Mumbai is bleeding - so am I

26th Nov. Though I normally remember this day due to birthday of a sis of mine, but 26 Nov 2008 has been etched in my memory as one of the worst days for India as a whole. A democracy which got held as a hostage to some lunatics who call themselves "Freedom Fighters". For whose freedom are these blind men fighting? Can't they see that they are being "used", and nothing more, by those very terror outfits who are the first ones to brazenly take the claims of such activities. And what do these freedom fighters achieve? Nothing apart from a few bucks which their families might get as a sum for lending their lives. But its not only money, but those extremist sentiments also play a major role, which are sown as a seed from childhood, and the fruits of which are attacks such as this one.

101 dead including 14 policemen, 6 foreigners. And that these cops were killed minutes after they took charge tells another story. That the enemy was very well informed, and that the operation was very carefully planned, and that too months in advance. Encounter cop Vijay Salaskar, Additional CP Ashok Kamte and Anti-Terror Squad chief Hemant Karkare shot dead. But still that doesn't deter our forces, alongwith NSG, to fight bullet for bullet. The surprising factor here was not that our forces were fighting bullet for bullet, but that those terrorists were fighting bullet for bullet. Where did these handful of militants get so much ammunition from? The lack has been on the front of our Naval security if stories are to be believed. Its said that these terrorists took sea route this time, and that ammunitions were also ported from that gateway.

But even after so much planning, what was the result? It is only due to the lack of will power of a country that this terror prevails. For India, which is always referred to as "Mother", now is the time to take up the mantle of a father, and tell the world that it would not tolerate such nuisance in its backyard. And that the first step has been taken in this regard is commendable. No talks with the terrorists. Just gun them down. This would set an example, and next time any terrorist would think twice before doing any such activity. The main aim of these terrorists is to create terror in the hearts of common men, and bring the govt. on its knees. But this has not happened this time round, which means that the whole motive of these attacks got defeated. And the terror outfits are back to where they were - thinking - of how to disintegrate this beautiful nation, which may be disjoint in its opinions, regards, beliefs etc., but which is as united as a body and soul whenever there is some trouble.

The harder we get hit, the harder we come back, which the world has seen after incidents like Akshardham Temple attacks, Chain blasts across India, attack on Parliament. And its time that our enemies also start recognizing this fact. The loss of so many lives in each of these (and many more) incidents would never be forgotten, and steps to ensure that these things don't happen in future need to be taken by the Govt. of India. Somewhere these outfits should also know that their work is not that easier, since a country is awakening to a new found confidence.

"Kuchh baat hai ki hasti, mit-ti nahin hamari.
Sadiyon raha hai dushman, daur-e-jahan hamara."

Life

You are mine and I am your(s)..
And everyone else whom I adore
Coz everyone has got me with themselves
And I am too happy with thyself

I am God's most precious gift to you
You ask if I love you, I say I do
You may think that I don't care for you
But the fact is that I can't live without you

At times its you who neglects me a lot
Still I believe that you'll forget me not
At times you are far and at times you are near
Wherever you maybe, you're always dear

The bonding we share we cannot explain
Its full of glory, joy, tears and disdain
But each moment we are with the other
Like a baby who can't live without his mother

And we were together since our start
And will be together till death does us part
Through all thicks, thins, love and strife
I am your alter ego, I am your life ..

The Modern Demi-God

"If Cricket is a religion, Sachin is the God."
"Cheats. India play with 20 players. 10 + 10dulkar."
"Sexy Shot."
"Sachin Aala re."
"East or west, Sachin is the best."

These are just a few of those numerous banners which define someone special. As you might have guessed till this time, this post is all about Sachin. And since cricket is not a cup of tea for girls, so I would appreciate if even after being a female you go through it once :). I am writing this post just because the temptation to write something on Sachin was too hard to resist for me.

The name Sachin - in itself - is iconic. When I meet a group of unknown people for the first time, it is really tough to remember most of the names. But if that name happens to be Sachin, I always get it mapped to the correct person. This has happened to me on a no. of occasions. Sachin is a dream persona. One that most parents want their child to become. But alas! None has come even within miles of "The Little Master".

So what is it about Sachin that makes him super special? When Sachin made his International debut at a tender age of 16 years & 205 days against Pakistan in 1989 in Karachi, nobody thought that today after almost 20 years, this lad would still be going so strong. That test match was the advent of a champion. A Master. Although he did not do well in first innings of that match, the way he handled the body blows from Imran, Wasim and Waqar made it evident that there was something special with this baby faced boy. And after his first series he had 2 Half centuries in his kitty even though he batted as low as on no. 6, overshadowed by his 'then' more illustrious colleagues like Srikkanth, Shastri, Prabhakar, Sidhu, Manjrekar and Azhar. And just in his 9th match, barely 9 months after his debut, Sachin hit a magnificient first Test century at Manchester which helped India draw the match. He was all of 17 at that time, and didn't possess a Driving License.

