For the Love of this game

In January, I visited my college during last week. And so I also went to football ground. Inter-hostel tourney was going on and I was on the sidelines watching one of the matches. I stood thinking about the time when I was one of those in yellow. I had felt this before and again felt it. Love for this game. I was planning to write something like this and was reminded by a comment in my previous blog.

I am fan of Manchester United beyond definitive adjectives. And I feel that to develop love for any game you have to be a follower of any team. A team revered by you. I used to watch EPL matches during school time. I lacked regularity and knowledge. After I came to college I came in contact with abhinav whose fanship was infectious. I think some united-god send me to cautley to spend my years with fans like sarangi, tejo and babu. And so I was painted Red all over by the time I came out. Devil I always was.

5th Jan ’08, 4th round FA cup against Aston Villa, Giggs puts in defensive tackle in 80th minutes, makes last but one pass and rooney scores. 2-0, United through to 5th round. Well I was well involved into the match, this I realized when I saw that tackle by giggs and tears came to my eyes. I was overwhelmed by the commitment shown there. I mean its 80th min and you come back running because its a counter-attack, take the ball away and help in scoring. I realized that day I had formed an emotional attachment with the team, the game.

Now I really understand that why people are crazy about their clubs. One friend of mine once asked me to keep check on my reactions when I celebrated as united scored. I tried, but to tell the truth, its hard to keep down anything that comes direct from the heart. And so I still celebrate in the same manner in which we guys used to in cautley TV room. I remember that in penalty shoot out of Champions League final, I missed watching 3-4 penalties just coz I couldn’t see my guys missing them. The penalty that terry took, I heard it from sarangi it was like… “Shit he has dived on the other side.. oh yes he has slipped”. The time between the two sentences seemed like whole season.After United won all were hugging each other and I was on the platform where TV was kept and with my arms in 10 o’clock was screaming. What a moment that was.

Well I write all this about my craziness just “For the love of this game”.

"Take it to the next level"

Inspired by a forwarded mail, but the thought has been coming to me since I watched that nike ad with the same motto. It is evident that quite a moving ad it was.

 

 In second semester, I went for cricket trials. I had never played with leather ball before, but somehow the trials went good and I was called up for nets. Well that is a different matter that I never made it up to first team. Then I tried again in third year and this time again I failed to make it, in fact I got so pissed off with cricket that I erased any form of cricket from my life for coming year.

 

So as soon as fourth year started I was on football field. Well this is the time when all sane minded people leave playing and extra-currics and start focussing on future prospect which their accumulated CG’s  open for them. Well I didn’t have good cg to ponder about and was more interested in football rather than cat. Obviously I was out of my mind. But in my friend circle I think everyone was like that only so I didn’t feel anything different.

 

Also in football too I didn’t made it to first team. Well I may be seen as a failure by some and I say it is justified too. But I am not writing this to justify myself in anyway so I wont dwell on this subject. What I want to emphasize is the topic. During my first year in cricket with leather ball I took my game to next level. I used to get a good amount of swing and I had pace. Same thing didn’t follow next year. I was stagnant. I was not able to move ahead. One reason for this was that instead of focussing on improving I was rather focussing on getting into team. I could never think that if I kept on improving eventually I would get a chance. Also in the process I would continue to enjoy the game.

 

When I started playing football, I made a point to enjoy the game, learn skills and understand the game or rather taking it to next level. And the results were very good. I improved my game. I remember that coach’s opinion changed from “you only know how to run fast” to “your football has improved”. Still even when I am in job I take time out to play football.

 

By and large many of us fail to understand this basic thing. Not every one of us can become a ruler in every field. But every one of us can take a skill to a next level. If we work with this motive the results are palpable. Also the frustration part is taken care of because there are visible improvements in front of you. Till date I have applied this principle to many things and I have got very good outcomes.

 

Next time you start doing something; just “Take it to the next level”. And keep on doing this. 

Unwrapped

It was a gloomy evening. Everything seemed to carry a tinge of sadness, man and animals alike. Coincidently it was year end too. Saket was trying his best to keep his spirits high. Past 3 years he had spend his 31^st dec travelling due to one reason or the other. How much he craved that time to have a travel less 31^st dec and how much he was regretting it today. It had been barely 6 motnhs in the job and so the cribbing part wasn’t over yet. In fact the reasons to crib were increasing day by day.

