Dravid

It was year 1996, I was in 6^th standard and this man’s short interview appeared on DD News. He was selected for India tour of England. 16 years later I was watching the video clip where he formally announced his retirement. In 16 years a lot has changed in me as a person. I have a larger, in fact huge appreciation for grit now, a much better understanding of what it takes to take a bad remark and still stand firm and let your work do the talking, much deeper meaning of resilience, strength of character and humility. I have been fortunate enough, I guess, to have seen one such man, who seemed one of our own and who epitomized everything I wrote just now. 

If you look at the career of this great batsman all what you will see the rigor with which he performed his action. Pure actions and just that. Day in day out for 16 years. I don’t remember an instance when one has seen Dravid doing anything else than actions aligned to his duties. Bad form, criticism, scandals, captains, players, coaches, selecters came and went by and so did numerous journalists, articles, opposition bowlers and players and analyst. What they could not change is this man’s focus on his actions. The older he became the harder he practiced. And I guess the root of all the qualities I mentioned is only one thing, the pursuit of excellence by performing your actions under a backdrop of extreme hardwork and honesty.  The quality of not losing focus from your own duty, come what may.

In his own words, I may have failed at times, but I never stopped trying. For him trying to achieve excellence was far more important than the achievement itself. Process is of much more importance than the product. A beautiful process has to lead to a superior product. Actions always supersede fruits.  

Walk

Let’s walk mate. Let’s walk till we get tired. Let us walk together until the pain in our feet far exceeds the one which we create for ourselves daily. Let’s walk till the cacophony seems to be a distant sound indistinguishable from music. Let’s walk straight and let’s walk till we con people around us, to call us crazy. Let’s walk not to con them but to give them that pleasure of mocking us. Let’s walk to laugh on ourselves, until we empty all our emotions in the laughter. Let’s walk until we are the only recipient of our laughter and let’s walk until the cry of pain dissolves into the laughter. Let’s walk for that anger, not in disrespect to it but in awe of its power to take control, until it gets mixed with joy. Lets walk so that we are together and yet on our own. Let’s walk for our liberation, mutual yet independent.

In memory of one of the most memorable walk with Chandra.

Lake Placid

I was looking at the far end of the lake. It seemed similar to the end on which I was sitting. In fact it was funny in a way because the whole lake looked same, unperturbed and unfazed by its surrounding. It had a strained calmness associated with it, a tension which was palpable and paradoxically peaceful. I decided to take a dip, to fathom the reason for the calmness, which I had been seeking for so long. I plunged into the water and was for an instant was bewildered by the contrast. The inside seemed to be a totally different world, vibrant, flamboyant, lively, and separated from the outside by a thin membrane. There seemed to be a passion flowing through inside, of type I never came across before. There was serenity about it. What intrigued me were the deep valleys and the small hills which existed like agony and ecstasy and both of which bore the similar attractive fleece over them, the fabric of which had passion and reason in it. The tandem of zeal and serenity was the reason for the calm strain with which the surface of the lake rippled. It just said a lot about the depth of the lake. There seemed to be an acceptance for anyone who took a plunge but there seemed no resistance either for those who chose to go out. The stasis, devoid of forces, seemed to be a religion. I fell in love with the lake. I fell in love with its placidity.

Act

Let me try to dispel a notion, a notion that a certain job is nobler than certain other.  Pardon me when I say that some months back I held this notion too.  The reason behind it was partly the fact that I felt proud about giving up my well paid job and committing myself to something which seemed nobler. The work is still noble; and I still feel proud. But now the pride is about doing. It is important to do, it’s important to act. The fact that only action is important immediately dispels the notion that I am doing a nobler thing. Now the thing is not important but doing is important.  At this point it becomes imperative to read this beautiful poem by Billy Collins.  

http://poemhunter.com/poem/shoveling-snow-with-buddha/

Again, actions matter.

This article is the result of all the talks I have had with Chandra, Tejo, Arhan and Sarangi.

Start

It begins now. 

Spirit

While coming back to home, before I noticed that I was shivering in the chilly winter winds, which gushed inside from all the sides nullifying all my efforts to stay warm, I was thinking of the things that were unchanged still. I was also thinking the last time I was involved in a night out. I could not remember one. Like this one night outs can never be planned, as they are the most impromptu and so most memorable.

 But what bemused me was the feeling as if only time had moved and rest everything was same. Corporate, IIMs and time had not made much of the difference. Tauseef is still the one who would go on to discuss the intricacies of all that has happened. Be it an AOE game or a test series or a quickly concluded poker hand. Sudhanshu would still set things up, be it distributing the poker chips, setting up the LAN or calculating the bail outs. Singhvi is still bold in his approach, be it bullying at poker table or standing up on the table in Maths tutorial. Khare is still the one who will play safe everytime. I tried to think about myself too but didn’t reach any conclusion. It is humorous that we are least observant about ourselves. I missed Pandey and all the other Cautley inmates. None the less it is off course a beautiful addition to the list of all those night outs.

 One thing which never changes is the spirit. It is timeless. I guess that’s what makes that night out wonderful. The assurance that any amount of water may flow through the Ganga Canal in Roorkee, the common spirit of your batch would still remain the same.

 I was thoroughly refreshed for a long day at conference, justifiably so. I had lived the spirit of the most beautiful 4 years of my life, in that one night out.

Difficult

Pulp Fiction. Jules: I'm not giving you that money. I'm buying something from you. Wanna know what I'm buyin' Ringo? Pumpkin: What? Jules: Your life. I'm givin' you that money so I don't have to kill your ass. You read the Bible? Pumpkin: Not regularly. Jules: There's a passage I got memorized. Ezekiel 25:17. "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy My brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay My vengeance upon you." Now... I been sayin' that shit for years. And if you ever heard it, that meant your ass. You'd be dead right now. I never gave much thought to what it meant. I just thought it was a cold-blooded thing to say to a motherfucker before I popped a cap in his ass. But I saw some shit this mornin' made me think twice. See, now I'm thinking: maybe it means you're the evil man. And I'm the righteous man. And Mr. 9mm here... he's the shepherd protecting my righteous ass in the valley of darkness. Or it could mean you're the righteous man and I'm the shepherd and it's the world that's evil and selfish. And I'd like that. But that shit ain't the truth. The truth is you're the weak. And I'm the tyranny of evil men. But I'm tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard to be the shepherd.