But if that first test century was late, then imagine till how long he had to wait for his first One Day International century. 79 matches to be precise. And that came at the batting position Sachin loves the most in ODIs. Opening the innings. And after that he never looked back. The slow start in terms of no. of centuries became a rapidfire roadrash, that's still going on. 39 in tests and 42 in ODIs. And the counter is still in the incremental mode. By the time he retires. he'll create a Mt. Everest of runs, which no one in near future can think of climbing even half-way.

Such is the mesmerising effect of Sachin's batting that even today people watch the match just to see Sachin bat. And even today, if he gets out early, TV sets just go on Stand-by. The flicks, the pulls, the ferocious cuts, fine leg glances, lofted shots, are all music to the ears. You name it and he just guides his bat, and the rest is taken care of by one of the heaviest bats this game has ever seen.. But all these don't include the shot which he thrives on.. the bread and butter shot for him and an eye candy for the viewers.. I am talking about his drives, be it square drive, the beautiful extra cover drive or the ever so special drive straight down the ground, which lets us see the full MRF logo on the straightest possible bat, with the body moving just 2 paces forward with the momentum of the shot. The elan, the charisma, and the authority with which every shot comes out, seems like the grand Pacific is just on a high tide in a whirlwind manner, sweeping everything that comes its way. And the sufferers are none other than the paltry humans, whom the world knows as bowlers.. And who knows it better than one Henry Olonga.. a decent bowler, whose only mistake was to proclaim that he knows how to get Sachin out. And the very next match, finals of Sharjah, Ind vs Zimbabwe, the whole Zimbabwean team had to bear the brunt of Henry's remarks.. the target was though very meagre, Sachin made it look like next to nothing. The slice over third man for a six set the tone, followed by cuts, pulls, hookes, drives and the match got over much before the stipulated 50 overs, and the master came back not out 124 in a score of 197.

But this blog would remain incomplete if I don't mention the 2 greatest innings which Sachin played.. back to back.. Venue - Sharjah again(lucky place).. Opponents.. the ever so machinesque .. Kangaroos.. Well in cricket when we talk about Kangaroos, Kiwis, Tigers etc., it doesn't mean that we are on a safari.. These are the names to represent countries like Australia, New Zealand and India. So, the two matches came in the scorching heat of April, 1998. Both times India were set stiff targets from aussies, and for once the totals looked intimidating. But if you have Sachin in your side, then even impossible spells itself as i m possible. Anyone who missed those 2 matches, missed innings of a lifetime. Aussies are real tough nuts to crack, and to handle the pressure, you need an even tougher nut which would never crack.. The game to qualify for the finals is still Sachin's greatest innings ever as far as I am concerned. He battled hard alone(with a bit of support from our best stumper Mongia), firstly against the bowlers and then against the nature Gods .. as Sharjah witnessed a sandstorm, and an even greater Sachin storm after that which saw him score 143. A storm which helped India storm into the finals, and finally win the trophy, once again courtesy another brilliant 134 from Sachin. Aussies were doomed, and the debate of the century (who is best, Sachin or Lara) got settled, once and for all.

So far, those who are not too familiar with cricket would be thinking that Sachin has never seen downs in his life. Well, although this article might depict him as a deity(which he is), still there are a few human elements which none can get away with. Not even Sachin. He has had 2 failed attempts at captaincy, which shows that batting is a much easier job in comparison. And then there are accusations that he has not won a test match for India in such a long time. But then people forget that many matches became one-sided contests when Sachin wielded his willow and his stay at crease inspired others to perform notches above their actual potential. Such is the greatness of the man that he has bore the mighty weight of expectations of this 1 billion Indian population, and has never ever wilted under such an enormous pressure. Still when he gets out early, people abuse him, and for the past 6 years at least I am listening, "Sachin should retire now", "He has lost it" and so on and so forth.. Still its Sachin due to whom we were able to beat Aussies in Australia in 2 consecutive finals of the recently concluded CB series. The architect of countless Indian victories has not lost it.. and will never lose it. And critics are silent again(for the umpteenth time).

On this note, I would give a break to my fingers which are keen to keep writing more and more about this phenomenon. Just one last compliment for Sachin, which again came in the form of a banner at Sachin's Cricket Ground(SCG - actually Sydney Cricket Ground, Australia for not so cricket crazy) which someone held in the crowd in a recent match.

