An ode to Him

It's the eve of the 5th ODI between India and Australia at Hyderabad. The story of the match was very simple - Sachin Tendulkar scored and the rest of Team India screwed up. Watching this match reminded me of Nirmal Shekar's famous quote - "You cannot penalise a genius for the mediocrity around him". That is precisely what happened today. There was no Team India vs Team Australia - there was only Sachin versus 11 Ozzie cricketers.

Perfect timing for a post I've been meaning to write ever since I started blogging. An ode to the cricketing genius whom I've adored and idolized ever since I started watching cricket.

Highest number of runs and most centuries in both forms of cricket. The big 4 cricketing records. And yet, as one of his contemporary greats famously proclaimed, all his life Sachin has been trying to prove others right.

Yes, I'm an unabashed, self-proclaimed, unconditional worshiper of Sachin Tendulkar and I think he's undoubtedly the greatest cricketer and best sportsman ever to have walked on this planet. Hearing criticism about Sachin gets me all hotted up, every single time.


Why did he have to get out today?
Right, and they call cricket a team game.

Not a match winner
Oh sure, he scores half of the runs required in a match, and the rest of the team cannot even finish off a chase.

Not a finisher
Heck, he's an opener, for heaven's sake.

India loses when Sachin scores a century
India loses DESPITE him playing well and people blame him. Yeah, right!

Should retire
Oh yeah really? Show me one replacement?

Go ahead, anything else? I know he's proclaimed God by his fans(yours truly included), but he's only human, remember?

Yet, I'm not writing this post to try and influence anyone's opinion. I've been standing up for Sachin for years, and if there's one thing that I've learnt from people with whom I've argued, neither opinion will change. Sachin critics will be Sachin critics. But in true Quick Gun Murugan style, I say, Sachin fanatics will also remain Sachin fanatics.

Yes, sport is ultimately about victory, but is that it? How would it be if you had to appreciate a person's game, not caring a damn about anything else? Simple, unadulterated adulation for the genius.

Take a bow, Sachin. We love you, and will always do.

Go get a life, skeptics.

The 'L' word

Look around you. There might be a lot of circulation of apparently-cool "I think therefore I'm single" tshirts, but love is clearly in the air. More and more people I know are getting committed/engaged/married. Got me thinking. How many different ways are there to describe a couple who's romantically involved?(okay that's a very corny number 1.)
They're seeing each other
They're going out/on/around
They're committed(this is by far the most common I know)
They're in a relationship
They're dating
Her/his boyfriend/girlfriend
They're together/with each other
They're an 'item' :P

Hell, whatever happened to the simple, unpolluted "being in love"? I remember an incident that happened to a friend of mine who was telling about her relationship to her, not-so-subtle, no-nosense, very direct cousin.
Friend : Err.. So I'm sort of in a relationship.. (sort of??)
Cousin : Huh?
Friend : Well, you know.. There's this guy from my class.. And we kind of have known each other for a while.. And..
Cousin : You mean you both love each other, right?
Friend : (blushes deeply and nods vigorously) Uh huh.. Umm.. Yeah..

Why does the 'L' word seem to be so much a cause of embarassement these days? It apparently seems corny and cheesy to say you're in love with someone. To say you're "committed" in a blase, boring way is so much more chic and hip. Tsk, tsk.

Sometimes it's really disguting the way love is treated the way it is so not meant to be. Okay, I'm hardly a die-hard romantic, I'm no Shakespeare's Juliet pining away. I was someone who alternated between feelings of an almost-puking-sensation and helpless-laughter while reading my first ever Mills and Boon(which also happened to be my last). But, at the same time it pains me to watch shows like MTV's Splitsvilla. Though I despised the whole concept of people being made to fall in love on a reality show, I watched the first season, out of curiosity. It was like a regular reality show - lots of bitching, back-biting, plotting, mind games screaming and ultimately very little of the original concept. And at the end of the show, this girl who stayed till the end chose this guy on whom she had had a crush right from the beginning. And this guy, who had flirted with atleast half the girls on the show maintained that they both had had a sort of a connection, all the time. Ptach! Reality ve-ality, rubbish! Makes the ridiculous concept of love in Bollywood movies seem more real.

