God acts Human- bids adieu to One Day Cricket!

There are 2 kinds of batsmen in the world. One- Sachin Tendulkar. Two-All the others.

His critics would be partying hard tonight. They have got the best surprise Christmas gift they would have ever thought of; for Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar announces retirement from the One Day Internationals. And if I be very honest, from the core of my heart, this has come as a surprise and a shock. I knew it was inevitable and would happen some day but today was not the day anyone would have thought of! I was out the whole day and was unaware of the news and got to know from FB and then googled it for authenticity. The news as a matter of fact is true. And thus 23rd of December becomes a sad day for many cricket fans like me. I still cannot believe that I would not be able to see him in that Blue “10” number jersey which was synonymous with his name “Ten”dulkar. The gentlemen’s game would not see this great gentlemen playing in colors anymore.

He should have retired. As his fan, I was dejected by seeing him struggle and wretched. Or rather I must say he was made to struggle by none other than us; we-the people. I am sad but he has done the right thing. People were not allowing him to breathe. He was being targeted so that he breaks down. Form is temporary, class is permanent; this is one of the toughest thing to explain to people. He was trapped in the glory of his own self trying to find himself. That needed time. I am sure he would have bounced back rising like phoenix. He has done in the past. But were we allowing him to compose, recollect and reorganize himself? National debates, Newspaper reports, Articles by so called Cricket Experts eta al; what not we have done on his poor form? I can imagine the plight of the man. Yes I am saying man because even God feel pain when they take manly form. Not long back, we were talking about his 100th international hundred. And in that discussion we never ever mentioned that he has got 99 glorious hundreds to his kitty and it’s a matter of time when he get the 100th one.

I agree to the fact, form is dripping; runs are drying up, reflexes showing the age as he is getting bowled too frequently. Everything said agreed upon to. Sometimes harder you try, more you fail. But did we give a kind consideration to his Self Belief, to the fact that we are talking about the man who gave everything for this game; for this country? If he is saying there is still Cricket left in him, wasn’t it our obligation to believe him and have patience? We are talking about the man whose commitment can just be measured with the fact that he joined back with his team just after doing final rites of his father. Those who are saying that he wants to play on for personal records or numbers are forgetting that the man has made a lot of compromises and put his body in the line of fire every time he has gone to bat for India.

How many of us are capable of holding the hopes of a billion Indians in and around the world for 23 longs years? Yes! 23 years. When he made his debut in 1989, Lionel Messi was still in his nappies. We are burdened even by small hopes or expectations of our parents, peers, friends for a short span of time so imagine how that man carried it without an iota of complaint for so long? We never acknowledge that.

The irony is that the man despite giving everything for the game in the last 23 years had to face, bear and hear so many things. The blame for an Indian loss is still associated to him. Anything going wrong, the fingers are pointed at him. Come on people, what the hell other 10 were doing? It’s a team game! He was given the weakest of teams as a Captain, and was labeled as failure. The man, great as he is, never retaliated. Even likes of Saba Karim or Atul Wasan who do not know ABC of Cricket gives him advice on how to bat or use footwork! No offences intended but when Mr. Kohli hits a century he jumps as if there is no tomorrow. This man has 100 100s. Have you ever seen him once doing like that? He visits to Siddhivinayak Temple in the wee hours so that general public is not disturbed. He never endorsed an Alcohol ad despite being offered crores of rupees. It gives an insight that how humble he is.

People of my generation became adolescent watching him play, devastating some of the finest bowlers in the world cricket. Somewhere in our tiny little eyes we dreamt of becoming like him, play like him. Many would have chosen Cricket over other games just because of him. Can we forget his signature straight drives? Can we forget that epic Sixer off Shoaib Akhtar in the 2003 World Cup game against Pakistan? Can we forget him making mince meat of Shane Warne and the Aussies in 1998?

May be I am not his craziest or the most famous fan, but I am a fan. And yes, I would be a fan till eternity. I was a mad fan in my childhood. God did not bestowed me the curly noodle hairs, yet I always wanted to be like him, play like him whatever form of cricket I played; in-gully cricket, school cricket, college cricket etc. I would hold bat like him, would try to stand like him; aping every possible thing I can do. And that made me happy. Whenever there was an India match, I would be glued to TV forgetting the world. If he gets out early, I would cry.

I distinctly remember I used to have a diary where in I used to write the details of every match that Sachin was a part of. How he played, what shot he hit and on what ball, everything. I never intended to be a Cricket Statistician yet used to do that activity religiously. I had another notebook where in I cut and pasted each and every photo of him that used to appear in the newspapers. I insisted my parents on purchasing Boost because he endorsed it. I took Pepsi over Coke because he endorsed it. Yes I was mad! And may be I am not in to those childhood activities, yet I am mad about his game, his personality and his attitude of being so down to earth despite sitting at the pinnacle.

For some he may be a God, for some a mere ordinary man who played more for himself than team, for some he may be Hero, for some a Zero. But for me he will always be a God who became man to make Cricket worth playing and worth watching.

Good bye Sachin. I shall always love you, no matter what anyone says. You have given us a story to tell to our kids.

We would not be seeing you on fields for ODIs but we are definitely going to enjoy your game live. I am starting with the 2003 world cup Pakistan match!

Cheers!

God Bless!

Adi

PS: For those who think he played for records or himself, keep in mind he retired when he had 49 ODI hundreds.

Long time No See!

Yet again… !

It’s been ages since I posted my last post! It indeed is. However, this time I would not blame it on procrastination. Well all this time, I indulged myself into reading. And when I read, probably I do not find time for anything else. The day has only 24hours per se. And I like to keep reading and writing separate. Perhaps because of my habit of doing one thing at a time!

