Thank you shewag! Thank you Fab Five!

I never liked him bat. He gave me too many nervous moments. And I am from the Rahul Dravid school of batting. The feet never moved to the pitch of the ball. The ball missed the outside edge too many times.

There were many days when I had scolded him badly for just throwing away his wicket. The air of nonchalance surrounding him was hardly bearable for an intense cricket fan like me,

Yet, to be honest there were very few batsmen of his ilk; No no no! Not very few. I can't name one. And that makes him the genius. He was a genius indeed. How do you describe scoring a boundary of the first ball of five consecutive world cup games? What else can be said about the man who inevitably hits a six to reach the hundred?

And when the genius in Shewag called in quits yesterday, my mind wavered off to 2000's. The decade of the "Fab Five". What a time it was to watch and talk cricket? Shewag's brilliance, Dravid's purity, Sachin's genius, laxman's beauty and Ganguly's off side strokes and every one of them gave times of happiness.

Thank you Shewag for all those days of sheer joy you gave us! And thank you "Fab Five"! We grew up watching you bat. In the annals of Indian cricket, Shewag and Fab five will forever be etched. 

I have enough sir! Thank you!

This man I met today was a beggar! He did not have any money. He slept on the streets. And ate out of whatever good hearts gave him.

One of my better friends in my new found environment and I met him; and the noble heart my friend was, offered him money. And came a reply, which I have not seen before in my 28 years on this earth, which is almost life's most important lesson.

He said and I quote, "I have twenty rupees, sir! Enough! Will get it if I need it! Thank you! And my friend had not given him our usual one rupee coin which we dish out to the beggars. It was a hundred rupee note! And not that we will meet him tomorrow and give him. Tomo, my friend is not in office and I don't use the way where he usually sits. And this man knows that too!

How do I say a 'NO' to the attraction of free money three times your entire wealth put together? Sorry, my math is wrong. It is five times! Or whatever! He was happy. He was contented.

Something in him makes him contented. What is that? I really don't know. I wish I can say the 'No' when it comes to the attractions of money and do what my innermost heart says. I wish the compulsions of life does not make me run after money rather than being contented.

And Today I wish I have that beggar's heart!

Not in the very far future son!

If you have seen these two images and are not heartbroken, you must be of the Indira Mukerjee ilk. Indira Mukerjee? Yes, the one who became media friendly because she murdered her daughter.

Two images! And they keep flashing in my mind again and again. That look on the father, who has given his everything, yet lost his son, to the brazen arrogance of mankind. And that image of the little child, lying along the sea shore. Motionless and still! Dead!

A small family who just wanted to live a simple, happy life wherever they are allowed to, could not survive a tragedy that has been enforced upon his country men.

How do we even start to explain the tragedy? Where do we start? Are boundaries drawn for the sake of convenience more important than lives? The imaginary lines we have drawn between countries, should they at all exist, if they are gonna kill lives?

The question marks which clog my mind! I know there are no answers. I understand the boundaries do exist, and will continue to do so. And I'm sure that these boundaries are going to be the lines which will bring the earth to its death.

Child! This is a bad bad world. It does not deserve you. Sleep in peace son. For, you live in a better place now; We, your fathers have messed this place up! We have made this place unlivable by drawing imaginary lines.

And we surely will bring this place to a horrible closure. Not in the very far future son. Not in the very far future!

The farce called independence!

So every year after the frenzied Aug 15th, we go back to our daily routine on the next day! The August 16th. My FIL's birthday!

The proud Indians we are, who never had forgotten to wear the tri-colour close to the chest on the day of independence , go back to our usual 'hell with rules' mode! So every traffic signal without the cop is violated; Every queue is broken; And sadly, every other Indian who does not share the same views is abused.

To hell with Independence day celebrations, I say! Why this facade? Why do a public stunt of patriotism on two days a year? and forget what it means the very next day? 

Or even on that very same day, what does independence really mean? 

The PM's rhetoric on how he is a saviour! Children carrying (Or made to carry) a chief minister's name! A Trisha and Vijay movie! and of course the mandatory heroine interview. Is that all Independence means to us?

Neither freedom, nor its celebrations mean anything to me; I don't really know how some white men ruling over me would have changed the way I live now. 

Can't they do something about teaching my generation and its thoughtless citizens like me about the advantages of the so called 'Independence?' Or at least have some meaningful celebrations on the day of the Independence? May be show a movie on Gandhi? Or have a reality show or a debate on how the white men throttled our growth? Can somebody please teach me, why and how I can be a better citizen in this independent country? Or at least how I can use my independence in propagating my ideas? 

