The Search

I remember a time when my heart would sing out
I remember the joy and what life was about
But something has happened to that boy I knew
I wish I could find him but I haven’t a clue

I search for the happiness that was taken away
I search for my heart, every night, every day
A search that’s exhausting, that gnaws at the mind
I search for myself, for my heart I must find

It’s a lonely road but the path holds just me
It’s a journey of rebirth, of trying to break free
But I will find my heart, somewhere on that road
And remember once again of days long ago

To those people who try and get hurt none-the-less
In trying to help me in this time of duress,
Please don’t give up, remember me then
Back in the days, when my smile came from within

I’m trying to find my way back to that place
Where laughter and joy put a smile on my face
Where friends and family meant the world to me
I pray that I find it, I pray to be free

I get scared sometimes of what I’ve become
Will my heart stay like stone? But I can’t succumb
I have to stay strong for what lies ahead
I have nothing to fear, I have nothing to dread

The search for myself has been a long, lonely one
But I will find me and lead me back to the sun
To a place not so distant, a place not unknown
To a place I remember, a place I call home…

Cricket: The Best(… and the Worst) of 2008

Since we are in the final lap of 2008, I thought I might just set the ball rolling for the pick of the best of Cricket in 2008. The good, the bad and the not so good….whatever it was, 2008 was a watershed year. It saw the crumbling of the mighty Australian empire, at least the aura of it…. The rise of new power order of world cricket both financially and professsionally! Here’s my pick of the top from the lot.

1. Perth : SA chase down 414

The most incredible chase in the history. Sheer audacity of will and skill overpowering the champions in their “fortress”. And who better to do it but, Graeme Smith the man with steel nerves who has come back well after being so horrendously exposed last time when he opened his big mouth more than he could deliver. This time, he let his bat do the talking and the results are for all to see!

Stars: AB de Villiers and Graeme Smith. Essentially a team victory though.

2. CB Series : India finally “do it” down under

It took Sachin an incredible almost 3 dozen matches to break the voodoo of not scoring a century in Australia. It also shut some trash about him not performing in finals when he single handedly won the finals to start a still continuing free fall of Aussies.

Stars: Captain Cool MS Dhoni, the veteran Sachin tendulkar and the inspired youth of Praveen Kumar and Ishant Sharma

3. Mendis Phenomenon

He came, he tweaked and he conquered. Arguably, the most bizarre talent to emerge in last decade or so. His performance against an Indian side that’s prided itself in playing spin as good as any side certainly helped his reputation of brilliance! He is destined for big things unless people learn to play his unique style of tweak!

4. The IPL thing

It came almost like an after-thought to the pioneering yet much maligned work of Subhash Chandra’s ICL circus. But it made some real grown-ups behave like kids fighting for lolly. A full monty for the commercial side of cricket. Unashamed, unabashed in displaying “what sells” and what they see as future of cricket. The enfant terrible of cricket, Shane Warne writing the script of the Rajasthan Royals was a moment for the romantics! Sir Neville Cardus must have loved to write something on that, for sure… It just added to the glamour quotient, as much as the first day 158 blitz by Mc Cullum was the dreamer’s delight. Lalit Modi couldn’t have asked for more…

5. Perth : India beat Australia

The proverbial Phoenix was what comes nearest in imagery of one of India’s best triumphs in recent times. That it came after the worst nightmare ended in Sydney and that it came at a place where no Asian team has ever come close was what makes it even sweeter.

6. Kevin Pietersen’s switch hits

This is probably the one thing that split the cricket world longitudinally like nothing in recent past. The sheer confidende of a man cocking a snook at the lawmakers in the Mecca of cricket, was only matched by MS Dhoni’s field placings in Nagpur, in terms of treading the fine line between illegal and incredible. This is something that will make KP stand out in a game dominated by batsmen for quite some time.

