Freezing Thoughts

All of us have a passion and natural flair for something. Most of us try to follow the passion. Many of us succeed to a satisfactory level in our chosen paths. Few of us go on to become achievers and very few of us become legends. And then there are the chosen ones, who become the very definition of their passion. Vishwanathan Anand and Sachin Tendulkar are two such legendary human beings who enjoy a larger than life image in India. It is interesting to have chess' Grandmaster and cricket's Little Master in media limelight these days. Anand's battle at home to defend the World Chess Championship is very interesting due to the generation gap between him and Carlsen. It is a bit like a creaking vintage Terminator T-850 fighting it out with a much more sophisticated T-X in 'T3: Rise of Machines' ! Three draws in as many games so far, let's see how Anand's textbook style holds against Carlsen's Macbook-like guile. Tendlkar's retirement, somet...

To be not aware of something is one thing. As long as we don't know what we're missing, there's no sleep lost. But when we know our capabilities, realize that certain opportunities are just waiting out there and all it's gonna take is some dogged effort on our part to make something come true, that gives life a true purpose. Agreed, there are a hundred other things, out of our control, to fall into right places and sometimes we draw blank in-spite of giving 100%. But the disappointment of not even trying, is far worse than that of not reaching a goal even after giving our best. In fact, many of history's most lauded heroes were the ones who fought till the very end, the result was of little consequence to them. We are all unique and immensely blessed with multiple talents. True ignorance is when we don't realize what makes us special. But to feign ignorance, due to fear of failure or some other external factor, and not tap our full potential, now that's...

For someone who has spent most of his life settling and resettling in several places (to such an extent that I don't have a proper answer to the question "Where are you from ??"), it feels really good to be back in my native city and childhood home. Just sharing a couple of interesting experiences from here. (Perhaps I should blog a separate post about the identity crisis. Title: 'Born Identity' !!) ***** Such a happy feeling when someone asks you to join their cricket team, and the happiness doubles when you know that the wicket-keeper spot is vacant! To play in-view of the wonderfully blue Nilgiri mountains, with the evening sun pleasantly warm and a strong breeze blowing across, it is such a great feeling. Since there is a space constraint, we share our ground with 4-5 other teams. With overlapping of fielding positions and chasing after the other team's ball, some hilarious moments on the field !! ***** Being a coffee lover, I was intrigued by th...

When I started this blog in June 2007, I was trying to come in terms with the fact that I'd never play professional cricket and thought of deriving some satisfaction from writing about the game I love. Something of a personal cricket journal, I din't even think about sharing my posts with anyone during the first few days.  But over the last six years, I've strayed a lot from the chosen path of 'cricket-writing' and tried my hand at short stories, life experiences, fun fiction, Tamil poems, motivational writing, travelogues and even a memoir. For the sixty posts here, I am sincerely grateful to many wonderful souls around me; some who inspired me, some who egged me to write often and a lot more people, for taking the time out to read what I had to say and give feedback. I step into the seventh year of blogging, hoping to find time (and interesting stuff) to write often and improve along the way. Cheers folks !

I write this after almost 3 months of returning from Stockholm. It is not easy to put into words more than 3 years worth of memories. I am bound to miss a lot of instances, gloss over many details and not convey my feelings to the fullest in this short piece of writing.  Happy thoughts just flock my head as I start thinking about Stockholm, the place where I fully understood the meaning of ‘absolute independence’. It is a two-edged knife, this independence, thanks I had someone at every corner to point me towards a sane direction. It was a wonderful experience to be the captain of my soul and master of my thoughts.  From pulling all-nighters for projects to preparations for exams and lab sessions, to collaborating with classmates on reports, a wave of sudden emotion sweeps over me as I think of how much I miss those memorable days.  Autumn leaves, amateur cooking, Swedish TV, kitchen-sharing, fencing, parties, sensor-manufacturing, salsa, Helsinki cruise, Aurora...