Choked...

Yes, this is about cricket, and about South Africa. Here they go again. The sequence is so close to the epic '99 semis that it's hard to believe. Two boundaries and a runout! I feel for the South African cricket fan. And yes, a certain player on the sidelines may not be in contention, but he is doing his bit.

Oktoberfest

Just to give you an idea of how BIG is it. How would I love to be in München at this time of the year! Needless to say, I love hefeweizen.

RD Goes....

Disclaimers are the order of the day when you talk of Indian Cricket.
I am a big fan on RD, the man and the player.
It is 5.00 AM and I am up not to write this blog but wrap up a stupid document that I was supposed to finish yesterday for a customer.
I am no good at writing obituaries.

Now, What the heck happened? Against all my wishes, I ctrl+t to cricinfo, to check on the T20s and the headline says RD has resigned! How, why, OMG...Why does it always have to happen before we are to play Aussies? The curse of Oz, a particular willophile friend of mine might say. The other day I was discussing RD's captaincy with this friend of mine, and we kinda concurred that it leaves a lot to be desired, the decision to bat first in the decider at Lords being one of them.

Did I tell you that hindsight was a funny thing, and most of our decisions will be looked upon by future generations (if at all) in shock. But now that he has resigned, discussing what he did as the Captain of team India (as all the media has cried horse to tell me this technically fallacy) is a moot point. Pawar and Modi, for all your marketing crap and minting gold with the viewership, people might call you the best CEO or salesman in Corporate India. But tell me your one contribution to the cause of improving Indian cricket. You guys suck when it comes to leading: your man-management is horrible, and some of your policies an utter shocker ( I am not going to rant about a monopolistic, power-starved regime of yours in my blog). So you couldn't anticipate what was coming, could you. Well, frankly I don't expect any better. Enough of my rants; BCCI, the sooner you would dissolve yourself, the better it would be for the game of cricket in India. Period. Why in another post, I got that doc to complete.

Let's look at some recent captains and the way they have exited the stage

Kapil Dev - never saw eye to eye with SMG - and although you lead us to glory unsurpassed, thankfully you did not choose to prolong your captaincy for as long as your career (as far as i recall of those days).
SMG - Again, power hungry, and monopolistic, I can't recall how you left, on various occasions.
BSB - No idea how you got there in the first place, lol!
GV - This is no place for gentlemen, as I realize today!
DBV - no idea what he did as Indian captain.
RJS - Nipped in the bud..lol!
KS - Tried your best to stick, but the glue had a limited shelf life
MA - After a long tenure, you should have known when to leave, but left it to the messiahs to make the decision, and didn't push come to shove the second time?
SRT - So unhappy when the old order was established, and all those senti stories in the media didn't make you look as innocent as you have told us u are. Thankfully, u knew better the second time.
SCG - For all the good you did to the Indian psyche, you should have known that it was too stressful a job for anyone to retain his sanity after 5 years in the seat. We prefer communists wearing chappals to the parliament than Chappel showing us the middle finger. And you didn't come out of that nasty exchange with your head held high.
RSD - For a man with a cooler mind than anyone in the list, you probably knew better than most of your distinguished predecessors

(Vaas bowls a wicket maiden first up as Kenya chase 261...no this is not a 50 over match) .

Now that leadership question will be discussed all over print and electronic media, chat forums with the wise offering all gyaan, come on, take your pick, who should succeed RD. In the past, BCCI has chosen to stick to the senior people, and if they go the same way, either of Sehwag, Yuvraj or MSD is a choice (I am keeping it safe for now, lol.). I just hope they don't go back to SRT or SCG or VVS (in tests). But different captains for tests, ODIs, and may be T20s as well would sure be a one way to cool off the hot seat. Take your pick BCCI, prove me wrong, prove it to me that you got a brain that could manage people and not just dollars.

I am going back to writing that stupid document. Did I tell you I love Fridays?

Gyan in unexpected corners..

As soon as I lay my eyes on it, I thought it would make a good blog post... Checkout the pictures below.



