The Relentless Pursuit!

   With a huge sigh I look at the daily planner which hasn't really been useful in planning even a single day in the last 365 days of my life. All it helped was in constantly reminding me the dates of T1's, T2's ,Quizes & what not continuous evaluative components of the semester. But yeah, the significance of these reminders for a BITSian was powerful enough for putting the planner in the constant purview of my eyesight all the time.
   As I lean back on the couch and let the world of thoughts engulf me, I still can't believe that another year has come and before I know it...has gone. Just like my thoughts on the eve of every other new year.Just like my usual self,when I always say to myself "How as it become so late so soon?".A part of me figures, May be I get so carried away by the moment & get drained in the experiences of the past, that I wish the cherished experiences would stay a little longer. But with a hint of rationality, I condescendingly look at at myself for being melodramatic.
   As I look back at the past 12 months and let my thoughts recollect every little ounce of memory hidden deep in the deepest recesses of my brain, reflections of the past play an automated slide show before my eyes. I realize that a lot had happened. This year, our country saw a new phase in the form of the rise of Aam aadmi party. God knows how far it will go politically, but it is the only body to raise its voice against corruption at the national level.Openly...of course. The judicial system of the country has finally found it is right to hang Kasab, the terrorist who has created havoc throughout the nation. Well, Justice delayed is Justice denied. In the prestigious London Olympics, the entire country of more than 1 billion people were happy that we bagged half a dozen medals while U.S just leaped past the century figure. This is also that dreaded year, where Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, the GOD of cricket in our nation has finally decided to hang his boots in the colored shirts much to the grief of the country as well as silencing the voices of found-in-every-street baseless critics.Well, he also been appointed as a people's representative as he is casted into the upper house of the Indian parliamentary system.But ending on a gravely sadder note, the country was baffled by the death, or should I say murder, of an Indian woman molested in the National capital. The entire population of the nation has taken a united stand in the memory of an innocent girl who has been brutally molested in the heart of the country. Hopefully, All those intense protests and candle light marches opens the eyes of the government to make stringent laws for protection of women in the country. And yeah, Abhijit Mukherjee...please please resign. We may not stand against incompetent politicians, as their figure seems to be on an increasing note every year, but we definitely do not need 'politicians' like you who gets ripped of on a national LIVE debate because he says only one response to every query of Arnob Goswamy irrespective of understanding or even trying to understand the simple question.
   And as my thoughts roll on, I understand that my inner world has changed at a much bigger context. Just like every passing phase, people around in my life had changed.But this time with more than a pinch of hurt, as I left behind some of my closest friends in campus to do an internship in Bangalore.Well, I knew I didn't have much of a choice there but to leave behind friends even before the completion of graduation did shatter a part of my heart much to the grief of good-byes. If only time friezes for the happy moments to stay longer! This time, I had a hard time explaining & convincing myself that Life goes On!
   A sweet little inner voice shouts, A lot had happened.A lot further had changed! As a famous quote goes "Histories make men wise; poets, witty; the mathematicians subtle; natural philosophy, deep; moral, grave; logic and rhetoric, able to contend." Like the heart-warming story of Barfi!, I understand that life has much more to it than what catches the naked eye. Through the brave heart of Brendan Rodgers, I understand that vision, planning, hard work & determination stands at the heart of the revival of our lives. I just hope a few years from now, he stays at that same position & restores Liverpool FC into the top bracket of European football, as Champions! Through hours & hours in the world of novels, deep inside I know that Paulo Coelho, Sidney Sheldon, Durjoy Dutta and loads of other writers have stirred emotions and touched places in my heart, which has helped me grow into a wiser and intellectual person which I am today. Through my memorable stint at Bangalore, I know that leving behind friends is never gonna be easy, even if the friendships are made in a short frame of time.

   And now, as I brace myself to face the final frontier in education phase, my heart still feels incomplete for the lack of something. That something being a lack of plan to achieve my ambition or a difficulty to choose the next step of life or a simple thought of leaving BITS-Pilani..I still debate among myself. May be the time to use daily planners effectively still hasn't come in my life. May be I should not take the grand planner calender my dad offers me every year. But irrespective of it, I know that my mind wouldn't stop battling in its relentless pursuit of ambition. May be, I will grow up next year into a much more wiser ass & let my thoughts shape into a plan. But for now, with an overloaded thinking capacity & a much more thoughtful brain, I cherish the final moments of the calender year. Adios 2012!

