Historic

The recently concluded Border Gavasker trophy shall go down as one of the most legendary and historic series in test-match cricket.

Any Indian fan will now tell you that the Indo-Pak rivalry stands defunct. The clear superiority emerging in the former's level of cricket (no guesses which side of the border I'm on!) coupled with the sorry state of affairs of the Pakistani board, have pretty have laid the yesteryears mother of all battles' to rest..

This last decade has seen the emergence of a new rivalry, one that has all the thrills, spills, below the belt and above the belt anecdotes that one can imagine from fierce competitors. It feels almost funny to use the word fierce with an Indian cricketing contingent but thanks to certain outstanding and outspoken leaders, the country now heralds a new set of heroes, ones that clearly let the combination of results on field ride alongside smart-assed jibes off it. Can I be more proud ? (insert tongue in cheek here:)

This series saw the retirement of 2 phenomenons of Indian sport. One a tireless and gutsy hero who defied the laws of conventional spin bowling and rose to greatness with an unmatched ability to deliver. The other, a revolutionary and charismatic artisan of the sport and its' vagueries; deftly steering India into a new dawn. One which recognized young talent, nurtured skill and backed its instinct to deliver counter punches to the deafening and unending mood swings of the idiotic Indian media, the foolish and knowledge starved indian cricket 'expert' and the growing list of cricketing 'pundits'....the lot of which probably played 5 one-day internationals between them and scored an equivalent number of runs/number of wickets.

I bow to Anil Kumble and Sourav Ganguly. You will be the heroes we speak of with pride and honor and hopefully smile to your stories in the commentary box years down the line. Hold your head up high in this, your last series as Indian sporting legends.

The Border Gavaskar trophy returns home. Many can argue that this Australian team lacked the spit and shine of previous teams but really, those debates are as pedantic as they are unecessary. What matters is that one team was systematically schooled on the way to win test match cricket. Schooled good and proper.

As an ardent cricketing fan, I need no rest and no respite. The poms are next and I wouldn't be surprised if I saw a shiver of nervousness upon their faces when facing this Indian team - it is truly a force to reckon with.

a quarter past

unbreakable
indefatigable
indestructable
welcomed with open arms
even when unannounced
not quite as maverick
not quite as debonair
this devil now cares

A quarter past

No longer effortless
no longer seemless
no longer casual
in transition
what was once
an impeccable embodiment
of the multifaceted one.

A quarter past

Wisened
hardened
victorious and vanquished
the player who's been played
the heart breaker who's been broken
spoken of
in whispers
raised eyebrows
pointed fingers
sometimes called upon
in memory of a glorious past
in anticipation
of a momentous future
so that they can boast
"we knew him once"

A quarter past.

this month of october

indiabanao.org
cities a la champions
an oncoming chill
a dissapointment in a loved one
a feeling of age
a sense of loneliness
a midnight surge to create a quality effort

and in the end of it all, questioning repeatedly if it's worth it all?

so much, so fast, so deep. How? HOW?

haunted by a flame, riding on, living on a memory as alannah myles says it best.

trying to break away, riding on, living on a memory.

a great vacation

Ever since I stepped into college, I’ve realized that ‘living’ has become one big master plan. Yeah, it sounds extremely espionage-ish but it’s not. The life plan has been pretty much all about excelling professionally at every venture I’ve undertaken, creating the right atmosphere within which to explore creative and personal endeavours and ensure that relationships that matter, as well as relationships I’d like to build co-exist in peaceful harmony. All of these have required planning. Strenuous, mind-numbing, often painful and always time-consuming preparation. Which course to choose? Which college? Which girl? Which team to play on? Which battles to fight? Which ones to save for another day? Which friends to chase after? Which ones to let fly? Which insults need treatment like water’s off a duck’s back and which ones to ensure ample retribution from...

Lots of decisions.

2 weekends ago, I threw caution to the wind, let decisions take a life of their own and stretched out with a great gang to the rapids of rishikesh utop the holy shivpuri basin.

Beating the drudgery of pressures – we swam through the rapids, jumped off cliffs, debated on how to conquer the wall and much more. Amidst ming mang mong sessions and a pretty crazy game of kings, 2 and a half days swooped past and I was left feeling almost dejected on the possibility of going home. Believe it or not, I’ve never felt bad about going home after a vacation....this time, it was different.

An enthralling sense of freedom I’m looking forward to having again soon. Plans for the big NYE get concretized and I just can't wait anymore.

the end of a legend

Sourav Ganguly has announced he will retire after the upcoming Test series against Australia.

"This will be my last series," said Ganguly in Bangalore. "Before coming here I spoke to my team-mates and hopefully I will go out with a winning knock."

Bow down to greatness- Dada, you have and will always be the man.

the patient

A groan of tedium escapes me, startling the fearful.
Is this a test?
It has to be. otherwise I cant go on.
Draining patience. drain vitality.
This paranoid, paralyzed vampire acts a little old.

But Im still right here, giving blood and keeping faith. and Im still right
Here.
But Im still right here, giving blood and keeping faith. and Im still right
Here.

Im gonna wait it out

If there were no rewards to reap,
No loving embrace to see me through this tedious path Ive chosen here,
I certainly wouldve walked away by now.

Im gonna wait it out

If there were no desire to heal
The damaged and broken met along this tedious path Ive chosen here,
I certainly wouldve walked away by now.

I still may. and I still may.
Be patient.

I must keep reminding myself of this...

If there were no rewards to reap,
No loving embrace to see me through this tedious path Ive chosen here,
I certainly wouldve walked away by now.
And I still may. and I still may. and I still may.

Im gonna wait it out.
Im gonna wait it out.
Gonna wait it out.
Gonna wait it out.

The Patient - Tool

switchover?

since nomadlife has been giving me some trouble, im blogging here for a bit.

A restless and fairly mechanical week with the UHF and the 3rd of our seminars wrapping up today. The experience is fairly down pat but the desire to hand over that area of responsibility grows fairly considerably considering the fact there are 'other' fish to fry.

A dull headache appears (a feeling had before) with the realization that there is almost always 'something missing' - in every sense of the word. The fact that I was told that "the sort of people that seek ownership for activities rarely ever own anything in their life" was also a little disturbing and putting off especially considering the experience of a conversation that preceded this statement. This is all going to sound fairly esoteric to you- but who cares? I get it :)

There's a desire to be true to form and reduce the corrosion occurring from conformity (taken from 2 bands that I heard a lot of with the latter having a brilliant black sabbath cover...which one it was I forget now)

I saw an old friend cross the street as I drove past him late in the evening. He has become the size of a mini mountain and I regret ruefully that I havent called him in ages. We were supposed to go for early morning jogs and I was to share health tips. Not like I'm extremely healthy myself but yes, the basis discipline and balance is in place.

The plan now is to count backwards from the next big goal...more on that very soon. How it happens, shall be part of the excitement.