Setting Expectations

I aomehow get the feeling that one of the hardest things at work will be setting expectations in the next few months.

It is always there at the back of your mind what people are expecting of you. You carry a certain brand. The way you dress, talk, interact, work – everything feels like it’s closely scrutinised. Or maybe it’s just in my head.

That sort of expectation is of course stressful. But worse is being able to balance what to expect from yourself. You have all these opportunities. You must make use of them. Otherwise it is a waste of your “potential”.

Your expectations must be high enough. You must learn to expect more from yourself. To push yourself to get more done. To be efficient. Innovative. Think out of the box. Go where others haven’t gone. To rise to the challenge everytime something is thrown towards you. To multi-task. Balance everything. Never complain about the amount of work. Because in it all lies the opportunity to learn. And to network.

There is also the expectation to be able to compete. With your peers. Of the very high standards they set for themselves. Consciously or subconsciously, you are always competing with them.

But then again, you must learn to not overload yourself too much. To not burn out too soon. It is indeed very hard to keep up a high energy level for days on end, let alone months or years. And you must always remember, you do not have the same strengths as the person next to you. They are who they are because of a certain background. Which differs from yours. So to feel threatened by how much more they know or how much better they are is unfair to you. Because even if you cannot see it, you may be better at some other things.

So, the key is, balance.

Do the one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do better the second time. The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire. This is your moment. Own it.

Passion makes the world go round. Love just makes it a safer place.

The most beautiful make-up of a woman is passion. But cosmetics are easier to buy.

They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.

Nothing separates the generations more than music. By the time a child is eight or nine, he has developed a passion for his own music that is even stronger than his passions for procrastination and weird clothes.

Chase down your passion like it’s the last bus of the night.

When you look into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you.

I have yet to meet a man as fond of high moral conduct as he is of outward appearances.

Clothes and manners do not make the man; but, when he is made, they greatly improve his appearance.

People do not wish to appear foolish. To avoid the appearance of foolishness, they are willing to remain actually fools.

For the great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearance, as though they were realities and are often more influenced by the things that seem than by those that are.

Women should try to increase their size rather than decrease it, because I believe the bigger we are, the more space we’ll take up, and the more we’ll have to be reckoned with.

I dress for the image. Not for myself, not for the public, not for fashion, not for men.

Daffodils

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Be a sponge.

When there is so much information being thrown at you, it is time to forget everything you learnt it uni. Why? 2 reasons. 1. Need more space in brain. 2. In uni, you learnt more ways to keep info out than assimilate it. So now, need to do a 180 degree turn.

Leave out the inessentials, focus on that which matters.

Be that person you admire.

Regret is not a luxury you can always allow yourself.

Life may not turn out the way you had envisioned it. Things may not always go as you had planned. Crushes may not always pan out.

But there are so many opportunities around you. Do not let one closed door make you close your eyes to every other opportunity around you.

Be bold. Be ambitious, Be humble. Be open. To ideas, people, their perceptions of you. To learning opportunities, to growth areas.

Be the person you admire.

The truth hurts only if you run away from it.

How many lasts?

As uni comes to an end, slowly but surely, I will feel the need to lament about teeny tiny things. So I shall update them here.

8.4.11

Now its 27 days to go. Not even 4 weeks.

I just opened IVLE, out of habit, to check for new notes. And it struck me, all my lectures are over. Only presentations/test/tutorials will be done next week. I will never, ever need to open IVLE to check for notes again.

I remember feeling sad about how I did not have to apply for hostel anymore for next sem. Don't get me wrong, I am glad I will (hopefully) move to a bigger room than the current hostel one. But PGP has been my home for 3 of the last 4 years.

Speaking of future homes, I have no idea what I will be doing once exams end. May - July. A blank. Where I will be living, with whom, where I will be working, I have no idea. I don't like uncertainties.

11.4.11

9am
Last week of undergrad teaching. It's gonna start with a Big Bang. Literally. My Einstein module ends today.

8pm
Last 7-10pm lecture ever. At least till I ever do a Masters or something.