A spark shall fly!

Yet again, I checked my watch, but this time let out a deep sigh of relief at the first sight of the banner "TechSparks 2012 Grand Finale" (http://www.yourstory.in/events/techsparks/). Finally, I reached, I thought. As I started walking towards the auditorium, I couldn't take my mind of the fact that we(me & my friend) have spent the better part of last one hour searching for this address. One complete hour! And in that process completed one full circle around a 17 km road & thanks to some auto driver's help, finally, arrived there, albeit an hour late. As we submitted our tickets & completed the registration process, an adrenaline rush filled my mind. Well, it was that kind of day, which I have been waiting for since weeks.
   And as we entered the audi, I could see the the Introductory note from the CEO of yourstory.in just coming to an end. Phew, the Indian Standard time!, I muttered while searching for a chair to sit amongst the densely packed auditorium. After all, however big-weights the speakers, orators & b-plan presenters were & from which ever parts of the world they flew in from, at the end of the day, it was an Indian event & true to its name, it was running late!
   The introductory note was then followed by an extraordinary speech by the Managing Director of a leading investment banking firm, giving deep insights into the ideal hiring policies of a start-up, ups & downs of an Entrepreneurial life, important times for the evolutionary phases in the organisation, the ways of imbibing a deep rooted culture into your start-up etc..I wish his talk continued further. But even before I started reflecting over his points , a panel discussion consisting of executive level members from Google, Amazon, Intel, Philips started over the topic of "Scaling your start-ups", which was moderated by a distinguished member of Harvard Business school. As the event progressed, and the fodder required for my intellectual appetite started accumulating, I could never have accepted the fact that these were just appetizers of the day.
   What followed after the lunch was the true purpose of the Grand finale. And thus, the main course of the day! The best 30 technological start ups of the country were unveiled. And a few of them were given 10 minutes to present them.
   However different the ideas may be & however different their methodologies in implementing them may be, every one of them had one thing in common. Each of them took pride in explaining & giving demo of their products/service. From the ex-CEO of the Kings XI Punjab to the Alumni of the most prestigious B schools, every one of them explained the void in the present market & the way in which their Entrepreneurial genius fulfilled it. Make no mistake, organisation are never born over night. Everyone had worked years & years over organizing their thoughts & developing their products and ventures (and in some cases, even after repeated failures of their previous endeavors! ) ; signifying the fact that "Work life balance is a myth!".
   There is no short-cut to success, there is only hard work, I remembered.
   Each one of the B-plans had vital ideas & outstandingly developed products. But the ones which caught my most attention out of all those mesmerizing presentations were 'Radiowalla' & 'Impact Index'. Radiowalla aimed at providing genre specific music app while Impact Index aimed at computing a common scale to compare the performances of all the cricket players across the globe, bowlers & batsmen, domestic & international, giving weightage to every minute & important detail like the position at which they bat, the crucial time at which they gave an important knock, the critical moment in which a wicket was taken, the failure rate of the players (giving a whole new perspective apart from average), the big match performances, considering the competence of the opposition (whether the Aus/Ban) etc..And like every normal Indian, being a cricket buff, I was awestruck when he demonstrated the complete idea. And inevitably, his presentation ended with a thunderous applause.
  And after a couple of high-profile talks ended, while I was walking towards the parking lot, I couldn't help but to contemplate about the events of the day. I may have been amongst the youngest persons who have attended today, but I might have also been the most profitable person of the day, as the hundreds of other Entrepreneurs there would have known the most of it by heart. Potentially, I might have gotten insights over the Life's worth over the meager amount I paid for the ticket, but the immense knowledge over startup's I gained have truly enlightened me over the meaning of a spark! May be, hopefully, a spark rises in my life. And, with all due respect to my destiny, hopefully, I shall fly! :D

A lion roars!