7. Pakistan’s isolation

It’s a sad state of affairs when the geo-politics of a country devoid its people of one thing that could provide them succor…Sports. Cricket is Pakistan’s life line. One of the few things that binds the people in a confused country unable to decide between Hardline Islam and Modern Moderation, between a megalomaniac dictator and a whimsical ‘democratically’ elected president. Whatever be the reason, Pakistan suffered incredibly in cricketing terms, with not a single test being played by the country in a calendar year. An unimaginable scenario in even the worst of times….and worse still, not much hope of things improving in foreseeable future.

8. New Zealand and West Indies

Its really hard to see the chasm widening between the big boys and the rear end of test table. NZL and WI have had proud history but the way they have gone down the drain is a real foreboding ( I so wish, they prove it wrong sooner rather than later). They along with Bangladesh and Zimbabwe have not been the best of opposition in recent times. Take Pakistan out as it hardly plays..and all you are left with is 5 countries, effectively making it a 2 tier league(which incidentally is a good proposal).

9. Australia’s free fall from the top

It’s the sheer pace at which things have come apart from the Aussie juggernaut that amazes the mind. If #1 and #2 were the specifics, even the general look of things doesn’t appear too good for Aussies.They cannot afford anymore to rest on past, which is well and truly behind them. They need a rebuild in the mould of Kim Hughes and Alan Border in the 80′s, and fast! But realization is the first step to redemption. Unless they realize things are going awry, there’s hardly anything they can do to put them right. Getting a dose of fresh youth both in batting, bowling and leadership might not be such a bad idea!

….and finally the most emotional one, 10. Remembering the Titans

2008 saw 3 of the modern day legends bowing out. Adam Gilchrist, Saurav Ganguly and Anil Kumble are 3 of the most revered names in modern cricket. It would be foolish on my part to try and describe the emotional component of their departure in words. The world of cricket will never see any of these three unique cricketers again or any like them!

Bonus: Sehwag’s return and resurrection was something that is as incredible as it gets! A triple, a double and a generous dose of cameos, including the match winning one at Chennai for 83. As good as it gets…

The Punjab Saga-I:Ludhiana to Amritsar

Hmm… Some things just make you fall in love with them, the first time you look at them…sometimes even before that. Probably my “relationship” with Punjab had some sub-conscious threads already in place. Punjabi and Bengali are probably the two cultural vistas that I have adored the most…for no palpable reason whatsoever..at least none that I can trace back! But thats how it has been… Anyways, coming back to the point… The Punjab Saga… I just couldnt help but archive this visit that I am sure will remain etched in my memory for a long long time to come.

Last month and a half have been calamitous, Jammu is burning and so is Kashmir… singeing a place like Udhampur in its flames. Not being the kind of person who likes being in a cage that this place had become due to the curfew and all! I literally jumped when RP’s marriage invitation and his call came… I am not too sure if I would have made it had it not been my altered state of mind, bogged by the curfew… stretching the leash to break free and have a whiff of fresh air. Travelling in India can be a dangerous thing these days…in times of religious and casteist zealotry, you never know when and where the situation will snowball into something intolerable. But then some risks are worth taking…

Ha! So much for the build up to a small quarter of a day journey… but then sometimes its so difficult to make others understand how minuscule things can mean so much for someone when they might pass off as downright insignificant for others. . like the unbridled joy this trip gave me… Reaching Ludhiana was fun, seeing people other than patients and doctors after a long time, even the train journey was as exciting as it would have been when I boarded the train for the first time some quarter century back! BSG and his Dad were there right at the station when the train reached at arnd 1130(fortunately on time!!!) The Senior Gill is a man full of life… much more than Junior! It was an experience in itself, meeting the warmest couple and the most cordial set of a Dad n Mom I have ever met… They had prepared for me as if I was some long lost son coming after an aeon! So, after a bowl full of tasty chicken and sausages, and a couple of pegs of Vat69 later, I hardly even felt tired. (My brain was far too occupied with my overbrimming stomach to even notice the fatigue of the journey!) So… that was that… the first night! We slept off early to get on with the drive to Amritsar the next day! Comfortably numb… Raring to fly!!