12.4.11

After my (ungraded) presentation today, I will need 2 more bursts of energy to get through the sem. And uni. 2 papers and an exam on 22-23. And 2 exams on 3-4 May. And lo and behold it shall be gone.

The end is near

The end is near
It has been a blast
But now we must say goodbye
Not because we want to
But because we have to

It may not be forever
We will meet again
If it was meant to be

Now is the time
When we look back at the good times
And leave each other with open hearts

We have been through
The bad times as well
But we won't look back in regret
But learn from it
And become wiser

And when we move on
We will remember
How much love and care
We felt for each other

Remember that
I am always here for you
I will never forget
Our time together
It will always be close in my heart

by Kylie

13.4.2011

Last lecture. check.
Last test. Check.
Last presentation. Check.

Still to go - last tutorial, last paper, last exam.

3 weeks, 2 papers, 3 exams.

15.4.11

Last tutorial. Check.
So basically, I'm done with classes. And if my Palmistry is anything to go by, I'm done with classes for a long time.

Anna Hazare

I see my whole Facebook feed filled with Hazare causes, questions, links. I get it, ok. Finally, there is someone who is doing something about corruption, taking a stand. And we, who want India to get better but don't know how, finally see an opportunity to get involved, even if it is via Facebook and Twitter. Somebody who follows Gandhian principles? Well what could possibly go wrong with that.

But I am not one of those who has been gung-ho about this whole thing. For one thing, I have never been interested in politics. The eternal pessimist in me sees no hope for a corruption free India till someone like Lee Kuan Yew takes over (bringing his own set of problems nonetheless).

But I did read up on what's been happening, what the whole hulabaloo is about. And this anti-corruption committee that is suggested, do you think they will emerge from some hitherto unknown uncorrupt part of India? With all these immense powers which the government has agreed to in response to Hazare's Jantar Mantar fast, what if the ombudsman turns out to be corrupt? What then?

Hazare is not going to be around forever. How does he ensure that this framework will actually work? I know he has done awesome work in many, many villages in Maharashtra. But just as it is way simpler to micro-manage Singapore, so it is in a village.

I do not want to take anything away from the amazing award-winning work that Hazare has done. But the pessimist in me sees a very long way to go.

The optimist in me hopes.

WOW!

Whattay article!

In a republic with a short history and a thin national narrative, cricket and Bollywood are India's baseball and apple pie. Rahul makes air quotes and says, "Indian culture."

I'm dreading the usual chaos of an Indian airport.

But once inside, I am transported. Is this the future? The place is new and serene. The floors are shiny. A fancy coffee kiosk teems with under-caffeinated commuters. The food court has a Subway, a Baskin-Robbins, a McDonald's, a Yo!China. There's a bookstore. A bronze elephant towers in the lobby.

That's when I see it.

There's a restaurant named Dilli Streat. It's a take on Delhi's famous street-food scene. It has slightly dressed-up versions of blue-collar classics. The concept is an ironic mixture of old and new, with a winking nod to a past seen as quaint yet valuable. Cynicism and irony, on back-to-back days.

India is changing at lightning speed.

I think of Jane Leavy's magnificent book about Mickey Mantle, and her documenting the moment when Americans began viewing our idols differently. India, it seems, is approaching that day. Another question about Tendulkar arises: Is he the final star athlete created by that deeply earnest society, the one with its suspension of disbelief fully intact?

Is he the last hero?

The thirst of a tabloid reporter and the love of a starstruck child are fruit from the same tree. Maybe the difference is intent, and maybe it's innocence, which sounds like the pitter-patter of tiny feet on marble floors. Kids chase their favorite cricketers around the hotel. Their joy restores faith, washes away cynicism. Maybe the soul of cricket can survive this landslide of change.

They seem so confident, not people who need any outside validation. Maybe Sachin isn't needed any longer. Maybe Sehwag is more representative. That hasn't occurred to me until now. Later I'll talk to an Indian journalist, Vaibhav Vats, who is writing about cricket as a window into national self-esteem. He thinks Sachin isn't as important as he used to be.

"It's about wealth," Vats says. "So you don't look for external things to shore up your own sense of identity. There isn't the identity crisis there was then."