To borrow some old-time fav stuff..
"Pyar kiya koi chori nahin ki.. Chup chup aahe bharna kya.. Jab pyaar kiya toh darna kya??!"

Cheerios!

An open letter to Shahrukh Khan

Dear Mr. Shah Rukh Khan,
I must begin by stating that I used to(please notice the careful usage of past tense) be one of your craziest fans ever. I was the sort that watched Dilwale Dulhaniya 15 times, knew every single dialogue of Kal Ho Naa Ho, watched Chak De at the first oppurtunity I could get - albeit at a smelly theatre at Coimbatore, sat through Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna(oh and in which the Dev you played was an even more bigger loser than Devdas), saw Saathiya, a movie which had my least favorite actors ever as its lead pair just for your cameo and actually found your gay antics at the FilmFare awards not just tolerable, but hilarious.
And yet, there's some streak in me that made me wish for Kolkatta Knight Riders to lose badly in every match, and all this despite Dada's presence in the team(or was it because of the treatment meted out to Dada?). What's with me? Why don't I have the SHHHHAAAHHRUUKH sense of excitement each time I see your face on television? Why is it that I no longer care about meeting you in person or if your movies become super hits or not? Why don't I argue with my friends anymore for your favor? Why do I smirkingly refer to you as the Bad-Shah? Have you changed substantially over the last few years? Or is it simply that I've grown up?
Of course, all this means nothing to you Mr. Shahrukh Khan. I'm just one nameless, faceless being. But you know what, it actually pains me to be in such a situation. Things were much more easier and life was much more simpler when I was just another adoring fan and you were, well, you. Now, I have started thinking. Which apparently seems like a Very Bad Idea.

P. S : Just to clarify, Fake IPL Player has absolutely nothing to do with my feeling this way. In fact, au contraire, I'm as indifferent to his posts, as much indignant as I would have been a while back.

Regards,
Your ex-fan.

Kasturi

A few weeks back, around sevenish in the evening, while I was returning home from some place I chanced to see saw a flower-girl. She was sitting on the platform, was about 13-14 years old, and at first sight seemed like any other of the hundreds of child labourers we see every single day. Why I noticed this particular girl was, she had a few notebooks and a geometry box, by her side. She was studying her notes by the light coming from the bright neon lamps of the restaurant near which she was sitting. I was speechless, to say the least. I went up to her to speak with her.

Me : Hi, what's your name?
She looked up : Kasturi, akka
Me : So, which class are you in?
Kasturi : 10th standard akka. I'm studying for my board examinations.

Not wanting to disturb her anymore, I left her at that and came home. I couldn't meet her after that, but this incident left a deep impression on my mind.
How often do we complain about the most trivial of things? We curse if we’re stuck in a traffic jam while traveling in an air-conditioned Volvo bus. We are exasperated if power fails for a few minutes. We get annoyed because of long queues. We complain endlessly about the weather. We get all wound up when our expensive music player’s battery runs out. We whine on and on when our favorite team loses a cricket match. Well, about what not. Have we ever thought about how much really lucky we are when we are compared to the likes of Kasturi? Of course there is nothing at all like helping a child’s education, but the least we can do is realize how much fortunate we are and stay contented. Spare a moment to think about it. After all, life is really short; it’s all what you make of it. So stay happy, live life to the fullest, don’t complain and have no regrets!

A-jogging we will go..

Going early morning jogging(7.30 is early morning by my standards) through Anna Tower park is a lot of fun. It is healthy(ha ha) and it is so much fun to look at the different kinds of people and of course, comment about them.

1. The Yoga Masters :
These are the ones who do these weird, twisting exercises that hardly fail to capture the eye. It is real fun to watch one, until of course The Twister gives you The Glare. But before scurrying away, the viewer can get a hearty laugh out of it(and hey, which is by the way healthy too!) Which brings me to the next category.

2. The Laughter Champions :
The Laughter Club is an insanely funny concept, it is so much infectious and you cannot help but smile as you pass by them.

