THANK YOU RAHUL DRAVID.

My approach to cricket has been reasonably simple: it was about giving everything to the team, it was about playing with dignity, and it was about upholding the spirit of the game," he said."I hope I have done some of that."
Yes, you have!!!.

Thank You for being the player you were on-field and the person off it, for giving immeasurable joy, pride and moments that every indian fan cherishes. a big heartfelt thank you from a fan for lighting up the era that i have been part of as a fan, thank you for your grit, determination, passion. No tribute would be worthy of what you gave us fans battling in the middle.

 All I can say is thank you for being Rahul Dravid

Happy independence day

Guess no better day to start writing again than the day 65 years down the line my beloved country writhed out of the clutches of the British and started her march onwards in the wide unknown realm dreams in a million eyes..prayer on their lips... hope in their hearts... funnily 65 years down the line we still are pretty much along similar lines

Not in the least meaning to sound despondent..but deep down i somehow feel sad looking at the spate of things occurring. Tomorrow Anna Hazare starts a fast for get his way with the lokpal bill, though i admire his honest effort to do something for the corrupt ways existing here and applaud his intentions having a Lokpal will simply not cure the ills that ail our system

The malaise starts with us, me and you, us the giver.. as much guilty as the one who receives the bribe.. till the time we as a society are governed by the need to get our things at a jiffy with the least of work involved..to bend rules our way.. to suit things up the way we need albeit at a cost..we will continue to rot in this mess..Anna or Lokpal notwithstanding..

The more i think the more morose i looking outta the windows and watching the poorest of poor toil for their daily bread and get paid peanuts close to a parked BMW i am not sure my country's tryst with destiny is heading up the right alley!!

INDIA WINS THE WORLD CUP!!!

thank you team India for the joy..incredible...part of history!!!

Sachin finally has a world cup..for 21 years as Kohli said he carried India...now something back for him...and cannot express how happy the nation of a billion is by your feat on the field..amazing...surreal!!!

City lights

You illuminate my being. When the sun goes down and vapors of a hot and humid day hang low, you tiptoe along one by one across the skyline. Soft-footed. I lay back and marvel at how you engulf the velvet blue of the evening and add a surreal neon glow to the edges of the sky. You are the prelude to a wafer-thin moon floating like a forgotten kite; the precursor to tiny, mad hoppers appearing out of nowhere, flitting across the grass like Gulliver’s little world come alive. You come on and make a hushed shadow fall across the park and embolden me enough to grasp the dark lushness of grass with a certain fearlessness. You do not deter plump little fireflies -they still appear, not bedazzled by your light but a little lost in spite of their own. There is comfort in your impersonal, flickering fire. You are the beacon, the siren call, the true north that all dark thoughts seek.

Barcelona and Arsenal Champions league clash

I am still a bit hurt to be enthralled by the footballing display on showcase for he day. United lost and lost in the worst possible fashion conceding two stupid goals...to be fair to Bayern they did play United off the park..completely overrunning them in the mid-field but all is not lost..there is still the second leg and we play it at home hence its not over!!!!

However to today's match should be an exciting fare. Both the teams play the best football in their respective league with Barcelona maybe just nicking it in quality. Add to it Lionel Messi and Barcelona look very strong, their defence is shaky but getting ball off them is a task. Andres Iniesta misses the clash but Xavi is still around to pull the strings in the midfield.

Arsene Wenger on the other side has assembled his squad filled with quality and kinda plays football similar to Barcelona. Similar to Barcelona Arsenal's defence is a bit shoddy at times and there is the evolving mentality that Arsenal players can be kicked into a defeat. The best part about Arsenal is their midfield, Diaby and Song have been immense for the team doing all the dirty work while the flair players can go about their work. They do lack in the striker department though. Nicklas Bendtner did get a hattrick the other day..but i still am not too sure..he missed too often. Arsenal misses the quality that Robin van Persie had to offer. Too bad he is injured cos he was wonderful as the lone striker.

Then there is the issue about the return of the prodigal sons. Thierry Henry and Cesc Fabregas. One at a legend at Highbury and now at Emirates the other rated to become so at Nou Camp. Thierry Henry has done it all achieved it all at Arsenal before Wenger shocked all by selling him to Barcelona. Should be a warm reception for him back at the Emirates and well deserved too. One of the best strikers to have graced the English premier League. Fabregas well he still has a long way to go before he reaches Henry but this should be a good test playing against probably the best team in the world at present.

Player for player Barca should nick this one with some exciting display on show however i do want Arsenal to win.. All the luck to Arsenal we shall find out soon

Khap Panchayat Killers-- death penalty correct

The courts today sentenced the self-styled Khap panchayat members who were a part of the brutal murders of Manoj and Babli were sentenced to death.

Capital punishment should be reserved for the severest of crimes and I thinks this case merits it.
Murdering a young couple because they dared them is disturbing. Marriage between two consenting adults is their choice... let them do what they want.. its their lives.