Other kids take blue paint and, emulating a famous billboard around the country, tag themselves "Bleed Blue". Sports marketing creating fan behaviour creating more sports marketing: a snake eating its tail.

Andy saw a game in this stadium on television once, India versus Pakistan, and the cacophony when an Indian player bowled his opponent seemed to come out of his television and transport his London home across two oceans and several lesser seas. That noise is something he cannot forget. He's chasing that ghost, left a wife and two kids at home for six weeks to chase it halfway around the world.

Sunil begat Sachin begat Sehwag. From insecurity to confidence to aggression.

A feeling arises, a rare one, that you are part of a group watching something special. The power of sport is that, on occasion, it redeems the messes we create around it. Cricket can be stronger than the forces changing it. Victories are fleeting, but the poems are what matters. I don't know if cricket is about to be ruined, or if Sachin is no longer needed, if he's retiring or if he'll defy expectations and play 10 more years. These are things we can guess about but never know.

I do know this: I am a fan. I am sunburned but do not care. I lose track of time. That's not a narrative flourish. Hours seem like moments.

Rapture comes to the people here. I see Sachin constructing a score, and I understand the planning, and the years of experience, that lead a man to this field on this day, and to the artistry he now holds as part of himself, like a chamber of his heart. We are congregants in a church. We are watching the son of a poet. The stand-up comedian is serious. This is a perfect at-bat, Andy tells me. This is art, and I am lucky to see it. Soon, Sachin will be gone. This feeling will be gone. Right now, it is alive. It has the power of a name, immortal and pure.

Two pitches, two sixes. The air is sucked out of the stadium, and Bon Jovi is played again. But now, incredibly, the crowd noise is louder than the sound system. The real finally trumps the fake.

He's done it. A century. I've never been in a stadium that feels like this one. Hindus and Muslims, Sikhs and Christians, people from different castes and classes, speakers of a dozen languages, all citizens in the Republic of Sachin. The stern cops give wide smiles and thumbs-ups. The chant goes from "Sachin! Sachin!" to "Hoo… ha… IN-DI-A!" They are interchangeable.

The team is a proxy for the nation, so what does an Indian collapse tell them about India? About India without Sachin?

Now 59 from 48. Then India gets a wicket. Then a second in a row. The crowd comes alive. What does this revival tell them about their nation? About themselves?

Sachin Tendulkar says goodbye and closes his door, while, in every direction, a vast nation sees its hopes and dreams in him, for at least a little while longer. I step into the elevator, then a car, then three flights, then my car, then my house. I return from blind alleys and brightly lit fields, having found my moment of rapture and, at the end, the man who created it. I've found both the riddle and the answer, and I wonder what it must cost someone to be both of those things. One part of my conversation with Tendulkar will return to me every time India plays in this World Cup.

His agent told me he's aware of what he means to people, of the symbolic importance of being both the beginning and end of something. He is a bridge, and it is vital to the psyche of a nation that he remains intact. He gets it. That's why he never loses focus. Nothing, it turns out, is effortless. In his room, he seems tired, worn out mentally and physically. He needs a break. I ask when was the last time he had 20 days off in a row with nothing to do. No balls to hit or billions to represent.

"I'm waiting for that time to come," he says.

1 month

Exactly one month remains before I'm done with uni.
3 papers, 1 test, 1 presentation, 3 exams.
My head feels like its gonna split open. It's been hurting like this since last Tuesday I think.

I genuinely believe FYP caused me brain damage. Not to mention left me sick. WTF

We won!

3rd April, 2021. It's been 10 years. Exactly 10 years since I woke up with a wide smile, remembering the events of the previous night (don't be perverted la). When India's cricket World Cup winning streak began.

I was in university. I had finished my FYP the day after India defeated Pakistan in what many claimed was the final before the final. I had been looking forward to watching the real final in peace. And then my body decided to tell me, screw you for mistreating me in the last week, I'm gonna fall sick now.

So, barely able to go downstairs to even get myself lunch, I lay in bed till 5pm, which is when the match began. I was torn, should I risk getting worse by watching the match with everyone in Red Dot, or should I stay in bed and stream on my laptop. After the first wicket fell, and the links stopped streaming, I decided, forget it, I will have time to fall sick tomorrow, a WC win, I may not get to see again.