3. The Not-so-young kids :
Oh no, not just the 10-somethings whose cheeky grins are so much irresistible that you find it hard to tell them off, despite getting hit by a leather ball(Ouch. Makes you yearn for good old tennis ball cricket :( ) These include 30plus year olds who so wisely decide to play handball, as the board in the park prohibits "playing football, throwball and cricket within the premises of the park". Not a surprise, taking into account that we people are generally considered the undisputed champions of the sport of Loophole Seeking(no offence).

4. The Mating Season Enthusiasts :
It is easy to spot this kind. They are surprisingly well-dressed for the travesties of exercise(expensive googles for an early morning run?? gimme a break!) and throw casual, but carefully calculated glances at prospective GF/BF material.

5. The Couples :
Just the logical next step of #4. You see all kinds. The just-into-a-relationship sickly sweet gigglers. The i'm-ignoring-you-now arguers. The hand-holders. The more-than-just-hand-holders.

6. The Sing-Alongs :
Of course almost everyone who comes for a morning exercise to a park has a music player, but what we are dealing with is our own Eminems, who sound like they're rapping even the highest pitched songs. But trust me, it is great entertainment to jog beside one. Imagine the fun in hearing this - "Chal Chayya.. Hufff Puff Huff.. Ishq tera.. Phew.. Huff.. Mar Gayya.."

7. The Wearer of Pink sweatpants, Cream with little brown flowers Shirt, Fluoroscent Socks and Red Sneakers :
Trust me, Fluoroscent Socks Guy is in a category of his own. Attracts more attention than Redskins in an IPL match.

8. The Silent Observer :
Hee hee, need I say more? :)

My article, in print

I had sent across an article to NXG, which is a weekly tabloid supplement that comes with The Hindu. And surprise surprise, it got published too! And the icing - I also apparently get a gift voucher at Smart Shoppers! Here's the link to the online edition of my article - Role Reversal
And yeah, thanks to Dad for the inspiration for my 'piece' as Bertie Wooster says, "we journalists" would describe it ;)

Screw Driving

My tryst with any means of transport has always been a source of entertainment to people around me. Right from childhood, I've been an extremely accident prone person. I just can't walk straight for 100 yards without tripping. There's ALWAYS some minuscule pebble on the road I'm walking on, which I trip on eventually. Picture this. I had once been on a trip to a hill station with my friends. There was this one friend who tripped and fell while were climbing a slope near a lake. Fair enough, could happen to anybody. One more friend slipped on a mossy, slippery surface near a waterfall. Again, perfectly valid, could happen to anyone. But me, accident-prone me, I just HAD to trip and fall down flat on my face, on a STRAIGHT FLAT tar road, full of traffic and people turning back and my friends around me wondering what made me fall while wearing perfectly normal ACG flotters.

So you see, my walking woes were bad enough. When I signed up for driving classes, I sure as hell didn't have any idea as to well, what I was signing up for. Until I finished my college, I had almost only ridden my BSA bicycle, while many of my friends had their licenses. So I decided, if not for anything, I needed an identity proof, and I decided to go for driving classes. And thus started the most terrifying days of my lives. There was this instructor guy, who used to be a police inspector, so I was kinda scared of him as well. My driving classes were a proper fiasco, but hey there weren't half as bad as I'd expected either.
Okay so once while changing gears I almost hit a cow on the road. But hey how on earth did I know I'm not supposed to look at the gears while changing them? And besides, once when I really did change gears without looking, I accidentally switched to reverse gear, and the car was moving backwards without any control. Highly intimidating, if you ask me.
And yeah I almost hit a vehicle in front of me by mistaking the accelerator for the brake - honest mistake, can happen to anyone, except that it happened to me like fifty times.
And yeah, once while I had to take a U turn after crossing a signal, the engine simply switched off (absolutely no fault of mine - this stupid car apparently stops if you don't press something called the clutch before braking - cmon how on earth am I supposed to remember so many rules) and it was a full two minutes before I could get the car started again, while my instructor was cursing his superior and giving me nasty glances. And to all those motorists behind me who were honking irritably -
< philosophical quote > Folks, please give an 'L' board some consideration; afterall, all of you were L boards once upon a time < /philosophical quote >

