What’s good for the goose is good for the gander

Cricket Australia (CA) is keeping a close watch on the developments in our country. Why? Because we have survived many bomb blasts over many decades. Why? Because Pakistan infiltrates our border and we are to be blamed for protecting our territory? Why? Because we don’t cower and stop dead in our tracks but still continue with life normally. Why? Because we are a race that has seen much adversity in the face of politics of all types. Why? Because Lalit Modi’s brand of politics is reaping in the big draw and ICC cant stomach it? Why? Because suddenly the Champions League is seen as a huge international threat? I mean, how hollow can the excuses get and for how long are we expected to gulp it all down like a bitter pill?

If you were to ask me my thoughts on ICC, I think it is one of the most inept sports company in the world. ICC should have removed umpires like Darell Hair who have consistently refused to toe the line of ICC administration in Murali's case. I strongly believe ICC is not a very efficient International cricket body that refuses to acknowledge the larger role of Indian public and popularity of Indian cricket in the context of International Cricket . This is particularly sad when knowing the truth ICC exists because of Cricket's popularity in Asia and the continued support of Indian corporate sponsors.

Dalmia wins the state cricket board election for Bengal and it makes headlines. Sharad Pawar makes a statement on one of the boys and the nation debates it.
We all understand the religion called cricket in this country. Call it a blinding reality or call it a national diversion. Cricket is all about having our backs against the wall and coming away winning all. Billion people following a game passionately, is a huge market, and provides a great business opportunity, not to be ignored. Why should ICC which is run by a handful of men Oz and England, benefit, from the popularity of its game in India?

Brett Lee can come over to India to rake in the moolah by being the brand ambassador for Timex and not be worried about the bomb blasts or his own safety? The question to ask is did the blasts affect him? But CA is most diligent about its scan of India, in fact it becomes a matter of grave State concern for them? Do you get the joke? Pre tour inspection they call it? Do they really think the collective senses and sensibility of this country will accept this duality from the Aussies?

I mean come on who are we kidding here? Does the ICC/Oz cricket Board even understand that they will sell their souls to money and power? They surely know the richest cricket body today can make them dance to their tunes and still get back home rolling in cash? Will they ever get an audience as large and as crazy as ours where the love for cricket is unified despite the many divisions within this one diverse land called India? Guess the jokes on them this time. And this debate is not over by a long shot!

The wait is over

A time to catch up.
Sleep. Movies. Friends. Family. Myself. Everything.

There are weekends when I am a couch potato and nothing can shake me from the stupor of sleep. There are weekends which are busy shopaholic days. Retail therapy cleanses the soul they say and I think its true. Then there are weekends which are about home food and basking in the warmth of family and a few chosen friends. Some weekends of mine are crammed with hyper activities. I feel like a break soon after this kinda weekend is over. I don't like the Monday that follows

The weekends that I love most are those which are spontaneous, easy, and not heavy on planning. These are happy weekends.


I wonder if the weekend was longer and the week was smaller. How would it be? I think then we may not have been so eagerly awaiting the weekend. Mine is about to start soon very soon and boy am I looking forward to this weekend!

Actually I think what is even more fun is working from home. On some crazy days when I’ve had to do that to simply get away from work madness, those days I stay put at home, I most definitely achieve far more and stay far at ease. And if that day happens to be right close to the weekend, the feeling is smooth.

There are no strict rules for the weekend. It’s about discovering a new club or a new restaurant or a cool shop. It’s about play. I can safely sleep till after noon and not worry about who I may have missed because my world wakes up much later in the day. Happy weekend folks!

Duality. Diversity.Finally Singularity

A friend spoke to me very passionately about, how, by 2012, the vibrations of the earth will increase and how, there will be more unification and higher order thinking that will prevail across the globe. While I sat listening, fascinated by this subject, part of my rationale brain was curious to have more answers, more solutions.

How does one restore unity to a fragmented world?

Maybe by delving deeper into plurality? It’s a paradox I know:) , but isn’t it true the more something is broken down to its particulars, the more we uncover opportunities for enhancement

My physics lab lessons come to mind. Take for example, two physical substances. Our senses interpret them as different and unconnected; but place them under a microscope and we discover that they are comprised of similar components - they might even share an element or two. The deeper we delve, to the molecular, atomic, and sub-atomic levels, the more unanimity we will find - and more ways to discover how to harness these diverse substances toward a singular end.

