The Phenomenon Called Sachin Tendulkar!

From the moment BCCI announced a test series against West Indies by trimming the more important series against SA in their own backyard, it was evident that Sachin would be retired, though not announced officially by him or the board. And when Sachin finally announced that his 200th test would be his last, I felt a little annoyed that these two tests were accommodated only to help Sachin sign off his illustrious long career here in India.

As they say, no one is greater than the game, a person who is known for his utmost humility could have retired even without playing a so called farewell series. Though that thought was on and off. I still wanted to see him play for one last time, but somewhere I used to get this feel, should he really play? Maybe he wanted the occasion of his retirement more ostentatious and more respectful than any other player who retired in the recent past or any sportsperson ever in India. But, why? he could have still retired, I thought.

The updates on my facebook wall, the two week long series of articles on almost all major newspapers about his 24 year career, the continuous tv shows, the debates on how higher a place he deserves in the cricketing world, the interviews, all this have been making me more turbulent. Somewhere I used to feel that he should have just announced his retirement right away and not after a series or so wherein a lot of hype would be created. I thought he could have followed the way his peers Dravid and Laxman retired, in a low-key affair.

But, I was completely wrong. He could have retired right away, but the thought of Sachin not playing anymore and that Sachin wouldn't be seen on the field one last time would have put the country, the billion people in a state of national mourning. Instead, he made sure that we get an opportunity to witness and savour his batsmanship one last time right here in our country and bid him a grand farewell which he rightly deserves. For many of us, Sachin's career is the timeline of our lives. His debut - our birth. His prime form of the 90s - our childhood and first friends of life. His 2003 world cup run - our teenage highs. His two centuries of the 2008 CB series - our career questions. His 200* of 2010 - our professional challenges. His retirement, 2013 - our lives at cross roads.

Maybe there are exceptions to what I have written above, maybe there are people who are greater than the game. And yes, Sachin is one among them. He can influence a nation. If inspiration can be personified, Sachin would be it's name, a nation like ours with such a huge diversity, the mighty respect and love towards him is the imaginary cord that connects us all. A person of this calibre truly deserves the farewell he got, maybe that was even lesser. If the rules would permit, and a 12th player would be added in a team, just as an honor of respect, Sachin would take that place permanently in the Indian team for ever. Having said that, I feel that the government has gone a little overboard in conferring Bharat Ratna to him, not that he doesn't deserve such an honor but that might open up a whole new can of worms, which I don't want him to undergo. Anyways, that's quite a debatable topic. I don't want to get much into it.

Finally, this post would be incomplete without thanking the master, the cult, the colossus. A big Thank You dear Sachin! You have just retired from the game, not from our hearts. Miss you. 

A Passing Cloud?

It's quite hard when your heart starts getting on your mind, and your central nervous system shifts to the centre of your body from the head.

I thought it must be infatuation but realized I am not someone who just turned an adolescent, hence this rationale fails. I can't give it the name 'love' because for me love means the highest form of emotion, and I believe there is a lot of ground to cover to call it that way.

All I could say is I am disturbed, unnerved, and confused.

You would say, is this something new with you? Yeah, you are right, but this time, the odds are brighter than they were before.

I hate to draw plots, form situations, create plans but as I said in the very first line, my heart is getting over my mind, and as a great soul once said 'People destined to meet will do so, apparently by chance, at precisely the right moment'.

Maybe it was the right moment, I was drawn to the place just for the meet to happen. But, am I reading more of what had happened? They say listen to thy heart! Yes, I am now, but it is completely screwed up at this moment!

If this sounds like a teenager's ramble, boy! am I still young at heart? :D

Well, my question here is, do I have a word for this in the English dictionary???

PS: This was lying in the drafts from over four months or so, just thought of publishing it today, as my blog has gone down on the popularity levels by few rungs! :D

The Kodachadri Trek

The first weekend of this month had been the most eventful, after the bland weekends of May and June. As the monsoon season arrived, and heavy rains lashed all over, my friends and I thought of exploring the Western ghats, and set our foot to trek the Kodachadri peak.

We started from Bangalore late on the Friday night and took the Tumkur-Tiptur-Arsikere-Shimoga-Hosanagara route to reach Sampekatte, a village which is some 15kms from Kodachadri. We had booked a reservation at a home-stay there, it did live up to what was shown in the pictures of the home-stay's website.

