Freezing Thoughts

The end, of another year. The festive mood of Christmas is always a wonderful way to end a year and look forward to a new one. January 1st is just another day in every respect, but end of a calendar year is always a good time for some retrospection and introspection, for the best thing about closure is the promise of a new beginning. Personally, 2012 was an eventful year for me. I hope the lessons learnt from experiences stay forever and help in navigating through the future in an effective and fruitful way. Perhaps the biggest lesson of all came in form of a poem titled ' If ', by Rudyard Kipling. Though I've read it before as a teenager, it is a wonderful feeling to come across it again, after almost a decade and find new meanings out of the same words. I share it here in the hope that the reader finds it relevant and takes inspiration from the poem. Also, I came across a recitation of the poem by Sir Michael Caine and couldn't stop myself from adding some m...

During the early 2000s, I used to dream for an Indian cricket team that played like an Australian outfit. I wanted India to possess the attributes which defined that great Aussie team; the habit of winning, never-say-die attitude, immense self-confidence and thorough professionalism. I definitely did not expect India to lose a Test series at home, just a few days after Australia did the same, and bring about a face-palm moment. It is not right to be too harsh on the current Indian team which is clearly in the middle of a rebuilding process. But more than the defeat, what is not a pretty sight, is the manner and attitude that go with it. Without Dravid and Laxman, those two wonderful troubleshooters who worked with the knack of adept technicians and the grace of seasoned magicians to rescue India, the responsibility on bowlers is immense. Sadly, sights of wane and inexperience among pace bowlers and an alarming void in spin department are not reassuring.  And there is the b...

After kicking-off with a spectacular opening ceremony, the London Olympics remains one of the top topics of dinner-table conversations and social media posts. It is unfortunate to see news about match-fixing in Badminton taking the limelight and slightly spoiling Michael Phelps' incredible achievement of winning 19 Olympic medals. Let us hope we hear only positive things about the games from now on. India's campaign hasn't been without events. A Jane Doe walking with Indian athletes during opening ceremony caused quite a sensation, but six days into the games, India has just one Bronze medal to be proud of. Hockey team is not performing as expected and hopes are pinned on Badminton events to make sure the medal tally improves. With almost two weeks of Olympics still left, it is a tad too early to pass judgement on India's performance, but one can't stop wondering about the dearth of good world-class athletes from a country with a population of over 1.2 billion...

Standing in front of security check entrance at the airport, the mother tried to hold back her tears and failed. Her son, who was there to send her off, tried to lighten the mood by telling how much he enjoyed having her over for vacation and how much he was going to miss her. At this point, the mother's tears grew so heavy that her eyes could no longer hold them and seeing this, words failed the son. He embraced her, trying to take away the sorrow that was making his mother cry. For an instant, they foolishly hoped for the moment to sustain forever. But then reality stuck soon enough, she walked towards the gate with her suitcase and he moseyed towards the exit. The above scene is an attempt to portray the beauty of an overcast July sky on a Sunday midnight in Stockholm. As I walked outside for a midnight stroll, a cool breeze caressed my face and for a moment it felt like I was in an Indian hill station for winter vacation ! Just like the son from above scene, the night sky ...

After a lackluster season last year, it was very important for Indian Premier League to kick-off well this year. With their association with Youtube continuing and thanks to a wonderful internet service here in Sweden, it is a treat to catch the matches live (HD quality!). IMG Media is doing a superb job with the broadcast, commentary is better, nice highlights packages and most importantly, several of the less fancied teams are challenging the established super-star teams. It is still early days in the tournament, but looks like it's going to be a really tight race to the top four this year. Teams suffered from a slight identity crisis last year due to shuffling of players, but things look better settled this year. Chennai Super Kings Two time champions are finding it hard to really get going. Are they becoming a tad too predictable? Though not many of their players are suffering from loss of form, things are just not happening their way. But they surely have a knack of ...

Regular viewers of 'How I Met Your Mother' must be wondering when the writers of the show are going to finally introduce 'The Mother'. Almost in the end of 7th season now, the sitcom is getting quite tedious nowadays; Lily-Marshall are not very funny anymore, Ted is so predictably hopeless and apparently we are not going to see a great deal of Robin in the coming episodes. But as always, Barney (or should I say, Bro-ney ?!) keeps the show going and his recent episodes with Quinn were just LEGEN, wait for it. There are a lot of clues littered throughout the past couple of seasons about 'The Mother' and they seem to point at this: Ted ends up marrying Barney's half-sister, Carly ! She was mentioned in Season 6, Jerome Whittaker showed his family photo to Barney and said, "This is my wife, my son JJ and daughter Carly, she is in college." What do we know so far ? * 'The Mother' was in the Economics class Ted mistook as architecture...

A day which will be remembered for Sachin Tendulkar's remarkable achievement of scoring a hundred international centuries, will ironically not be a very happy memory for Sachin Tendulkar himself. A man who proudly wears a helmet with an Indian flag on it every time he walks out to bat, would have preferred an Indian victory over him scoring a hundred. There are these die-hard Sachin fans who consider him God and worship him. To them, cricket starts and ends with Sachin scoring runs. If Sachin scores a century and India wins, he is the guiding force of India. If he scores a century and India loses (which seems to happen more often), then it is the team's fault that they ruined a Sachin century !! This is testimony to a sad fact that we prefer individual brilliance and flair over team effort when it comes to sports in India. Sachin is an amazing cricketer and a more amazing human being. When you start branding him 'God', then it becomes necessary to argue irration...

