Two Posts and One Evening....

This will be the first of the two posts I will write today. Why this sudden rush of writing, I don't know! I guess it's out of guilt.....Am feeling bad for being out of touch with my 'writer' side :D.....At times out of profuse penitence springs the best of works.... (OK whatever than meant!!)

I had been to Chicago over the Memorial Day Break. It's funny how these days are designated long weekend breaks....and yes, I've made fun of how conveniently they are spread out over the year....but let's face it, I'm thankful for these getaways....

Anyways coming back to Chicago, it was fantastic!! Let's draw some comparisons between Chicago and NYC, shall we... I for one, am a person who is in unwavering awe of New York City. My adoration of the place continues to grow even though I have grown in my acquaintance with 'The City'. And yet, Chicago still managed to enchant me. Before NYC became what it is today, Chicago was expected to be the hub of all the economic growth. But some how NYC walked away with all its grandeur and Chicago became the unassuming city, with a cute skyline having a character of it's own. While NYC is all buildings and narrow strips of water, Chicago has a small yet a poised skyline with the vastness of the brilliantly blue Lake Michigan. Wow!!! The sight of skylines of both these cities will probably be two of the most brilliant sights of my life....

There are more breath taking sights out there, am sure! But these definitely are something!! When I see such spectacular events, I wonder why I have had the opportunity to see them, while million others have not. I do enjoy the moment and make the most of it or at least try to! But I do so with a lot of mixed emotions. I wish more people could see such sights...I wish more boundaries were dissolved.....but yeah...reality does bite eventually, does it not....

An added feature of the trip was meeting up with friends from school.....People I have grown up with, people from the same 'speck of an area' on the map.....People who have the same stories to talk about over and over again without ever having had enough of it.......People who made it to Chicago from a small residential area called 'Malleswaram' in the city of Bangalore......Yes....circumstances did bring us all together..... and the feeling was overwhelming!
The feeling of being out of touch sublimes instantly........the boredom disappears as quickly as it had appeared....

Things are tough at times....So tough that every other week you promise yourself to make a new start :)......You forget that there is no way out of things so easily..... You have to find a way to keep going or draw a line altogether.....There cannot be too many beginnings...... But when such meetings happen....you feel good....and energized to face the monotony with a new perspective.

Mr. Mani Ratnam and his Commercial Flick

The post is not about Ravana!! Definitely not..... :)

So, if not totally, to a large extent, I got bashed up for my previous post. People called it all sorts of things- an outstretched opinion, dangerously presumptuous, a miserable attempt at trying to get commercial- just like Mani Ratnam trying to direct a commercial flick- and of course.... the 'one size fits all' adjective- NICE. Cricket is indeed a touchy topic and especially so with Indians :) and I learned it the hard way. But I enjoyed all the adulation it got :). Like in 'Guru' Abhishek Bacchan says 'If people are talking about, against or for you, assume that you are making progress :)'- Okay too much melo drama, I agree..... but hey it's true you know.......does it occur to you, yet again that I'm giving credit to Abhishek here and had to Google out Vijay Krishna Acharya's name?!!(one who wrote the Hindi dialouges for the movie)

But for all the conversations and emotions it stirred up over the last week, I would say that the purpose was met. After all blogging is a genre of expression. If I had people listen to me talk all day would I still feel the necessity to blog. Oh Yes!! Each conversation has a take away, at times applicable to the world at large...so yes...... why not document it. I am late to this agenda and there are better writers out there. But hey, intimidation and trepidation is common is it not? Neophytes would definitely fear a Sachin or an Amitabh. Their persona is indeed larger than life. But if Sachin or Amitabh gave up on their skills feeling the same about Gavaskar or Dilip Kumar respectively, would we have a master blaster or a superstar, today?

Consider this scenario. You have known a few people for sometime and are comfortable enough to narrate to them, in excruciatingly painful detail, the deepest thoughts and the most silliest of the occurrences on a daily basis. After a few years the reactions, advices and opinions you get from them become predictable. It's like you know what's coming next in a conversation. Is this point in a relationship a sort of dead end? But most people strive to have such a comfort zone with others, right? If 'comfort level' is what gives people the sense of security, then why does familiarity breed contempt? And out of no where, strangers appear more attractive and interesting, it's like we have something new, a change from the routine.... Do we forget that best friends and close ones were also strangers once? Do we also forget that at the end of the day predictability perhaps is comforting?