Sorry for the trouble, but there wasn't enough space and light to get a single good picture.. for those who cannot connect the two pieces, here is what it says:

Out of damp and gloomy days, out of solitude
out of loveless words directed at us, conclusions grow
in us like fungus; one minute they are there, we know
not how. Woe to the thinker who is not the gardener,
but only to the soil of the plants that grow in him.

Google didn't tell me who JDM was, but it told me that the profound thought came from none other than Nietzsche. So here is the complete verse(or is it just a quote), JDM happened to miss a few words...

"Out of damp and gloomy days, out of solitude, out of loveless words directed at us, conclusions grow up in us like fungus: one morning they are there, we know not how, and they gaze upon us, morose and gray. Woe to the thinker who is not the gardener but only the soil of the plants that grow in him!"

Too bad google didn't tell me was where could I get a fungi cleaner for these :(

If you haven't been able to make out where I got the pictures from, let me give you a hint. There is a clue in the bottom right of the picture. And there are not too many places where you can find such graffiti. If you still cannot figure this out, you know whom to ask.

Travel travails...

Let me introduce you to my constant twin companions, but that would be a futile exercise...my apologies if the picture doesn't look great, in all fairness they deserve a better deal...not counting the abuse they have suffered from my own hands ever since I landed in this country... this picture was taken last evening after a delayed flight from Cleveland was further delayed due to bad weather in Newark whereas I was in Boston :(, and some further delay as the shuttle I use to commute from my pad to Logan was long gone; and I had a few moments to spare, to stretch my rusty limbs, and get some fresh air...

It's been a full year on the move...and it doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon, but that is a different story, for another time....

Being a small time consultant has its own charm, but it erodes after a while...and all that you thought was exciting; traveling, going places, meeting people and the fun that is usually associates with these activities begins to diminish...sometimes you feel like you are on the run, pushed into places you never though you would have to see, and fake smiles to unknow faces every week...not to mention the vagaries of hotels, the expensive beds that you wouldn't manage a decent sleep in, just because your body is not used to it..the vagaries of traffic in every city, from the turtlesque traffic speeds of Ohio and Minnesota to breakneck in California, to perpetual bad weather in Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the sunshine of New England; from the mountainous terrains of Pennsylvania(not again) to the flat corn fields of Ohio..to crazy roads and traffic rules of NJ to the fluidity of Michigan...the great desi restaurants that you can find in California, NJ and New England to the not-so-decent stuff thrown in by desperate people in other places...ah...the list is getting long...not to mention the crazy salespeople from airlines and rental car companies who talk to you as if you were still wearing diapers and sucking your thumb (this is one thing I really hate)...and would ask you the same stupid questions time and again...to meeting all sorts of people on board a plane, varying from ones who would sleep through the flight to the ones who would move every muscle in their body while sitting in their cramped economy class seats and wearing seatbelts...to some charming flight attendants to the not-so-friendly ones...from the air traffic radio you get to listen to on united flights, to the cacophony of security announcements on others (read Continental)...from the mini pretzels I have never eaten except on flights to united's wonderful in-flight meal service (you have to pay, but it's worth every penny) ..from the routine takeoffs and landings that you see...to the thrill of watching a plane swoosh across yours in mid air in the blink of an eye... when you actually feel the speed of air travel....the experiences are more than humbling....There is so much more that you absorb than you see. And I say this only because I never consciously thought of most of the stuff that I talk of above.

Sometimes, when you cannot get something you have yearned for most of your life, when misses are by whiskers than by miles, when your life is halfway into doldrums, when someone somewhere is lost... for ever, when all doors are shut, all alleys appear blind, the wind has been knocked out of your sails, and you are beginning to lose it, there are no answers to glaring questions....when you feel it is time for you to start all over, when cognition becomes synonymous with fear..... a fear of loss, defeat, pain...and disaster....when there is hardly a thought that evokes dulce et decorum est; when your past is the proverbial albatross and the future a bottomless pit....when you feel like getting away from your own self...the self which you once dreamed of nurturing...the self which is hurt more than you are; when your sounding boards appear distant and isolated...it perhaps is best to get away...to run..run hard...and fast..to alien lands..amidst alien faces....where there is no one to run away from....to a place where this song befits you...