Over the last couple of months I pored over the following books-

1. The Last Don by Mario Puzo
2. Black Friday-The true story of Bombay Bomb Blasts by S. Hussain Zaidi

Both the books are awesome and have proved themselves to be good investments. Books anyway without a doubt are a good investment.

I have become a big fan of Mario Puzo ever since I have read The Godfather. The way he writes, builds the plot and describes the climax is simply fantastic.

Black Friday is also a very nice book describing the deadly blasts that happened in 1993. A movie called Black Friday has been made on the book and I saw that before reading the book. I can now say that it’s really a commendable work by Anurag Basu in turning that book in to a motion picture.

Let’s see if I take a break from reading and devote time to writing or continue my trysts with books.

God Bless!
Cheers!
Adi

The century completed!

I just saw that my blog has completed 100 posts. Boy! A century is completed. I can’t believe myself. Though I understand I took a visibly long time to complete these 100 posts, but am happy with the fact that I kept the momentum on.

Hopefully I remain motivated to keep my blog going ;)

God Bless!
Cheers!
Adi

Tell-a-Tale

I have been out of blogging for quite few days now. And as it happens with me, I tend to loose the enthusiasm of updating my blog as time passes. I make promises to myself and happily break them! But Hang on… it is not the case this time. This time the updating of the blog has taken a back seat because of a noble reason. And the noble reason is that I am focusing a bit of time and energy in writing short stories. I always had an interest in writing and weaving my imagination in words but have not been able to let my thoughts flourish. And this time I am making a serious attempt for that.

I am crossing my fingers to see how it goes. I hope that I am successful in my endeavor. After all, Life is also a story written by the creator!

Wish me luck! :-)

God Bless!
Cheers!
Adi

Being Busy

To be very honest, I hate the word called “busy”.

For the last few years, one of the common sentences that I frequently heard is “I am busy” and its other forms like “I was busy”, “I am going to be busy”. The other synonym of busy that is being used is “occupied”.

More often than not, I have started to get a feeling that people become busy when they want to avoid something and business has become the lamest excuse to be given!

What do you think? Am I right or wrong?

I have always believed that there is only ONE way of doing the thing and many ways to avoid the thing. And being busy is one of them.

God Bless!
Cheers!
Adi

The First Showers

Pune witnessed the first showers of the monsoon yesterday. It felt heavenly. The aroma generated when the drops hit the parched earth is simply majestic and can’t be described in words. I simply love the monsoon season. And this love is not of yesterday or today, rather it dates back to the time when I was a small kid. Probably playing football in mud or cycling in showers was the motivation behind the love.

Monsoon brings a welcome change with it. It brings a great relief from the heat of the summers. Everything seems to be coming alive with the rains.

To enjoy the first showers, I simply took out my bike and roamed around the streets of Pune, getting myself drenched completely. Wetting myself in the rains gives me another reason to relish ginger tea and pakodas :)

Rain Rain Come again!

God Bless!
Cheers!
Adi

Straight Questions, Twisted Answers

For the past couple of days, I am observing that for every straight question asked, we tend to give twisted answers instead of straight ones. I am not generalizing this but have heard from many people. Perhaps I also become the part of the same league sometimes.

Just for example I am jotting down few instances of this experience in the last couple of days-

1. Railway Station, at a coffee shop-

I took a coffee for 11/- I gave the vendor a ten rupee note and was pulling out a 1 Re coin from my back pocket. Whilst taking out the coin, I simply asked the vendor whether he has the change for 100/-? What answer would you expect for this question? I presume either yes or no. Here's what I got-

Sir, how can I give you change for 100/- for a 1/-? He thought I am not having 1/- and hence asking him for a change by giving 100/- note for an 11/- coffee. Boy! Did I tell him that I am not having 1/-? NO.

2. At my office Canteen-

My simple question- Do you have Apple Milkshake?

Instead of yes or no here’s what I got-

Sir, Apples are very costly these days, so we are not keeping them. Instead try our Mango or Chikoo milk shake.

3. At a Grocery store-

I purchased curd and it was 4 days old. I simply asked- Do you have a fresh one?

Again instead of yes or no, here’s what I got-

Sir the curd lasts for 15 days. It will expire after 11 days. So don’t worry!!!

As they say, every tale has a twist ;)

God Bless!

Cheers!

Adi

True Management

Watch through the video in the link below. This is an exemplary show of professionalism, integrity and management-

God Bless!

Cheers!

Adi

Dreams-Lost and Found

A million dreams in my eyes,

Some small, some big,

Some fulfilled, some yet to be,

But I am happy for what I have achieved,

Because it was also a part of a dream some day,

Some dreams nurture, some dreams die

But I do not stop dreaming,

For dreams come true only for those, who dream …

And Believe in their Dreams…

Dreams Nurture, Dreams Die-But that does not stop me from dreaming!

I was pondering over a great quote from the TV series, The Wonder years-

When you're a little kid, you're a little bit of everything: Artist, Scientist, Athlete, Scholar. Sometimes it seems like growing up is a process of giving those things up, one by one. I guess we all have one thing we regret giving up; one thing we really miss - that we gave up because we were too lazy, or because we couldn't stick it out, or because we were afraid.

This is the quote that probably translates to real life for most of the individuals. How many times have you felt that you are not the one or doing what you actually wanted to do in your childhood? It happens and life is like that only. We try to reach out for your dreams but then when we not able to reach them, we settle for Plan B or in simple terms “Compromise”.

Having said that, I believe, that dreams are not permanent and you have the flexibility to keep them changing. The bottom line is that you should not stop dreaming and keep working on them, for dreams get realized for those who dream!

