Friday, April 01, 2011

Great Expectations


No, I am not reviewing and dare not review the Charles Dickens' classic. I am thinking about the Cricket World Cup 2011 finale like all my fellow Indians.

Though a cliché, I cannot resist saying that this is 'as big as it gets' but I want to include 'in cricket, every four years' :). For the two countries participating,

the event is the biggest opportunity in sporting history since 1996 for Srilanka and for since 1983 for India. There is no other sport which gets the fans roaring and media going crazy in both the countries. Regardless of which side wins, history will be made. Both teams are fighting for their second title of World Champions since its induction in 1975.

A win for India is all the heart wants and a win for India is what the brain predicts but predictions like mine are dime a dozen. Any follower of Indian cricket and a religion called Sachinism, will predict the same and want the same. Nothing will give us more pleasure than Dhoni holding the cup aloft and Sachin smiling from ear to ear.

The day comes but rarely,
when the brain doesn't think clearly.
The heart skips many a beat,
for thats the cricket fever's heat.

This one goes for the two greats,
who play their last world cup.
Off field, they may be mates,
on field, they can cause a stirrup.


A certain God of this game,
whose willow can make any ball look lame.
His innings are nothing short of wonder,
and can tear any bowling attack asunder.

A magician called Murli for his team,
can cast a spell and take the cream.
A magical turn of his wrist,
can bring an end to any batsman's tryst.

It is said that the World Cup deserves Sachin as much as Sachin deserves the world cup. It is going to be impossible to control the adrenaline and goosebumps tomorrow if India becomes the world champion. I will not be angry at the Indian team tomorrow if they lose but applaud the opposition for they would have deserved it.

But then again, I cannot help but imagine the time being frozen when Dhoni lifts the cup and the victory roar from India reaches the heavens.

That will be the moment I will refer to as 'where were you when India won the world cup' moment of our generation.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Of Ego Inflation and Popularity Quotients

Every human being will have an inflated ego quite a few times in his life. This is a fact that many will concur with. Amazingly, this leads to a brilliant way of increasing one's popularity quotient. It has been used by celebrities, movie stars, authors etc. for ages and it still is as effective as ever.

We Indians are one of the most eager lot to lap up the praise unabashedly when someone doles it out. We barely care about its truthfulness or the reason behind; we just need to get a dose of it. It is a form of ecstasy, a form of bhang which fills us with hot air and takes us to cloud nine. We become putty in his/her hands and are led like a magician leads a hypnotized volunteer.
Jeffrey Archer writes a book, comes to India, and praises the Indians and his popularity quotient sky rockets. Taking nothing away from his literary genius, the ego inflation strategy is at work here. It is brilliantly used by the publishers and the author himself to get the sales soaring in one of the biggest English speaking populations. To top that, our journalists are nothing short of putting words in his mouth, just to get him speak good about us. Questions like 'Do you think Indian readers are one of the best in the world?', 'Do you think India has a good chance at the World Cup?', 'Do you like to come to India often', 'Do you want to stay in India' etc. His answers, of course, are all positive and brimming with incredibleness of India and we wallow in pride! Shouldn’t we be asking the author about his latest book and not about his interest in paneer tikka masala at bobby da dhaba?

Our movie stars go to all the cities to promote their movies. Claims like 'I love you all'; 'your city’s crowd is the best in India' and 'This city is my second home' etc. are not uncommon at all. These claims are repeated in all the cities they visit and it is not difficult to make out the fake smile and the reason behind their admiration for you. Still, we believe them. We go and watch their movie. Many do because Akshay said we are the best and SRK threw out a kiss and said he loves our city! There is no denying that popularity quotient touches new highs for the celebrities with those city dwellers. Till it fades, the tickets are sold, movie’s over, concerts are sung and money has been made.

It’s not just regular common Indian man who gloats when extolled, we have some known people too. There are men who could have been successful if only they could have kept their heads on their shoulders. There are many examples in the Indian cricket team. Press puffed up Parthiv Patel's ego when he got selected in Indian cricket team when he was less than 20 years of age. Soon, he had his big head filled with hot air when sledged Steve Waugh in a match! He would have been way better and seen in international squad more often had he tried making his game better rather than sledging greats, double his age and caliber. Sreesanth was praised for aggression by commentators and press and he took it too seriously and it keeps landing him in trouble. Not everyone can be Sachin and that is not the point of these examples. When someone extols us, we take it at face value and get big headed.

The praise is not always fake and not always for a gain. Nevertheless, I cannot disagree to the fact that inflating someone else's ego definitely raises your popularity quotient.
Now, that I have started blogging after a long gap, I need to get my readers back! You guys are the BEST blog readers ever, in the whole World Wide Web!! How can someone ever match your blog reading skills and commenting talent? I love you all...you make the writing all worthwhile. Go ahead, comment and do come back for more posts!! :)

Monday, March 07, 2011

Restart...or so I think

There, I go again. Out of the blue, one fine day, something tells me...Go, update your blog.
Maybe, I will heed to it. In the past 2-3 years of blogging lethargy, I do not know if I can write anything at all. Even if I do, will it be interesting, simple and read by someone other than me? Well, I don't give a damn!


Or do I?


Hmm..I can be sure of my wife reading it and can coax/force a few friends to do so too ;) And now that my friends keep clicking on all the links I post on facebook (I do post interesting ones!!), I think they will read this too!

I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO WRITE

I am in Chicago now,
enjoying the intermittent snow.
I have no clue what I wanna write,
I am still trying to find an idea, bright!

I once said, I'll always update the blog,
Its more than just my daily log.
I soon realised, its not a simple job,
like eating the corn and throwing the cob.

Now, I am going to glug a beer,
maybe that brings in some cheer.
I'll string some words and make them rhyme.
and writing nonsense won't feel like a crime!

I know no one's forcing me to write,
but many will know a blogger's plight.
I will write with all my might,
just don't tell me to get out of your sight!