Just A Zilch

Disclaimer: This post might be a bit depressing ‘coz I have a long list of things to crib about. So, all you, bright, happy, cheerful guys n gals, please click on the ‘cross’ at the top right corner of this web page or read at your own risk!

“Every decision you make is a mistake” said Edward Dahlberg. And I’m in sync with his thoughts today. Today is the day of indecisiveness. I’m not able to decide on anything. I used to be indecisive earlier as well but now I am not quite sure.

I have rejected at least 5 ideas (my own, of course!) for today’s blog post. It’s one of those days when everything seems to be in a muddle, no clarity of thoughts, and no vision. Am I suffering from mental fatigue? Writing fatigue? Chronic fatigue? Am I bone-weary or am I soul-weary? I guess it’s all and this is bugging me to no end. I’m stuck! I’ve been sitting in front of my laptop (it’s my brother’s but I can pretend it to be mine.) for the last few hours and have come up with NOTHING! So far, so bad and yes! I’m not confident of even finishing this post in the way I would have liked.

Myriad of thoughts are going through, but none is getting crystallized. What about a post on Sachin’s blitzkrieg knock of 175...uh-huh no cricket please! (Yeah! it’s the 8th wonder of the world for me...or I don’t know which wonder...nowadays they keep changing the wonders, in our school days we just had seven!)

Should it be This or That?
Past or Present or Future?
Fact or Mystery?
Fake or Real?
Post or No Post?
Yes or No?

I tried my best but I failed miserably. Here I can recall the words of Samuel Beckett- Winner of Nobel Prize in Literature who once said, “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” I promise for a livelier post next time around...a gentleman’s promise it is! I am bitterly disappointed at this effort of mine of churning out a nice, interesting, and funny or a witty post, but the end result is Just A Zilch.

Do-ing No-thing

I used to wonder what doing nothing would be like but let me tell you it is certainly not the situation you would love yourself to get involved into. I have been doing nothing for the past few months and trust me....there was nothing I could do about it. The greatest trouble you face is that the minute you wake up in the morning you are on the job and you never know when you are finished, and then the job becomes so petrifying that your likes and dislikes lose their importance. Suddenly you start liking hanging out with your friends (who perhaps themselves are caught in the same job) on social communities like orkut, facebook, twitter...blah, blah...blah, you don't mind giving a try to any movie (at times even a rgv film seems helpful.....no it's not a joke, it really helps!), you begin loving even the repeats of MTv Roadies, Splitsvilla et cetera and et cetera. And the likes of blogging looks awful (you see this is my first post in the last 2-3 months), I used to love listening songs but the careless whisper by George Michael, comfortably numb by Pink Floyd & like a rolling stone by Bob Dylan seem like just an another composition by Anu Malik (I feel sorry for his fans if he has got any). It is like a new disease, the symptoms are when you feel aimless, helpless, useless, worthless and jobless....the cure is not known to me but I am desperate.

My 10- Take 2

One line thrasher for the reality shows which are becoming more spurious and newsworthy... than the reality itself.

1. MTV Roadies: The irony of each round is that if you ask a junior to do this kind of thing in college, it's called 'ragging' and you could go to jail.

2. 10 ka dum: A rare place where Salman can be seen with his shirts on but then you cannot bet on him for that. This show is exclusively for celebrities and is not a common man's show like you and me...!

3. Big Boss: It may be trivial, perfectly "yeow" in parts. But even discussing how much you supposedly hate it... is fodder for canteen conversation.

4. Rakhi Ka Swaymwar: 16 guys from different cities and towns are selected to compete for the item girl of the Bollywood, Rakhi Sawant. The show is complete bullshit and the Drama Queen just piles on the agony. And like other reality shows, Rakhi Ka Swaymwar- Season II won't come as a surprise to me.

5. Splitsvilla: The I & B ministry recently issued a notice to MTV for denigrating women. In my opinion 15 girls to seduce 2 boys is really cat fight not to miss by any guy at home alone. Truly, all of them are one more step ahead for vulgar language and dirty politics on idiot box. And all things are done in the name of reality.

6. Sach Ka Samana: Even though this is all about sach, there is lot of lying on the show. Every contestant is asked whether they were lying in bed with others or not. And eventually, 70% of the winning amount by the contestants is spent to hire a lawyer to fight his/her divorce case later.