God Bless!

Cheers!

Adi

The Biggest Blessing

I always try to count my blessings rather than my shortcomings. I believe God has really been kind with me. And when I look the people around me with bigger problems, this belief gets even stronger.

If someone asks me, ‘What do you think is your biggest blessing?’

My answer is usually simple, ‘Apart from my parents and my sister, the fact that I am breathing is my biggest blessing. Period.’

God Bless!
Cheers!
Adi

Quest for Knowledge!

Friday is here, yet again-Yippee! I always love Friday, for it marks the end of working week and reminds that weekend is just about to arrive. However, I am not going to write about Friday for because everyone, at least people from my field know how the spirits and smiles increase on a Friday!

I am just tapping on the keys of my laptop, giving them a big pain on Friday, just to share my thoughts on the wonderful 2 days training on Leadership that I attended in my organization. My organization believes that I am a potential leader. Boy! Whether I am or am I not, at least someone believes it. So as a result of that, I was asked to enroll in a 2 day leadership training program that gives an insight as to what is expected out of a leader.

And the answer to the question that what is importance of a leadership could be found in the following old saying-

‘An army of sheep led by a lion is stronger than an army of lions led by a sheep’.

Most of us as per our perception, know very well that what is expected out of a leader. And that perception, more often than not, is the list of qualities that we like or get pleased from. And what we all tend to forget is that a leader has to deal with many complexities before arriving at a decision and have his own set of problems, which people really do not bother before vouching their opinions or criticizing. However one fact remains the same that it’s the leader who drives the success and is the one who manages failures. Mostly people are good at former and the real test comes in the latter.

In my opinion, every individual has the qualities of a leader in one way or the other and it’s just how he or she grooms his or her qualities to rise and grow. 

The class I would say was just simply superb and trainer had lots of enthusiasm and energy and he shared an insight on everything related with leadership in 2 days and what are the situations or challenges that we would face as we grow and march ahead. We also had a lot of group activities which made learning all the more fun-experiential learning I would say. There were many aspects of leadership that were discussed by playing those games.

In between the breaks that we had, the trainer told us that what all he is doing within the organization and outside it. He showed us his online repository of e-books, materials to read etc. He himself writes few blogs. I was amazed by the person’s quest for knowledge. He emphasized that he reads and reads and that does not make him tired. His simple mantra was to acquire as much as he can in this short span of life time.

There are people who impress you at the first go. I was impressed by this guy the very first time I introduced myself in the class. And after knowing about him so much, I took an inspiration that I should also grow my quest for knowledge.

I truly appreciate the person I am and I really believe that I have many good qualities to take my knowledge to a new level but somehow I tend to postpone the things. And what I sometimes fail to realize is that there is no “tomorrow”. Life is really very short and time is moving at a breath taking pace. So if you have killed time today, you have wasted precious moments that could have added value to your life. I learnt a very good lesson in my class-“If you want to concentrate, disconnect the internet.” And that probably is a fact. When I do not have internet, I would not even open my laptop. And when I have it, I would do everything to kill time.

Another good thing that inspired me out of my trainer was that “You are the in charge of your dreams and your career.” It is your responsibility and will that will decide how will grow in your career and how will you be able to achieve your dreams. Nobody else in the world will bother about it. And this is also a fact. It’s us who decide what direction we would take. He inspired us to do whatever it takes to make our life better for ourselves and makes us feel good.

To be honest, I really feel charged up after the 2 day class. And I really hope that the quest for knowledge grows within me. All the best Aditya!

God Bless!

Cheers!

Adi

Satyameva Jayate!

 Sharing a post that I wrote few days back but could not post-

Yesterday Bollywood actor Aamir Khan made his debut on the small screen with his new show called as Satyameva Jayate. There has been great publicity for the serial and the content was also kept under wraps. And as always with Aamir Khan, you can always expect something good in store. And it has proved again with this serial. 

The topic of the first episode that aired yesterday was female foeticide. It was shown how the sex determination during pregnancy is still prominent in India and how the girls who have not yet taken their first breath are brutally aborted. The male to female ratio is progressively declining. The facts revealed a really shocking and sad state of affairs. I was shocked for a moment! Even more shocking was the fact that even educated and well to do with so called rational thinking people are doing that! 

The serial also interviewed few brave ladies who battled against all odds to give birth to their girl child. I salute them. 

In my opinion, the serial is a great initiative and a social responsibility with a message that if everyone join hands to bring change, the change is inevitable. Another commendable thing about the show is when he asked for sms for people’s opinion he clearly mentioned that it would only cost Re 1/- and whatever the amount collected would go to an NGO that works for welfare of women called Snehalaya. Hats off to Aamir Khan for yet another brilliant piece of work. 

Truth alone triumphs-Satyameva Jayate! 

God Bless! 

Cheers! 

Adi

Friday Hangout with Team

This Friday we had a team outing at Barbeque Nation. It was after a long time we were hanging out as a team. The occasion was to celebrate birthdays of three team members and a farewell of another one who shall be leaving us for better career options next week. And to add icing to cake it was a hangout with families, so the one who had spouses came with their better halves. 

BBQ Nation is a place that I have always liked for its fantastic ambiance, sumptuous food and great service. It’s a wonderful experience altogether. I last time visited there when I gave my farewell party at Bangalore some 1.5 years back. So when it was decided that we would go to BBQ nation, I was more than happy. 

The hangouts like these are a great way of gelling, socializing and knowing each other better. When you are in office, more often that not, you are formal. So in these hang outs you can simply be yourself, provided the condition, your boss is not around :) 

I hope we have lot more hangouts like these ;) 

God Bless! 
Cheers! 
Aditya

Happy Birthday Sach!

