Wishes uninhibited!

I have some spare time with myself. Usually i day-dream whenever i get such opportunities but just this once i want to pen down some of my day-dreams. Since i almost always day-dream of wishing that many of the things around me were different from the way they are today... this is going to be a wish list of sorts. And since one wise man once said that one should be uninhibited in wishing for something-u have the title for this post-"Wishes uninhibited".

So here we go

1. The Indian Cricket Team scoring 350+ in the fourth innings to win a test match outside of the Indian subcontinent, preferably at WACA.
2. An India where punctuality is not preceded by "un" everytime.
3. A 100% literate India
3. World-Class airports in India and air-travel a possibility for most indians.
4. Television free from reality shows
5. Books available at half the existing prices.
6. Good motorable roads in Pune.
7. Public Places built with due consideration to the disabled.

The list is in no particular order of preference... just penned down my thoughts as they came to my mind. Will add more soon.. till then back to day-dreaming :)!

Postcards from Bangkok

Last week, i finally managed my first overseas trip... and thankfully it was not on business. We (Ashwin, Tam, Captain & me) had decided long back on this trip. But things suddenly turned pretty sad just before the trip and Tam and Captain had to drop out at the last minute due to urgent committments. So it was just me and Ashwin who finally left for the trip... there was of course Ullas, who by some stroke of good luck works in Bangkok.

I set out with a rather limited (intentional really) idea of what thailand had to offer. In the end, it turned out for the best really.... it helped me form my own opinions untouched by the prejudices of those lucky enough to have visited this country before me.

A rather uncomfortable 4 hour flight from Mumbai saw me entering the uber modern Suvarna Bhoomi International Airport at Bangkok. The minimalistic architecture of the airport immediately strikes one and all. To call it merely an airport is an insult really. Its almost like a city onto itself and the flights coming in and taking off almost seem like only a small act of an entire skit. The visa on arrival was a breeze and soon we found ourselves our hotels in downtown bangkok.

I had always thought of Bangkok as place full of night clubs, massage parlours, and "massage parlours". This view as i had remarked earlier was rather parochial. The few things that hit u as soon as u land in bangkok is the sweet fruity smell in the air (i still am not able to figure it out-may be thats what they call "mitti ki khushboo". ), the vast network of freeways and the neverending traffic hurtling down them at break-neck speeds, the proliferation of retail stores encompassing all the possible retail formats (7-11 stores need a special mention in this regard-there are everywhere, its almost as if u can find a 7-11 or a masage parlour with equal ease), the warm and friendly thai people (with exceptionally well-groomed hair) and the popularity of the Thai king.

Bangkok doesnt really come across as the "perfect" city but rather a city that is aware of its problems and limitations and is working hard to make the life of its inhabitants more comfortable.

However its almost as if the city reveals itself too easily to the tourist. I found this a bit of a let-down. Most great "tourist" cities of the world are like sensual women-holding their own while drawing the tourist into their trap before revealing themselves and in doing leaving the hapless tourist wanting for more than he get or manage.

We went to Pattaya from Bangkok which roughly is the Thai version of our very own Goa. More on that and what we did in Bangkok next year (coz this is my last post of the year)

Until then,
Wish you all a very happy and prosperous new year!

Push becomes a shove: Nice Guys finish last!

The hope of a miracle on Sunday the 27th October at the CCI ground was steamrolled by a highly efficient if somewhat mechanical Australian team. As if to mock us, the Aussies bundled out the Windies easily in the final to lift the Champions Trophy for the 1st time.

I expected the complete capitulation of our team to be the topic of intense scrutiny and the usual mud-slinging that follows every time we play pathetic cricket. (Something which happens far too often) Sadly as has become the norm rather than the exception; off the field events tend to overshadow the more important ones that take place on the 22 yards.
One such thing which caught my attention was the one labeled “Push becomes a shove” by the media. For once, I was actually watching the incident in question. It was pretty straight-forward really. Aussies wanted to get their hands on probably the only trophy that had eluded them thus far. In the excitement, the captain gestured to Mr. Pawar to hand them the trophy and once that was done, Michael Clarke promptly nudged the chief guest off the dais so that the Aussie team could have it all for themselves. Meanwhile Mr. Pawar quietly walked away and the Aussies basked in the glory of another annihilation of its rivals.