And the right decision it was.

What amazing inroads the Indian bowlers made into the Sri Lankan batting. They didn't give away too many runs, they took regular wickets. It looked all hunky-dory till the last 5 overs. It was 211/5 in 45 overs. A very chase-able total. It would end at 274/6 in 50. Not so easily chased.

Perhaps nothing told the story better than Zaheer's figures: 5-3-6-1 to 8-3-25-2 to end up at a ghastly 10-3-60-2. And I guess it says a lot when someone who is in the team in the role of a bowler is not even given his full quota of 10 overs (Sreesanth 8-0-52-0), while someone whom we still hesitate to dub as an all rounder is (Yuvraj 10-0-49-2).

When Sachin and Sehwag walked out to the centre to begin the chase, we all knew we needed one of them to fire to be able to chase this total down. Maybe a quick start from Sehwag, and then a grounded solid innings from Sachin should put them in good stead. Then 2nd ball from Malinga, plumb LBW. In true fashion, Sehwag went for the review. God only knows why, since if it had hit the bat, he of all people would have known. And it was given out. That is one thing that Sehwag can learn from Sachin. Even against Pakistan, the moment Sehwag was adjudged out, he asked for the review before even checking with his batting partner Sachin. It shows a disbelief and immaturity and a wondering out aloud, "how can I possibly be out!". It wastes a review, which in the later part of the match could change the game. Sachin, on the other hand, consulted long and hard with his partner before going for the review, and for him the decision was indeed overturned during the Pak match.

But anyway, with Sachin and Sehwag both gone within the first 7 overs, I think it was more a psychological defeat more than anything else for the whole of India. Who would get us out of this mess? Who would score enough so that we would surmount that increasingly unassailable looking target? The answer was partnerships. We often forget, in the shadow of brilliant cricketers, why the India batting line-up is so feared. Why any bastman, upto No. 7, is capable of single-handedly winning a match for us.

Gambhir and Kohli together gave the innings stability, and the more important thing they did in my opinion was to not let the asking rate creep up too high. It always stayed around 6, and we knew that if we did not lose wickets, we would eventually get there. There was hope yet.

As 21 year old Kohli departed to a blinder of a catch and bowled from Dilshan, Dhoni decided to promote himself up the order. As he himself mentioned later, "if we had not won today, there would have been many questions asked. Why Sreesanth, why not Ashwin. Why me, why not in-form Yuvraj at No. 4". Well, he proved all his critics (including me) wrong, and showed that he was not only a wicketkeeper-captain, but a batsman too. "On the big final's night, out came the calculative Dhoni, the perfect mix of caution and aggression, strong as an ox, fast as a hare, the same batsman that not long ago was quite deservingly the No. 1 in ODIs."

Sri Lankan fielders seemed to be everywhere. Every ball was hit like a boundary. Almost all were cut off. But the bastmen toiled. And we cheered. The crowd, Dhoni later said, gave the batsmen strength. "During the Gambhir-Kohli partnership, ever run was applauded as if it was a boundary."

And that 6 was such an amazing way to end it all. He stared at the ball till it cleared the ropes, while Yuvraj on the other end bellowed like a Singh. What a turn-around Yuvi has had in this WC! Man of the Tournament! Even he wouldn't have believed that was possible before the WC started.

In this match, they all batted like champions. They did not let the pressure get to them. There was no mad scramble to get runs, just patiently rotating the strike, with the occasional boundary to keep the run rate in check.

It was Team India's strategy to breeze through the Group stages and peak at the right time during the knockout games. And boy did it work. Both the QF and SF were dubbed as 2 finals before the final. To actually kick the long time winners of the WC out in the QF stage itself was monumental, though it was overshadowed by a Ind-Pak SF. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING is bigger than an Ind-Pak SF, except maybe an Ind-Pak Final. But that was not to be.