24th April is the birthday of Sachin Tendulkar, one of my favorite hero. Happy Birthday Sachin! You are the man who made me and million others follow cricket! 

Keep Going! Keep Rocking… 

God Bless! 
Cheers! 
Adi

Connecting the dots, connecting with People

This weekend (Friday and Saturday) I was at Kareli, a small town or rather village in the Narsinghpur district of M.P. The purpose was to attend a family wedding. My mother has her roots in Kareli (her mother’s family belongs there). I was not very keen to go but she insisted me to go to wedding anyhow. After coming back I realized that I spent a great couple of days and it was really good that I went there despite my reluctance. 

Functions like these are the best way to meet your relatives and friends at a single place with whom you have not met for long or haven’t met at all. It is another way of socializing or rather connecting with people. And to be honest, villages are the best place to witness the so called “social network”, albeit it’s in a real world and not in the virtual! For me it was a great experience because I met so many new people who knew me by name but were meeting me for the very first time. In fact I never knew I had so many cousins! Also, I had a glimpse of the village life, which in a way is very serene and simple.

When you get so much of respect and love at a go, you are bound to get overwhelmed. And similar was my story. You can feel the happiness in the other person’s heart, there is nothing to fake. Everything is genuine and pure; feelings, smile, words and actions. In cities, where people hardly have time for others and meet with fake smiles, these things are not to be found. 

The big thing I observed was that people are simple and helpful. Simple. Period. They wear simple clothes, eat simple and live simple. There is nothing complex in their lives. When you first see them, you might tend to think and talk about their dressing sense. But then they don’t care what you think or say. When you meet them, you will know that dressing etc. are fake things and not to worry upon. One must have a clean heart. They would be ready to help you in every possible way. 

 I then thought about the life we are living in cities. We don’t have time to meet people. In fact we hardly greet people. I don’t remember the last time, I said “Hello” to a stranger. The housing society where I live, I have not seen anybody talking to each other, except for occasional hi, hellos. The irony is that, in the last 1 ½ years, I myself haven’t talked to my neighbors. 

I must say, I would not forget Life’s biggest lessons I have learnt in 2 days. Simplicity is indeed a great virtue. Your home could be small, but your heart should be BIG. Life is too short to keep Egos and Grudges. 

Connect the dots, Connect with people. 

God Bless! 
Cheers! Adi

Sunday Luncheon @ Arpil’s

Arpil, one of my friends, got married in February and ever since he came down to Pune, we could not meet because of one reason or the other. I wanted to attend his wedding function and had got my tickets booked as well but had to cancel it at the last moment because of office chores.

This Sunday Arpil invited me for a Luncheon at his home. And it was his birthday as well that day, so it became lunch-cum-birthday treat. It was for the first time I met Richa, his better half. I had an awesome lunch and enjoyed the perfect hospitality. Sunday was made!

This post however is not about lunch. It’s about the gesture that Arpil showed. I am a fan of Arpil’s nature ever since the day I first met him at Bombay sometime in 2006. He is polite, down to earth and a person with clean heart who probably cannot hurt anybody.

Many of friends got married between last year and this year. Some weddings I could attend and some I could not. But till date nobody has taken pains to meet me post marriage as a couple, let alone inviting over a cup of tea! Life changes post marriage, agreed. And might be in this fast moving world, who takes the pain of inviting somebody to home? Gone are those days, though not totally. People like Arpil are still there!

Thank You Arpil and Richa for that wonderful lunch. And I hope to get such lovely parties more often ;)

God Bless!
Cheers!
Adi

Sandwiches, Pizzas and more…

For me visiting Mumbai is synonymous with giving a tingle to my taste buds. If you are a foodie, the city has lot of offer in its platter; from mouth watering street delicacies to relishing savories in the plush restaurants-the city has got choices of every kind. For me the recent visit to the city was great in terms of enjoying the food in every possible way I could. Though I was there for barely 24 hours, I made sure I tasted everything I liked-

Friday Snacks-Friday is the best day of the week after Sunday. I tasted the trademark Sandwich of Mumbai. The taste that could be found in Mumbai itself and not anywhere in the world. And this Sandwich taste best when you have it from a road side stall. Forget hygiene and all; just relish the taste! Next on the menu was Vada Paav. These days I avoid having Vada Paav, but how I can I miss that when I am in Bombay? Forget health; enjoy the aroma. Life is too short to worry about health hazard a single Vada Paav can cause. A cutting tea post that made it- the whole some snack. A walk around the streets of Vashi and an excursion to the Inorbit mall made my tummy ready for another round of snack. This time it was a plate of Paani Puri and a Barf Gola after that. Wow! I was having a Barf gola after ages.

Friday Dinner- A walk around the streets of Vashi made my tummy yelling for more. We had decided to have late dinner, when all our friends joined us. In dinner it was Tandoori Platter in the starters and Dal Makhani and Roti in the main course. Nice meal. I was just wondering how much I am eating?

Friday finally ended with a sweet Paan!

Saturday Breakfast-If you love South Indian dishes, Mumbai is the place to have it after the South Indian states. And if you want it cheap, try the Idlis and Wadas of the guys who sell it over bicycle. I had Idlis to fill my stomach and boy I had 5 ldlis for 10/-

Saturday Lunch- I had my lunch at INDIGO Deli-a very plush restaurant in the High Street Phoenix Mall, Lower Parel. It was bit expensive and had a little to choose from the Continental Cuisine menu for a veggie like me. We took assistance from the waiter who helped us in making choices. We had a Thin Crust Pizza and a wonderful dessert. The dessert was simply majestic. One of the best I had till date. One should visit occasionally these places to have a great fine dine experience; the ambience and the crowd just fantastic!