A fictional post!
"Longing for a deep breath , he crouched on the grass and put his elbows on his knees. He looked at the scoreboard which was being changed from "0-2" to "0-3". Inhaling through his nose & mouth, he couldn't exactly point out when he had that huge sigh getting out of his body. As a result of his incessant running, he couldn't exactly bark at his teammates, making him very much unlike him. As a result of some egregious errors committed by his peers, his team has gone 3 goals down. Even at his equanimous best, he hadn't had the heart to imagine that his team was losing. Not atleast, when that third goalscorer, & also the opposition's captain, gave him a  look filled of disgust, indicating that his team was way out of competence to be playing in that match. The grand finale of a month long soccer tournament, comprising of colleges participating from all across the state.
  As the players were preparing for the game to be resumed, with a kick-off from the center line, he glanced towards the stand where his college mates were standing. Instead of the ever-cheering and festive moods, which was the characteristic of their journey through the quarters & semi-finals, all that loomed was despair. As he jogged his way, towards his midfield position, he couldn't think of a way out of this embarrassment. Even before he could let his thoughts to take a backseat & getting himself concentrated on the game, the referee blew halftime whistle.
  As the players accumulated at one of the corner flags, all they did, was to collapse on the grass & sip some energy drinks, while looking at him for a response towards their game, precisely their game-play. After all, he was their captain & their best player. And otherwise,  the loquacious friend, who had always had inspirational stories & game-changing strategies to tell during their practice sessions half time break.But no, not this time. This time, all they found in the group was, pin-drop silence and an intense stare from their captain. But they hardly knew the volcano breaking under his thick skin.
  His emotions on the game turned from despair to retrospection to a challenge. Drenched in an implacable mood, he was never ready to accept the result of failure. Trying to reflect & find out a way to make-up for their mistakes, he had recollected all the innumerable stories he has learned while growing up. Of all the people present there, he knew the most about the importance of showing raw courage in the face of adversity. And this particular situation was no exception. 
   He recollected a small quote, which he has overheard during a childhood training session, when two of his seniors were expressing their adulation towards their footballing idol - 
"Acha, toh game aise khelthe hain!" 
He remembered the awe in their faces, while watching the magical touches of their idol , while sheer brilliance was being displayed on the field.I have to be that, he muttered under his breath. The least I can do is to give my 100% & try to make this game not a disaster in the history of my college, he thought. But what he had in his mind was far greater than those words. And by his performance, he wanted to make a difference!
  As he lifted his head, he watched all his team mates staring at him. Perhaps for some message or change of tactics, his awareness has warned. He glanced through all his teammates' faces, looking deep into their watchful eyes. He exhaled a deep breath, picked himself up, dusted his back and stared at the pitch. Following, the rest rose. This was the usual moment, when he had his laconic senses at his best. Bursting out short words in quick succession & bringing up the morale of his friends. But no,not this time, he thought.
  Without any movement from his lips, he just ran to his starting position on the pitch, minutes before the kick-off, waiting for moment to arrive, stressing himself into the heights of seriousness, a layer much obscure to his pretense. And in that moment, without any word being uttered , let alone a team meeting, the players ran onto the pitch.
  As the second half commenced, the atmosphere in the air turned into life. With am extraordinary tackle, he collected the ball at the half line, dribbled past the offence and passed to his midfield counterpart. As he received the ball on the move, with a short look out of his searching eyes, he saw two defenders running to converge his path & obstruct
him. On some other day, he would have back-passed and re-builded the attack.But this day, he let the ball go through the defender's legs and jumped a feet higher, squeezed his upper body and brought his hands closer to his stomach and peirced through the small gap available between the opposition players bodies, leaving the spectators and his team mates in a awe-stuck state. At the final obstacle, he rounded the ball around the goal-keepers' legs and sprinted his way towards the goal line. Just before the ball found its inevitable way into the goal, he stopped it. He turned around and looked at the last defender, who was the opposition's captain, while returning his look of disgust. Giving a second, for everybody to realize what just happened, he tapped in the ball into the net. But, without any alacrity & without any celebration, he picked it up from the goal, held it between his elbow and abdomen, and started jogging towards the center line. With that kind of a performance, any player would have gone wild into the realms of euphoria.But no, this time he had a uphill task on his shoulders and by this goal, he meant business!
  But this time, even without a clap from his hands or a usual 'well-done' shout from his mouth, he had made his point. Giving away inspiring words wasn't his priority, but getting the intensity into his team-mates' heads was! And this time, he had succeeded. Well beyond his expectations!
  What followed after that was magical display from his team. And by giving the captain's display, he led his team from the front. Throwing his body at every sight of the tackle, picking out his team-mates with exotic passes, poaching in another goal from a thunderbolt strike, making goal line clearances, starting his team's counter-attacks...he was just the hot piece of steel, who was too big for the opposition to handle. And when he selflessly passed the ball for his team mate to strike the winning goal, he let out the first smile of the day. A symbol of reaching the boundaries of victory. A smile, which signified his pursuit of the day.
  And when the final whistle was blown, the wild ecstatic state of his friends standing on the edge of the seats on their stand, just put the final nail in the coffin of his half-time endeavor. He hugged all his team mates, shook hand with the runner ups & collected the trophy on behalf of the team. 
   Nothing pretty much was spoken about his heroics on the day in their post-match chill-out! It was a tacit truth. The unspoken feelings weren't really necessary. That day all they knew, was they saw a lion roaring! But what they didn't knew was that the opposition captain  said something to his team mates after the match - 'Acha, toh game aise khelthe hain!'  "

