I Me Myself

I

Am
Straight forward, friendly, fun loving, not a narcissist (don’t go by the title, couldn’t find better)

Like
Reading newspapers, watching news shows, chatting and bakar, cricket, travelling, trying new cuisine, driving

Can
Crack PJs, be friendly with most of the people, find loopholes anywhere, always be a critic, read non-fiction, be diplomatic, laze off endlessly..Time is about to change this I guess,

Admire
APJ Abdul Kalam, Ratan Tata, Steve Jobs, Sourav Ganguly, Shah Rukh Khan

Dislike
Snobs, hypocrites, people who look down upon India and have reasons to not like it.

Can’t
Sing, be a sycophant, distance myself from a controversy around :P, watch more than 25 min a episode series, read thick novels

Am very judgemental about
RDB is the best movie ever made in India
Ganguly is the one who changed the stature of Indian cricket
The present democratic setup can’t improve India
Sachin is not a cricketing god.....nope
SRK is better than Amitabh

Want
To travel to the North East, to own a business, trek, camp in a wildlife sanctuary, give up my habit of procrastination
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Still deciphering more about me>>>

IPL 1.0...Game goes International

I am writing this because for the first time in life I found an India-Pakistan match boring. The same India-Pakistan match which people also write as their ideal match in Orkut profiles. And certainly the reason is nothing but IPL.

The first season of IPL left a mark in the cricketing world, something that will be looked back as a remarkable change for years to come. As I was in the college I didn’t get to see the earlier matches, but after coming home, the 8-12 time slot was on no day less entertaining. Poised as “entertainment ka baap”, it gave the saas bahu soaps a big jolt. Probably Indian housewives have realised by now that there is life beyond Ekta Kapoor. And once the IPL 1.0 came to a splendid end on June first, people including me started suffering from withdrawal symptoms.

I was supporting the Kolkata Knight Riders initially, not logically but because of being SRK and Dada fan. The only thing good about the team, the way they kicked off the inaugural match and the way Ganguly signed off in style. Probably that knock of his was for Chappel and Eden Gardens.

IPL might have been a money minter for a few teams only, but it certainly added value to the game. We found Indians cheering Pakistani players on the field, upcoming players mentored by greats like Shane Warne and McGrath, a completely written off team before the beginning of the season winning away the IPL 1.0, players giving there more than 100% to save a single... Overall it has increased the standards of the game. The policy of just 4 international players per match kept the tournament pretty Indian and also gave the young talented players a platform to perform, although in the very beginning it seemed more as an International Premier League.

But the Season 1 wasn’t void of controversies either. It started with politicians opposing the scantily clad cheerleaders in IPL matches, grow up guys...we need to evolve. Though a very American concept but still T20 isn’t for oldies to make it less interesting: P. Not only this, two dark skinned cheerleaders accused the team management of racial discrimination. But the spice was added by Bhajji slapping Sreesanth on the field. Well Sree deserved a tight slap, a slap worth 3 Crore :O, and later behaved well throughout the series, but still Bhajji show some decency dude!!! It wasn’t to get over, Sachin who usually doesn’t get involved in controversies questioned the poor third umpiring decisions and rightly so. Even a drunk n down person could have taken correct decision on the TV replay... Ganguly challenged the ground umpires and got the decision referred to the 3^rd umpire to his favour but that sparked off a verbal battle between him and Shane Warne...

IPL didn’t only have effect on cricket but also on various walks of life. Parle introduced 20-20 biscuits, Dhoni just got better with more endorsements, CEOs left their board rooms and to cheer their teams on the field and movie stars got another job of getting associated with an IPL team. So with the glamour pouring into the game TRPs ought to increase. All news channels allocated the time slot for strategising and providing free of cost consultancy to the teams. Hindi news channels, dumbest of all, gave employment to the retired cricketers who have been forgotten.

If somebody needs to learn a lesson is Vijay Mallya... Firing the coach and CEO in the middle of the tournament, lashing out at one of the most dedicated players India has ever produced is highly unprofessional. If IPL is about cricket glamour and flamboyance; it’s also about making money. The Royal Challengers is the team counting biggest losses, with no sponsors in the first place and secondly Kingfisher itself sponsored other teams...

At the end of season 1 there are some unanswered questions which nobody can predict...Will IPL like events take away the charm of ODIs? Is it a game only for guys in their 20s? Will players risk their fitness for money? Will cricketers give IPL a priority above playing for country?

Only time will tell whether we lose the charm of international cricket or not, but there are instances which refer to the other issues. Sachin and Zaheer Khan declaring themselves unfit for tri-series but playing for their IPL teams till last match.... Aussies getting Pakistan tour cancelled citing security reasons and making room for IPL.. Well it’s too early to be judgemental.

But then IS CRICKET THE ONLY GAME THAT INDIA PLAYS? We still have to pray for not getting out of Olympics on a duck...look at the sentence that I just framed...so much cricket imbibed into us...WTF!!!

I just wish that other games don’t die out in the background of cricket.

