Gone are the days!!!

Gone are the days
When
The school reopened in June,
And we settled in our new desks and
benches!
When we queued up in book depot,
And got our new books
and notes!
When we wanted two Sundays and no Mondays, yet
managed to line up daily for the morning prayers.
We learnt writing with
slates and pencils, and
Progressed To fountain pens and ball pens and then Micro tips!
When we began drawing with crayons and evolved to
Color pencils and finally sketch pens!
When we started calculating
first with tables and then with
Clarke's tables and advanced to
Calculators and computers!
When we chased one another in the
corridors in Intervals, and returned to the classrooms
Drenched in sweat!
When we had lunch in classrooms, corridors,
Playgrounds,
under the trees and even in cycle sheds!
When all the colors in the world,
Decorated the campus on the Second Saturdays!
When a single P.T. period in the week's Time Table,
Was awaited more eagerly than the monsoons!
When cricket was played with writing pads as bats,
And Neckties and socks rolled into balls!
When few played
"kabadi" and "Kho-Kho" in scorching sun,
While others simply played
"book cricket" in the
Confines of classroom!
Of fights but no conspiracies,
Of Competitions but seldom jealousy!
When we used to
watch Live Cricket telecast,
In the opposite house in Intervals and Lunch breaks!
When few rushed at 3:45 to
"Conquer" window seats in our School bus!
While few others had "Big Fun", "peppermint",
"pineapple", " water melon !" and "sharbat !" at 4o Clock!
Gone are the days
Of Sports Day,
and the annual School Day ,
And the one-month long
preparations for them.
Gone are the days
Of the stressful Quarterly,
Half Yearly and Annual Exams, And the most
enjoyed holidays after them!
Gone are the days
Of tenth and twelfth standards, when
We Spent almost the whole year writing revision tests!
We learnt,
We enjoyed,
We played,
We won,
We lost,
We laughed,
We cried,
We fought,
We thought.
With so much fun in them, so many friends,
So much experience, all this and more!
Gone are the days
When we used
to talk for hours with our friends!
Now we don't have time to say a 'Hi'!
Gone are the days
When we played games on the road!
Now we
Code on the road with laptop!
Gone are the days
When we saw stars
Shining at Night!
Now we see stars when our code doesn't
Work!
Gone are the days
When we sat to chat with Friends on grounds!
Now we chat in chat rooms.....!
Gone are the days
Where we
studied just to pass!
Now we study to save our job!
Gone are the days
Where we had no money in our pockets and still fun filled on our hearts!!
Now we have the atm as well as credit card but with an empty heart!!
Gone are the days
Where we shouted on the road!
Now we don't shout even at home
Gone are the days
Where we got lectures from all!
Now we give lectures to all... like the one I'm doing now....!!
Gone are the days
But not the memories, which will be
Lingering in our hearts for ever and ever and
Ever and ever and ever .....

In a world where love is a "what"

A post was long due and I was wondering what to write in my blog. Sometimes I feel like putting across what ever crap that comes in my mind to get a better picture of what I am thinking lately. Sometimes I wonder to write about my reservations against so called “arranged” marriage in the Indian society. Everything that came across wasn’t convincing enough to compel me to write a post.
Love is in the air I believe and I think you needn’t be in a relationship to feel that. Whatever I see read or hear lately is all about the love of someone over the other or simply love as a matter of topic. You won’t believe if I say that I came across such a thing in a cricket based site that I usually read. My favorite section of the site cricinfo is Quote Unquote where in they publish those things spoken by cricketers and anyone associated with the game. It usually carries what the cricketers spoke about other cricketers and the comments of editors in various cricket magazine that makes it all the more an interesting read as you get a first hand feel of what’s happening in their cricketing and personal life.
It happened today that I came across couple of statements in that section that proved my conviction of love in the air is true. The statements are below.

