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!