Hope You liked it. And yeah, your invaluable feedback on this one, just like in the case of "Au revoir?", will be of immense importance to me! :D

As far as it gets!

    There it ends!London Olympics.In a grand and glorious manner.Ending the journey of Record breaking performances,triumphs,tears,pride & joy of the 204 participated nations.And on the records front,well, the list goes on.Starting from the number of nations participated,the records just pile up.In fact,London 2012 Olympics is the most watched event in the U.S television history as per the reports at CNN Entertainment.And on the national front,India has bagged its highest ever medal count!
   If you are happy with that fact,well you may have the right to be,a little.But nothing more than that.Telling it as the highest ever medal count ,is a Mellifluous way of saying it.
   Leaving beside the history, the number of medals India has won in all the events put together is just equal to the number of Bronze medals won by Azerbaijan.Haven't you heard of the country named Azerbaijan,which is located at the border of Asia & Europe,placed a good 25 positions above India in the medal tally? Well,even I didn't! Never even read about it. Not until I came across it in the medal tally.And with a little insight from Wikipedia,my mind ends up thinking how does a country having 120 times more population than the other, end up on a less triumphant note in a competition which underlines the importance of its people as an asset .Well,isn't that the topic all the national dailies are taking their fodder from. A few articles on the main page about giving the medal-winners a hero's welcome at the Indira Gandhi International Airport and all the talking about hell breaking lose as the 'proud' citizens of the country breaking the police barricades just to put a garland around the athletes' neck.Turn the page; and you'll find all the so called intellectual people talking about the nation not putting forward enough and sensible expectations and the medal-winning athletes not being produced in proportion to the nation's mind boggling and ever-growing population.
    Well,what do I say.Monogamy is not only a traditionally preached practice in the nation, but even the citizens abide to it, while following a sport.With no disrespect to the Nehwal's, Chhetri's, Dhyan Chand's and Anand's,India is a one sport nation. Even a 9 year old in my country would happily watch Indian Cricket team play against Bangladesh at Dhaka, rather than giving a damn for Vishwanathan Anand's outstandingly brilliant game.Well, to paraphrase Agatha Christie, It's the grey cells that's of the utmost importance & it's the grey matter that demand's the opposition's respect.In reality,it's far from it!
   That's how the scenario has become.If you randomly listen in on a conversation between two people drinking tea at a road side stall in hyd,the probability of hearing "kya baat karte ustaad,aaj sachin jaroor century marega!" in a typical Hyderabadi slang is quite high!(Its quite funny to hear it though.Damn,I miss a friend who had that slang!) To point it,that's how deep, cricket has its roots in the hearts of the citizens.Let it be the amount of money being pumped in by Corporate giants just for a 2 minute commercial involving a cricketer (or) the amount of time alloted to cricket even in a 5 minute news reading,the huge volumes of cash being splashed over our new found interest in the form of a domestic league or the prospect of the amount of fame at stake even at the expense of luck (remember Joginder sharma?), what not,everything has contributed towards the deep-rooting of cricket in India,till the extent of giving it a religious status.In Harsha Bhogle's own words,as spoken at TED Talks,"Even in a small patch of land you might find more than a dozen matches taking place,letting the fielder to wonder,to which match he actually belongs!" In short,India speaks cricket,plays cricket and lives cricket.
   Then how can we expect athletes to just go & win us a bunch of medals,when no one even cares about them for the better part of the four year period between two Olympic games. Let alone providing them with world class training facilities , the bare minimum requirements of the athletes had to come under scrutiny. Achievements need to be appreciated,funds has to be allotted,importance has to be given,Corporate sector need to find new brand ambassadors amongst them.In short India has a long way to go,to win medals in proportion with our population;provided the entire nation gives them the respect they demand but not just during the heat of the moment!Right now,this is all the athletes can achieve.This is all, the nation can expect. This, is as far as it gets.Lets just hope,the good day is not far away.Right now,on the occasion of the 66th independence day of our country,lets just bask in the glory and pride of the fact that India has achieved its best ever medal count!