Things go wrong when society tries to impose the rights and wrongs of the warped types on individuals. Stifling one's right to live is ludicrous and should be dealt in the harshest way possible.
Society does not make individuals hold good...it is the individuals who by virtue of their actions work the society around them.

In a stroke the Khap Panchayat, and they might have done some good work sometime, but will be known forever in future by their misdeeds in this case.

As a malaise in general this does permeates more than one community. Everyday news-reports in this regard make headway maybe not honour killings but kangaroo courts taking law into their hands and passing judgements.. Who are we to pass judgements on others when we too r susceptible to the same frailties.. and the way our courts function i am surprised that this case reached its logical end. I hope that the lacunae in our judicial system does not allow these convicts to escape what is a mightily deserved penalty.. a Manu Sharma roaming in a bar sometimes upsets me with what people with power can do to bend and work around rules according to their needs.

Lets hope that it does not happen in this case and these guys are executed. Some battle for he boy's mother to lead being ostracized socially and lead on fighting to get justice for the killers of her son. The heart of a mother, the will of her's.

The lawyer Lal Bahadur deserves a mention for claiming modestly at the end that he was just doing his duty in the face of immense pressure to bungle up!!.. kudos!!

One Hour to Madness and Joy- Walt Whitman

O something unprov'd! something in a trance!
O madness amorous! O trembling!
O to escape utterly from others' anchors and holds!20
To drive free! to love free! to dash reckless and dangerous!
To court destruction with taunts--with invitations!
To ascend--to leap to the heavens of the love indicated to me!
To rise thither with my inebriate Soul!
To be lost, if it must be so!
To feed the remainder of life with one hour of fulness and freedom!
With one brief hour of madness and joy.

Cold cofee and Tea

A visit to Thirupati is always illuminating. This time I had the pleasure of an 8 year old keeping me company throughout the journey.
And conversing with an eight year old can be very illuminating. One of our conversations went along following lines

She came up to me and goes," Why are you so dark?"

And I for my life was flummoxed as to how to explain the melanin physiology to her..fumbling how does one explain a pigment to an eight year old.

When like a divine angel she herself came up with her answer..

" That's because you have tea.. those who drink cold coffee are fair and those who drink tea are dark."

And now i know what to say the next time anyone asks me anything with too complicated an answer.. blame tea and get away!!!

SCHUMACHER RETURNS

Talk about big news coming through the week. Finally after weeks of rumours..it has been confirmed Michael Schumacher is coming back to Formula 1. For the umpteen numbers of fans who followed him and his Benetton and Ferrari days it was heartbreak when Schumi almost came back after Massa's accident, but unfortunately things did not work out.

However this is big, though he does not come back in the famed prancing stallion.. dunno if its gonna be silver arrows either..but whichever team it is..i don't care.. the man who typified Formula 1 for me who got me hooked onto it like never before is returning..

I always felt after his last season where Alonso had him..there was a swansong left...when he left the scene..something was amiss..now that he returns the scene is pretty much set...Alonso, Hamilton and Button...in my opinion could not light up the circuit the same way he did with me pretty much losing my interest. Formula1 was just not the same without him

Yes he might have brought boredom upon the non-supporters with his consistency..pretty much like Pete Sampras did during his heydays but it just typified the man with his success for hunger after having won everything and pretty much owning all the records in Formula 1.

I hope he still is able to race the way he did and Mercedes provides with a great car.. Ahh fascinating battles lie ahead..and i hope he is able to chart one more illustrious chapter in his book and maybe go ahead further more.

WELCOME BACK MICHAEL SCHUMACHER!!!!

The Manchester Derby

Sunday amply demonstrated why being a fan to a sport team can be amply rewarding or maybe so heartbreaking at times. Fortunately for me i support the red side of Manchester and they never stop rewarding with finishes that are just beyond words.

Starting with the improbable victory at Nou Camp.. to the last Champions League where John Terry managed to stop all the hearts before sending them into elation.

This Sunday was no different. When Bellamy scored at the stroke of full time..the world came crashing down after such an exciting fight in the second half, a stupid stupid mistake by Rio Ferdinand gifting the ball away which Bellamy aptly punished United for. The anguish on Rio's face mirrored the feelings of millions of fans worldwide.

Typical to what United stands for they did not give up. Aided by maybe what some would insist as "Fergie time" they came back to win the game in style. Scoring once again in extra time and it could not be more for Michael Owen to score the winning goal. Absolute raptures, cant even begin to describe the feeling when the ball went in. Times like this are what makes being a football fan so special

Fergie asked after the game said he would have preferred a 6-0 result to a 4-3 outcome that happened eventually. In my opinion at 4-3 victory anyday with the heart-stopping winner in the final minutes of the extra-time.. Red for life..