                                                 On way to Sampekatte

                                  Parvatha Home-stay, the home-stay where we stayed

After getting freshened up, we reached the base, the start point of the trek. There is this stationery-cum-bakery kind of a shop at the base, where we bought some biscuits, water and some plastic sheets which we customized to fit in as full body rain jackets. With those quick-and-dirty jackets on, each one of us looked like some alien beings, two of us in orange, other four in green. Quite a colorful picture that would make!

We hired a local guide, a sixty plus man named Gopal and we were all set to go. He directed us to the mud road which the local jeeps ply over to get to the peak. After walking a half kilometer on this road, we were asked to get into the woods, the trek was a walk in the park until now. After a few meters into the woods, we were greeted by a fast running stream, it was knee-deep and we crossed our first hurdle with great ardor.

There came our enemies for the day, the blood-sucking bloody leeches. Before we started the trek, the local people at the shop advised us to apply zandu balm on our legs, it would act as a leech-repellent they said. I thought I would google and know whether that would really work, but my phone was off network coverage, hence we went with the locals' opinion. However, the bottle of the cream didn't do any magic on us, maybe the cream got washed off our legs as we crossed the stream or it doesn't really work.

Our trek journey would come to a brief halt whenever any of us was attacked by a member or two from the leech community or when the smokers community in our group wanted a break. We progressed further fighting the rain, the leeches, occasional crabs, water pools and slippery rocks.

After an arduous four-hour trek into the woods, we reached the Hidlumane waterfalls. As they say perseverance pays, the spectacular sight of the falls just took the pain away. The force of the water was so high that if your foot gets slipped on the algae-accumulated surface of the rocks or the wooden barks there's every chance that you get washed away by the gushing stream that flows down the falls. However, moving into a spot, right below the falls would be a safe option to experience and enjoy the fresh water falling on you.

Our guide asked us to speed up as it was getting late and we still had a long way to go, to reach the peak of the hill. We started over again, the rocks and the tree barks were extremely slippery around the falls area, I slipped over twice, but was lucky enough to hold on to some rock or someone in the group.

The next few hours were even more grueling, and there was this point during the trek, wherein you have to walk on a narrow path, the width of the path was just enough to place a foot, and a look towards the left would cast a fiery spell of acrophobia on you, as you are at an altitude of over 1000 meters above sea-level.

Once that stretch was done, we were onto some steep grass lands, the grass wasn't fully grown yet. As we climbed further and farther, it seemed like we were up against a never ending ascent. The grass lands were quite vast, and were mist-covered as the rain was coming down uninterrupted. We still had some distance to reach the Shooting spot, where they say some Kannada movies were shot, it is also the spot where the motor-able road to the Sarvajna Peetha (Sarvajna : Knowledge, Wisdom ; Peetha : Throne, Seat) passes through. But with the stamina levels hitting almost zero, it took an eternity for us to reach the spot.

We were supposed to be picked up by a local jeep, however, we couldn't reach the driver on the phone, hence we were made to walk till the Sarvajna Peetha (The final point of the trek). The Peetha  is some 2km from the shooting spot, however, it took us over an hour or more to reach there as the last remains of energies in our bodies were burnt in reaching there. Also, the rain turned into a heavy downpour and it took us some productivity enhancing techniques like screaming, shouting and singing in accomplishing the last part of this exciting, yet tiring endeavour.

To sum it up, after an adventurous six-hour trek, there we were, at the Peetha.

We didn't explore the Peetha much as we were extremely tired and hungry. There is a small canteen up there, we hogged on every possible edible item available there, and were in the jeep back to the home-stay. We couldn't take many pictures as it was raining unprecedented and also it was mist-covered all the way. However, the wonderful times spent on this trip will be ever cherished! :)

The Universe Unravelled

I remember reading a line on the cover page of the book, The Lord of the Rings - "The English-speaking world is divided into those who have read The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and those who are going to read them."

Well, for me, the world is divided into two, those who know about The Big Bang Theory and those who do not. If you happen to belong to the latter part, then I am sorry, please go watch it :D .