Post lunch, it was time for me say Good bye to Mumbai only to say Hi sometime again!

It was really a gourmet trip for me, I guess ;)

God Bless!
Cheers!
Adi

My Friend Ganesha

I have a strong relationship with the Ganesha of Siddhivinayak. He is my best friend. I always feel a sense of calm when I meet him. And if I am in Mumbai, there is not an iota of doubt that I would not go and meet him. It is an irony that I first went to Siddhivinayak temple when I had already passed a year living in Mumbai. Facts are sometimes more surprising than fiction. I distinctly remember that it was the year of 2007 when I first visited the temple. And the feelings are beyond the cocoon that words can give. It was a sort of attraction, a friendship that clicked instantaneously!

It was the day then. From that day onwards, I visited to meet my friend every Saturday. When I was leaving Mumbai, I was leaving not only the city I loved, but my best friend also, though he is in my heart, with me always. My occasional visits to Mumbai were never completed without meeting him.

I was in Mumbai last Saturday and as usual went to meet him. It was an experience in itself. The mind becomes so calm, so tranquil when I go there. I feel there is some magic at that place that attracts me.

Thank you my friend for being there with me, for me, always!

God Bless!
Cheers!
Adi

A walk down the memory lane

This weekend, from Friday evening to Saturday evening, for about 24 hours I was in Mumbai. Mumbai, the city I love beyond imagination. No matter where I am, the love for Mumbai remains the same as it was when I was there for the first time in 2006. Though Mumbai is hardly 100 odd kms from Pune, I hardly go there now days. Perhaps it’s my laziness that is reason behind this!

The reason for visit was to see off my friend Avinash, who was going to Dubai for his new job and had a scheduled flight on Saturday. I do not know when I would get to meet him next, so just decided to pack my bags and reach there. He had already flown in from Bangalore to Mumbai.

A visit to Mumbai always refreshes the memories of my 3 years when I was a resident there. And those memories are simply wonderful. The charm of Mumbai can be felt in its air itself, which probably is missing in any other city I have been to. The other good part of this visit was that I get to meet my old friends and my ex-Hexaware mates, Tushar, Amreesh, Denzil and Sunil after a long time. We had a party on Friday, and relived our old days, talks of here and there; this and that till late in the night. This gives another best part of Mumbai, no matter what the time of night is, the city never sleeps. No matter how much late in the night it is, just pick a rickshaw or Taxi and back home without any worries.

In this short span of time, I also visited my old and best friend Ganesha at the Siddhivinayak Temple. It would rarely happen that if I am in Mumbai, I do not visit to Siddhivinayak. Apart from this, had a great time in relishing road side delicacies also. I ate Idli, Wada Paav, Sandwiches, Barf Gola, Paani Puri and what not. I was behaving as if I have only few hours left to live.

But despite all this fun, there was a question spinning in my mind- Would I be prefer to come to Mumbai again? The answer instantly did not come YES and perhaps it was a NO! Surprising; but true. Considering the serene life style I am leading, I would not prefer to go back to the daily hustle bustle of Mumbai. You have to be on your toes, running always, faster than the time. Plus the climate which is humid makes it all the way not preferable to go back again. And yeah, I always have the choice to go for a couple of days and rock there.

But No matter what, Mumbai Rocks, as always!

God Bless!
Cheers!
Adi

The voice within!

Its 12am, the threshold between Saturday night and Sunday Morning! I am just about to doze off but not before jotting down a thought that just came to my mind. What is prompting me to jot down thoughts just now and not tomorrow? I guess it’s my promise to myself that I made few days back. Ever since, I made a renewed promise to myself, I daily open my blog and think on the ways I can make it better. When I say better, I do not refer to changing its looks but the content that I can share.

In short if I say, I feel more connected now and more inspired to keep it updated. Probably this is the thing that was within me when I started but gradually it started to dwindle. And what is this? What is this thing that is inspiring me? I would say that this is the voice within! A voice that supports you and inspires you to keep alive your passion. I know I do not write great, but then who says you have to be great to follow what you like?

God Bless!
Cheers!
Adi

Wednesday Hangouts!

Wednesday has become a hangout day for me. I along with my flat mate, Sanjeet, go and taste the food at different restaurants. Sometimes we are accompanied by other friends. For the past few weeks, we have tried all the restaurants in the vicinity of our locality. This gives me a break from my daily dose of cooking dinner for myself. I feel though, I get satisfaction from eating at home and not at a restaurant, but yes, the break is welcome.

Today we went to a Restaurant called as “Flavours” which is near to our house only. The food was in the category of “okay” and service was in the category of “slow”. The ambiance however was quite nice. Being a roof top restaurant, nice breeze was blowing, making it perfect. The slow service irritates you but sometimes proves to be a blessing in disguise. It gives you time to have a great conversation on any topic. And in this fast moving virtual world, that is really a big thing-Sitting together and having a conversation!

Had my meal to full and had a walk as well to digest it! Looking forward to a new destination next Wednesday :)

God Bless!
Cheers!
Adi

I believe

I believe in many things but the biggest of them is that I believe in God. And I am proud to say that I am on the side of the theists. If I take a wild guess, at any given geographic location or time, the theists would always outnumber the atheists. And it’s a fact not an opinion. My belief has only grown stronger and my relationship with God has only deepened over the period of time.

The belief, I would say started at very young age itself when my parents imbibed it in me. But it was not like that I believe only because they told me to do so. I believe because each moment I feel there is somebody who is taking care of me. There are events in my life that have proved that he is there, with me always, just like air.