So does this mean that global oneness can save the Earth? Which is (according to
Al Gore) hurtling towards disaster? How will the change in consciousness happen if we continue to be the way we are? Can Spirituality, Karma, Buddhism bring it to a common code of knowledge and development?

It feels utopian. Can this be as simple as my pals make it out to be? If all people tuned their minds to a single universal brain, wouldn’t they find unity?
The "mind" people follow will determine the destiny.

Ferrari busted!

This weekend, to be honest, I was hoping it would be an all red affair. So in much anticipation I started to watch the race on this huge screen with friends, it was a raucous evening.

It didn’t start too well for Ferrari, and certainly midway into the race with Glock crashing out it looked like the Gods were siding with the Reds. Here was Massa and Kimi’s chance to make it to the top 3 and after that huge bungle from Lewis’s engineering team, it looked certain that Massa would take pole! But heck! Ferrari was simply not competitive enough to fight for the win. I have never known Ferrari to not have the speed to go up against their main rivals ever. It was frustrating. When the lengthy laps of the Safety Car took place, both Felipe and Kimi opted for a double pit stop and I think that was the right decision. Though I still cannot understand why it was done is such a hasty manner because Kimi was waiting behind Massa and precious seconds were lost then! Then in the final stages of the race, Felipe did not have the right grip level and also had problems with his brakes which first prevented him from attacking Piquet and then from adequately fighting off a closing Hamilton. Lewis Hamilton made it two in a row on Sunday with a commanding victory at Hockenheim.

Ferrari team definitely needs to regroup and study their position and understand how to return to being as quick as they have always been. A disappointing Sunday race which no Goa, no amount of cheery ‘c’mon cheer up’, and no amount of camaraderie can cheer me given that the reds got busted!

Tagged?!?

This is something my blogging friends are much into!

I am now the chosen one and I in turn have to tag another two bloggers when I am done (I like this part:))

Since I am not too sure about tagging and I know many who do - I will simply drop you'll a comment, please take it forward from there?

Here are some house rules:
* Each person tagged has to write 12 random facts/habits about themselves.
* Those that are tagged will have to write a post on their own blog (about their twelve things)
* At the end of your blog, you need to choose two other people to get tagged and list their names.
* Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Here are my 12 things!

* I love the first rains... no matter what I am doing, I get outdoors and feel the first raindrops
* I love the smell of earth when it rains for the first time in the year- bliss
* I love the smell of petrol
* I like to sleep late and stay up late and all those who know me will not call me early morning
* I like cleanliness, am not hyper about it but don’t like mess
* I love to tend to my plants. I cannot deal with any plant of mine dying, hate it if a leaf goes yellow, adore it when they bloom with flowers
* I love movies with mush and craziness and much laughter
* I love my name. I am the beautiful eye of a fish. No wonder I love the sea.
* I love showers…sometimes I take several a day! Warm muggy Bombay encourages that, for me
* I love home food, especially mom’s and sis’s cooking
* I love dogs and wish I had at least 4 of them, but feel criminal about keeping them holed up in a flat! So dogs in the large haveli of my grandparents works for me
* Music! I’d die without music; it is the most essential ingredient for my breathing!

And now I get to tag others, which I will do soon

The Doors

Not just this morning but everytime I have taken a flight , gone to see a movie, I have witnessed this.

We carry numbered tickets/ boarding cards so there should’nt be a stampede right? What prompts people to elbow, stamp and push everyone else to be the first through the door! Why do they try to be the first to get in to a movie hall, that they prevent the people from the previous show, from getting out. It happenes in trains, buses, elevators too!

I have always wondered about the door that forces people out of their natural sense of inertia! I have a few theories on this - if you will
• Feeling of success - accomplishment - the door represents the reaching of a target, the achieving of a goal – whether or not it has any material rewards! Maybe the reward is in the race itself!
• The sub-conscience treats every door as the finish line of a race in an effort to try and make winning a habit
• It is a chain reaction started by the first person who makes a rush for the door – seeing someone else trying to be the first forces a person to defeat that person!
* Another could be - they are most unconcerned about their fellow passengers
• The final possibility – in my opinion the most likely – is that most people are impatient and are blind followers.