So now I know what Doctor Who is, what virgin cuba libre is, what Monkey and the Panchali story is, what an attosecond is, and also know how to calculate the area of a curve, how to mask a lie by roping a non-existing cousin who would turn a drug addict because of the ill-treatment given to him in the Philippines, how an action called suicide would be an exception to the definition of practice (v) - repetitive action would result in excellence, how a slurpee is not an icee, how giving someone a gift means putting the receiver under the obligation of giving something in return, how Halo3 is much better than sex, and know about several other things that are above, beyond and part of this Universe.

Thanks to the big bang theory for taking my IQ to the next level. I know many of you might have watched it some years ago, but I was bitten with this bug just a few days back. And I shall now proudly say I am part of the BBT world!!

My nights have gone longer from the moment I have started watching the series. The wonderful concoction of Sheldon's dry humor depicting a close case of Asperger syndrome, Leonard's love trials, Penny's sweet looks and smart remarks, Wolwitz's How-to-flirt lessons, Raj's selective mutism has made me glued to my laptop and watch the series with great excitement. However, I get worried after finishing up every episode like how one feels after emptying the potion of a limited life-saving medicine.

I believe one should savour each episode, dissect each dialogue than watching it marathonically. Else, within a week or two, you would end up watching all the episodes and you would need to find some other alternative. My friend says, Two and a Half Men would do, but come on, where do I find Sheldon in that! 

I know Sheldon would not like me here, because of my non-conformance to English grammar, 'marathonically' is a colloquial usage of the noun - Marathon.

Ok, let's get talking more humane now.

To get the best out of the BBT, I visit here, read, revise every episode again, laugh and also register some key 'take-away'(s) in my mind, rather, to be more specific or to be more Sheldonic, I would register them in the temporal lobe of my mind.

Out of sheer curiosity, I read through some information about Chuck Lorre and Bill Pardy on the internet, the head writers of the show. I didn't see anywhere that they were interested in Science nor associated with it through any form. In fact, Chuck was a drug addict till 47 and he is on a recovery currently. That's quite an interesting fact, considering the level of intelligence that has been shown in the narration, plots and the characters.

Though, not all the facts that are said or shown are 100% genuine, but the radius of their creativity is humongous. And the ease with which they talk about diverse topics, from Bhagavad Gita to Hollywood, Bible to Bollywood, Physics to Physicalities, is something that would draw very high levels of admiration.

I am on the verge of completing the second season, and I hope my knowledge quotient keeps expanding at a very rapid rate. And am hoping that Sheldon would find a companion of his own species in the near future, other than Leonard's Mother though. Also, I owe a big thanks to the BBT for putting me back on the writing mode with this post.

PS : Do we say 'Conformance to' or 'Conformance with'? I was lazy to search on the internet, your thoughts are welcome.

Uncomfortably Numb!

I have been off-blogging for quite sometime now. I don't say that I was busy, rather I would say I was being a couch potato over the last few days, indeed, the last few months.

It has been a phase of inactivity in terms of many sorts, the weekends in particular have been really unproductive. The evenings are spent watching IPL, and during the day the hot Hyderabad summer would make sure that I am numbed and lets me do nothing than making me laze around. It is this time of the year I curse this city the most. I think the guard at the ATM centre has got a better job this summer than anyone else!

Come April-May every year, there would be a lot of talk about the Summer and then the IPL. Just like last year, there have been many conversations on my Facebook wall about CSK, with the fixing scandal going around, the number of posts are more in number this time.

With the South-West monsoon winds arriving ontime, the drizzles over the last few days have produced a calming effect. Hence, I am able to continue this post that was started sometime last month.

I was off from blogging not just in terms of writing posts, but also in terms of reading blogs of other bloggers whom I follow regularly. There are some of them who have stopped blogging of late like me, some have managed to write a post or two like '10 reasons why I didn't blog' and some have got married, at least they are doing something :)

I don't know in which category I should tag this post, but I hate to tag it under 'Comeback post'. Anyways, I shall be back sometime this month (hopefully) with a post of some 'significance'.

PS : There's one interesting fact here. Though I didn't post anything last month, my blog has got the highest number of views this year! Also, it is the second result that google shows up, when you key in 'lubberwort', rewards for using an uncommon name you see ;)

Image Courtesy : http://team-pocket.blogspot.in/2010/07/its-too-hot.html

Some thoughts!