 

It was around six when someone called. The moment he heard hello, he knew it was ankur on the other side. So long it had been. This was good enough of a reason to smile. At once a plan was made and the evening was set. He had got a companion to crib with. So they met in a mall, far from their places so that there would be no reason to visit each others place. This place seemed as if it had been gift wrapped, with a promise of something good inside. And everyone was afraid to initiate the unwrapping part with the fear of getting acquainted with reality. And so everyone seemed contented.

 

They started roaming around watching human robots with every expression that was synonym of happiness, on their faces. He at once knew the secret as he bore the same expression. After endless discussion about who was being treated worst by his employer, they decided to have snacks as no one was feeling hungry, and none of both wanted to celebrate the beginning of year.  

 

While holding a burger in his one hand and a can in other saket moved out and was waiting for ankur to come. Standing few steps above the ground he took the first bite and at once knew that it was horrible. It seemed that all the frustration of whole year was finding a reason to get out and it had a genuine one now. He at once flung the burger towards garbage can. It didn’t go into can but landed just outside. Suddenly 2 living soul rushed towards it. A child in ragged clothes and a dog. The similarity was in the expression of hunger. Unwrapping was over, though unintentional and he knew why everyone refrained from it.

Electronic GOD and his beloved son

I some times wonder if there exists an electronic god, I mean the way ancient greeks or Egyptians used to have. If there exists a god like this then he is damn unhappy with my friend atul, lead character of my previous blog “comp katha”. Either He is angry with him or atul is his most beloved child, put to test every now and then. So we continue where we left in “comp katha”. After the computer was decimated, atul with indomitable spirit , converted his HD to xternal one. He also bought a new lappy.

Till the lappy was delivered in packed box it was all fine. No, no don’t jump to conclusion. This time it wasn’t cracked or anything else. This time the problem was with “partition magic”. Something happened and everything was  ground zero. The OS refused to start. And there was our champ faced with one more battle. Well by evening everything was good. What a fight back.

After that came a bigger problem, this time it was xternal HD. Since it claimed lineal descent from that wrecked comp so it was bound to have problems. What happened was quite elusive. All the data in the HD started disappearing, well this was quite an awe to a metallurgist and a civil engineer.  One of our frnds rohit barnwal, a true devotee of electronic god, enlightened our souls with his profound knowledge. Also he suggested a possible remedy to this problem. Well rohit barnwal is like oracle in matrix and this software, recuva , as I remember proved to be “keymaker”. So atul and recuva were on mission with a vision to recover.

For 2 days in row atul was nowhere to be seen. Finally at the dawn of third day, electronic god smiled and data was back. Yes it was back. Triumphant once again, pumping his small fists in air came out atul. I truly believe that there is an electronic god. 

Movie Review

The film, end of which is predictable from the start. The thrill is about how this end is met. This thrill turns into disgust initially than into boredom due to continuous disgust due to some hopeless storyline. That is what “Rab Ne bana di jodi” brings to you. SRK representing a common man which I don’t think exists in this country right now. And on top of it this common man meets a girl(taani) who meets and marries the boy(SRK) within 10 min in the movie. Actually this quick reel marriage is a forte of Chopra’s after Kabhi Khushi kabhi gam. Very less price is put on marriages. That’s what is shown as the movie progresses. I dunno how but somehow taani is unable to recognize her husband without moustaches (Many husbands across the country must be really worried after this, I guess) when he eventually becomes her dance partner, as a rustically cool guy. I think she must be having some problems in face identifications. And in no time she falls in love and asks him to take her away, marriage has never been a problem anyways. No wait that is not it. Next day somehow god makes her realize that her moustached husband is better. Divine intervention or short term memory loss? And they lived happily ever after.

This movie I think is mockery of sensible movie making. You cannot mend the movie as you want and think that the audience can take anything for SRK. But I must say that they do take. One friend of mine has watched this movie 2 times. No wonder that it had a better start than DDLJ. Acting wise the movie is horrible except for shahrukh. Every situation is created at whim. Lyrics are really bad and it seems that they have been compiled in a hurry, by taking some lines of old songs and rhyming them. Except for 1-2 songs no song is in place.