To be able to get up at 10 in the morning is one luxury which I can give anything for and when it is followed by some astonishing Aloo Paranthas and Lassi, I dunno if anything else can be closer to heaven. Goodness me, I was sure that the 5 odd kgs that I had managed to offload after a month of running, and playing and cutting down on diet, was back for revenge. Nevertheless, we managed to get on road for our trip to Amritsar. The drive was an equally lovely experience… Punjab’s coutryside with its lush greenery, horizon to horizon fields and some astonishingly beautiful belles roaming round the place. Whoa man.. it actually was beautiful! After three hours on the road…passing through Phagwara, Jullundur and Beas, we managed to reach Amritsar( The Pond of Divine Nectar, as the name means!!!) Pankaj Rai, an old colleague from college was our host, and surprisingly and quite contrary to his reputation as a Shylock, he helped us as much as anyone could have. After a short rest, we set off for our first destination… the Wagah Border!

… contd..

Quantum of Solace

Some days are just way too long than the others… not in terms of the moments that pass you by, but in terms of the impact that these moments have on your pysche, your inner most spaces…even when they weren’t meant to tread those realms.

Seemingly beautiful to begin with…all bright and sunny, after days of clouded gloom and pouring heavens…but only as beautiful as a Jelly fish is till it releases its deadly venom which leaves you numb, or even dead! Yes, it was one of those days…. Hearing the news of the death of a batchmate, and a friend can be an experience non-parail… Indescribable, Incredible… Shock is a mere understatement, to see an unfulfilled life getting nipped in the bud. I aint wanna write an obit, that wouldnt serve any purpose, nor would it make any sense, given than after the first year in college, we charted basically different teritories… yet there is something deep inside that feels a sense of sorry.. of realizing the (f)utility of all these friendships, and relationships, and even the memories that only make the one carrying them harder to live with. Yes, it was one of those strange days that make you feel awfully puny and inconsequential in the larger scheme of someone directing the whole show! But, then the beauty of life is that the harder it becomes to live with, the more you want to cling on.

Hmm, getting back to the anatomy of death… the waste of a life…the indelible scar that some who commit suicide, leave on their acquaintances who outlive them. Is it just the act of giving up without a fight, or may be after a valiant fight… or cowardice, or selfishness. Whatever name, we may give it. In the end, it doesnt even matter. The “gone” goes to a world where these emotions make little sense, the “remnants” are anyways too shattered to even try thinking of these!

Someone rightly said.. “All our knowledge merely helps us to die a more painful death than animals that know nothing.” We try so hard to understand these complexities, to try and conquer them…without realizing the ultimate futility of it all. The only truth is that they left…both Mallu and Manu, and we will never have them again!I

I seriously dont know why I wrote this post, probably the most incoherent…yet, some times some things just dont make sense. Searching for a quantum of solace, may be…

Tomorrow: Just another day or Finding a way?

A world of darkness

Reaching an abyss

Deafening barks

Full of sharks

Mirrors lie

Ideals fly

Blood and bones

Cries and moans

Mangled hearts

Minds in parts

Flaming rivers

Spinal shivers

Darkening skies

Is that your choice

Scarred humanity

Political vanity

Enemies sans face

Lost without trace

Laws are lame

A world of shame

Sleeping Gods

Fighting odds

The future is stark

Leave your mark

Don’t be fools

Break the rules

Claim the space

Before you lose the race!

Chucked d’ India!

Been quite a while since I managed to write something on this blog…. compulsions of life, some may call it…laziness may be another word, but thats how it is! Anyways… Its been quite a happening time if you happen to be an Indian.

Watching the Trust vote for the Manmohan Singh government was an experience in itself…including the build up. One must concede though that the “vote” would have been a foregone conclusion, had it not been the brouhaha and the pandemonium of the “cash-for-votes” scandal… For everyone watching the proceedings, and with an iota of values in their hearts, the head would have hung in shame, seeing the cash being brandied about in the house. The whole episode brings into mind some very fundamental questions, which I as an unknown unheard Indian, did give a thought…as would have, probably, millions of such unheard unknown “Indians”. Was it all stage managed for political gains? One could possibly argue that given the convenience of timing and the transparency of its gain to the perpetrators, it could be a possibility. Lets isolate ourselves from our political ideologies and see it from an unbiased view, keeping in mind that the incident could be as true or false as anything.