Dhoni had said after the Pakistan match that he had never seen India field so well, and never expected them to put up any better performance. Well they brought their "A Game", as they say, for the grand finale. "No matter how clumsy or unpolished their techniques, the oldest and creakiest of the Indians were diving to stop boundaries."

Perhaps the biggest lesson to be learnt from both Sachin's and Murali's relatively lackluster performances was that neither team depends solely on their "greats" to do the job for them. Neither needs a hero to save the day. What they really need is the whole team's effort.

Kohli said about Sachin "He has carried the burden of the nation for 21 years (as long as Kohli has been alive), its high time we carried him". But let us spare a thought for Murali. If Sachin is one of the best batsman ever, Murali is surely one of the best bowlers ever. He did not go out in style today. But he will forever be returned as one of the cricketing greats.

This WC, it's for Sachin. It's for Kapil Dev. It's for the unsung heroes - the support staff. It's for Team India. And it's for all the fans, in India, outside India.

We won.

Quotes:

"It was the first time in six weeks that MS Dhoni could be heard doing what can only be described as giggling."

"When Dhoni was asked how Yuvraj had been in the dressing room during the tournament, he replied with a smile: "He has been vomiting a lot," and then went on to answer the question."

"He spoke lucidly of what was going through his mind after he hit the winning runs. "Emotionally, I was confused; I wanted a wicket [stump]". But he found himself at the centre of the pitch with Yuvraj at the other end. "I thought hug-vug we will do later, first take the wicket." He then ran over to his own end to pull out the stump, after which Yuvraj jumped on him, pulling him into a bear hug. "It was an emotional moment," Dhoni said. "I was confused, I didn't know what to do at the time, how to show my emotions."

Some of the players had been struggling to sleep properly, but Upton believed - as it now seems - in something preordained. "Strangely I slept quite comfortably, because the job was done, we just needed to go and act out the script that was already written."

The nerves he felt towards the closing moments, despite himself being a mental conditioning coach, he said was a feeling like no other. "I get bloody nervous. Believe you me. It was magnificent."

Trivia:

‎1. India became the first host nation to win the tournament

2. Jayawardene became the first player to score a hundred in the final and finish on the losing side.

3. This was the highest run-chase ever achieved in a World Cup final.

India-Pakistan! :D

0.4 Why does Sehwag look so annoyed?

I have decided to just watch the match today. And not be concerned about winning or losing. I want a good match. And I think SL vs. Pak sounds good too.

Yes I think FYP has caused brain damage. I think I might come back to wanting Pak to lose after some wickets fall. Hope that doesn't happen for a long time.

What a 3rd over - 5 boundaries!

Sehwag gone but that is VERY VERY FAST outfield.

So apparently we can expect a rendition of "Chak De India" for every boundary. And of course, any announcement (usually about change is bowling) followed by the creepy "piya hooooooooooooooooo" sounding sound.

YESSS! A review not wasted! Sachin stays :D

2nd close call in 2 balls! 2 heart-in-mouth moments!

Pakistan may be awesome at bowling, India may be awesome at batting, but there is one thing we share: sucking if fielding :D

The commentators are such bitches. After Misbah dropped sachin's catch "Misbah is going to continue feeling miserable till Sachin goes." Well then I hope he feel miserable the whole match.

Haww so my touchpad stops working because I drop water on it. I restart my comp to find last 2 balls "W W". WTF

SL-NZ Semis!

Deepak: "hey Cricinfo why don't you post one of my comment on the page, i would like to take a screen shot of it and put it on my Facebook !! So plz one for me." People actually do that?

SJB: "I think it is English players bowling out there wearing NZ jerseys.." So fair, it's fair to say Sri Lanka's openers are beating them all, black and blue. Get the pun.
S Potnis: "Is that supposed to be a pun on skin colour? I'm black and I'm not ashamed of it. But unfortunately my girlfriend makes me apply Fair and Lovely thrice a day :("
Eh? It was a pun on the jersey colours of England and NZ. And, ewww!

Nathan McCullum and Dilshan exchange dinner plans for later near the bowler's end. Or so it seems. The umpire intervenes.