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I made such a choice (as if there was another) sometime back...and I thought I had escaped...when my demons continued chasing me...there was no getting away from them...but an escape provides you a breather...to think...and act....

It has been more than an year since I made that decision....I am not sure if I have chased my demons away, but surely fear of my own self has dissipated....I am still not back to where I could start nurturing my soul.... on a side note, this reminds me of someone who actually made me say those words more than 8 years ago...where are you my dear....and where is that diary of yours where I wrote 'what I wanted to do' and this was one of those things...ah..those were the days..but coming back...I am still alive...and human...and that is enough...I remember reading somewhere that travel was as good as education...and there is no denying it. No university could teach you what you learn under open skies, in shady streets, amidst foreign cultures between unknown faces....So if Harvard rejected you, it may not be such a bad thing, after all. Happy traveling!

गुलज़ार की त्रिवेणियाँ

Got hold of some real beautiful verses from the master....they are reproduced below verbatim..

१. माँ ने जिस चांद सी दुल्हन की दुआ दी थी मुझको
आज की रात वह फुटपाथ से देखा मैंने

रात भर रोटी नज़र आया है वो चांद मुझे।

२ सारा दिन बैठा, मैं हाथ में लेकर खाली कासा (भिक्षापात्र)
रात जो गुज़री, चांद की कौड़ी डाल गयी उसमें

सूदखोर सूरज कल मुझसे ये भी ले जायेगा।

३ सामने आये मेरे, मुझसे बात भी की
मुस्कुराये भी, पुरानी किसी पहचान की खातिर

कल का अखबार था, बस देख लिया, रख भी दिया।


४ शोला सा उतरता है मेरे जिस्म से हो कर
किस लौ से उतारा है खुदावंद ने तुमको

तिनकों का घर है, कभी आओ तो क्या हो?

५ ज़मीं भी उसकी, ज़मीं की नेमतें भी उसकी
ये सब उसी का है, घर भी ये घर के बन्दे भी

खुदा से कहिये कभी वो भी अपने घर आयें!

६ लोग मेलों मे भी गुम हो के मिले हैं बारहा
दास्तानों के किसी दिलचस्प से एक मोड़ पर

यूँ हमेशा के लिए भी कोई बिछड़ता कोई?

७ आप की खातिर हम लूट भी ले आसमाँ
क्या मिलेगा चांद चमकीले शीशे तोड़ के

चाँद चुभ जाएगा तो उंगली में तो ख़ून आ जाएगा

८ पौ फूटी है और किरणों से कांच बजे हैं
घर जाने का वक़्त हुआ है, पांच बजे हैं

सारी शब् घड़ियाल ने चौकीदारी की है

९ बे-लगाम उड़ती है कुछ ख्वाहिशें दिल में
मेक्सिकन फिल्मों में कुछ दौड़ते घोड़े जैसे

थान पर बांधी नहीं जातीं सभी ख्वाहिशें मुझ से।

१० तमाम सफहे किताबों के फ़ड़फड़ाने लगे
हवा धकेल के दरवाज़ा आ गयी घर में

कभी हवा की तरह तुम भी आया जाया करो।

११ कभी-कभी बाज़ार में यूँ भी हो जाता है
कीमत ठीक थी, पर जेब में इतने दाम नहीं थे

ऐसे ही एक बार मैं तुमको हार आया था।

१२ वह मेरे साथ ही था दूर तक मगर एक दिन
जो मुड़ के देखा तो वह दोस्त मेरे साथ ना था

फटी हो जेब तो कुछ सिक्के खो भी जाते हैं।

१३ वह जिस सांस का रिश्ता बंधा हुआ था मेरा
दबा के दांत तले सांस काट दी उसने

कटी पतंग का मांझा पूरे मुहल्ले में लूटा!

१४ कुछ मेरे यार थे रहते थे मेरे साथ हमेशा
कोई साथ आया था, उन्हें ले गया, फिर नहीं लौटे
शेल्फ से निकली किताबों की ज़गह खाली पड़ी है।

१५ इतनी लंबी अंगड़ाई ली लड़की ने
शोले जैसे सूरज पर हाथ लगा

छाले जैसा चाँद पड़ा है उंगली पर!