Today is no special day. Today he saved me from a fatal road accident. Had I not applied brakes in a fraction of second, I would have crushed between two vehicles. It was probably the hardest brakes that I applied in about 1.5 years of time since I have been in Pune. And if it was not enough, I was lucky that I did not skid, else it would have been a disaster in such traffic. These are such moments when you have a tête-à-tête with death and then you realize that why people fear it so much even though they know that they have to have a rendezvous with it one day.

For a moment, I was shaking in every literal sense of word. I stopped my bike for moment, took a deep breath and then moved on. I hardly get shaky and unconfident when I am on road, but because of that close shave, I was just unable to drive the way I use to. Somehow, drove slowly and came back. And when I was back, I went to the temple inside my society premises, bowed my head and just said-Thank You, yet again!

It’s a matter of belief, either you do or you don’t. I opine, being on the do side makes life simpler and easier.

God Bless!
Cheers!
Adi

Weekend at Indore

This weekend I was at Indore. It always feels good to be at home, no matter how small the duration is. And when you live away, you truly realize the importance of your near and dear ones. Indore is hot these days. You can feel the sun rays penetrating your skin deep down and the hot winds just blowing out fire. I really had a tough time dealing with that. Sometimes I feel it’s the change in lifestyle that has made me like that. When I was a kid, I used to play cricket in scorching sun in summers and never used to get tired. The big thing is I never complained that it’s too hot. And here I am, I had to go a couple of kilometers on my vehicle and I felt hot! Probably it’s the AC culture that is taking the toll on my bearing capacity. I have been working 6 years for now and 5 days I spend in my Air conditioned cubicle in the office. Anyway, for the time being I can’t help with that as to earn my daily bread I have to work ;)

Weekend was good as I was with my family. Ate to my heart’s content, slept well. What else one need for a weekend?

God Bless!
Cheers!
Adi

Who’s God?

Another funny incident related with Hanuman Jayanti. I went to city for some work and saw that that some political party was carrying out procession in the honor of the God. And in doing this they had created a huge trouble for the commuters that caused a traffic jam. I some how maneuvered my two wheeler only to find that about half a km ahead there was a procession by another political party. Not again! I said to myself.

I just thought that they have not spared God also. And now he must be wondering whom to vote for ;)

God Bless!
Cheers!
Adi

Bhandara-A great social service

Yesterday, 6th April, was Hanuman Jayanti, which in English means birthday of Lord Hanuman-the Monkey God who destroys all the troubles. I am in Indore this weekend and had the opportunity to celebrate the festival here. There was a great festive fervor in the city on the occasion. Bhandaras were organized in different Hanuman temples across the city. I had the privilege of eating in a Bhandara after long years. And to be honest, it felt really good eating near the temple with so many people.

Bhandaras for those who don’t know is the term used for a social service where in mass lunch or dinner is organized for all people. All here refers people from any caste, religion or socio-economic status.

I believe Bhandaras are a great social service. At least they have an advantage that for that time frame, each and every person is at the same platform. No matter for how small the duration is; we at least feel that we all are equal and same-Humans.

God Bless!
Cheers!
Adi

दो पंक्तियाँ

आओ सपनों को फिर पंख दे दें
चलो एक बार फिर आकाश में गोते लगाते हैं...

Presence of mind-Humor at its best

A couple of days back I was telling a humorous incident from my high school days to a friend. That perhaps is the best real life anecdote happened to me and probably is the best example of presence of mind of my best buddy-Nishant. The year was 1999 and we were in 10th class studying at Saint Paul Public School, Mandleshwar.

Mandleshwar, for those who do not know is a small and beautiful town on the banks of pious river Narmada. For more information, Uncle Google would be more than happy to help.

We both were back benchers who were incidentally toppers! This was an irony in itself. Considering the competition at our disposal, we would have topped even without studying!

This happened in one of our Social Sciences class. The topic was about Swami Vivekananda. The teacher had made that interesting topic quite a boring one, so we were playing tic tac toe, talking and giggling among ourselves. Call it our bad luck, we were caught talking and asked to stand up.

Teacher- ‘What’s the matter with you guys? Can’t you concentrate on what I am teaching about? What were you talking by the way?’

On that spur of the moment, Nishant spoke up, ‘Sir he was asking what is the name of Swami Vivekanand’s father? I told him that I don’t know, you better ask Sir.’

A sheepish smile crept on my face!

Our sir got stumped by this googly and was looking nervous, obviously as like many of us, he did not know the name of Swami Vivekanand’s father.

‘Good Question. I will get back to you on this. Sit down.’

We sat down with a big grin and the tic tac toe continued!

God Bless!
Cheers!
Adi

Weekend Chill

This weekend was simply great! I did not do anything special or anything to be talked about, but yeah felt great and that matters. I would try to jot down the reasons as to why I felt it was great-

The big reason- I did the things I hate with love. This weekend I decided that I would not crib when I wash my clothes. I would not crib while arranging my table and books. I would not crib while dusting the house. And the results were amazing. The tasks were completed without much hassle. I simply listened to music and carried out the above tasks. A lesson learnt- Take interest in doing things that you hate doing and then you would be able to carry them out with ease.

Reason number two- I did cooking and relished my food. Tried out few experiments and buoy they were successful to the heart’s content. Weekends are the best way to test and taste your culinary skills.

Reason number three-I zoomed on my bike. Just took it out, on the highway, in the city and simply enjoyed the ride. I love my machine. Me and my machine, do I need anybody else?

Reason number four- I watched movies. Watched the ones I love, yet again. There are few movies you would not get bored of, no matter how many times you watch those.

Reason number five- I read and read. I have started off with yet another Mario Puzo one-The Sicilian. Mario Puzo builds the plot in such an interesting way that you are bound to keep on reading.