I dreaded every single of my driving classes, and even more the driving test. But, I managed to pass both the 2 wheeler and 4 wheeler tests(on the first try, hah :)) and this guy who was evaluating actually smiled at me. Lets spare the the beaten-to-death "licensed to kill" cliche and just say I got my DL(and contrary to what SOME people think, I got it on my own merit and did NOT bribe my way into getting it). I was proud, very very proud, even happier than I felt after receiving my degree. And no, I never found the need to exercise my right to drive, and don't think I ever will until absolutely necessary. Public transport is hassle-free, environment friendly, safer, less scarier, and I don't have to keep in mind a hundred rules. I'd rather happily settle down in an auto with my Wodehouse and Radio Mirchi, and besides think about all the haggling fun??!! I know driving is sometimes considered as much an attitude statement as a necessity, but I can perfectly do without it, thank you.

The Name Blame Game

My name is Iswarya, spelt that way and supposed to be pronounced as "Aishwarya", as in Mrs-Oooh-Acting-in-Pink-Panther-justifies-my-weird-accent Rai Bachan. But, if only life was that simple. Thank you very much dad, so I didn't have to be the first one to answer roll calls and did not have to sit in the first bench in primary schools where the norm was to seat children alphabetically but at the same time I've spent almost all my life spending more than twice the amount of time necessary. And please don't give me that what's in a name rubbish. I'll tell you what exactly is.

Sample Scenario:
Not-so-bright guy who's in-charge of a college competition asks for my name and I tell it.
Not-so-bright guy starts writing labariously - A-I-S
Me : No, no. Thats not how it's spelt. There's no "a" and "h".
NSBG : Huh? So it's just "Aiswary" ? (Duh, very funny)
Me : No it's I-S-W-A-R-Y-A
NSBG : Weird. You know, my second cousin Aishwarya doesn't spell it this way.
Me : Yeah, but you see I'm(thankfully) not your second cousin.
NSBG chuckles and I fume.
And my name come out in the certificate as "Ayshwariya".

And this continues every where I go - School/College application forms, RTO, while opening bank accounts, getting SIM cards, checking office mails, so on.. In fact I hardly ever tell my name these days - I just spell it out. Saves a lot of time and effort.

That's the spelling part of it. The second part to my misery is when people read my name and then call me out. Eeswariya. Ice-variya(Ho ho. Dumbest pun I've known). Eeswar(I get this from Tata AIG/ICICI folks trying to sell me insurance and home loans - "Hello Sir, Am I talking to Mr. Eeswar?" Beats me how they conveniently ignore the last 2 alphabets). And generally most people have one or two nicknames at the max. But I've been called ish, ishu, ishee, isu, ich, ice and what not.

Since childhood, my fantasy has always been to change my name to something. I used to like Shruti a lot, but somehow that fascination died out when I grew up. Anjali is one of my evergreen favorites. I think that's the second most popular Bollywood name after Pooja, but I think I've liked it ever since I watched Amala go "Oru-Eli,Rendu-Eli.. Anjali" in Agni Natchatiram. And of course, my latest addition is Aditi. I mean which girl wouldn't be thrilled to hear a juke-box dedication, especially for her, and that too of a song as endearing and sweet as "Aditi hasde tu zara"!! :P Such a pity, though. My dad told me once that he'd have named me Aditya if I'd been born a boy. In that case, shouldn't Aditi for a girl name have been the most obvious choice? Just my luck to end up with a name spelt like this. Bledy.

So, I've learnt to live with it and even started to slowly not dislike my name. And anyways, Iswarya by any other spelling will still be as sweet, aint she :D

The Awscars

I watched this year's Academy Awards surprisingly, though I'm not really a fan of awards ceremonies. I've never watched the Oscars. But, anyways I thought I'll watch this year, for ARR's sake. And the genius did do us proud, and it was no surprise to us Indians who had grown up listening to his magical numbers. But it still bothers me that I did not like SM's tracks enough. Okay, Jai Ho is hummable enough(call me crazy but I find Jai Ho's initial few lines startlingly similar to Elam Pugazhum oruvan oruvanuke, from Azhagiye thamizh magan), and O Saaya is kinda catchy too. But is it really ARR's best? Does it really top the brilliance of Vellai Pookal and Narumugaye, the haunting E Ajnabee, the amazing way in which Margazhi Poove takes off where Suprabatham ends, the achingly beautiful Tere Bina and New York nagaram? I'll never know. Maybe I'm dumb to appreciate it, and maybe these bade-bade jury log and all know better. It takes a foreign film to recognise a genius, albeit through non-mediocre, but definitely not the best of his works.