All these thoughts are probably a result of missing familiar faces or a result of accepting and instantly adapting to changed settings. Yes...a few of us here chose to change the 'default' setting we came with...(could you get any more geeky Kriths!! :))...But it's also essential to experiment....and while in the thick of things....the soul searching seems never ending....

Lagaan

Brilliant movie!!! Even if the love story between Gracy Sing and Aamir Khan was superfluous....but then what's Bollywood without its romances.... Again, the way cricket is woven in to the script is a laudable effort indeed... Ashutosh Gowariker is a good script writer... But some how it ended up being 'Aamir Khan's Lagaan'..... The guy with the big bucks gets all the fame eh!

Nothing unites or divides India like cricket, it's ironic don't you think? Cricket gives all Indians a sort of cult status that is almost peculiar only to India and yes that is something to be proud of! Apparently the sport originated in Northern Europe after the end of the Roman Empire but nothing is confirmed. But I still believe that it is indigenous to India and that it spawned out of Gilli Danda. No one knows if it came from Europe to India or went the other way round. Somethings in history have left no traces, sadly this is also up for speculative grabs.

Countless reasons make it a 'good for health' sport.

It's easily accessible to anyone who wants to play and provides enough scope for innovation, in the event of being equipment-handicapped- how else would you explain turning a racket ball bat in to a cricket bat.

You do not need a well kept turf or a perfectly flat floor. It can be played just about any where. Kitchen of the house, veranda, classroom, you just occupy and play!

Absolutely anyone can play. This is the only game in which the highly learned will entertain the underdogs and will be ever so glad to provide valuable lessons for free!

You do not need to posses any gadget at all to witness this game. Absolutely anyone- shop keeper, neighbor, stranger will let you watch it and all media of communication will be more than glad to bring the game closer to you in whichever language you prefer.

All the terminologies have a regional equivalent.

On a larger picture:
It brought home the concept of cheer leading squads (hardly a head turner) and leagues. Creates a very pro-active economy for those months of any major season. Eg: IPL (needless to mention..but hey....deserves one right?!).
Creates enough scandal and news to keep everyone up and running during those months.
Brings in enough money to make BCCI one of the richest sporting organizations in the world.
Takes the ad-making industry to a different height, churning out some of the best ads.
Leaves the citizens feeling absolutely entertained and happy :)

Cricket is also the reason sites like Cricinfo and true to the word blogs like 'Cricket with Balls' exist.

And all this is only about the sport at large...imagine if I had started getting in to the nitty gritty's of the players and their stances. I till date do not understand the rules of a test match and I'm not a cricket fanatic either. I still feel that the bat making any sort of connection with the ball is serendipity. Of course, the batsmen does aim at the gaps and makes sure he strikes the ball to a good velocity, but still it's all a big mind boggling game of probability.

The game in it's early years had a certain regal look about it with the lush green stadiums and the players dressed in white. It did look like a gentleman's game and probably was. But now with all the cacophony and theatrical moves all the gentleness is left behind :)

Albeit it never fails to grab the nation's attention, stir up the economy and feed people's imaginations.... So if people out there think cricket is overrated you might want to re-consider.

PS: This is the second blog in the 'you asked for it' series.......Dhiraj hopefully is a happier person now :)

The God of Small Things

Arundhati Roy penned this book and won an award for it. Sandhya tells me that it's a great read. When I looked up it's synopsis online, it said that the book is about 'fraternal twins' dealing with the 'small' things in life which ultimately manifest in to colossal deal breakers. Reading this book will go on my ever accruing 'to-do' list. For me 'The God of Small Things' is a concept in one's life which is essential, at times, to appease the tumults of life or simply help you smile at the end of the day, both good and bad.

The concept of having that 'one special person' is scintillating indeed. But to have a God of Small Things is definitely something......something I realized after I had it. So if you have someone in your life who knows you for what you are without you having to explain, takes you for what you are without coining a title, can perfectly understand your episodes of not-your-best behavior and notices those little things that elude the public at large, there you go! You have indeed found your 'God of Small Things'. There is no need to attach any copyright to this and I'd rather do away with the predisposition of reading between the lines since it happens to be a highly subjective concept!