Am sure there must be more motivations that I am unclear on

Small joys

Lying carefree on the beach
Listening to the chatter of the small waves as they tumble against each other
Not getting sun burnt
Goa, Jaisalmer, Kerala
Sleeping under the stars and the Moon
Vast green -yellow sarson fields in Punjab in November
Getting the hotel room to the perfect sleeping temperature
The pleasure of remembering great and beautiful things that I cannot lose and the pleasure of sharing them with others
Looking at the universe through wondoerous eyes
The sunrise view from an airplane with the clouds almost touching the fingertips
Following with my mind the steps another took on his voyage of discovery
Objects of contemplation, beauty, and sentiment
Listen to beautiful music and singing at the top of my lungs
Paris
Hot crepes on a cold wintry day
The pop of the growing popcorn bag in the microwave
And I could carry on...

Sleepless in Bombay!

Sadness, heavy hearted, blessed, are some of the words I have chosen to describe the feelings that I experienced last

The woman's name is Kunda. She stands approximately 5'5" tall in her early fifties with a light brown complexion. I cannot say whether Kunda is a Maharashtrian or a South Indian by her features, coupled with the way she dresses, and the pronunciation of her name resembles that of a local, perhaps from Ambernath location. Her cheeks are round and her dark eyes tell a story that only she can tell, and her beauty is ubiquitous.

I didn't notice her until the weather became rainy ( Sept Oct last year) , Kunda wore a nice brown sari, with a black torn umbrella draped above her head, with water streaming through the umbrella on her. She stood silently taking the protection of the shop frontage and her torn umbrella

Absorbed in her own thoughts I've often seen her chattering to herself. I had never heard her utter a curse word and perhaps this made her more approachable for me.

With bags draped over her shoulder, which I assume are holding all her worldly possessions, she travels through the locality. She hauls a white plastic bag, a narrow green and a yellow one, and a beaten down tan bag. Wherever she is situated, I can look around and find her possessions, which are never quite out of her sight.

Because she is a nice-looking woman, I have often wondered what brought her to this existence. It isn't something I feel I have the right to ask. At times, she appears self-assured, but at other times, she is unapproachable.

I decided that on Diwali day I will get Kunda a nice salwar kameez and a brand new umbrella for the next rains. I put the new things in a nice hand bag and kept it on the side of her bags, while she was looking the other way, and quickly ducked into my car. The driver was puzzled but didn’t ask too many questions, while I watched furtively from the side view mirror if she was going to pick the bag and explore.

Kunda did not touch that bag, and I was getting late after 10mins of waiting, decided to leave. In the evening on my way back she was still sitting where I saw her in the morning and the bag was closer to her feet now. I dropped Rs 10/- in her lap, we exchanged eye contact and I moved onwards

The next time I saw Kunda, was a month later. I was dropping some stuff for her, hair brush and deo’s and a little money, when she looked at me with no recognition. I felt sad not because she did not recognize me, but because I think I probably know now why she is on the streets, she does not have any memory.

She has either walked out of her house one day and did not know how to trace back home or somebody has abandoned her on the street and did not want a liability.
She is homeless. Since that day I do my bit in looking after her, I get her a meal a day, clothes, shampoo and toiletries. I tried seeking the help of the local police to find her a home but no help there. Hopefully we will be able to place her in the Bandra home for the old with upkeep to be paid for.

Eminem Mockingbird

This song is probably the saddest one he's made, and if stories about this are true, he wrote this before he became famous. It captures feelings between a father and daughter. The lyrics make me sad and bring tears tears to my eyes
=- =- =- =- -=

Well i know sometimes things may not always make sense to you right now
But hey, what daddy always tell you? Straighten up little' soldier.
Stiffing up that upper lip.
What you crying' bout?
You got me

Hailie I know you miss your mom
And I know you miss your dad when I'm gone
But I'm trying to give you the life that I never had
I can see you're sad
Even when you smile
Even when you laugh
I can see it in your eyes
Deep inside, you wanna cry
'cause you're scared
I ain't there
Daddy's with you in your prayers
No more crying
Wipe them tears
Daddy's here
No more nightmares
We gon pull together through it
We gon do it
Lainie, uncle's crazy ain't he?
Yeah but he loves you girl and you better know it
We're all we got in this world
When it spins
When it swirls
When it whirls
When it twirls
Two little beautiful girls
Looking puzzled, in a daze
I know it's confusing you
Daddy's always on the move
Mama's always on the news
I try to keep you sheltered from it
But somehow it seems, the harder that I try to do that
the more it backfires on me
All the things, growing up
As daddy that he had to see
Daddy don't want you to see
But you see just as much as he did
we did not plan it to be this way
You're mother and me
But things have got so bad between us
I don't see us ever being
Together ever again
Like we used to be when we was teenagers
But then of course
Everything always happens for a reason
I guess it was never meant to be
But it's just something
We have no control over
And that's what destiny is
But no more worries
Rest your head and go to sleep
Maybe one day we'll wake up
And this will all just be a dream