7. The Great Indian Laughter Challenge: There is no skin show but still has got the stuffs for adults only. In case you are watching with the family, it is hard to suppress the laughter and if you laugh it suddenly becomes as embarrassing as the time you were caught watching porn.

8. Rock n Roll Family: They flirt shamelessly with the judges, and debate on saali being aadhi or poori gharwali. All scripted for sure but there is no sharam or lihaaj in either the banter or the matkas and jhatkas.

9. Ish Jungle se mujhe bachao: I don't want to be foul-mouthed recalling the idea behind this show. I appreciate the Sony Entertainment for having a strong stomach to air this crap.

10.Nach Baliye: 10 small screen couples participate in a dance competition and you are expected to see them invariably again and again after their never-ending saas-bahu saga......WTF!

Missing Friends

I am feeling like living in exile or alienation although in contact with friends virtually through internet. I've been thinking lately about how I'm missing so many of my good friends lately just because our exulting college life is over now. That made me think of many of my friends who live just far enough away that I don't see them nearly as often as I wish I could. And some are here in town and I still don't visit them as regularly as I would have liked because of our busy lives. I began to wonder if 'face time is imperative to keeping a relationship going. In this age of cell phones, email, facebook, twitter, etc., it's easy enough to stay in touch even when we can't be in touch. When I want to be with my friends, though, I find it most satisfying when I can lay eyes on them, lay hands on them, give and get hugs, kisses, and slaps on the back. It's a realization that all of these hands-off ways of staying in touch simply aren't satisfying, or nurturing in a way I expect a friendship to be.

Good friends are priceless. Good friends are those you call when you're upset, when you're happy, when you're confused, when you're sick. Good friends have been where you are and have "ears to listen"; they'll also tell you how it felt to them and how they made it through. If you're lucky, you have good friends who, for some unknown reasons, have immense confidence in you and aren't afraid to tell you. Friends who aren't afraid to let emotion or tears creep into the conversation.

I am so lucky to be loved and appreciated by a few priceless friends. With no fakes and no pretensions, they are all transparent. I am missing my college days, missing the love crushes- They never care about me as you people have. Just missing you friends....sanjay, sachish, anil, anshu(mota), amit(guru), vivek, ishank, varun, sweta rani, rekha, milan, lovely and many more not named here. I feel absolutely blessed for having friends like you all.

Wimbledon-09

Oh it’s been two weeks now. But the memory of that improbable match is still fresh and alive in my mind and heart. I am sure it would remain forever. It was a true delight to watch the two geniuses at play matching stroke by stroke. What was delightful to see the way two handled themselves post match. One man was the reigning champion, the untouchable who has caught hold of the famous Wimbledon trophy for the last five years now. The other was the lion hearted genius, trying relentlessly to catch the same for the past few years. But there was no bad taste after the match and both of them complimented each other like true champions. They are true idols for everyone around.

The match started with an early break in favour of Roddick, Though Federer had his chances, Roddick definitely was the better player in the first set. He won it 7-5. Second set was a bit dramatic and after the 6-2 lead for the American in the tie-breaker, he missed an easy backhand on full, no one would have imagined the eventual score line 6-8 in the tie-breaker, in favour of Federer. I have hardly seen Roddick squandering his chances this way. The third set was pretty much same like the second one, and Federer again managed to squeeze the win with some "Federer-like" moments in the tie-breaker. The scoreboard read 7-5, 6-7, 6-7 in favour of Federer. It felt at that time Federer would rout past Roddick in the fourth set. But in Tennis you have to always expect the unexpected. Roddick raised his game and managed to break the serve in the fourth set, it was 3-1. Federer got a chance to break back but Roddick's brilliance was on display here as he managed to save them. But, the most memorable short to save the break-point was the back hand pass by the American. That was truly remarkable. Roddick finally managed to win the set 6-3. The tides seemed to be turning but Federer did not give up and put all his muscular power in the final set. Finally his physical and mental strength proved to be too strong for Andy Roddick. Roger Federer won his 15th Grand Slam title, The Wimbledon-09, as the final score was 7-5, 6-7, 6-7, 6-3, 14-16.......would you believe!