P.S-I am not saying that support is not being given to our athletes.Some of them even stress the point of the amount of support they received, from government and other charitable organisations.Its just that the reach of these things is supposed to be far more better into the remote areas for encouraging and developing budding talents.How else would a wide spread disease be cured without the right dosage of medicine?

A typical Indian Wedding!

   I rested the helmet on the rear view mirror of the bike, while smiling at the waving hand at a distant sight. Even the slightest rustle of my sleeve started to catch as much attention of my thoughts, as a heavy gush of cross breeze brushing against my face would do. After all,why not,I was in that mood.The one where even the minute changes in the surroundings were being observed and registered in my brain,the work usually pertaining to the subconscious part of the mind,but at that hour,being noted at the forefront of thoughts.

  After the exchange of pleasantries with my dad's closest friend,more out of affection, and a small conversation with their family,this time more out of formality,my eyes didn't have to search for long before catching the attention of the dazzling board displaying the names of the bride and groom(Groom being my dad's friend's nephew!). One look at the brightness of this function hall;and I was thinking about the recent national blackout where more than half of the country were deprived of electricity.Wow,I muttered.

  Placed in the middle of a pack of strangers and interacting with new people,I looked out for my uncle,may be because of feeling a tad uncomfortable with others but mostly because I hardly knew anyone else other than his immediate family. Infact,this was the only concern while I was weighing options whether to attend the marriage or not. But his earnest invitation was too hard to decline. Plus,I missed attending marriages!It has been more than a year,since I attended a family gathering.It was not like I had any active interactions with anyone else there,but I just liked hanging around and noticing the minute things.A father boasting about his son's results,all the uncles discussing about matters raging from politics to sports,remarks being made about the next-in-line bachelors, an elderly person talking about marriage function during the days of Joint families,bride's and groom side introducing all their relatives to each other,the jibber jabber of the cousins meeting after a long time,the mindless ranting of siblings, echoes of laughter over a humorous one liner of the 90's...in all,a perfect place for everyone to get away from their work induced state of mind and live life!All these things,were in fact the rudimentary sights possible at weddings.The real glitter about this one was, it was love marriage!In fact, an inter caste love marriage.The kind of which,we would happily watch in a movie,which usually ends with a happy ending before the rolling titles take over their mandatory stake;letting the audience leave with a 'happily everafter' feeling inscribed on their minds.But as uncle described it later,it was a huge pain for the couple to convince their respective families.Let alone the hope of a Brahmin(of Andhra origin) groom marrying a Devagouda(of Karnatak origin) bride,their conservative parents did not even allow the prospect of it in the first place.What it took to make that prospect into reality was an outstandingly firm stand on their decision and a long convincing process.But at the end,to put it poetically, what he did was to marry the love of his life! Well,that's what every LCD Television set placed at the function hall screamed across its width!
   What followed was a long chat with uncle,which mostly included of describing my day to day schedule at Bangalore and what all I have done in the past few weeks(being fully aware of the fact that he would detail all the note-worthy events to my dad!) and an extraordinary wedding meal.Bidding everyone goodbye,I started walking towards my bike.Left in solidarity,my thoughts started to race(Thoughts,proably beyond my age).Firstly, I sweared at myself for missing out on my cousin's marriage recently ,mostly as an after thought about the amount of fun I would have had...Well,then it was all about this wedding!A typical Indian wedding,which rarely takes place in our social circle. On contrary to concepts depicted in most of the movies, the reality is that its just not about a boy meeting a girl and a happily ever after.Its a wedding where two families are united with each other, underlying the importance of our tradition and our cultural values.Well,atleast I am appreciative of the fact that our rich heritage means something to me!