A friend read my last post on the blog yesterday and mailed me asking was I really looking for someone? It was then, I was alarmed that it's over a month I had penned something here. Adding to that, there was something that happened at office yesterday which I thought I should be writing about.

I had nominated myself to be part of the fun committee at office. The committee had asked all the nominees to fill a questionnaire on why we would want to be part of the committee, and those were to be written on a paper unlike an online form.

It had been ages that I have used a paper to answer something, being used to hitting the backspace and clearing out the sentences while writing through the computer, it was a hard time for me in answering those questions. I couldn't complete a single answer without striking out a word or a complete line.

I wondered at the fact that how I was so clear while writing in the answer sheets during my engineering exams. Writing with ink makes one to be doubly sure about their thoughts, I think the clear lines written in one's diary sets an example for that. Let me digress a bit here, a love proposal letter would be a final product only after several test copies reach the dustbin, because the state of love means a state of several hundred thoughts running in the head, and the space for some clear thoughts is very less.

Well, this post might sound quite bland, but yeah, sometimes the most creative Havells advertisements too lack vigor!

There was one more thing I should write about, a question that was asked in the questionnaire, it read - what profession would you have chosen if you weren't in IT? Good question, isn't it?? 

Marriage v/s Grammar

I had started to check some profiles online over the last few days. Yes, the matrimonial profiles (be it out of personal interest, parental pressure or peer pressure). Well, there have been some interesting profiles that I had come across. Though not many were really interesting in terms of taking a step further, but certainly there were many profiles that were interesting in terms of flawed grammar and some bizarre requirements, some of them are listed below -

a) "I used to be friendly and respect traditions"
So, young lady, did you stop respecting our traditions and started being unfriendly of late?

b) "I had one elder sister, and one younger brother. Sister is married recently and brother is studying Engineering"
I am sorry about the first two. So you were 5 siblings before and 3 now! Is my Math right?

c) A girl who holds a Commerce degree and whose profession reads as a Designer says, "My Father is an IITian and works for Central Govt"
 Are you hinting that you are genetically intelligent? Also, I thought that the profile was about you and your education and not about how your Father graduated or how your Brother dropped out of college! *Sigh*

d) "Looking for guys who have BTech/MBA from IITs, IIMs, NITs"
And all this while I thought it was a requisite for a top notch company's job than for a swayamvara! Anyways, they must be humble enough not to mention what score/class they are expecting the guy to have obtained in his Degree.

And hang on, are you looking for 'guys'? I am a strict monogamist. How about you?

e) "He has to be tall, and seeing good"
I am quite tall, and I can see without glasses and lenses but I am a mirror cracking material. Are you game?:D

f) And the best one that kept me laughing for a while-
A Father writes, "Looking for a boy who is caring and who would make love to my daughter!".

I really got nothing to comment about it. I have got a big 'Thank you' for you, for the great laughter you provided!!

PS: I don't mean to treat someone with contempt over their writing skills here. What my point is, when you are projecting about yourself over an Internet profile, it is advisory to present the information correctly such that you avoid some utter embarrassments. Hence, leaving no room for someone to make a mockery of it.

PPS: I am not a grammar expert. You would definitely find some mistakes on my blog, I would be glad if you notify me on my mail if you find any, than bashing me in the public :) Thanks!

A picture speaks a thousand words. How about this? -

Image courtesy : Google Images

The Snowdrop!!

Those mood swings are unfathomable, 
yet not unbearable.. 

Those words could be harsh, yet the innocence of them would mean those are unsaid.. 

Those riveting eyes flare up in anger, 
yet they get calmed down as a tidal wave..
 
Those smiles could be less,
yet every smile is cherished like a three year old.. 

Those thoughts could be paranoiac at times, 
yet once you trust, you trust until the end of the time..

Those days could mean nothing, 
yet they mean everything..

For some you seem an enigma,
but only for some you seem an open book.. and  I am glad to belong to the latter part..!! 

PS: They say some people could only be seen or read about in novels.. maybe they said it on seeing someone like you!! 

You once asked me whether 'Insanity Continues' was about you, well, that wasn't, but this post certainly is!! :)