Lets for a moment think that it was all false and stage managed, then it immediately makes us think, to what extent our politicians have stooped to gain a few brownie points. BJP and the Left, had all but lost the vote as was evident on most media platforms even after contriving after seriously compromising their so called ideologies. That it was the only gain they could have made, had they sullied the morality of the “victory”. And so they did… Unfortunately, the waters of Indian politics have been so badly murky, that a few ripples like these would hardly be noticed by anyone.

And, the other side is probably the more grim. What if all this true… What if the Indian MPs were actually up for sale..and there is a not-so-remote possibility it is!! It brings us to an even more fundamental question.. Has this possibility shocked even the most cynical skeptic? Do we even care about this supreme display of blatant corruption…which actually is just the tip of the iceberg..Aint it? And even more drastically, do we Indians actually want to rid ourselves of corruption? India as perhaps we all recognize now, is a two-faced country…the “haves” and the “have-nots”..with the chasm between the two widening with each step we take towards being an economic super power. The “haves” are the ones having the last laugh..by hook or by crook. Its a foregone conclusion that if you have the means, you will reach the end. If you dont get a seat through competition, you can buy it. If you dont get your file passed, you just put some extra “weight” tagged to it, and it will cruise through. Isnt it what we have come to understand, acknowledge and ultimately embrace. The morality is the so called preserve of the “have-nots” and that too because of the obvious fact that they dont have the means to follow the same route. Do we actually have the patience and the resolve to be fair and just. Even if you happen to be one, a one in a million species, staring at extinction… you run the risk of being an also ran, being ostracized from the society that seems to have a different take on “success”…that seems to have modified the rules by which you play, voluntarily or involuntarily!

It is a very harsh, but even if I appear to be a cynic, a distinct reality staring at us. And unfortunately, we dont have a solution ready. More so because, we dont acknowledge that this is actually happening as long as we have the means to be a part of the flow. Its time we look at it, we look for solutions before it is too late…just like we have woken up to the very distinct possibility of Environmental destruction of the world, perhaps a tad too late.

Does any one have the solutions? Are we staring down the barrell? Is Rang De Basanti just a generational fad… Is India just a bit too late in realizing that its political class has failed them?

And lastly, did anyone notice in all this clamour, that the basic issue..The Nuclear Deal was lost somewhere in the din. Crass politics was the eventual winner! Viva India… Jai Hind!

P.S.  A silver lining was seen along the darkest cloud of Indian polity… Somnath Chatterjee, defying all political compulsions to keep his spine and stature intact was possibly the only thing that saved my head from hanging in abject shame. May his values serve as a shining beacon for the plethora of young blood coming in.

A Weekend at Home… n No Country for Old Men??

Its been a rather different weekend, or indifferent if that suits the definition…. Am at home, a rarity…have been sick and have done hardly anything worthwhile in the past 24 hours… And believe it or not, have spent a summer in plains after almost 4 years! So much so to spoil yourself by living in exotic Leh and Udhampur for the better part of that period!

The good part about life is that we tend to miss almost anything…if its away from us for a while. Even if we hated it when it was around.. Even it happens to be the “summer-and-rains” and some good things that come with it…

So it has been, an indifferent summer holiday! Some things dont change though…like me getting up at almost near noon unless I am kicked out of the bed, like me checking my mail and Facebook pages even before I open my eyes, like me searching for the newspaper with the dreamy-eyed-zombie-like motion and eventually finding my cup of tea,coffee or glass of mango shake(depending on whether its a rainy day or sunny!!)

Somehow, I cant help but remember the time a decade back when as a kid i used to enjoy this summer time a lot! It used to mean the end of a session at school, the beginning of a season of ripe mangoes and fizzy drinks and more often than not having some time to read things not so academic!