Last but not the least, I slept heartily. Probably it was the effect of last week’s morning shift, that I compensated all my sleep. Sleep is one thing that I love too much.

In short a great one!

God Bless!
Cheers!
Adi

New Year, New Hopes, New Energy

Today is the auspicious occasion of Ram Navmi, the birth of Lord Shri Ram. And with this, the Chaitra Navratri or the 9 days of worship of Shakti to cleanse mind, body and soul ends.

Gudi Padwa marked the start of the Chaitra Navratri and the Hindu New Year. And this New Year has stared with new hopes and new energy for me. And as I usually take few resolutions on every New Year, I have done this year too. Let’s see how much I am able to keep them alive.

God Bless!
Cheers!
Adi

Life is all about smiling and get going

The other evening I was sitting on a bench near to my society garden watching children play. They were all playing merrily and everyone had that big smile on face. Children are the best gift of God not only for their parents but also for the people they come in touch with. They are the only ones probably who can bring a smile on your face at any given time and situation. They are the ones who teach you that life is all about smiling! I was simply smiling looking at them and enjoying my time.

At the same time, I saw an uncle trying to teach his son riding a bicycle. After initial lessons and helping him out with the balancing technique, running behind him by holding the back of bicycle, he said-‘Go on Son. Try it out yourself.’ He came and sat beside me.

His son probably had a fear of falling and was hesitant and reluctant to try it out on his own. However his father kept on encouraging him, ‘Don’t worry, Papa is here.’

I exchanged greetings and said, ‘Why don’t you put in side wheels in the bicycle? This way I guess he would learn quickly and would not fear as well.’

His reply was quite polite, ‘You are right. But I don’t want him to start on a note that something is aiding him. I want him to learn on his own independently. One has to fight his own battles, he should understand that.’ I was quite amazed by the answer. But he was not wrong either. One has to fight his own battles. And if one inculcates that feeling early, the better.

Next moment I saw the little one trying to ride his bicycle. He fell in his initial couple of attempts. He looked at his father and his father simply said, ‘Don’t worry, try again.’ And he would simply smile. His perseverance deserved applause because he was not in the mood of giving up what so ever. And as they say, perseverance always pays. After few failures, he was finally able to strike a balance and ride the bicycle. After completing a round, he came near his father and while trying to stop, fell down again. His father picked him up, gave a peck on his cheek and said, ‘Well done. Go and try it again. This time stop slowly and put your feet down after that.’

He was all smiles and geared himself up for the next trip. Here I was just sitting and smiling, appreciating the feat of the kid.

Later in the day, I pondered over the scene again. Life is like that only-

1. You have to be on your own and fight your own battles.
2. It will throw you down at times. It’s your choice to keep your smile intact and get up and get going or simply give it up. First option is easier I feel.

I must say, Wordsworth has rightly said, Child is the father of man. They can teach us a lot!

God Bless!
Cheers!
Adi

The Diary Tales

2012 is the 4th year I am writing my daily diary. I always fascinated for writing diaries since my childhood but could only materialize it in the year 2009. I am a regular writer ever since. Though I am not very good in continuing things, I am really happy with myself that I am pushing the momentum for this. The inspiration perhaps was the movie ‘Anand’ where I saw Big B aka Dr. Bhaskar Banerjee writing his diary. I believe that movies do have an impact on us when we are in our adolescence and probably sometimes in adulthood also.

After writing my daily diary today, I was wondering why I am writing diary? What purpose I am solving by writing the day’s events known only to my mind? And sometimes it’s a cumbersome job as well. When you are tired and you recall that you haven’t still written your daily diary, you feel a heavy load being put on your head.

I however immediately found the answers to my questions. I pulled out my previous 3 diaries for the year 2009, 2010 and 2011. I opened the page for 27th March in each of them and read it. I simply could not stop the smile. The pages simply unleashed the memories for the last 3 years for the same day. Wow!

Just take a look on few of excerpts-

2009- Had a fantastic time with friends today. It is the friends who make life beautiful. Thank You God. Am dead tired now and would doze off in few moments.

2010-Had a tough day in office today. Just meetings and nothing else. I guess meetings are the best way to kill time. And if that was not enough, I killed time on FB also after coming home…God give me some sense!

2011-Pune is getting hot these days, because of weather and because of World Cup Fever as well. Just 3 days more for the match of the cup-India v/s Pakistan Semifinal. We are just couple of matches away from the cup of glory! Go India Go!

It really felt great on reading those and I felt the events happening just before my eyes.

And I suppose, that’s why I write diary- Only to live the beautiful moments again; sometime later!

God Bless!
Cheers!
Adi

The necessity of unnecessary things

The title seems to be quite contradictory. But it is a fact. We often do the things (At least I do) that are absolutely unnecessary, like for example, killing time on facebook, in short, FB. It is “killing” in literal sense of the word also. The time that could be used for many other beautiful things in the world is spent on hitting “likes” “shares” or posting comment on somebody’s wall or status.

On saying this, I might invite ire of many die hard facebook fans often referred to as the facebook addicts. Yeah! This is a term quite frequently heard these days. However, this is my personal opinion and I do not intend to hurt anybody. For me, if I get to use it, its fine; if not, it’s okay too. But the sad fact is that when I have the resources (Read Laptop and the Internet Dongle), I do not mind spending couple of hours on FB, this couple of hours I am saying after office hours. And during office hours, one window always smilingly flashes the FB on it and I keep hitting the PF5 occasionally.