When the first Indian wicket falls in India's next Test match, Rahul Dravid will not walk in at No.3. His perfectly balanced stance and steady poise in wonderful Test whites can only be seen in video recordings, for earlier today, Dravid announced his retirement from Test cricket; his final Test match was in the Adelaide Oval in January earlier this year. It is fitting that he marked the start of a new era in Indian cricket at the same venue by guiding India to a famous win in 2004.  When Dravid debuted in 1996, my Dad pointed him out to me and said, "It's not just that he scores runs, he works very hard for them, but makes it look easy with a touch of class." Apart from the cricketing aspect, it was an important message for me, a 10 year old boy just starting to get the grips of life. The message I got was that while Dravid did not possess the natural flair of a Sachin Tendulkar, his performances were still in the same league as Sachin's. When I realized t...

(இது நான் சென்ற வருடம் Munich to Amsterdam பஸ் பயணம் செல்லும்போது எழுதினது, இங்கே பதிவு செய்ய விட்டுபோய் விட்டது.)  பஸ் ஜன்னலின் வெளியை லேசான மழை தூறல், கேசம் கலைக்கும் மெல்லிய காற்று. இளங்கருப்பு மேகங்களால் சிகரம் தெரியாத மலைகள், அடுக்கு அடுக்காய் தீப்பெட்டி போல வீடுகள் கொண்ட பெயர் தெரியாத கிராமங்கள். பச்சை புல்வெளியை மீறி திமிறி வளரும் நெருப்பு மஞ்சள் பூக்கள், என் எழுத்து பாதிக்காதவண்ணம்,  பேருந்து வெண்ணையாய் வழுக்கிசெல்ல வழிசெய்யும் சாலை. செவியில் சுவையாக ஷங்கர் மகாதேவன். மனதில் இந்த ஜேர்மன் நாட்டு அழகை எனது தாய்நாட்டுடன் உடனே ஒப்பிட்டு பார்க்கதூண்டும் பழைய நினைவுகள். இவை அனைத்தையும் ஒருசேர நெஞ்சில் நிறுத்தியும்  இறகுபோல் லேசாக இருக்கும் இதயம்.  எனது இந்த அனுபவத்தை நேர்த்தியாக இயக்கிகொண்டுஇருக்கும் இறைவா, எல்லா புகழும் உனக்கே. பி.கு: நல்ல தலைப்பு கிடைத்தால் சொல்லவும்.

To all people intrigued by ' Why this Kolaveri ' song and not sure of the meaning of 'Kolaveri', take a look at Virat Kohli's innings today and the way he helped India chase down 321 runs in merely 37 overs. That, ladies and gentlemen, was 'Kolaveri' in it's purest form. Captaining India's Under-19 side to World cup victory in 2008 and then helping India win 'Emerging Players Tournament' in 2009, Kohli is not new to top-class performances. But to perform consistently on the big stage alongside some of the greatest names of world cricket is no easy joke. It is heartening to see his success in Australia this summer, hope he continues the good job for a long long time. Whether India make it to finals (riding on Sri Lanka losing to Australia on Friday) or not, this victory of Himalayan magnitude will sure do a world of good to the embattled Indian team. With injuries, talks of rift in the team, big questions begging for answers in the Test ...

When Arnold Swarchenegger is introduced in Terminator, he looks like a very well built man. Nothing very extraordinary. Only when a ruffian tries to stick his knife into Arnold and he in-turn literally punches through the man, we realize there is more than bones and muscles underneath his human skin. Mahendra Singh Dhoni is a similar case. He may not show it outside, but there is a fire burning inside his ice-cool exterior. It is that fire that made him switch from hockey to cricket very late in his life and yet, lead India to two world cup victories. It is that fire that makes him treat accolades and criticisms alike, and smile at his bowler when the opposition needs one run off the final delivery of a championship final. Two times in two days during the ongoing CB series, he was the chief architect of two wonderful run chases. That Dhoni is a wonderful finisher in ODIs is nothing new, but to do so without any of his trademark flamboyancy and reserve them for only when ...

No one who witnessed the absolute annihilation of Indian team in Perth today would believe that just a few months ago this same team boasted the No.1 rankings in Test format. After a humiliating series defeat in England in August 2011, things seem to be no different in Australia. After a fighting couple of days cricket in Melbourne, something seemed to be missing from the Indian team in Sydney test. Just after one day of cricket in Perth, there seems to be no life left in them. After the Aussie bowlers ripped through Indian batting order, David Warner demolished the four-prong pace attack of India and effectively put an end to any hope of a comeback. The only satisfying thing from the day's play is that Australia did not go past India's score. This match and the series seem to be headed for a painful and glaringly obvious end for Indians. As a fan, the most shocking thing is the meek way in which we let the opposition trample and toy with us. BCCI has announced the IPL sc...