Give the concept of 'moving-on' a thought. If there is something in the past that upsets you and is pulling you down, you must distract yourself with something so much, that it's effect wears off. You spend all the negative energy piling up within you on things you have chosen to do and that in itself is considered half the healing. But memories these days are so easily accessible. They are just a- call, ping, photo, video, wall-post, comment, scrap, voice-mail, e-mail, g-talk, hotmail, yahoo, buzz, blog, text or status-message- away! Does that ever bother you. I have hardly seen about three pictures of my grand-fathers and both of them were gone by the 80's. It takes a while to start smiling over the past, does it not? But hey...distraction is a good thing, ain't it? Ironical rhetoric.

Capital Gain

The title is yet another one of my attempts at playing with the 'metaphor'. Last weekend I listened to a talk by a certain Mr. Terry. He is a high school teacher and was delivering a lecture on Shakespeare's tragic play 'Macbeth'. What I learned about one of the greatest playwrights will be the subject of another post. For now all that is needed is this: During this speech I was made to realize that Shakespeare was a great fan of metaphors. In literature, use of metaphors is one of the most exciting styles of writing. Anyway..... Read on to find out why I used it as a metaphor :)

Over the Good Friday weekend, I went to see the cherry blossoms at Washington DC with my cousin's family. Go to www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org for the complete history and event list of the festival. This was my first time in the Capital of the United States of America. So it was like I had a huge capital gain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_gain).....But in every sense of the word, it WAS "Capital Gain" and hence the metaphor :) !! (If you want me to look up 'brevity' in the dictionary I certainly will :))

So coming back to the Cherry Blossom festival. It was fantabulous!! I could probably go on and on about how beautiful everything was but at the end of the day my narrative would probably sound like I described a never ending pink fetish!!! So I will tell you about the other things which pitched in to make this weekend what it was!

1) Weather! It was gorgeous. It made me want to apologize to this place for having blamed it for its incessant snow falls.

2) Drive!! New Jersey to Virginia (to meet cousin's family) and then back again to New Jersey. 10 hours of lone time, with having only me to depend on, for entertainment, a safe drive and crisis management! Thanks to AT&T and to all the people on the other side of the 'sony ericson' for making sure that I was alright!! A special mention to the blessed GPS :) and of course Honda! (Imagine my 'thank you' speech at the Oscars :P)

3) Fully Bloomed Cherry Blossoms!!! These trees are all around DC but are concentrated around the Tidal Basin by the Washington Monument. They are pink blossoms and have a slight fragrance. They form a pink canopy all around the Potomac river. Walking under these blossoms made me feel like someone had held a pink parasol over my head. When the wind blew it created its very own pink 'petal fall' which reminded me of the cinematography in Mani Ratnam's movies.

4) Cousin's Family!!!! I was meeting them after three years. I was in tears when I said 'Hi' to her and when I said 'Bye' to her. Speaks volumes about human relationships as a function of time and distance! Such meetings make one feel zestful about a lot of things and helps one see things in a new and improved light!

Speaking of which, Anu had once told Dinu and me (in one of our random moments) that if you see the picturesque foliage around you (more often while driving and especially in Fall) through sun glasses, the Fall colors look more 'Fall-y'. After trying it out on my drive back from Virginia (Definitely more foliage than Texas!!), I have to second it..... Maybe that is why its called seeing things is a different light. What one sees is only about how one sees it. All colors reflect the light that they are seen under. I cannot stop wondering about how strong that statement is.

So summing up, this has truly been one of the best weekends since July 2008. In all the madness over the past few months, I had lost track of what life used to be. For the past three days, I was being taken care of and I had forgotten how much I missed it since I left India and thereafter Texas. This visit taught me one thing, a person, no matter how strong or independent, would love to be taken care of and feel less responsible atleast for a day or two!! And when such a thing happens....in addition to feeling good......you also tend to sleep well...... :)

I am 16.....going on 17....

Obviously the title calls for an explanation. Well I have written 16 posts so far. This happens to be my 17th post. When I reminisce over my posts, I wonder if indeed I wrote all of it. Writing is easy, but writing on a public scratch pad is surely something! As always, anything creative invites a lot of criticism, which taken in the right spirit, can open a whole new direction to learning.