I can recall from my Bombay days, where I did not have the materialistic things called as Laptop and the TV. So my whole time after office was spent in reading. Yes, reading- the best thing in the world when you are free. Probably FB was not so popular then. Cut the shot, change the scene, and come to Bangalore. Here I got Laptop, an internet connection at a mind blowing speed and request from friends to create profile on FB. And as it happens, initially a new thing generates quite a lot of interest. Happened with me as well, though it was absolutely unnecessary, I did not mind spending hours and hours on FB. And because of this reading took a total back seat. In Bangalore, over a year that I spent, I read only couple of books!

The other unnecessary thing I do is to kill time on TV. If it’s not FB, then it’s TV. I watch programs that make no sense. And sometimes, even though I feel sleepy, I would push myself to watch a certain program. Buoy! But yeah, sometimes I do feel that TV is necessary for refreshing yourself after a long tiring day at office. Just watch a comedy serial, laugh out heartily and ease out yourself!

The good thing is that I have cut down on the wastage of time over both these things drastically for the last couple of months or so. Perhaps, a realization dawned on me! I have also been reading also quite frequently and regularly. And believe me it really feels good to be back in the “reading” mode.

I do hope to cut down this necessity of the unnecessary things! And last but not the least, talking with friends over a call is still the best way to remain connected! :)

God Bless!
Cheers!
Adi

Simplicity Simplified

Would you go to a temple like a common man when you are big celebrity? The answer for most of us would be NO. But not for this man, the one and only-Sachin Tendulkar.

Some people have always told me that I go overboard when I write about Sachin. They say I always write about his greatness and I am not at all able accept that he should retire from the game. And to that I answer in question- Why I shouldn’t? He is my hero and being a citizen of a country where there is freedom of speech, I have every right to praise my hero. Perhaps, my eyes cannot see any fault in him. And I admire him not only because he is a great cricketer but also because he is a great human being with phenomenal values. He can teach us lessons in integrity, honesty, humbleness and most of them simplicity! Having assets of worth crores of rupees, one might go out of head. But this guy, despite possessing all the materialistic things that money could buy, is very much down to earth.

I was browsing through the news channels today and stopped at Aaj Tak-the sabse tez news channel as they were running a show on Sachin’s devotion towards God. There they showed that how the little master was standing among the common people while attending the 5am aarti at the Siddhivinayak Temple post his much awaited 100th ton. They also emphasized that he never attends the temple as a VIP but as a common man!

Contrary to this I have also seen people who on getting a bit of something go out of their head and keep on boasting it. Probably they have a thing or two to learn from his man.

Hats off to you Sachin for inspiring me one way or the other again and again!

God Bless!
Cheers!
Adi

Dilemma of God

Dilemma of God
--------------------
I was trying hard, but it was going in vain
And they started treating me with disdain

They forgot what I have done for 22 years
Instead told me what I could not do the last year

They think I want to play for name and fame
But they do not believe me that I love the game

I am fit, I am fine
But they say I should hang my boots for the sake of divine

I do whatever I can do for the game
Yet I am the one who is there to blame

Cricket is in my blood, Cricket is in my veins
And I want to play till my soul remains

My fans call me GOD But I am a human
My heart breaks too...And I also feel the pain...
--Aditya

I have to be Phoenix…

The title might seem a bit strange and am sure would have aroused the curiosity in your minds. If you pore through the dictionary, the phoenix is defined as a noun and has the following meaning-

a mythical bird of great beauty fabled to live 500 or 600 years in the Arabian wilderness, to burn itself on a funeral pyre, and to rise from its ashes in the freshness of youth and live through another cycle of years: often an emblem of immortality or of reborn idealism or hope

With reference to my context, it is the emblem of hope that is reborn. A fire that is rekindled!

I started my blog with great enthusiasm 2 years back in March 2010 and kept updating it regularly. As goes the saying, people take care of the things when they are new. As the things grow old, they start losing the importance and care they used to get. Probably not only things but relationships also fall in this category of fate.

My blog also shared the same fate. As the time went by, I stopped updating it. Or rather, I would say I wanted to update it but kept on procrastinating. I am really good in that. There were 57 posts in 2010 and sadly only 10 in 2011! A post in 2012 is yet to see the light of the day!

Every black cloud has a silver lining though. And for me the silver lining was that I kept my passion for writing alive by writing short stories. I shall soon be posting those after doing the proof reading. They at the moment are just raw draft.

Promises, as they say, fall in to two categories-

1. Promises that are meant to be broken.
2. Promises that are meant to be kept.

All my promises to myself for updating my blog were falling in to the category 1. I made promise and I kept breaking it. Take a look at the promise I made last year-

http://www.vicharonkiudaan.blogspot.in/2011/03/year-gone-by.html

It was exactly not a promise but an expectation, but then, without result. I have always believed that there is only ONE way of doing the thing and many ways to avoid it. I kept on finding those “many” ways-“It was a tough day today, let’s do tomorrow”, “Oh! I am occupied with so many things; I will do it on weekend” And as it always happen, that tomorrow or the weekend never came!

I never said to myself “So what if it is a tough day today, let’s infuse energy and get going”

Hope, as they say, keeps the world afloat. But I am referring to my hope as the reborn hope, the hope that took birth again to push my heart to carry on my blog further.

Today is the auspicious day of Gudi Padwa, the start of Hindu New Year. What could be a better day to start it all over again? Incidentally tomorrow is my dear friend Arpit’s Birthday also. I started my blog 2 years back on his birthday. I could not think of giving a better birthday present to him. He was the one who inspired me to chalk out my thoughts on a blog. I disappointed him though, but then I am making a promise again.

Happy Birthday Arpit!

I am sure, this time the promise I am making falls in the second category. Welcome Back Aditya!

God Bless!
Cheers!
Aditya