India - The twenty20 world cup champions

Cricket is a sport that every child/man follows in this country. It’s in his blood. Ask him what’s the national game of India and he might just end up saying – Cricket.

Traditionally so, cricket is a game of 50 Overs played with 11 people each in 2 teams. It usually is a long game, which essentially means that it takes up a lot of one’s time. Nonetheless, people love the sport and have been following it religiously for several decades. However, its audience which includes housewives and young women might have found it difficult to sit through a long game day after day during a world cup series.

Now the modern way of cricket is a game of 20 Overs. Hence, it’s been given the name Twenty20. How are people taking it? Not so good and not so bad either. Like they always say that there are two sides of a coin. Similarly, there are some people who love the idea and some who do not support the idea. They probably love the idea because now they can remove time and actually watch the match and enjoy it just like all cricket lovers do. It’s like finally getting to know that what’s the whole fuss about watching a cricket match.

The recent Twenty20 World Cup was a resounding success. I think that they were successful in their attempts of trying to entice the younger people into the grounds.

It’s a quick and exciting game. It brings a new audience to the game and generates interest in Essex. And here’s the biggest one - The Indians brought home the cup after 24 years.

Chak de India!

A day in our lives!

Every morning I wake up and get out of bed, head towards the closet and prepare for my day. Whether that means heading out to an office somewhere, sitting down in front of my computer, or may be just having breakfast with the family on my day off. We all do this day after day after day.

As I am driving to work, waiting for the computer to boot, or taking a shower, my mind is a million miles away. I am thinking about all that has to get done that day in order for me to have ‘done my job’. I read this somewhere, that in any given day a human mind has 8 million and 4000 thoughts.

I reach work, the security guard at work smiles and waves good morning. I open my email and mixed in with all the business emails is one from a friend just telling me to smile and have a good day. The day passes, I get busy with my work and appointments.

It’s the end of the day. I come back from work and I am exhausted. I realize that my list of things to do got longer instead of shorter. I sit and wonder why life has to be so hectic all the time.

I sit at the dinner table with the family and talk about the events of the day and all that is happening in my life. I nod and smile but my mind is on all the things that I still need to do. I collapse into bed, thinking about the project and appointments that have to be completed by tomorrow. I let my mind ponder on these things for a while and then I dose off and let my mind slip into la la land.

I arise again the next morning, my mind already in overdrive trying to figure out the best way to ‘attack’ the day. This is what we do. This is our life. Day after day!

Deeply disturbed!

They say that time plays a very important role in our lives. It can heal wounds with the snap of a finger. Just that a day includes 24 hours, an hour includes 60 minutes and a minute includes 60 seconds.

Time flies by and I simply wait with baited breath to see what life has in store for me. I am lost and confused. I want to run away from my life. I don't like it here anymore. I don't understand what's happening to me. I feel twisted in the head. My mind races through thoughts all the time. I can't sleep. My head wants to explode. I hate the way life feels right now.

I stood there in the office cafeteria this afternoon. I watched the people around me, as they all walked past me. I watched them as they were sitting and chatting with their friends and peers. I saw them and thought to myself...they too must have problems, we all do! What is it that brings a smile on their face and what is it that stops it from bringing a smile on mine. I thought, only if I were able to live someone else's life to see if they share the same pain that I do or even worse so that I could come back and probably not feel so terrible about my life.

Days turn into nights and nights into mornings and I wait...I wait for the sleep fairy to bestow her kindness upon me. I pop in a pill or two night after night so that the the sleep fairy would see my wrath and help me get out of it. The sleep fairy comes and goes and I lay around in my bed like a lifeless soul. No reading, no watching tv, no meditating can give my soul that peace and serenity that it requires at this point in time. I beg for your kindness to come and help me out. For only this once, like a little child would have said...

A web of many lives!

Went to the hospital, a couple of weeks ago. Why? The same old problem - my backache! My back had been giving me trouble again since the past few weeks. It had been difficult to move around and to be able to sit with ease. So i had decided to visit the doctor. I had met him the previous week and he had asked me to come back the following week. However, due to the pressure at work I was unable to do so. So I met him the next Saturday, that is as and when I got the time. So there I was, at the Apollo clinic at Vasant Kunj, in the lobby, waiting for the doctor. And I saw this family.

A father, a mother and a young girl. It appeared that the mother had come to collect some reports for some tests that she might have undergone earlier. The mother called out the little girl's name, trying to keep a watch on her. Malvika she said, as the girl wandered around in the lobby. She was carefree, just like any other kid would be. She tip toed, in and out of rooms where she obviously shouldn't have been going. She was this little person, so full of life. Despite the fact that her parents look worried after studying the reports she was just busy being herself, a kid! She would smile, look at her dad and ask, "Papa, what happenend to Mumma?" Papa didn't say much and dismissed her question by diverting her attention to a little toy. She then ran across the lobby, hopped onto one chair, then ran towards the other, sat there for a while and then moved on to the next one. She was like a doll who was totally unperturbed by what was happening around her, unlike me who seemed to have been caught up in their actions. Within a couple of minutes her father lifted her up in his arms and exited the lobby of the Apollo clinic.

I love watching people when they are doing their regular things. It gives me an insight into their lives. They are regular people with their regular problems. It just feels good to be able to relate to them once in a while. When I am feeling low and I see people who are happy around me, it instantly puts a smile on my face. Try it, it works!