Spring is just around the corner. The 20th of March is supposed to be the official start of the Spring season. For most students in this country, the spring-break is the harbinger of spring :) As planned, most of my friends from Texas vacationed at Florida for their break. As a natural consequence of this, half my g-talk list got washed out over the last weekend :) This sudden dwindling of numbers was too jarring and I must confess that I felt sorry for myself. I did not get consumed in self-pity(Okay maybe I did, a little :)). I went apartment hunting to distract myself and am saddling up to move in on my own tomorrow!! So I can rejoice over the fact that it was indeed a weekend well spent!!

It is a scary venture indeed, moving in on my own. College Main Apartment- place I lived while in College Station- had become a haven to me. With all it's idiosyncrasies, it still felt like home, over time of course. There is this one song by Leona Lewis called 'It will all get better in time'. Mostly I feel it is all in the mind. If one wants to get accustomed to one's habitat, it will happen instantly. If the heart and head is not in something, passage of time is not going to have any effect.

I have been giving acclimatization a lot of thought......The first thing that comes to my mind is a song called 'Comfortably Numb' by Pink Floyd. (Disclaimer: This is not to be misconstrued as anything else other than a mere reference) Over time everyone becomes numb to their surroundings.....And a few become comfortably numb.... We accept all the short-comings, see the brighter side of things and make peace with existence.

As I embark upon this whole new life style.....I being to wonder thus..... Adaptability is all about how soon one can become comfortably numb....One can take the path less traveled and change the system.... But at this point in time and place....the chirpy child in me has been whomped by logistics of reality..... And, even though it is not totally new, I shudder at the thought of being me, myself and I......

.....and with this I wed thee....

Weddings are flamboyant events, I'm sure everyone agrees. It's all about celebration and a certain amount of pomp and show is expected so that the on-lookers can go green with envy :) I'd been to one such ostentatious wedding. An Indian (it's OK to be presumptuous, in case you thought it was Hindu :)) was marrying a Russian Jew. The ceremony was performed in both Vedic and Jewish traditions. This of course woke up the blogger in me. I went into raptures as I had something to think and 'ink' about :)

The Jewish part of the ceremony was sweet and more importantly 'short'. In about forty five minutes they were pronounced man and wife and showered with blessings to live happily ever after. An interesting part of this ceremony was when the groom was asked to stomp on a glass vase to prove that his marriage was indeed not ephemeral. As Physics would brand it, marriage is meant to be a 'chemical reaction', it cannot be reversed.

Coming to the Hindu part of the ceremony......well what can I say... :) All the Sanskrit chants were refurbished to suit the requirements of this country (the specifics are unimportant) and the invitees. The aspect, however, that baffled me the most was how Vedic rituals could be bent to suit the requirements of geographical locations and a variety of faiths. In the sitcom, 'Friends' Monica tells her betrothed Chandler that she wants a 'marriage' and not a 'wedding'. Wedding plans are subjective to the helm, of course, but I wish at times that parents or in general all elders could think of other goals for their existence and not treat the marriages of their off springs as the object of spending all their lives' savings on.

The current economy has had it's effect on the marriage 'market' too (after all it IS a market, is it not!!) A huge crisis has fallen upon parents' of all 'available' singles. It has apparently become exceedingly difficult to find suitors because of the ailing economy. Wow! And here I was......thinking that marriage and more commonly, matters of the heart are untouched by extraneous forces!!!

So...these days on facebook updates and google's buzz.....a very common status message is this- 'there are only 1141 tigers remaining in the world, save them'. George Bernard Shaw said 'When a man wants to kill a tiger it's called sport, when a tiger wants to kill a man it's called ferocity'. This quote is of course courtesy google. Can you imagine what would happen if Google started putting up a price!! The human race is yet to fathom the perils of taking things for granted.

Whenever the talk is about tigers, I am reminded of Jim Corbett. He wrote this book called The Man Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag. The story (a sort of auto-biography) is about how he killed a terrorizing man-eating leopard in the Himalayas with his famous 'shot in the dark' and how he is left with mixed emotions at the end of it all. Almost everything in this world leaves us feeling mixed. And here I was being told....that we live in a binary world......where everything is either 0 or 1..... :)