“Commit all your crimes when Sachin is batting. They will go unnoticed because even the Lord is watching.”

Birth and Death - And in between

Birth and Death are momentary. One moment we are into this world, and another moment we are out of it. And these are the two moments which are never in our control. In fact we never really know what happened at these moments. But in between these two extremes lies the most important phase of a human life - the LIFE itself.

Of all the existing species, humans are considered to be the most advanced race, probably because we have outnumbered every other race, whether in terms of headcount, intellect or acquired power. The question here is not that whether we are really advanced or not. The question is, that we know we are superior, and we keep striving hard to retain and enhance that. And in this quest for money, power and fame, we forget to LIVE.

So what, in essence, is living. Does it mean relinquishing the efforts made for betterment of life. No. Does it mean doing compromises which could affect the quality of life. Certainly not. Then what is it?

Everyone who is born goes through a life, but not everyone lives it. And the primary reason behind this is that most of us are not really aware of what we need from life. So we keep on chasing dreams (at times unrealistic) endlessly, mindlessly. At these times, we don't even look around who is behind us, until a small pit becomes a big trough, and on the other side of that trough is our family, friends and other near and dear ones. And what we have at that moment - a bundle of money, accompanied by nameless, faceless people, and on top of that bundle we are sitting - all alone.

Now the question arises - How could this be avoided? The answer is not too complicated if we try to implement it. As I have mentioned earlier also, everyone should have goals, as its these goals which keep a person on his toes, and prevent him from losing interest in life. But having unrealistic goals is the undoing of most of us. So firstly, before setting a goal, we should carefully weigh out the scenarios around it. And if its coming at too big a cost(in terms of our relations), then its better to look for another alternative.

Time management is also something which is really essential. At times we get involved in useless acts which results in wastage of time. So managing time efficiently helps a lot. This really precious time could well be spent as quality time with family and friends.

Remember - Life beckons just once. Follow it. Live it to the fullest. Explore yourself, your likes and dislikes. Pursue a hobby, and another one. The secret of remaining happy would then no longer be a secret. And that satisfaction(with everyone around you), has no counterpart. Its better being a Millionaire Achiever than a Billionaire Beggar.

It can be all be summed up with a simple quote here :

“Always remember to slow down in life; live, breathe, and learn; take a look around you whenever you have time and never forget everything and every person that has the least place within your heart.”

So live your life as only you can.

Word Power

How many times has it happened that you wanted to say “I am more than willing to do this”, and instead you say, “I can do this” Or for that matter you ask someone – “Can’t you do this? This is what was expected of you”, where you could have said, “It would be a real help if you could do this”.

Both the examples above suggest that using grammatically correct language is not the only factor which represents good communication skills. Similarly having a good vocabulary is also not an indicator of how good a communicator you are. How else could probably Matthew Hayden not qualify as an impressive orator when he termed Harbhajan as an “Obnoxious Little Weed”. Weeds can be obnoxious, but nobody knew that Homo sapiens can also be weeds.
So what is it due to which someone qualifies as possessing the good communication skills? No doubt that a minimal level of grammar and vocabulary is required for speaking correct language, but the keyword here is “minimal”. If you are above minimal then you have some advantage in terms of presenting your contents a little better, or in using 3 to 4 different words for a similar meaning, but not more than that. The idea is very simple – “Use your words carefully”. And what does one need to do that? The reply is again a single sentence one – “Weigh before you say (or write)”.

There are numerous ways in which a thing can be put forward, and not every way is useful. Let us take a closer look at the two examples I stated in the beginning.

1) I am more than willing to do this – Shows your eagerness to do something, and that thing is one that you want desperately. On the other hand, I can do this suggests that if given the work, you can do, but the intent is not really there. So just one ill framed sentence can change the way you wanted to put it across.

2) This is an even bigger example of being careless while choosing the words, to the point of being extremely harsh. On the contrary, the rightly chosen words - “It would be a real help if you could do this” present you as a kind, generous fellow. This is the power of language. It can make you a deity if used correctly, and a demon if used improperly.

The question now arises that how to use the correct words. The simple answer here is: ‘It comes with experience, and at times from bitter ones’. But there is one rule of thumb – Never speak too much when you are furious about something, because when in anger, the human mind stops taking count of right or wrong. And invariably harsh words start flowing from the mouth like the mighty Nile, Thames or Ganges. So speak in a measured way, with a cool mind, and think before you talk, and you’ll certainly go a long way in establishing yourself as a very good verbalizer and an extremely effective human being.