So what I was thinking that the conditions in which heroine gets married to hero has a probability of about 1%, over that she not recognizing him in his new “avtar” is about 0.01%(I am lenient) and she becoming his dance partner is just comparable to blind date and so the total probability of getting the appropriate girl is almost nil. So we have an answer to a query regarding movie title “rab ne bana di jodi”. Nice name I must say.

I came back and watched “Swades” so that I can still keep my belief in SRK’s movies intact.

Point Of View

This article may be late on the time line. As Mumbai has recovered and running once again, or may be we feel and say so. But what I feel is that this is not a matter of recovering and moving on. I know its always logical to look ahead, but sometimes I feel that the pain of past always makes you cautious about future. And so I write this when the things have cooled down and have reached a state when they are no more front page news.

There are few points I want to make. First of all I totally disagree with the use of this phrase “spirit of Mumbai”. Here I will go back to Mumbai local bomb blasts, when this phrase was used extensively. To a viewer it always conveys that yes the city has recovered and running. But this is never felt by those who have lost dear ones. For them this is mere logical arrangement of words. I feel that we get subjective on the issue. Objectively, rather than talking about spirit we should put forward the pain which is being felt. I never understand that why do we try to focus on happiness so much that we almost ignore the pain. In the process we forget it until it is inflicted once again. This time media was talking not much about spirit but of the aggression in the approach. I felt better. Life moves on and everyone makes peace with this fact sooner or later.

After the rescue operations and also during the time they were carried, people have talked about the fact that where was Raj Thackeray. Good point to make but then again I have a simple argument which is impartial. Why do we refer to this person every now and then. Do this reference make his deeds worse, or weren’t they that bad before. I rather say that we should not even take his name at all. I think it’s a dishonour to the seriousness of what happened if we take its reference to justify how bad was his actions.

Lastly I want to say that this tragedy has hit national consciousness. And I feel that it should be remembered till the date when it really starts becoming faint in memory just because that no such event occurred after it. I admire USA for ensuring that there is no major tragedy after 9/11. You always feel safe in your own house and it’s a matter of concern when you are unsure that you may not live the next moment. Dont forget that we were hurt badly.

Season so far

 

This season has been wonderful till now. Wonderful for many reasons, the rise of hull in the top notch with some outstanding performances, the frustrations suffered by big four in some matches. The comebacks(which obviously frustrated me) by scousers and sudden rise of spirit in Tottenham due to harry redknapp. But the events in past few weeks have made me to write this blog and do some analysis.

 

I was just going through some blogs and found out that in that great treble winning season united dropped off some 11 points in December. This means that till now we have fared better. We have played 2 matches till now and two more are remaining in this month. One is away against stoke and next is home against boro. Also the strain is now showing off on title contenders.

 

I think that gunners are out of this season and now should look to save there champ league spot. With a dreaded inconsistency they are moving ahead. This weekend they are hosting Liverpool. It has been a delightful inconsistency though. Beating Chelsea at Stamford bridge, then giving away the advantage with a loss to villa. They drew against boro this weekend. So with a bright hope in my heart I think there is an upset coming up for scousers.

 

Blues must be feeling blue. After recovering from loss to arse they came back against Bolton. Then were held to a draw, I would rather say they held West Ham to a draw. It was a really nice result for united. Chelsea is perfect example of the fact that “character” of the team is never defined by its star studded line-up, unlike Hull who has shown a brilliant character this season. They have exhibited some classic team-play this season.

 

Liverpool, I thought was showing great signs in the beginning of the season with that good comeback win against boro. But again I must say that it was too early to say something.

 

All in all I am emphasizing on one basic point. Lack of consistency in big four this season. Last year while talking to a friend I was discussing that the number of points dropped in Spanish league are more but this season I am witnessing the same in EPL. Though it hasn’t hurt united anyway, in fact we are at advantage with a week  in which we won manchester derby and closed on the gap. I will say that heat will start showing up after Christmas when injuries and fatigue will hit. Hope that at that time we are at our best. I think the championship is wide open and your guess may be as good as mine. Lets see.