१६ बुद बुद करते लफ्ज़ों को चिमटी से पकड़ो
फेंको और मसल दो एड़ी से

अफवाहों को खूँ पीने की आदत है।

१७ चूड़ी के टुकड़े थे, पैर में चुभते ही खूँ बह निकला
नंगे पाँव खेल रहा था, लड़का अपने आंगन में

बाप ने कल दारु पी के माँ की बाह मड़ोड़ी थी।

१८ चाँद के माथे पर बचपन की चोट के दाग नज़र आते है
रोड़े, पत्थर और गुल्लों से दिनभर खेला करता था

बहुत कहा आवारा उल्काओं की संगत ठीक नहीं!

१९ कोई सूरत भी मुझे पूरी नज़र आती नहीं
आंख के शीशे चटखे हुये हैं कब से

टुकड़ों टुकड़ों में सभी लोग मिले हैं मुझको!

२० कोने वाली सीट पे अब दो और ही कोई बैठते हैं
पिछले चंद महीनों से अब वो भी लड़ते रहते हैं

क्लर्क हैं दोनों, लगता है अब शादी करने वाले हैं।

२१ कुछ इस तरह ख़्याल तेरा जल उठा की बस
जैसे दियासलाई सी जली हो अँधेरे में

अब फूँक भी दो, वरना ये उंगली जलायेगा।

२२ काँटे वाली तार पे किसने गीले कपड़े टाँगे हैं
ख़ून टपकता रहता है और नाली में बह जाया है

क्यों इस फौजी की बेवा हर रोज़ ये वर्दी धोती है।

२३ आओ बाँट लें अब अपनी अपनी हम
न तुम सुनोगे बात, ना हमको समझाना है

दो अनपढ़ों को कितनी मुहब्बत है अदब से!

२४ नाप के वक़्त भरा जाता है, रेत घड़ी में
एक तरफ खली हो ज़ब फिर से उलट देते हैं उसको

उम्र ज़ब खतम हो , क्या मुझको वो उलटा नहीं सकता?

२५ तुम्हारे होठ बहुत खुश्क रहते हैं
इन्ही लबों पे कभी ताज़ा शेर मिलते थे

ये तुमने होंठों पे अफ़साने रख लिए कब से?

And if you have enjoyed reading so far, let me know which one(s) you happen to like most.

Envisioning a new world....

I somehow happened to glance over the copy of USA today that was slipped under my door my door this morning. And it really got me hooked up. Check this out:

New Rules could rock the wireless world

It's just what these oligopolistic bunch of carriers need; a hard kick on their shins. Till date, these carriers have sabotaged the aspirations of millions of customers and got away with it. It's time for some determined action to inject the concept of free-market in their I-need-more-money psyche.

I am asking you, yes you, are you happy with the the quality of service rendered by these companies? If you are, you may be one in a million. There is a real scarcity of quality handsets, and the service is totally unreliable. sample this from my experience, my t-mobile phone works fine in two places (only, if I may add): my home and freeways, and there is no assurance about the later. Most of the other places I travel to, including my workplace, and the hotels I usually stay in, I have to rush out under open skies every hour if I am expecting an important call, just to ensure that I at least get my voice mail. but then, you even pay for listening to your voice mail. Every time. WHY DO I HAVE TO DO THAT? Most phones have enough memory for a few voice mails to be downloaded, but you never heard of that option, did you. what outlook express did to emails more than a decade back is yet to be replicated by these carriers. Just because they want your hard-earned cents. This is just one example. I am not talking if wi-fi and other techno-zaz that iPhones and likes are rolling out. the iPhone is pretty innovative, but it comes with a price, and it's just the handset. there are absolutely no guarantees about the quality of service. Coming from India, the schemes these carriers offer can at best be said to be of medieval origin, at least in my opinion. And if you are getting sick of my rant, ask yourself one question: Do you get value for what you pay?

I just hope skype or google, even microsoft just buys out the newly-available bandwidth and gives the consumers what they deserve.