This incident initially went unnoticed, but was brought into limelight when Sachin Tendulkar called it unfortunate. Since then everyone seemed to asking for an apology from the Aussies.

Whether or not the apology comes through or not, the incident highlighted the basic difference between the Aussies and our team and why Aussies are world beaters.

It really boils down to the way we are brought up as kids. I and I think most of you can remember being told by our parents to be a good person. We were all fed only one philosophy while we grew up… it goes something like this
“It is nice to be important but it is more important to be nice”

In a quest to become a good person, we end up being trodden over. Look at our current breed of cricketers-barring a few, all of them look like scholars rather than cricketers in the first place. In a game when you can’t afford to give an inch, the Indians look like a group of children when playing against the Aussies. I distinctly remember Javagal Srinath apologizing to Ricky Ponting when a bouncer hit the latter. What Srinath got in return was a mouthful of abuses… all for showing his good intentions. Cricketing history is replete with incidents of Indians being too nice on the field to their opponents…. A famous incident of providing a batsman of the opposing team with a runner when the same could have been refused comes to my mind immediately. The batsman went onto score a record against us.

The point is in today’s world of sports, it doesn’t pay to be nice. I have a small advice for the Indian team-“Play the game, but don’t ever think it’s just a game”

Here’s wishing the men in blue lots of luck and oodles of aggression.

Hope

Hope-This 4 letter word means so much and can do one so much good and yet the power of hope has never been realised by mankind.

Oops.....This is not the way i wanted to start this post.. but seems it has. no sweat coz the rest of the page is still empty and can speak what i want it to.

I watched a cricket match yesterday-nothing extra-ordinary in that... even the match was quite ordinary... nt the kind i would tell my grandchild abt. we los, we lost to windies. we were going to lose anyways. that became quite clear after our innings... this is no time for statistics so all i will say is that we scored far less than what we are capable of and more importantly wat we needed. well the match did have its great moments and we came close but not close enough. we lost. so wats the big deal? its just match and we anyways lose quite often these days. it suddenly dawned on me that we have to beat the aussies on sunday to reach the semi-final. i slept after the match thinking it cant be done and that i choose the team i want to back from here on in. i slept soundly and strangely woke up with the hope of reaching the semifinals.... us beating the mighty aussies with 5 batsmen (One of them losing his form more rapidly than his hair), a puppet captain and an aussie coach and a bagful of excuses to lose and yet not feel the pinch.

I am hoping against hope coz thats all i can and i remember wat a great man once said
" Hope never abandons us, we abandon it"

So here's hoping for a win on sunday-a nation prays, a nation waits but more importantly a nation hopes.

The hope of a billion hearts is on test-Pls dont let us down!

A Thought!

I like this idea of writing a diary online but im also too lazy to do it on a regular basis. its difficult to reconcile the two. so i spent a fair amount of my time thinking of a way out and looks like we have a winner... or should i say in this case two winners. confused? let me explain. i thought of the things that im passionate about and books and aviation came up trumps. so i decided that in future i would be updating my diary everytime i finish reading a book or undertake the plane journey. I have always believed that any book that one reads mirrors in a one way or the other what one is feeling,thinking or undergoing. now every time one travels- there is always something new to look forward to and cherish later-new places, new people, new challenges and new opportunities.

by the way-this post would nt be complete without me thanking my friend adi whose blog has really been the inspiration behind me thinking of doing something like this. thanks for helping me relive my two wonderful years at SIIB.

This is certainly a long self-imposed hiatus. The last time i scribbled something in this blog of mine, I was wandering in the realm of nothingness-having almost completed my MBA, there was nothing much to do. Now after joining work, i realise how precious that time was and how it is sometimes nice to be doing nothing at all.

So what has happened since then? A few first-On the personal front-a new job, first salary, a Bharat darshan of sorts-from Pune to Delhi to Hyderabad and now back to Pune, signing the first lease for a house, cant remember everything-also a first.

Starting Out!

So what is that i wish to accomplish with this exercise of mine?
Guess not much...except to share some of my memories and experiences. This is nothing new and i realise that. Yet this is an attempt that my friends can know whats going on in my life. I am an amateur and i guess it shows but like they say-Keep blogging!