Can the PM from his podium, please explain why abusing my view point on social media is not freedom? Can he publicly announce that I have the freedom to agitate peacefully, without being stopped by the police? Can the Chief Ministers stop making children wait under a hot sun, and instead teach them that 'Independence' necessarily mean, 'Doing what they want, within the boundaries of law'; And that includes refusing to stand in the sun waiting for them too!

Ah! The farce called independence day! I can see my children celebrating 'August 15th' as the day before their grandfather's birthday!

Appie frensip day ppl!

It is 5:00 am, and Bangalore is cold outside! Yet, I'm made to remember my friends now. And as usual, I'm blogging. Remembering the plethora of friends who have crossed my life, the vast variety they are, the fun and the laughter, the seriously serious debates, the so many hours of 'non sense', the long hours under sun playing cricket or some other game, the many stupid debates, the forward messages, the orkut 'testimonials', the FB likes and of course the whatsapp chats!

Some have moved on in life. Do I miss them? I have moved on to; Some have added their spouses to the friends list; Some have become part of my family. Is there any difference between family and best friends by the way? Some do call me once a week even now. Some don't answer calls. Yet, they all cross my mind now.

Life in the fast lane is cruel! Especially when you are married to a doctor. And when suddenly you realize this may even be the longest stretch you have not spoken to some of the best friends ever. Some times days goes on without even thinking about them;

But then, deep inside you know. There are these creatures, who has absolutely nothing in common with me, except the simple fact that they took the same path I took for a small period in this marathon called 'life', who will be there with you always. Every time. Every day. And not once will they say 'no', except of course if you ask for a 10,00,000 loan.

Happy friendship day guys! I can't think of a better way than writing a stupid blog, to thank you all for all the suffocating love and the happy memories you have given me. 

My last night with my mom!

When a colleague and a well wisher came to me and said, 'hold on' sam, It hit me hard! It has been a year to this day, that I spent one last night with my mom.

Oh! How many days had we, 'mom and me', after Dad and Dan had slept, enjoyed our silent conversations going deep in to the night. And the early next day morning inevitably she will be defending me against being woken up because I slept late; yet, she always was there in the kitchen and then at work, bang on time!

We discussed everything; everything under planet earth, like best friends do! From how my class mate had a love failure, to how beautiful the girl next door looked, to how Nehemiah built Israel, to how India as a country could be salvaged.

Yes, we did plan my wedding, long long back! when I was still in college. We made a list of all the people who should be gifted sarees. And believe me, that list went on and on!She was particularly afraid of being the 'MIL(Maamiyar)', and yes, on many occasions the topic had been the 'Ideal MIL' which she wanted to be, yet thought it was impossible for her to be one.

Oh yes, we spoke on family issues. On umpiring in cricket. On Church politics. On the petty fights between her staff. On the sick patient which made her nervous.

And invariably, every night, just before we dozed off, she said 'how kind had God been to her', though she had not lived up to His standards.

Well, though we slept in the same room on her last night, she could not recognize me and I did not know it would be the last! Had I known that, may be  I would have whispered to her, "You have set the standards too high ma", for finally God thought enough!.

Lot more stories to tell ma; So much more. We will meet one day on the other side. Till then, I'm gathering stories for you. Life's stories!

I'm sick and I'm married!

Well, so finally when a stupid bug bit me y'day, and I felt a little sick, I suddenly realized I'm married!

For the wifey suddenly behaves very differently!

Did you take the tablet? Eat something! Eat this, eat that! Drink water. And in my case, the wifey being the doctor, there were certain technical terms thrown as well. "Gatric juice", and "Bacterial and viral" Infections were often used! My already heavy head started to spin as well.

And so she continued! "You don't expect me to behave the way your bachelor friends behave when you are sick!". Suddenly my mind went to those days of unbridled freedom. Of bachelorhood and its bliss.

The best of friends always reacted best when you are sick. "Vaa parotta saapiduvom, yellaam sariyaagidum", was the usual remark. My great dad, never even asked "Had I taken tablets?". He Just left us to be. And mothers, well they are made to pamper, right? And mine, though she had very little time, always pampered! and sisters, yes, they whined and advised!

So, the greatest of wives, like mine (Shhhh! I'm paid to tell this) take on the wives role suddenly from the brilliant friend she had been.

Though, I love the dad's and friend's way of caring, in the innermost hearts, I secretly believe without the womanly, wifeish pampering, falling sick is not worth it!