Aai !!!

Again an emotionally touching article that was lying around on my hard disk for many months.... If you understand Marathi, this one will strike a chord somewhere deep inside the heart ... (again, click on the below image for a much bigger and readable version)

Quotes of the Week !!!

Since I am too lazy to blog daily, I've decided to put 5 quotes every week.

Let me start with my fav 2 and then 3.

1. 'Winners dont do different things, they do things differently' - Shiv Khera

2. 'Tough times dont last, but Tough people do' - Robert Schuller

3. 'Every adversity carries with itself the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit' - Napoleon Hill

4. 'Success depends on readiness for opportunity; opportunity may come by accident but readiness never does' - Rayburn

5. 'Nothing worthwhile was every accomplished without the will to start, the enthusiasm to continue, and the persistence to finish' - Waite Philips

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Check back again for next week's quotes !!!

Zindagi !

At the very outset let me make it clear that the following verse is not mine. I got it as an email forward but its something I relate very closely to. Just click on it for a bigger readable version. Here goes -

Bowl it one last time Glenn !!!

I must apologize since this is not a new blog. Actually I used to blog on Yahoo 360 for quite some time however somehow the 360 concept never appealed to me. And since Google is almost taking over our life (GMail, GTalk, GoogleCalendar, Orkut, Blogger, ...) it is natural that I blog on Blogger. Somehow I find this Blogger website more easier to blog than a 360 or a Live Spaces. Ok, enough of yada yada yada....

Here is the Ctrl+C and Cntrl+V (copy and paste for non-geeks) of my old blog from 360. This was posted during the 2007 world cup and although its been a year, I am happy I put it before the 2011 world cup gets underway....

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Trying to stream a world-cup semifinal between Australia and South Africa was a tough task. However, considering the quality of giants squaring up in the arena, it was worth the effort....or so I thought.This was a less than rousing affair. The trouble with Australian professionalism is that it has become such a cliché that even watching it at its calibrated best can be numbing. Glory be flaws.

Yet, with a little filter of nostalgia even these hours of unremitting lopsided excellence are able to take on some warmth. To watch the chuntering maestro Glenn McGrath at work was to see an entire era of wicket-to-wicket back-of-length menace flash before the eyes, the eternal hypnotic torture of it. We will get to see it once more on Saturday. Once more only.

Few cricketers have been at once so level as McGrath and yet able to find another one. In an over, in a spell, in a day, in a series, in a season, he seems always to be operating at his peak. Still he is continually rising to occasions. Remember his ball to Sachin at the '99 World Cup? The one to Lara?

Admittedly Ashwell Prince played the stroke of a paralysed man and Jacques Kallis' foolishness brought the best out of a fine yorker. The touch of the master was in the Mark Boucher dismissal. It was the classic McGrath incision, Halal if you will. Off stump and just outside, a bit of wobble and bounce, caught first slip. Equally McGrathian was the impact: big semi-final, opening spell, six overs, 3 for 14, South Africa 27 for 5. The man is two months after 37. He looks it too. Australians were asking for him to be put to pasture before the World Cup. There you go.

With the departure of McGrath, shortly after Warne and shortly before Gilchrist, an epoch in cricket would be completed. Expertly, precisely and more humorously than given credit for, the job has been done. McGrath leaves Australian cricket in a better shape than he found it and whether Australia will make the most out of it - well, only time will tell ...

Men of Honor

Just lazing around on a Friday evening with not much to do (kya karein, leg still not fully recovered) and wanted to see a good old movie. Didnt want to see a new one (or rather an unseen one) since too bored to follow the plot. Also exhausted all my stock of movies as well as tv shows such as friends, everybody loves raymond, etc. Hence, was trying to recollect a movie which I've seen (hence know the plot) but not seen so many times that I know it line by line (a la Andaaz Apna Apna). I suddenly recollected on movie which I had seen 3 yrs ago.

I remember when I was in NY after my MS, me and my roommates used to go to the public library and rent a ton of movies (the library allowed upto 10 movies over a week). Although dont remember all, some of the good ones we saw included - behind enemy lines, pink panther, james bond (almost all), jurassic park, ben hur, and of course - Men of Honor.

For some reason, I loved this movie. Since its a very popular movie, I wont post its review (google it if you want to know the review). However, I just recollect two memorable quotes from this movie that are motivating every time I read them. Here goes -

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Billy Sunday: Think you deserve to be here, don't ya? Fraternizing among navy men? Think you're as good as they are? How 'bout me, cookie? You better than me?

Carl Brashear: You're damn right I am!