One crazy Roller Coaster!

     Barca's victory in the the Copa Del Rey Final not only marked a blissful ending to Pep Guardiola's reign but also the end of the football season, leaving the fans to turn their attention towards the Euro 2012!
   What an outstanding season it has been! Strategic, Tactical, Exciting, Fascinating, Interesting, Aggressive, Ugly, Shameful..on an whole, a punch packed season.All the shades of the beautiful game quite evident.But on the forefront, it would be remembered for the wonders, miracles, highlishts & headline making events.The miraculous recovery of Fabric Muamba from a cardiac arrest,the 8-2 thrashing Arsenal received from the defending champions, the rise of the noisy neighbours, Real Madrid's complete domination over La Liga, Suarez-Evra's Racism saga, Mario Balotelli's "Why always me?" T-shirt, Tottenham's commanding displays, Carlos Tevez's refusal to warm up at the Allianz Arena & its blown-out-of-proportion consequences, Inaugration of Sir Alex Ferguson stand, Andre Villa Boas' sideline reactions, Peter Crouch's magnificient goal with his back towards the goal, Roberto De Matteo's luck filled campaign, Joey Barton's foolish Idiosyncrasies, Robin Van Persie's scintillating form, Fernando Torres' 'troll' season, Suarez's wonder strike from half line, Newcastle United's surprise rise into the top quarter of the table, Paul Scholes' coming out of retirement, John Terry's stripping off from captaincy for the Three Lions & its consequence of making Roy Hodgson the England manager, Failure of the Spanish giants to make it into the champions league final, Falcao's heroics in the Europa League Final, and the biggest shock/miracle/news whatever you may call...Chelsea bagging its first Champions league, thanks to the significant & critical contribution of Didier Drogba.
    Keeping my personal feelings towards Liverpool FC aside, this has been the one of the most thrilling seasons in football history especially because of its last day drama. What an end it has been to this brilliant season. Roberto Mancini rightly summed it up by saying 'It was a crazy ending to a crazy season!' How much more crazier would it have been other than boiling down the 9 months of English Premier League to a fitting 150 seconds where the two strikers,Aguero & Dzeko, scored the winning goals during Injury time, ringing out the biggest shock I have ever seen on Sir Alex Ferguson's face, while the trophy was being carried towards the Etihad Stadium. It was a perfectly scripted ending for this amazing season, which was nothing short of a thrilling Roller Coaster ride for a true football fan!  

Premature Nostalgia!