Last days at the college

It sucks moving away from a place where you have spent four good years of your life, with people who have become very-hard-to-find-reliable-friends, but at the same time it is inevitable. The last days at the college were not even close to expected. We all had the feeling the BTP presentations were chillax, easygoing and all those cool adjectives, and actually were for many. Unfortunately I landed up in the most screwing panel of the six. It was actually like preparing for a suicidal presentation for the entire last week. My presentation was on the second day, and after the first day tales of Panel 1, on day 2 it had become a “tourist spot”. There were guys coming to see students getting ripped apart as early as 9 in the morning, who would otherwise not wake up till 2 or 3 in the afternoon. I too had a close to terrible presentation and a good grade was never on the cards.

Some friends left soon after their presentations, Accenture and Infy had given very early joining dates this year.

Just after the presentation I had the last GD/ PI of the MBA season at Nasik. GD was cool, I dominated, and most unexpectedly I was the only person in formals. There were guys coming in chappals, sports shoes, jeans and folded sleeves and even the panellists didn’t impress. Anyways I am also gambling for the topmost college that too in outside state quota. My 99.84%ile is a bit too low for my expectations, but it’s worth a gamble. Other than the GD PI, the documents verification process was very sarkari. I had to travel twice to a Government polytechnic college in some village in the outskirts of the city in a rickety auto. I had to prove myself Indian... Damn! And they didn’t even consider the Driving License as a proof of nationality, but were considering some crappy school leaving certificates issued in Maharashtra.

The BTP result was declared when I was in Nasik, and was happy to get a C, given the fact my panel gave the worst grades and most Fs. Nobody gives a shit to this grade and even I don’t. Luck or bad luck was the only factor that decided the grades in the 24 credit BTP. Holy crap!! I wished that the last college days to be a happy ending for everyone, but it wasn’t for all. The system has given so much power to the professors that any misuse even unintentional is intractable. Any kind of authoritarian powers landing up with a person isn’t a good sign on this earth. A few students were at the suffering end, paying enormous price for not following the never-declared guidelines, but in an authoritarian system there is no fucking reconsideration. In such matters sarkari colleges must be a fair deal to the students for sure.

I reached college back the next morning and tried an AC Tatkal for home soon, but was few minutes late. I got Tatkal 2AC the next day and now I had only 5 more days at the college with many unfinished tasks to complete. I wanted to meet many people I had known in Ahmedabad, wanted to visit the Sabarmati ashram, Adalaj step well and lotsa places. But surely couldn’t do everything, leaving things to call me back to Ahmedabad some time. I met a marketing prof at MICA, with whom I had taken an elective, did some shopping at the CG Road, and had lunch at Crazy Noodles, and the last night hang out at CCD. Another incident worth writing happened in these five days. Getting back Sanket’s stolen cell phone was a relieving moment. Though it is a complete story to narrate, but in short it was using a combination of pressure and friendly diplomacy, making fake police calls, receiving fake calls from the police, and commitment to make the culprit confess and return the handset. After getting the handset and the SIM, it was time to swing the hands without a speed check. Moreover it was Sanket’s good luck, coz not many stolen cell phones end up with you again.

Last two days I was packing the stuff I had been dumping in my room for last four years and stocking movies and documentaries in the hard-disk, so that I have enough stuff not to get bored for at least a month. The weather was pleasant and cool breeze at nights was always welcome. Lying on the grass at 3 in night near the basketball court, in a cool breeze and a late night bakar session with friends in such an ambience was the greatest 8th sem discovery and surely way better than any research or invention happening in the BTPs. And the second last night was the last use of such a wonderful discovery... :-) I was finally left with all bags packed, 8 in all and few hours to leave...

I went to brijwasi for the poha for the last time, bid good-bye to the workers I knew there, and it was almost the time... :-( I got the call from the cab owner which I had booked the previous day and then the last moments.... Adieu, ciao, bye-bye, tata, sayonara, cya DA-IICT...And it seriously sucks leaving a wonderful place...Sanket came to drop me to the railway station...Thanks buddy... :-)

Cricketly Yours...The IPL

I live in a country where cricket is treated as a religion and players as god. India may not be an economic or any other superpower, but most certainly the only country that governs the world cricket is India. When BCCI, the richest and the most powerful cricket board, launched the Indian Premier League, all eyes were set on how successful and crowd pulling it will be.

IPL teams were bought by the most flamboyant industrialist and Bollywood stars and it became evident that lot of money will pour into the game. It is not only the money; even the glamour has become associated with cricket so much that IPL has not only remained a sport but an entertainment material. No matter MTV very humourously has coined IPL as Indian Paisa League... :-D The shorter version of the game will definitely attract audience, who usually don't have time to watch the entire ODI.

With the grand inauguration of IPL in Bangalore and the response people showed, I feel that the charm of cricket in India won't let anyone down. But the team composition and too much of money and glamour involved have created many unanswered question.

Will the IPL teams generate enough fan-following that people become hardcore supporters of a particular team, like the European football clubs...??

Will the players be driven by the passion of performing for their team or money or will just be employees of a team owner...??

Will the audience watch a regular IPL match with the same level of interest and anxiety as a match played between two countries in which patriotic feelings also get attached...??