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Carl Brashear: Forgive me sir, but to me, the Navy isn't a business. It's an organization of people who represent the finest aspects of our nation. We have many traditions. In my career, I have encountered most of them. Some are good, some not so good. I would, however not be here today were it not for our greatest tradition of all.

Captain Hanks: And what would that be, Chief Brashear?

Carl Brashear: Honor, sir
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Have a nice weekend !!!

Earth Hour: Hype or Necessity?

So tomorrow is Earth Hour. An hour in which some 20 odd famous cities of the world will shut down power for one hour to warn people about global warming. Was browsing through a number of news sites and saw diverse reactions from people. A number of reputed news agencies (although they were once reputed, now are nothing short of being tabloids) such as times of india, rediff, etc. have followed a typical blind man's approach and criticized about India's absence in this initiative.

When I read some of the biased articles I was amused though not surprised. After all most of these editors sit in air-conditioned offices, drive air-conditioned cars and again sleep soundly up in their air-conditioned houses. Maybe they are not aware of the buzz-word 'load shedding'. Many and I mean many cities in India have been subjected to load shedding in peak summer heat. No power for 5-10 hours a day in cities where temperatures soar above 35 degrees almost daily, where farmers are forced to shut down their activities since their farming equipments require power (which is not provided), and where students are expected to give exams in dingy classrooms with no lights or fan due to power cuts? Aren't these Indians doing their bit for global warming?

Besides if these tabloids are so concerned about global warming, let me ask this - why does Times of India spend so much power on lighting for the no-good filmfare awards? Couldnt they shut the crap out of the mouths of saif and shahrukh, wind up their show in 30 minutes and save power for more than 3 hours instead of wasting it on hideous crap?

So my simple answer to the question posed by these news sites as to why India didnt participate is - "The world may just follow earth hour, however thousands of families in India follow an earth day"

Life

As I sit in my chair with a sprained knee, torn ligaments and a muscle tear with not much work and lots of idle time, myriad thoughts crossed my mind. On one hand was the nostalgia of the time that flew, and on the other was the uneasy motivation of the time that has not yet arrived. Last November, I suffered a personal loss that can never be repaired. I did not just loose my uncle but in fact lost a friend, a guide, or simply put - a part of me. A number of such incidents over the past few months have helped me put life in the right perspective. Sometimes we get involved in our work to an extent that we begin to believe that work indeed is our life. However, it is NOT. In the midst of conference submissions, research progress, and university life, we tend to forget that after all there exists a life beyond all this. Many a times, we take things and sometimes even life for granted only to realize how shallow our thinking can be.

I am neither a philosopher nor a religious prophet, and I am sure even if I was the most wise person, I would never be able to answer the questions - 'what is life?', 'why are we here?', ' where are we in the bigger scheme of things?'. In the midst of this chaotic thoughts, I got a beautiful poem in my mailbox and decided it to put it here. It is a beautiful collection of words that really sum up the situation of life on the day when this will all end for us.

"When tomorrow starts without me, and I am not there to see,
If the sum should rise and find your eyes, all filled with tears for me,

I wish so much you wouldn't cry, the way you did today,
While thinking of the many things, we didnt get to say,

I know how much you love me, as much as I love you,
And each time that you think of me, I know you'll miss me too,

But when tomorrow starts without me, please try to understand,
That an angel came and called my name and took me by the hand,

And said my place was ready in Heaven far above,
And that I'd have to leave behind, all those things I dearly love,

But as I turned to walk away, a tear fell from my eye,
For all my life I'd always thought, I didn't want to die,

I had so much to live for, so much yet to do,
It seemed almost impossible that I was leaving you,

I thought of all the yesterdays, the good ones and the bad,
I thought of all the love we shared, and all the fun we had,

If I could relive yesterday, just even for a while,
I'd say goodbye and kiss you, and maybe see you smile,

But then I fully realized that could never be,
For emptiness and memories, would take the place of me,

And when I thought of worldly things, I might miss come tomorrow,
I thought of you, and when I did, my heart was filled with sorrow,

But when I walked though Heaven's gates, I felt so much at home,
When God looked down and smiled at me, from his great golden throne,

He said, "This is eternity and all I've promised you,
Today your live on Earth is past, and here it starts anew,

I promise no tomorrow but today will always last,
And since each day is the same, there's no longing for the past,

But you have been so faithful, so trusting, and so true,
Though there were times you did some things you know you shouldn't do,

But you have been forgiven, and now at last you're free,
So won't you take my hand now and share your life with Me"

So when tomorrow starts without me, dont think we are far apart,
For every time you think of me, I'm right here in your heart...