     After two weeks of exhausting compree's (read final-exams) resulting in sleepless nights, here I sit at 2 in the night before my laptop, not with the despair of messing up two nor with the delight of cracking a few but with a set of feelings I am not accustomed to. Its not insomnia or gratification flowing in my mind, but rather it is nostalgia. This time it is not a typical last compree feel where I count the seconds to board the flight. This time it is bidding Good bye. Three years of my graduation is about to be completed. Three full years!They passed away so quickly, that I still remember wiping the tears rolling down my cheeks when my dad looked back & waved his hand while leaving Pilani on the first day of my campus life.It feels like yesterday. But a lot has changed over these years. Friends formed, hangouts increased, bondings developed, Individuality grew, personality developed and of course, knowledge & wisdom, the essence of my Journey to Pilani! Deep down, the DNA has evolved so much, that I feel like a different person now. This place has truely transformed me. And like all good things, this is approaching an end. A more appropriate phrase would be 'taking a break', as I would be back for my psenti sem(last semister) for one last time.
     Probably,we,Bitsians, might be the only breed who virtually complete their degree at the end of the third year. Even statistically,what else is left? One PS2(read internship) and a psenti sem with a couple of courses and loads of placement sessions to attend to. One way of looking at it would be to contemplate about the prospect of a 6 months internship in a new city and looking forward to life with bright hope. But sadly, the other one is to realize the fact of bidding good bye to half your friends & probably, the complete 'typical' Bitsian life. Both irreplaceable happenings especially when your dearest mates are leaving. I feel like approaching the end of a journey. I feel like I am gonna gravely miss my travel companions.Even before entering to the final year, I feel like experiencing a farewell. It is like Au Revoir? coming true. It is like premature nostalgia. An inevitable event, but reaching far before my expectation. With loads of mixed emotions & heart felt wishes, I am bidding farewell to many of my pals.
     If life was a fictitious novel, this would be the last page of a chapter. With only ifs & buts, this would be the point where the author reflects upon the past & makes way for the future. Cherishing all my happy memories, I wish this wasn't an epiphany striking me hard. I wish I had saw the nostalgia forthcoming, if not for the premature occurrence.        

The Grand Finale!

     Yesterday marked the end of the financial year for the corporate world;Today represents the birth of Lord Rama, the seventh incarnation of Vishnu where as tomorrow signifies the sweet little taste of victory.It has been a year since India has re-emerged as the world champions.Reemerged after a long wait.A wait of 28 years.A wait which could have ended under John Wright & Sourav Ganguly if not for the batting debacle at Johannesburg during the final match of the '03 world cup. A tournament in which India exhiibited commanding performances,only raising the hope.The hope which lasted During the semi finals against Kenya.The hope which raised when Sachin Tendulkar hit a mighty boundary against Glenn McGrath during the first over of the Indian Innings of that match while chasing an enormous target set by the Kangaroos.But sadly,the hope didn't last beyond that over.

     By 2011,things changed.Tremendously.India found an extraordinary 'Captain Cool' and a perfectly capable youthful team,heading towards the competition with the tag of 'favorites',asking for huge rise.And the big men,rose to the big occasion.Raina emerged as an outstanding finisher,Yuvraj solved the mystery of fifth bowler,Sachin & Gambhir led with consistent stroke plays & Zaheer Khan proved himself an Ace amongst the Indian Arsenal.And giving the billion people a reason to cheer & cherish about.Few damn good memories.

     I clearly remember the events of that day.The big day of Final.The first thing I looked forward to ,after waking up at noon, was to fresh up & settle down in the Auditorium.I would have never missed the chance to watch India win it when 2500 fellow students were cheering about it,in a place where accommodation lasted for only 1500 of them!Not atleast after seeing the match against Pakistan in the same place and enjoying the after effects of it.The match started with a fierce bowling spell form Zaheer & went on at a slow pace until the slog overs where a few bad overs resulted in setting up a modest target.And then came the Indian batting!The not-so-full Audi then became overcrowded in anticipation of an extraordinary climax.People started cheering every single run scored.Applause erupted for every boundary.Boos for every moment of brilliance shown inside the thirty yard circle.
Loud laughs for every misfield.Then came the shock when the opening batsmen departed.It was huge moment of silence when Sachin started walking towards the pavilion.That moment of realizationthat defeat is as far away as victory!It was followed by a dry patch of overs making boundaries hard to come by.The crowd fell into retrospection for a fraction of period,until Gambhir & Kohli started building a steady partnership which couldn't last long.When Kohli departed & the cameras turned towards the pavilion,there was sense of astonishment in the audi.As a matter of fact,in the nation.It was Dhoni,who was walking in, instead of the in-form Yuvraj.It was a bold move.A move which might not have been worth the risk & gamble, if not for his terrific & electrifying captain's performance.They played a patient & tactical game,Gambhir & Dhoni,slotting the ball into vacant areas, utilizing their strengths against spin bowling,converting singles into twos & twos into threes,looking for that occasional boundary to keep up against pressure & on a whole looking for that upper hand over the game leading towards the end.As the match approached the slog overs,it was not the same Dhoni, who has shown erroneous performance through out the tournament,it was a vintage & flamboyant Dhoni who has worked his way into the India team through hard hitting.It was boundaries raining all over the pitch inspiring the crowd to cheerful ways.With just inches away from victory,all the students went crazy.Standing on the chairs, screaming through joy,beaming with smiles;it was a paradise for cricket lovers.And when Dhoni finished off the game in style,atmosphere went crazy.People were hugging,laughing,screaming,celebrating & doing what-not.It was chaos all around.Chaos resulting from extreme happiness.The one moment where the entire diversified nation of India,felt very proud of!On television,I could see the team celebrating & waving hands at the crowd, while moving along the perimeter of the Wankhede Stadium.When Sachin walked out smiling like a school boy,I could sense the feeling of achievement & satisfaction in his eyes.Drops of tears rolled through my eyes.