Awaiting to see The curious case of Benjamin Button when it releases here. (okay US folks don't be so smug), and this time the reason is more than Brad Pitt. The plot sounded fascinating to me, and I'm definitely planning to watch it.

And the much deserved best supporting actor for the best villain I've ever seen on screen - The Joker. I saw Batman Begins after watching The Dark Knight, and frankly The Scarecrow was a bit of a dampener. Funny story about how we watched The Dark Knight though. Saw it in IMAX with my colleagues. We were a crowd of nearly 25 people - almost all of us were '08 college campus hires. It started off with this one guy asking out a girl if she wanted to go to the movie as it had got pretty good reviews. And this girl, who couldn't take a hint, invited about 7-8 of her other friends!(Don't ask me how I know this little story - I have my sources ;)) And then well you know how it goes - someone asks someone else and then finally there we were - 25 odd people, of which I'm pretty sure, each person did not know more than 10 people.. It was a whole lot of fun though.

And is it just me, or the Oscars this tiringly boring every year? Maybe it helps that I have a greater probability of knowing inside jokes of Bollywood than of Hollywood. I am an unabashed, self-proclaimed Bollywood lover and obviously I did watch the telecast of last year's filmfare awards hosted by Shahrukh and Saif(and the reruns too, hee hee). I still remember me and Teju giggling like schoolgirls over the phone as we discussed the duo's never-tiring Kantabai antics on stage, SRK mocking Saawariya, Darsheel, teasing Saif with Kareena(ah.. how i miss all the teasing in college) and what not. Sigh. Maybe it's like eating tofu - you need to acquire a taste to start liking them..

Life, actually

Cut to PSG Tech reunion, 10 years from now.

A : Hey! Long time, what you doing now?
B(could have been A's lab partner in college) : Did my MS and now I'm a senior test lead at _______. You?
A : Hey, that's great. After my MBA, I joined as a HR manager with your rival concern! In fact, we actually have an opening, in case you're interested...

X : Well, I work as a Principal Technical Associate Design Architect..
Y : That a fancy name for Software Engineer?
X : Err, hmm yeah.

Duh. Ask a question about anyone's work and you realise that you do the same damned thing all day too....
Really, do we all want to become bored-to-undeath office zombies, all of us doing nearly the same thing for the entire life? Don't get me wrong - I'm not criticizing any particular profession, in fact I'm not even generalizing, lets say I'm just talking for myself. I know it's a cliche, but then everyone really has to realise the difference between WANTING and HAVING to do something. And trust me, nothing's harder and more important than knowing what exactly you want from life.
Oh and as long as we are in this line of discussion, there is this movie called "Dasvidaniya", which released recently. I haven't watched it yet, but from what I heard from my friends discussing it, seems like a must watch. It apparently showcases a man's last 10 wishes and how he goes about getting them done. I thought it to be very relevant to life. I mean c'mon simple, day-to-day stuff, that you've always wanted to do. . Nothing fussy - just a short, private list. It can be crazy, wacky, ridiculous, but it would be YOUR list. I'm seriously considering beginning to write one pretty soon. .

Listen to your heart, guys. May not be the most practical thing to do, but atleast there'll be no regrets..
Sample this as a possible dialogue between our very same characters..

X : And to think that lousy paper we presented in our college days was the inspiration for you to research quantum computing!!
Y : Heh heh, I know. And hey thanks for that early edition CD of your album.. You guys are terrific :)
Z : Yep, forming the "BANNED" was a great idea afterall ;)
(My over imagination will be the death of me :D :D )
Sigh. Dreamers get no where. Okay folks, back to writing code. Spare a moment to think about it, though :)
Cheerios.