To add to all the fun, even bro’ is at home…and that just kind of add to the sense of a “perfect” homecoming! Things have been leisurely but not all that nice. Granpa had a Retinal detachment(which post surgery has definitely improved!), Mom has these recurrent bouts of Knee pain….and it turns out to be Rheumatoid Arthritis….the diagnosis is there, the treatment there, but she just cant get relieved of pain and suffering! Only a doctor reading this would understand that Arthritis is one disease that brings a doctor on his knees…. You can make your patient learn to coexist with it but U just cant do away with it!! And that brings those accolades , “Isiliye doctor banaya tha tumhe?” (was it for this [read -uselessness!!] that U were brought up to be a doctor?) Ah! What can you do then? Nothing but….

Granpa is another example of a real motivated soul. He retired some couple of decades back…but he still just cant sit idle. His pet work being for his fellow pensioners. Was an eye-opening experience speaking to him about the plight of old people in the country. How indifferent we have become to their plight! We have time for N-deals and Mission to Mars but do we ever actually think of them? simple things like a separate queue for old people, or a separate health care policy for them is too much I guess for the India Shining!!! I quote a very pertinent example, which I experienced first hand…. I was coming by train a few days back n a old couple had to board the train for going to meet their son in Bangalore, who incidentally was a software engineer with some “big MNC”. They were hopelessly old, and had been “called” to help their daughter in law for her delivery! This “millionaire” son got them reservation on a train in AC III tier and it was unfortunately unconfirmed. Now what wud this couple do? Fight wid the TT to get a berth, or pay him couple grands or worse still, roll around in the aisle of this compartment full of thankless bunch of selfish morons! Not one of them got up to offer them even a small place to sit…. Now, I am not exactly a philanthropist or something but I did my bit, by asking TT to accomodate them somewhere..n in reply I got the sternest stare..n a reply “U have your own seat…why dont U settle down???” Excuse me. Thank you, but thats something I should have expected! They got one seat, finally, but that was not because of my “mission” or the large heart of the TTE. But because an entire bunch of 7 or 8 failed to turn up at the next station! Coming back to point, is it not pertinent that we take some thought for these often uncared for and unwanted people who are no longer useful cogs in the wheel of an Indian Shining?

Granpa is also old now…too old I guess  to fight the system but he cant help it! If only he had some support from the youth! The problem is complicated I guess… the nuclear family has evolved into almost atomic family… Children of parents from the hinterlands have more or less moved to greener pastures, home or abroad… and I  guess a lot of them do show their gratitude and care byu sending bagful of dollars every month. But is that the answer? Can these dollars help them practically? I dont think… And unfortunately after so much thinking all during that train journey and after coming back from Granpa’s house…I cudnt find any viable solution. Hopefully, someday we will….

Hmm…so much for a simple weekend..but then everyday teaches you so much! I am enjoying writing though… its good to be back to your known paramours!

Triveni

Sometime back a friend of mine introduced me to something called a Triveni. A triveni, or a triplet, is the second generation of Urdu Poetry style called Shayari, or couplet…Invented by God knows whom but recently worked upon so wonderfully by one of my favourite modern writers Gulzar…

Gulzar in view has been an amazing writer. He ploughs his own field in these times of “anything goes” and it is said, when he puts pen on paper poetry flows, rather gushes like a rivulet fresh from a Glacier… Pure and Pristine, Beautiful and Bedazzling!

Somehow I really liked this style… says a lot in so few words and Gulzar as usual is magical!

Some examples of Gulzar’s trivenis:

Itne logon mein, kehdo apni aankhon se,
itnaa oonchaa na aise bolaa karein…

Log meraa naam jaan jaate hain

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kya pata kab, kahan se maaregi,
bas, ki main zindagi se darta hoon…

maut ka kya hai, ek baar maaregi.

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Kaante waali taar pe kisne geele kapde taange hain
Khoon tapakta rehta hai..aur naali mein beh jaata hain.

Kyon is Fauji ki Bewa har roz yeh vardi dhotee hain…

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raat ke ped pe kal hi dekha tha,chaand,
bas, pak ke girne hi waala tha….

sooraj aaya tha, zara uski talaashi lena…

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aao, saare pehen le aaiine,
saare dekhenge apnaa hi chehara…

rooh apni bhi kisne dekhi hai!