"I will not be without her for 11 weeks ever again, we've decided that."
Kevin Pietersen on how much he missed his wife Jessica Taylor while he was in the Caribbean. In days of old cricketers were sometimes away for up to seven months on tours

Apr 1, 2009

"I'm just Jane McGrath's husband these days"
Glenn McGrath reflects on how his work with the foundation named after his late wife has taken over his life

Mar 31, 2009

I have some reservations to believe what Kevin has said for the mere reason that it was posted on the 1st of April and i shall follow him up to have a post about it sometime in the future. But whatever McGrath has told was right from the bottom of the heart.
I like McGrath as a bowler for his disciplined bowling which is precise and accurate most of the time. But I don’t like him as a sportsman for the simple reason of his foul mouth and ruthlessness that he brings in to the field. His on field behavior doesn’t go well with me and that doesn’t impress me much though he is a champion bowler. This painted a picture of his personality in my mind.
I always had a liking to the news of the personal life of a cricketer for it helps you understand the cricketer as a human being. So I was a follower of the Glenn and Jane McGrath story too. Though not closely, any bit of news that pops in a magazine or a site I hardly miss if got a chance to read. Coming from a culture where Shane Warne is his compatriot I truly admire this guy’s love for his lady love. He met Jane in the year 1995 and she was diagnosed with cancer in the year 1997. Despite knowing this he married her in the year 1999 and they had couple of children to make the family complete. He fought a fight that no man dared to. He fought with his wife to spread the awareness of breast cancer. Together they started the McGrath foundation that helps spread awareness on breast cancer and raise funds for its treatment. Jane passed away in the year 2008 leaving Glenn to fight the battle all alone which he happily does for the love he had for his woman.
In a world where love and respect to the people who are alive is insignificant Glenn stands out as a humble human being doing what they are bound to do on this earth i.e. to love unconditionally. People admire Taj Mahal for the mere reason of its existence – the love a king had for his queen and I don’t see Glenn any lesser than him. It might sound melodramatic but true to the last word. Jane was a good human being and she thoroughly deserves a man like Glenn.
Yes I like Glenn as a human being now. I respect and admire him for the person he is.

SAINT and the SPIRIT

It’s rather a dull Saturday morning made even duller by Indian cricket team’s lackluster performance which lacked any sting or application. I am yet to come out of my slumber but I am determined to write a post for my blog. If I start now I have all the time till Sunday evening to complete it  I have been thinking about lot of topics to write but then zeroed in on one man whom I admire for his outlook towards life.
Gandhiji hated liquor his whole life and don’t run in to a conclusion that I am going to write about him as that’s the last thing in this world I wish to do in my blog. You wonder then what might have made me start with his name. Well he has been the subject of discussion for most news channels lately for having one James Otis trying to sell his memorabilia in an auction in New York. A campaign by bapu’s grandson Thushaar Gandhi to stop the auction went futile. His several requests to the Indian government to intervene to stop the auction fell in deaf man’s ears. The Indian government took all the efforts not to surprise any Indian or change his opinion on its potency. The Indian supreme court so righteously passed a judgment to stop an auction which was happening somewhere in New York. The news channels gorging with a huge appetite on this topic setting countdown for the auction throwing in hefty tag lines like “Indian heritage at the auction” and “Indian history at stake” was all in for the TRP’s. There was someone who was watching all this with a fervent silence and its not me I am mentioning here ;)
With such a lot of drama involved I was very keen to see the eventuality. The day of auction I switched on the news channel to see the outcome to realize that the liquor giant Vijay Mallya has got the highest bid of 1.8 million dollars to bring back the so called heritage home. I was all awe for this man. What a government couldn’t do, what a campaign by a whole lot of people couldn’t do, this man just pulled it off hands down and that too without making any noise about it. I understood later that he had a penchant for Indian history when the news channel read that he was the secret emptor at an auction that put Tippu sultan’s sword under the hammer few months earlier. Sword under the hammer, that sounds dramatic, he he.
Amidst the greedy multimillionaire’s our man definitely stands out. While others rake in money and keep on piling drawing a blank on the purpose of doing so Vijay Mallya is one who definitely understood the purpose of money and that is to live. And he lives and lives king size in style. His zeal to life sometimes makes me wonder that he is the only person on this planet born to live and to live the way he does. There might be a self-serving intention in that auction act but whatever he has done has got a fan in me no matter what.
If bapu was alive I guess he might have changed his opinion on liquor for it’s the liquor king and the contribution of liquor consumers in India that has brought back the Indian heritage home. What a way to give Indian heritage a face lift. Long live the king, long lives the heritage. Jai ho ;)

