The Cup of Joy

World Cup fever is on a rise. As usual the Indian team is looking good on the paper but really can this team recreate the magic of 1983? Here are the top 5 factors that can win the world cup for us:

1. Fielding - Grab every opportunity that comes your way! Smart catches, accurate throws, desperate saves, these are the things that create pressure on the opposition.

2. Partnerships - The batsman should not bat individually looking to score all the runs by themselves. The batsman should focus on keeping the scoreboard ticking.

3. Accurate Bowling - The bowlers need to be accurate, especially in the first fifteen overs. don't try too many things just stick to a good line and length.

4. Captaincy - Dhoni's captaincy would be challenged in this tournament. Mostly the pitches will be conducive for batting and hence the field placement and bowling changes need to be spot on.

5. Aggression - The Indian team will be playing at home and that's why they should be aggressive and should try to dominate the opposition rather that playing under pressure.

If Indian team can get these things going for them then there is every Chance that they can win the the cup of joy!

Joy & Happiness

When I went to Pune for my convocation, I took a flight back to Chennai. It was the first time I travelled in an aeroplane and I enjoyed the experience. That day itself when I was returning home from the airport I thought that I should travel with my parents once, since they had not travelled in an aeroplane. This was back in 2007. After 3 years I got to fulfil my wish last month when my parents came to Chennai with me. They were so excited, just like a kid. It was really a joyful experience to see them exploring things and enjoying the journey. When we reached the airport, my wife showed them how the baggage is scanned. My mother was very surprised to see the technology where people can see inside the bags. Our flight was delayed by an hour and so we were waiting in the lounge for our boarding announcement. When we boarded the flight I was worried that my parents might feel uncomfortable during the take off bu thankfully nothing of that sort happened. They were very comfortable and infact liked the experience. Our flight was a late night flight and I was barely able to keep my eyes open but when ever i opende my eyes and looked at my parents, they were wide awake and alert and enjoying the experience. They also liked the view of the city lights from the window :)

I will not forget the expression on their faces throughout the journey, there was pure joy and happiness!

Identity

We just shifted our house from T Nagar to Velachery in Chennai so that we are more close to office and need not travel much. New place means you have to start again from scratch, find new newspaper person, new milk-man, new grocery store, new etc etc...amongst all these things most important is new house maid. Luckily we got one the day we shifted. The problem we face here in Chennai is language. We can understand and speak li'l bit of Tamil and the maid can understand a li'l bit of english, so basically the communication is a mix English words, Tamil words and sign language :-). One day this new maid servant of ours was trying to have a conversation with my wife and she was asking about our native place. My wife told her we are from Maharashtra, but the maid did not know the place and could not understand, so my wife told her names of cities like Mumbai, Pune but the maid did not know these either and we were surprised that she did not know Mumbai. Then my wife asked her, "Do you know Sachin Tendulkar?" and the maid said yes with a smile. So my wife told her that we are from the same region and it's known as Maharashtra. That day I realised that Sachin Tendulkar or any famous personality for that matter can be identity, even if people do not know a certain region/state/country famous personalities of that region provide an identity to that region and it's people outside.

2nd Innings and The Beautiful Game

Yes, this is a start to my second innings on my blog. It's been ages i haven't written anything here and yesterday when I read some of old posts, it felt like revisiting my old home town after a long time and suddenly I felt that I should keep this place alive and kicking :) and hence the second innings!

Football fever was at it's peak the last month. We are down to 2 teams now from the elite 32 (I wonder sometimes how India fared in the qualifiers...if they played any! Never heard anything on this topic). Good to see Spain and Netherlands in the final at least there will be a new winner. But all the teams that I supported went out one by one...England...Argentina...Germany. England payed the price for a very very poor performance. Argentina were very good in the first 2 rounds and then they lost it. But I really feel sorry for Ghana, if only Gyan hadn't missed the penalty. Anyways...now I am supporting the European champs Spain. It would be a deserving win for them if they can do it. Go for it Spain!!!

Discovery day

I have been hearing the name "Volkswagon" since ages but never knew that it's pronounced as Folks-wagon. I am Surprised!!!

It ain't over...till it's over!

Someone should tell this to the Indian crickrt team. I didn't expect India to loose the match especially after doing such a great job of restricting the Aussies to 250. But the Indian team made heavy weather of the target and gave away an easy win. Sachin's wicket was the turning point for me. He wanted to slow down and lost his wicket in this process and bad umpiring didn't help either. (Looking at Sachin it was very obvious that his focus was 17,000 and not 251) Sehwag is back to his old self, smashing the ball to all the parts of the ground and then suddenly giving away his wicket (Hey Viru...quick fire 30s and 40s don't win matches for your country! Do you understand this?) and Yuvi's wicket was due to Punter's brilliance. The only positive thing was Bhajji and Praveen Kumar's batting...they are really playing gem of an innings these days. But I feel by loosing this match India has given a chance to Aussies to win the series and I won't be surprised in Aussies grab at it in style.

Lamhe chura lo na...

Yeah...i feel like singing the Limca ad jingle. The daily schedule is getting more and more hectic and 24 hrs. seem so less. There are so many things that I want to do other than the daily routine but there seems to be no time at my hand to do those things.

So what will I do if I do steal some precious moments?
> Call up my buddies! There was a time when we used to call each other at least twice a week. Now we only speak once in a while.
> Read the books that I have bought couple of months ago but haven't touch them yet!
> Blog more frequently! There are many topics on which I can put up a post.
and much more...