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Ek ek yaad uthaao aur palkon se ponchh ke vaapis rakh do,
Ashq nahi ye aankh mein rakhe keemti keemti sheeshe hain…

Taak se gir ke keemti cheezein toot bhi jaaya karti hain!

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maa ne duaaye di thi…
ek chand si dulhan ki….

aaj footpath par laete hue… yeh chand mujhe roti nazar aata hai!

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Kuch Aisi ehthiyath se nikla chaand phir..
jaise andheri raat mein khidki pe aao tum…

Kya chaand aur zameen mein bhi kuch kicchaav hain?

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Koi chaadar ki tarah kheenche chala jaata hai dariya,
Kaun soya hai tale iske jise dhoondh rahe hain…

Doobne wale ko bhi chainse sone nahin dete !!

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Chalo aaj intezaar khatam hua
Chalo ab tum mil hi jaaoge..

Maut ka koi fayda to hua.

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Yeh Mana Is dauran kuch saal beet gayee hai
Phir Bhi aankhon mein chehra tumhara samayee Hui Hai…

Kitabon Pe Dhul Jamne Se Kahani Kahan Badalti Hai .

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Mujhe aaj koi aur na rang lagao…
Purana laal rang ek abhi bhi taaza hai.

Armaano ka khoon hue zyaada din nahii hua hai…

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Tere gesoo jab bhi baatein karte hain,
Uljhi-uljhi si woh baatein hoti hain…

Meri ungliyon ki mehmaangi, unhein pasand nahin…

Stairway to Heaven…Or is it?

Learning the tricks of your trade at AFMC can be an eye-opening experience for everyone, if not enlightening as it is for a few like me. Just the other day, I was speaking to a batch mate and something dawned on me…. What is it that makes AFMC such a special place, different from all other similar places!

I think something has got to do with the fact that AFMC is a tolerant society! Probably you can do anything and get away, with just a toothy “cool-scene” grin! Also because of the fact that no matter what you are doing, you mostly dont do it alone. Its more than likely that you’d have a dozen minions who share your point of view, no matter how absurd it is! But thats what makes it the place that it is!

There are this breed in AFMC, the pseudo-intellectuals who try and find a point to discuss, be it Amrita Rao’s skin complexion or NASA’s next satellite launch, not because they are interested in sleeping with AR in next gazillion years, but because they have to have a point to discuss. Period. These guys, and I am discounting the girls, (because i know little of the life in the other side of the  Rubicon) can be found all over the place, more often than not, piling on to someone else’s Samosa Sambhar and putting across their POV, irrespective of whether they want it or not.

Then there also the real “intellectuals” who do their thing as quietly as they can and who sincerely believe they can change the World, by just sitting in their room(or the Barista in KP!) and thinking, thinking and more thinking! If only this species was a bit more active. I guess this has got something tp do with our society in general. The intellectuals rarely if ever step up and be heard, and hence the crap heads rule them!

The majority is the indifferent lot, whose only worry is how would his evening booze, or grass or a girl to roam around with or if he is the really pathetic one, his session of evening gossip would come from. They came, they stay and they pass on to the next stage of their zombie existence…. Joining the “fauj”, marrying, having kids, become Senior Adviser in due course of time and retire into oblivion. Thats their life cycle…and it suits them,because they are hardly capable of doing anything else (at least I feel so!) and not because they lack talent or something. Clichè goes that everyone has some talents, even it had been placed by God in some labyrinthine treasure somewhere at the base of their brains! But because they don’t want to become capable of looking beyond their tunnel vision.

Yes, there are other variants too… The perennially “chitt” grass hopper… The moles…Those with long tongues and shining balls and so on…but they form the statistically insignificant minority niches!

Hmmm..I kindda drifted beyond the point… was talking abt my experience! Yes, these are the people who have moulded you all over…. when you entered the venerated echelons of this Institute as no more than a kid and you get out with a skewed view about this world in general. That you have just walked out of the World’s best Institute into possible the best Institution, the Indian Army!!! The first part, may be true to an extent, the second I am afraid is not. Anyways, thats a matter of another blog, another day!

