not too long ago he was booed off his home ground in mumbai.
crowds jeering him for slow scoring.
journalists busy writing his career obits.
some even said that while a great player, he wasnt a match winner.
im not surprised that these people today cant stop extolling his virtues.
200-not out in a one-day match is an almost unthinkable thing.
but then this one man has made so many unthinkable things possible.
sachin tendulkar...afterall IS the god of cricket.
my own interest in the game is limited.
i love to watch the high-pressure games with the boys.
but my life doesnt depend on the ball-by-ball commentary.
ive adored some of the players.
though honestly...less for their cover/square drives, more for their good looks.
but NO ONE can be indifferent to the charisma of this little master.
im a huge fan too.
not just of his skill and performance.
but his ability to bounce back each time people write him off.
no one has written me off.
im too small and insignificant to even be part of that analogy.
but sachin makes me believe that anything is possible.
he makes me believe in self-belief and magic.
he is my hero....like the phoenix...always rising from the ashes.
"To Sachin, the man we all want to be"
- Andrew Symonds
(Symonds wrote on an aussie t-shirt he autographed specially for Sachin)
m
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
thats the way i like it...
A brief candle; both ends burning
An endless mile; a bus wheel turning
A friend to share the lonesome times
A handshake and a sip of wine
So say it loud and let it ring
We are all a part of everything
The future, present and the past
Fly on proud bird
You're free at last.
- Charlie Daniels
m
An endless mile; a bus wheel turning
A friend to share the lonesome times
A handshake and a sip of wine
So say it loud and let it ring
We are all a part of everything
The future, present and the past
Fly on proud bird
You're free at last.
- Charlie Daniels
m
Sunday, February 7, 2010
'hamara bajaj'...
i used to love that ad.
the father starts the scooter...with the kid in front.
mommie waving them off...or sometimes sitting behind the father.
that advertisement at the time summed up aspirations of millions of indians.
not for us though.
since dad passed away, money had always been tight.
for many...car was a luxury.
for us, it was a dream. a very distant dream.
faridabad was a small town then.
we took cycle rickshaws everywhere.
and the haryana roadways bus to come to delhi.
(some of the experiences on that bus deserve a separate post!)
id seen saroj take a cycle rickshaw to work everyday for twenty years.
sometimes in burning june...sweating.
in pouring rain.
so when i first started working, i had only one goal.
to be able to buy a car.
thankfully emi's were a wonderfully celebrated concept by then.
i just needed enough saved up for a downpayment.
finally that day came....but rome wasnt built in a day.
for many weeks we had huge fights.
saroj wanted me to buy a maruti 800...cheaper smaller and does the job.
after all she only knew two types of cars...the 800 and the bigger ones!
But I knew that after waiting for SO SO SO many years we just couldnt get a small car! (i always had these delusions of grandeur..even then!)
Dec 23, 2003...was a very big day in our lives.
Thats the day, we were to get home our very first ever vehicle.
But Saroj manages to stump me without trying.
As i proudly led her and my sister to the shining silver gray ikon...i realised that S had been distracted by something else.
I turned to see what had caught her interest.
She was standing in front of a BIG SHINING BLACK mondeo!!
And i swear to you...like a kid in a candy store she asked me..."OMG is this the car we are buying?"
Like i said she only knew two types of cars...the 800 and the bigger ones.
The ikon suddenly seemed so much smaller.
Then came the next step.
A shiny new car and NONE of us knew how to drive!
So a driver had been hired.
Our first drive in our own car...we will ever forget it.
For those 20 kms...we beamed at everyone.
From the vegetable vendors to the cars right next to us..at the red light.
Except the ones that tried to swerve too close.
It was the only time we were openly swearing in front of our mother and she was ok with it.
now gunther(sister) and i always frown upon these "indian" traditions!
the coconut breaking...the red scarf(mata ki chunni) thats tied to the rearview mirror...or the black paranda(i dont know if this can even be translated!) flowing on the back wheel.
but i assure you that these "customs" seem wierd only when you see others doing it.
the force with which i broke that coconut almost bruised my arm.
couldnt take chances with it not breaking and leading to any 'apshakun'(bad omen).
in all the years that we;ve had the car....she has been like a member of our family.
ul say...get over it..its just a car!
but we know that for us....it marked the shift from being small kids living with our mother wanting to become something in life..to now adults who can take on the responsibility of the family as well as any boy/son.
6 years, 60,000 kms and several accidents later...the other day somebody suggested that it may be time to change the car.
but even the promise of a Mondeo or an equivalent big car doesnt budge my mother.
bajaj will stop manufacturing scooters in march...one of the victims of the new economic prosperity of the middle class post liberalisation.
but we are not ready to retire "hamara bajaj" just yet...
m
the father starts the scooter...with the kid in front.
mommie waving them off...or sometimes sitting behind the father.
that advertisement at the time summed up aspirations of millions of indians.
not for us though.
since dad passed away, money had always been tight.
for many...car was a luxury.
for us, it was a dream. a very distant dream.
faridabad was a small town then.
we took cycle rickshaws everywhere.
and the haryana roadways bus to come to delhi.