And the most important one.... Will it improve cricket as a gentleman's game??

Well I don't intend to comment on the last one, as I am one of those few who support aggression, and I am a Sreesanth fan only because he treats the Aussies with the dose of the medicine they developed....

Well personally I don't see any fanatic kind of fan following happening in near future. It is most likely that people neither would identify themselves with their city teams nor Chennai would cheer if Murali gets Sachin out. And if it happens, then certainly we are promoting regionalism to an extent.

The media needs to play a role here, which I am afraid it won't. The kind of news content we see today, "Aussie ki Taisi" when India plays Down Under, makes our media so irresponsible and so not mature that it can hardly be assumed that it won't add spice to Inter-City teams rivalry...

Well as far as players are concerned, IPL has a lot to offer to upcoming talent and the retired players as well. Money does matter, but I feel the importance of the game should be the foremost. And if money drives players to perform better, it doesn't even matter.

The real business model of IPL will only be a success if the cricket fanatic Indian public gives an effective response to it. All the TV rights, ad rates, ticket sales etc depend how much the people appreciate it. If they do, IPL is all set to be a great money spinner.

IPL does provide with cricket lovers an opportunity to see the Sachin-Warne duel, which probably would have never taken place, Indian and Pakistani players fighting together for achieving the same target, Ricky Ponting and Ishant Sharma do a high-five (the latter had troubled the former big time in the series Down Under), more 6-sixes overs and probably big knocks in 20 overs match (nobody expected McCullum to score 150+).

IPL is the latest buzz around and surely something that cannot be ignored...

The people I will Never Forget

The people I will never forget...

Sanket

The simplest person (read kid) of our wing...Thanks for managing my accounts, and Ram Babu ke Parathe, and being so good, allowing me to use your bed and PJs that leave you scratching your head and and...endless "ands"

Harsha
Innocence still exists in this world...Although can't learn it from him...better appreciate his....And more innocently he claims that he actually is evil... I bet he can get away with anything with his innocence.....

Garry
Had we not organized Rampage together, we would have only known that we have same names. In one simple phrase "A great friend for life"...Always stay in touch.

Joshi
He is the person you would find everywhere batooing gyaan :-P . Two of us hatched so many conspiracy theories, discussed and debated on everything from sports to politics to girls and everything you can imagine, the weirdest being what if RAW assassinated Musharraf?

Nattu
Stealing a Sidhu quote, "His patience is like a tube of toothpaste, it is never over" and I mean it.

Gajju
Carefree, don't give a damn attitude...Can't ever forget him asking about GEO, LEO MEO satellites from a call centre employee and asking him why ISD to Bangladesh is costlier than US.

Muskan
Entertainer, loud speaker, an eccentric personality a laughter pill... You can love him, or hate him...clichéd but CANNOT ignore him for sure. A self proclaimed scientist...I wish you really make your dream come true with a Nobel.

Pachar
Another friend as a fortunate by- product from organizing Rampage. His rugged charm and innate interpersonal and managerial skills will take him a long way.

Akansh
Thanks dude...you did all the lab work we were supposed to do together :-P...

Himanshu
Anything you need, he has it, from a screw-driver to open a PC to a pump to inflate a football, a needle and thread to a frisbee. A person with a great sense of humour, and his slapstick comments come out as Jonty's reflexes....Thanks for showing the T20 World cup in OAT and all the movies... :-)

Alter
I can only write that he is a coding champ and don't know what else to write about him, but 1 thing for sure can never forget him.

Aniket
Latest Hindi songs sunane ke liye shukriya :-) ... Well most of the time I spend outside my room is in his room... Have had lotsa bakar sessions there...strategizing Aimcats and the most unforgettable Muskan-Lalla duel..

Lalla
If there is a synonym for "Changes are Inevitable", it is him.

Pradeep
A simple straight forward person, a movie and music buff and one of the few intellectual species of our wing. I like him for his candidness and he is a person who would say No then giving a round about answer.

Ashwin
My roomie. We are probably the only roommates who haven't fought on any issue and if there is an award for the same, it goes to us. Calm and DND person.

A new begining...

Why to start blogging. It is probably the first question that any blogger tries to answer. Having a blog gives one an opportunity to share his views and thoughts, and get others opinions on the same. Honestly I don't know what the future of this blog is. These days I have lot of free time, so trying something new is up on the list and this gives birth to another blog in the web.

I think blogging isn't just another way to utilize time, it is about thinking of the world around, developing a perspective, letting the thoughts flow and above all taking others views on them. Loads of experiences I want to share, my views and opinions on them, probably are the driving me to create a blog. Today, if I look back, I am not able to recollect the most happening moments of our first year in the college.

Blogging provides a good way of keeping in touch with your memories and prevent them from fading away. I believe that creating a blog is a good idea to cherish such moments all through the life. And also, this blog will be like the movie Momento, the past experiences will come later. So I guess blogger’s archiving won’t be useful, at least initially.

Well I will try to maintain and update the blog...and I am sure I will TRY. But it is an assurance from a champ in lazing.. :P