Broken mirror

Back after a small break.

An eternity is not enough to know a person.
You like someone not because that person is good but we consider that person is good because we like them.
I was collecting stones all this time, while i believed that i was collecting jewels.
Never betray a trust, trust when violated, can ruin even the best friendship.

The above statements will all hold good and make sense when the person you believed to be your best buddy turns out to be a back talker. When someone back talks we can take comfort from the thought that we are way ahead than the person who is back talking. But when the person turns out to be someone whom you thought to be your best buddy then it really hurts. It was brewing in me for long to put it across somewhere and the breaking point has come where in now i feel like alleviating the negative thoughts and energy in me.
When you realize all of a sudden that the person you have been walking along with, rubbing shoulders and sharing jokes with genuine feeling of friendship has not been reciprocating in the same way then there is a sullen feeling sinking in. What hurts the most is not that someone has back talked but the thought that if that someone shared the same genuine feeling of friendship it would have never happened in the first place.
Ever since it happened with me i started scrutinizing the behavior of that someone to realize that the fault was not with that someone but with me. I was so blind and naive to see the true self of that individual. May be because I was overwhelmed by the feeling i had for that person that i failed to see the true colors. May be friendship is not that someone's cup of tea. I can come up with a million maybes and still can’t zero in on a reason. No one is to be blamed but me. It was a lesson for a lifetime. It might change my outlook towards considering someone to be a friend and the ‘someone’ I meant here is anyone but I believe it’s for my own good. Life goes on and I have learnt to wear a fake smile which I am still getting used to. From someone who had genuine feeling in the mind while moving around with people to someone who wears a smiling mask is a huge transition that came along with a hefty experience.
A post with a heavy heart adds more to the blog like an Indian masala movie. Few thoughts of wisdom come across my mind as I write this now. Trust is like a mirror, once broken you can still stick it up to make it one but it seldom looks the same way again. By the way I got a title with the last statement that will replace "It hurts" which was sounding very much like Saif Ali Khan in the airtel ad.

All I can say now is Adios amigo.

A timely SMS

Sincere Note: This is not to hurt or bash anyone.Its a real incident and no animal has been harmed in the making of this post ;)

There is this one junior of mine who is going through some turbulent time with his affair who use to send me forwards(sms) which are usually lamentable. It happened today that he sent me a forward and i thinking it to be one of his many woeful sms opened it with a prepared mind. Half way through i had a feeling that the sms was written having in me in my mind. I felt how cruel life can be at times. It felt as if someone is watching me closely and sending me messages at appropriate time just to show me that i am under supervision. Following is the message i received,

SMS
Whats great Love?
When you hide tears and care for her
When she ignores you, still you love her....

I was scrutinising myself whether i was feeling the same way when the following line stuck gold with me.

SMS cotd
When she begins to love another, you still smile for her and say to yourself




Ava....................







.....................




....................



"MACHI SAPPA FIGURE DA AVA"

:D

I just couldnt stop laughing for sometime. I am still giggling as i am writing this post.
I got reminded of the story of the fox and the sour grapes of the childhood days.
Its a funny feeling and i suddenly understand that life is not cruel but very funny.
That was a message that cheered me up. It came along to remind me who i am and pushed me to keep going. After all life is how you see it.

Lets see the life as a smiling smiley :)