There were some magic moments in this match and some of it was truly delectable. The battle lasted for an astonishing 4 hour and a quarter but that could neither manage the delirious fans to fade away from the centre court nor the billions watching on television (I, being the one!). It was all worth watching as eventually the champion was reborn out of the ashes of the last year's final here at the All England's Club where he lost to Rafael Nadal. The flashing cameras could not quite match the happiness and joy exuberating out of Federer’s face. I was backing Federer all the way, and seeing him with the trophy propelled tears out of my eyes. But I am sure, it was out of happiness. And, another thing I am sure of is that this was by far the best performance by Andy Roddick I have ever seen. Sometimes it becomes quiet a task to judge the best among the Equals....!

3 Idiots

A new movie is directed by Raj Kumar Hirani which is based on the novel "Five Point Someone" written by Chetan Bhagat. I hope that some decency will be maintained by Hirani in the movie, i.e.exact representation of certain scene will cause turbulence in young generation. Certainly, all of us know that this novel is best seller by Indian Standard and based on the backdrop of IIT campus. This movie will remove the myth that only studious student can make it top notch. The idiots are students of mechanical engineering, a branch of Engineering where the gender ratio is much to worry about.

Perfectionist Aamir Khan, Cool R. Madhvan and cheeky Sharman Joshi are there for full fun of audience. I am dying to see Boman Irani as HOD, Mechanical. My only complaint is Kareena Kapoor as heroine of the film. But, you have to make lot of compromises in making bollywood film. By the way, rumours are on the rise that Aamir Khan’s character in 3 Idiots is named Rancho (this needs confirmation).

The idiots will definitely have something meaningful to say, with gentle humor and zero pretension. Aamir Khan has been quoted as saying that 3 Idiots is very different from 5 Point Someone. I don’t know why, but that makes me very happy. Maybe because Bhagat’s One Night at a Call Center filmed as 'hello' bored me to death. Moreover, student life is not all about uni-dimensional thinking about grades.

Sachin Tendulkar

A legend, a man, often of divine ancestry, who is endowed with great courage and strength, celebrated for his bold exploits and an obvious Synonym to Champion. The peak of Mount Everest in terms of cricket has been redefined so many times by so many greats but this man is so special because he has engraved his name forever in the History Books for the most prestigious records in World Cricket. Sachin said that he had to throw a lot of stone to reach the milestone! What a quote from the great man who is not known for letting his emotion known in public.

Inspiration and Respect are the things which comes automatically deep down from heart. I am sure everyone from our generation look out to Sachin for the two. He inspires millions by his act both on and off the field. An eighteen year old kid touring his first Australian series and hitting a century on the conventional bouncy wicket of Perth is something which speaks volumes about the little master. It tells to people like us that if someone has the guts and the hunger to prove his or her mettle then nothing is impossible. It might sound like a cliche but that’s the way it is. The respect for the little master compounds by his off field examples. I have never seen or heard about a genuinely humble person like sachin. His Modesty and discipline inspires me and tells me that a down to earth man irrespective of whatever he has achieved in his life is the real champion.

Watching cricket has become one of my habits now because watching Geniuses like Sachin bat inspires you to do it over and over again and convert it into a habit! Though he has given me a lot of sleepless nights on the overseas tours, and that just shows how much I adore him. Sachin is great not only because the way he plays but also because of the kind of person he is. The way he conducts himself is a lesson for everyone around. The way he showers his happiness and praise on a youngster doing well is something really refreshing. He redefines the words Modesty and Humbleness to me.

There are times when he has faltered but on all those occasions he has come back with a bang like a true champion. So all you critics please leave him alone not because he would prove you wrong again but also because he is the reason why there is an overflow of money with BCCI and you are getting paid!!

The sight of seeing him under his Blue Helmet on a cricket ground and hitting Glenn Mcgrath for a straight drive on a day with blue sky has to be one of the best things which can happen on a Cricket Ground. The other would be Sachin hitting Mcgrath for another four on the very next delivery. The difference here would be that Mcgrath would sputter something this time to Sachin, while Sachin would just give a stare at him and follow his normal routine. That to me is the Ultimate Sight on a Cricket ground because that defines a true Champion named “ Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar”.

Nothing is Constant in life but one thing which can never change is my respect, adulation and admiration for “Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar”.