Now hush little baby don't you cry
Every things gonna be alright
Stiffen that upper lip up little lady
I told ya, daddy's here to hold ya
Through the night
I know mommy's not here right now and we don't know why
We feel how we feel inside
It may seem a little crazy, pretty baby
But I promise, Mama's gonna be alright

It's funny
I remember back one year when daddy had no money
Mommy wrapped the Christmas presents up
and stuck them under the tree
and said some of them were from me
'cause daddy couldn't buy 'em
I'll never forget that Christmas
I sat up the whole night crying'
'cause daddy felt like a bum
See daddy had a job
But his job was to keep the food on the table for you and mom
And at the time every house that we lived in
Either kept getting broken into and robbed or shot up on the block
And your mom, was saving money
For you in a jar trying to start a piggy bank for you
So you could go to college
Almost had a thousand dollars
Till someone broke in and stole it
And I know it hurt so bad it broke your mama's heart
And it seemed like everything was just starting to fall apart
Mom and dad was arguing a lot
So mama moved back on the Chalmers in the flat
One bedroom apartment
And dad moved back to the other side of 8 mile on Novara
And that's when daddy went to California with his CD
And met Dr. Dre and flew you and Mama out to see me
But daddy had to work
You and mama had to leave me
Then you started seeing daddy on the TV
And mama didn't like it
And you and Lainie were too young to understand it
Papa was a rolling stone
mama developed a habit
and it all happened too fast for either one of us to grab it
I'm just sorry you were there and had to witness it first hand
'cause all I ever wanted to do was just make you proud
Now I'm sitting' in this empty house, just reminiscin'
Looking at your baby pictures it just trips me out
To see how much you both have grown
It's almost like your sisters now
Wow, I guess you pretty much are
And daddy's still here
Lainie I'm talking to you too
Daddy's still here
I like the sound of that, yeah
It's got a ring to it, don't it?
Shh, mama's only gone for the moment


Now hush little baby don't you cry
Every things gonna be alright
Stiffen that upper lip up little lady
I told ya daddy's here to hold ya
Through the night
I know mommy's not here right now and we don't know why
We feel how we feel inside
It may seem a little crazy pretty baby
But I promise
Mama's gonna be alright

And if you ask me to,
Daddy's gonna buy you a mocking bird
I'ma give you the world
I'ma buy a diamond ring for you
I'ma sing for you, I'll do anything for you to see you smile
And if the mockingbird don't sing and the ring don't shine
I'ma break that birdie's neck
I'll go back to the jeweler who sold it to ya
And make him eat every karat
Dont f**k with dad
ha ha

So in love

Mum and Dad are the apple of each others eye! I sometimes think Dada is more in love with Mum. She is spoilt by Dad, and so indulged by him! He fulfills her every wish and every desire, never winces when her demands are at times crazy. He tries to even fulfill those.

She showers her love on him, by keeping the kitchen and home alive, she cooks a mean meal and he never ever feels like eating out! She looks after his kids and he is happy to return home, and bask in the love, of his family.

Dad taught Mum how to sew and stitch, Dad taught Mum how to cook. Mum taught Dad how to be more tolerant. Mum taught Dad unflinching love. Mum is ever forgiving and ever accommodating. Dad is her guide to the world and ways of life.

Both, SO, made for each other

Ye re ye re pausa

I wake up to a soaked Bombay and no sun, heck it is my first day to office, I moan grumpily! Why did the sun desert me today of all days! Grey and dull and pouring harder by the minute! I said to myself a bad omen! As it is I am reluctant about going to work today and now the rain!

Despite my misgivings I get into my car, all set, and the security guard knocks at my window. Bad news- its water logged down the street and it is knee deep! Well it’s not going to be my first day at work after all, so I get back home. And sleep!

I woke at noon, to a bright sunny sky and jumped out cheerily, ready to burn rubber. Was a bit stilted the first half hour at office, then spontaneity broke all barriers and I was having fun, getting to know people, settling into my new office, working out the modalities, getting my cuppa the way I like it, half the battle won:-) It wasn’t a bad day after all.

Warm people, good energies, bright colours, skipped lunch, still to figure that one, got to take my music tomorrow to work, Indian and contemporary touches in the office blending well, nice! Am looking forward to work tomorrow.