AFMC does teach you a lot of street smartness, I guess most good colleges must be teaching that, like how to pass an exam without studying an iota, how not to get caught doing “anything” and if you get, how to come up with the most ingenious excuses. And it helps…..as long you have the intelligence to warp the processes to match the situations. It teaches you to be tolerant, to the most irritating people and to the most difficult times, teaches you resilience and at times, inculcates indifference too, which I so strongly believe helps you a lot in existing in these times.

Want to write more…would probably continue in another session….

Euro ’08: Visions of a Bystander!

hmm…I cant help but write on my favourite sport..can I? Was lucky, I installed a Tata Sky connection just in time for the Champions’ League final which helped me in keeping track of the Euro as well! Otherwise, would have really missed out on one of the most elegant football championships in recent history…

So, its Germany vs Spain on the day that matters…Final in Vienna! The same old German efficiency v/s Flamboyance…the story of the 1986, 1990 and 2002 WCs where they faced Argentina and Brazil and also Euros in 1992 and 1996! They somehow know how to make it work…with clock like precision like the bolds in a BMW or a Mercedez…like the trot of a thororughbred! So, Spain it is this time….. with the Armada of strikers..with Villa and Torres, and Guiza and “Fab”regas!

The two teams reached the final in the most contrasting fashions… and most certainly had the rub of the green their way. In hindsight, they probably have had just one good opponent to face till now…. and they won the game that mattered! For Germany it was Portugal…while for Spain it was Italy….

The Germans were lucky to get out of the Turkish Cauldron alive… The spirited yet depleted Turks, almost working on Testosterone overdrive, like a warrior who has lost a lot of his comrades yet has the energy from some invisible hidden reserve to pull it all once again and mount one final attack! They played brilliantly, the Turks, and won a lot of hearts if not the semifinal. What spirit! And the Germans, they played pathetically and were the undeserving winners thanks only to the brillian run down the flank by Phillip Lahm, the pint sized dynamite!

Spanish were powered themselves by the brilliant though arguably precocious talent of Cesc Fabregas.His introduction was a stroke of accidental luck… with David Villa getting injured most unfortunately, but what he showed after that was pure and unblemished class!

With all my heart, I hope, Spain wins and shrug off the tag of perennial under-achievers…though the head says, Germany’s well oiled machinery might just prove a tad too good!

And players… well there have been hits, and super hits and media-backed monster hits and even flops- like every big tournament has… Andrey Arshavin is a case in the point! Two good performances and he was the Next Zizou! But tell me why does every new good player have to be compared to a legend… why every Messi is a Maradona and every Maradona a new Pele! Its no shame, that a new player isnt Zizou simply because there just cant be another Zizou! Fabregas is class… may be one day the las will make a mark of his own and future generations will spawn New Fabregas… But till then, let Arshavin be Arshavin… The guy had a splendid season at Zenit and guided them to UEFA Cup… Let him keep doing that instead of being consigned to the benches of Barcelona or Arsenal or worse still, Bolton or Valencia!

My pick has to be skewed.. there hasnt been one defining player but a few have had their moments… Villa’s hat-trick against Russia, Ballack’s thunderbold against Austria, the Dutch masterclass against Italy and France and Arshavin’s refreshing “total” football against the inventors, the Dutch! Even Lucas Podolski has been brilliant…and so have Iniesta, Puyol, Nihat Kahveci and Fabregas!

This has been in many ways a tournament of the teams and coaches… Dutch and Germans and Spanish have been brilliant as teams but they were expected, but surprisingly even Croats and Turks were upto task! And some coaches have been exceptional..almost Field Marshalesque… esp Guus Hiddink, Slavan Bilic, Fatih Terim and that old top dog…Marco Van Basten! They will continue to dominate wherever they work..thats for sure…

Hmm…all in all it has been a top tournament! beautiful flowing football, deliciously garnished with individual moments of brilliance!