(some of the experiences on that bus deserve a separate post!)
id seen saroj take a cycle rickshaw to work everyday for twenty years.
sometimes in burning june...sweating.
in pouring rain.
so when i first started working, i had only one goal.
to be able to buy a car.
thankfully emi's were a wonderfully celebrated concept by then.
i just needed enough saved up for a downpayment.
finally that day came....but rome wasnt built in a day.
for many weeks we had huge fights.
saroj wanted me to buy a maruti 800...cheaper smaller and does the job.
after all she only knew two types of cars...the 800 and the bigger ones!
But I knew that after waiting for SO SO SO many years we just couldnt get a small car! (i always had these delusions of grandeur..even then!)
Dec 23, 2003...was a very big day in our lives.
Thats the day, we were to get home our very first ever vehicle.
But Saroj manages to stump me without trying.
As i proudly led her and my sister to the shining silver gray ikon...i realised that S had been distracted by something else.
I turned to see what had caught her interest.
She was standing in front of a BIG SHINING BLACK mondeo!!
And i swear to you...like a kid in a candy store she asked me..."OMG is this the car we are buying?"
Like i said she only knew two types of cars...the 800 and the bigger ones.
The ikon suddenly seemed so much smaller.
Then came the next step.
A shiny new car and NONE of us knew how to drive!
So a driver had been hired.
Our first drive in our own car...we will ever forget it.
For those 20 kms...we beamed at everyone.
From the vegetable vendors to the cars right next to us..at the red light.
Except the ones that tried to swerve too close.
It was the only time we were openly swearing in front of our mother and she was ok with it.
now gunther(sister) and i always frown upon these "indian" traditions!
the coconut breaking...the red scarf(mata ki chunni) thats tied to the rearview mirror...or the black paranda(i dont know if this can even be translated!) flowing on the back wheel.
but i assure you that these "customs" seem wierd only when you see others doing it.
the force with which i broke that coconut almost bruised my arm.
couldnt take chances with it not breaking and leading to any 'apshakun'(bad omen).
in all the years that we;ve had the car....she has been like a member of our family.
ul say...get over it..its just a car!
but we know that for us....it marked the shift from being small kids living with our mother wanting to become something in life..to now adults who can take on the responsibility of the family as well as any boy/son.
6 years, 60,000 kms and several accidents later...the other day somebody suggested that it may be time to change the car.
but even the promise of a Mondeo or an equivalent big car doesnt budge my mother.
bajaj will stop manufacturing scooters in march...one of the victims of the new economic prosperity of the middle class post liberalisation.
but we are not ready to retire "hamara bajaj" just yet...
m
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
jab i left....
you need a reason for everything.
and it better be a good one.
'cos i just felt like it'..doesnt cut it anymore.
not if u resign from a job after 10 years!
over the last 3-4 days ive been battling the worst.
from apoplectic phone calls...to whats-going-on texts.
are u getting married?
did u have a fight with someone?
is this about no prime time anchoring?
or crappy stories ur made to do?
is everything ok at home?
are u dying????
u name it and ive got it.
never have i had so many invitations to dinners and drinks.
everyone wants to know the "goss".
i guess thats to be expected..when u spend so much time at one place..ur practically part of the furniture.
imagine ur favourite papasan chair(the one u sit on, spill things on and fart on!) growing legs and walking off!
and here i thought il have complete peace.
to travel...read...think...and basically do nothing.
so just to put all ur minds at rest.
im fine.
not dying or getting married.
not fighting with anyone.
dont like anchoring.
these days hate reporting even more.
taking a very wise friend's advice...all i want to do is detox and de-clutter.
im sure life has some plans for me.
maybe il find another job...or another husband.
but for the moment i have only two things on my agenda.
that big upcoming international holiday called the valentines day and the party my friends are threatening to throw.
and working on the screenplay of my debut film "main samantha fox ban na chahti hoon".
m
and it better be a good one.
'cos i just felt like it'..doesnt cut it anymore.
not if u resign from a job after 10 years!
over the last 3-4 days ive been battling the worst.
from apoplectic phone calls...to whats-going-on texts.
are u getting married?
did u have a fight with someone?
is this about no prime time anchoring?
or crappy stories ur made to do?
is everything ok at home?
are u dying????
u name it and ive got it.
never have i had so many invitations to dinners and drinks.
everyone wants to know the "goss".
i guess thats to be expected..when u spend so much time at one place..ur practically part of the furniture.
imagine ur favourite papasan chair(the one u sit on, spill things on and fart on!) growing legs and walking off!
and here i thought il have complete peace.
to travel...read...think...and basically do nothing.
so just to put all ur minds at rest.
im fine.
not dying or getting married.
not fighting with anyone.
dont like anchoring.
these days hate reporting even more.
taking a very wise friend's advice...all i want to do is detox and de-clutter.
im sure life has some plans for me.
maybe il find another job...or another husband.
but for the moment i have only two things on my agenda.
that big upcoming international holiday called the valentines day and the party my friends are threatening to throw.
and working on the screenplay of my debut film "main samantha fox ban na chahti hoon".
m
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
feeling lighter than air...
"im so excited i can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. i think its the excitement only a free man can feel. a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain."
- Red (from shawshank redemption)
m
- Red (from shawshank redemption)
m
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