him into trouble more often than not. As Michael Schumacher said, “The race doesn’t begin when all the five lights go out, for me it begins when the first one goes on.” Tendulkar’s case is not very different.
Tendulkar’s accomplishments and achievements are also an outcome of his tremendous faith and conviction he has in himself and his team members. With a daunting target of 360 odd runs staring at India in the 2003 World Cup Finals, it was Tendulkar who raised the morals of his team members, making them see the tiny ray of hope that still shone with all its radiance, with his small but highly effective pep talk during the break. What he said was 'forget what the real target is. Just aim for a boundary every over. That is all. If that can be achieved, then what’s left is just another 160 runs from 250 balls, not such a monstrous task by any means'. This ability to confront nearly impossible targets with such confidence and buoyancy is the real impetus behind his unparalleled success.
Sachin Tendulkar has not just been a revelation on the cricket field. Years down the line, he will not only be remembered as the greatest player to have played the game but also a person who was a source of inspiration for billions off the field, a person who came as close to being revered as God as one can get, a person who united billions of people irrespective of their grievances and disputes among themselves, a person who showed the world that what finally counts is passion and hard work, a true Legend.

The Turning Point

With almost 6 semesters already in the pocket, college life has now long since become synonymous with perpetual entertainment and ceaseless wastage of time. After languishing away countless hours at umpteen locations, the very concept of time-management has become alien to all of us. Apparently, the idea that time can be utilized for something purposeful has invariably deserted us. With the current rate at which the amount of time that we are ‘not utilizing’ is increasing, it’s not long before presence of just 24 hours in a day becomes a major hindrance.

What started merely as a one-off affair transformed into an integral part of our lifestyle in a presto. Non-stop laughter riots to heated arguments to emotional atyachaar…our deliberations have seen it all. Be it at 11 in the night or 2 in the afternoon, time was never a constraint, always at our disposal. Our innate obsession for leisure meant that location was never an impediment with roof-tops, petrol pumps, college premises and what not all having to bear the brunt of our nuisance.

It was during these times that we learnt the two decrees of time wastage- one you don’t need any occasion and two you don’t need any location. There in lies the beauty and simplicity of inept get-togethers, all you need is a bunch of guys willing to lay down the anchor, fighting off any defiance that lead to something constructive.

But here lies the catch. It’s been almost three years that we have been a part of this anomalous ordeal but never throughout our enterprise have we felt the need to get on a more orthodox track. It’s not just the fun and frolic associated with the journey up to this point that lucidly overshadows the adversities of our traversal, in-fact there was a lot there in those meetings for us to unearth. All the contrasting times that we had to face helped us to truly fathom what friendship really meant and why it’s the most prized thing that one can possess. However sleek may be the possibility of its occurrence amidst all the idiocy and absurdity, we did suss out more about friendship and camaraderie than we had ever done. It helped us become better people.

Ten years down the line, I may not remember my classes or my professors but the time spent with my friends is something that I would never forget. Irrespective of whatever the final outcome may be, and wherever our destinies may lead us, I’m sure I would proudly be able to proclaim that my college life was the most beautiful flower in the lovely garden of life…

Live the Sport

In this contemporary era, Cricket has amassed such popularity in India that let alone an outsider but even we are every so often bowled over when it comes to Hockey being our national sport. Today, Hockey is considered as a sport that symbolizes history. It is deemed as a dying sport, a sport having an opulent and an overwhelming antiquity but a grim and an eluded future. Its become a sport that's making the headlines for all the wrong reasons and not much is being done to improve the piteous state of affairs apart from a few Bollywood flicks that give a flickering ray of hope.
This is what appears to a common man, unawares of the crux of the matter, delusioned by the media, engulfed by whats apparent. But Hockey was never a sport of the rich. Its roots, unlike Cricket, were buried into the heart of the population. Even when Indian Hockey was at its pinnacle, the mainstay belonged to the rural parts of the country. Because of the fact that this sport required tremendous physical strength and stamina coupled with skill and finesse, Hockey became much more than just a sport for the common man. It served as a medium that truly signified
their legacy and heritage. The sport attracted attention of people from varied occupations and traditions. It brought together the numerous cultures of the nation. Hockey, in its own unique way, connotated the true essence of India.
It was not because of the Olympic Gold medals, it was also not because of the fact that we were the world champions and dominated the world for over 3 decades that Hockey is our national sport, its because Hockey was and still is the sport that portrays the true image of real India...