    Turn in to the present scenario & you will sense a turmoil of form.The last few series depicts the contrasting results.A ruthless performance at home followed by a dismal away display,seldom performing like the world champions,the title to which they are entitled till the next world cup.But still,memories float afresh recollecting the beautiful memories of that day.The day of the Grand Finale.Memories,which may last still the very last moments of the lives of all the Bitsians!

Au Revoir?

Back on the blogging ways!With a short fictional article.                        

          "It was a quarter past noon, when the last & final announcement was made for Mr. Singh, for the departing flight of Indigo Airlines. I was sitting on the corner chair of the group of connected plastic chairs, placed right before the plasma television of the domestic terminal of Indira Gandhi International Airport. Considering the increase in the usage of the aerial route by the standard Indian middle class, the dense population of passengers struck me by no surprise. Albeit in this noisy place, sitting beside my best friend, my mental presence did not corroborate with the physical counter-part. It was lost in thoughts, or rather, in memories. It has been seven years since I first met him in high school. It has been a joy ride with him through the junior college & the four years of Engineering.  It has been too long a journey with him to just end it with a goodbye right then. What else could have been done, I was flying to my home town where as he was going to Mumbai to catch a connecting flight to the United States, where his family relocated to recently. I haven’t exactly thought of that moment before, not while filling the placement form, not while choosing the career path and not even during our last discussion about our life ten years from then. For once, I wasn’t my usual sense of pre-determined thoughts. For once, Ignorance wasn’t bliss.

We weren’t talking to each other, but instead, my soul was taking a nostalgic walk down my memory lane. It was a slide show of happy moments going across my brain. The crazy celebration of a cent percent score in high school maths, the thrilling experience of double rafting through the biting cold water of Rishikesh, the foolish prank we played on a guy who was trying to bully us, the ecstatic occasion when we were awake well past midnight to watch our beloved football clubs take on each other in a cup final, the eureka moment when we figured out what went wrong in a project execution, the countless beaming smiles as a result of instances when we completed each other’s sentences , the summer trip spent on the sidelines of the west coast, the cheerful & elated celebration after a well-fought win in a volleyball match, the strange yet hilarious dance performance he put up on the fresher’s day. It was like smiles all along the journey, the kind of which was then present on my face as a result of this contemplation. This was when I realised, that he too was smiling. The same smile to which he has held on to throughout his life. The same one which demonstrates his ease in reading my mind. The same one which re-ensures my memories.   

This bitter farewell has hardly kick started with a conversation when the boarding call for his flight was made. May be words weren’t meant for those moments.

Unlike the previous times, without any alacrity, I reluctantly rose, enacting him. With a low-toned goodbye and a small hug, he just smiled and turned away. He picked up his cabin bag and started making his move. When his stride-less walk was trying to gather some pace, a solitary me was answering the self. If it was any other situation, I would have gladly recollected the famous quote of Paulo Coelho, when someone leaves, it's because someone else is about to arrive. But it wasn’t ordinary. It was one of those moments which made me remember that growing up is all about facing the inevitable with a heavy heart. After all, it was meant to happen. Amidst this dense contemplation, I could figure his hand waiving at a distance. I couldn’t help but think, was it a happy ending? This tech-savvy era wouldn't even consider it an ending. But this rational explanation couldn’t reach the heart. At the end, it was birds of a nest flowing in two opposite directions, letting the destiny decide about the future."