Southee to Tharanga, OUT, Ryder take a bow! Even fat men can fly says George Binoy! This Kiwi sure can fly. Was that Jesse Ryder or Jesse Owens? Here's what happened - it was a short ball outside off, enough width and room for Tharanga in his current form to flay at. Enough room for him to try and go aerial. Ryder was lurking at point. He moved quickly to his left, took off with as much grace as he is capable of and landed with a resounding thud. In the meantime, he caught the ball. And then he stood up with arms aloft, menacing beard and frown in place, like a WWE superstar. What a moment!

Kuldeep: "Maybe Dwayne Leverock has been conducting a "Catching For Fat People-101" class and Ryder has been his student!!!"
Mel: "If cows and Jesse can fly, can NZ win today?"

Bouncer from Southee, over-cooked and banged into his own half, it goes well over the batsman's head and Brendon takes off to collect it over his head. And its not called a wide. Even in the moon, given the lack of gravity there, that should have been wide.
Ashok: "7.1 ... Even in the moon, given the lack of gravity there, that should have been wide. Wrong analogy. Ball will bounce more on Moon as Gravity is less. Isn't it?"
Umm, that was my point. Even in the moon, that would have been wide though as a norm most balls would bounce a lot in the moon.
Science 101. The moon is lighter, and hence its ability to attract other objects towards itself, in other words gravity, is lesser.
Shyam: "Whats the big deal about that ryder catch? Kamran Akmal would have taken it 10 out of 10 times."
I have two responses to that comment.
1. Yes, Kamran normally takes the tough catches, it is the sitters that he drops.
2. Yes, in Bizarroworld.
Ankur: "Is the result of this match that obvious that people are discussing gravitation here?!"
On the contrary, the gravity of the situation is such that gravity is being discussed.
Manoj: "In moon it would be a noball because when a bowler jumps right before he delivers the ball, he jumps higher and lands further, crossing the crease."
Hmm, to avoid no-balls, his landing spot would have to be fixed.
Ravi: "Science 101: The moon is not "lighter", it has lesser mass. There is a difference."
Pardon me, for I have sinned.
Circe Magnifica: "Since when the situation is grave, you discuss gravity, would you discuss electrostatics and electrodynamics when the situation is electric? (Which, is almost always the case whenever anyone of the species Ravius Shastrius is commentating)" Great names, all round!
Biman: "@manoj: In moon bowlers can't get any swing or reverse swing. bcoz no air.."
Andy Zaltzman @Zaltzcricket on twitter: "Ghost of Isaac Newton responds to Jesse Ryder catch: "I might have been wrong about that apple on my head. Could have been coincidence."
Hahaha!

A smokescreen

I hate smoking. I have never made that a secret. Somehow the moment I see someone with a cigarette in their hand, I found a certain negative impression about them, whether or not I know them.

Which is why it really, REALLY saddens me that more and more people whom I consider friends are beginning to smoke. And what's worse is how smug they feel in their 'cool'ness and how easily they shrug it off as just something they do.

I don't know why I am so against smoking. Maybe it is a double standard because I am fine with occasional drinking.

I just know I hate this.

My last Tarang!

Ok I usually try to not name people in my blog so that you know, it's harder for creepy people to stalk me. But I think a few names need mention here.

Akash (obviously). Dude I know I keep trying to bring you back down to earth, but today you can really fly high (geez so cliched!). That was one of the best choreographies I have ever seen from you. And no, I am not just saying that because it's a nice thing to say. That love-lust contemp piece last year was epic, and this year was equally good, if not better. The lifts were OMG so difficult, I can't ever imagine how a skinny person like you ever manages to lift people :P
And speaking of contemp brings me to Ayushi obviously. Dude so sexay! The lifts were so clean, even though all I know about dance is from SYTYCD and a bit from Akash. It was just so amazing to watch!

Lakshmi: I have always maintained you are SUCH A PLEASURE TO WATCH. I can just sit and watch you dance all day. Specially since it means you will not be a dumdum during that time :P And you just keep getting better and better. Love you! :)

Bathina: SO pretty! And hot. And speaking of hotness so must mention Maanavi! And overall, ballroom was so brilliant.
Ganla: so big yet so graceful! Patel: you're like a little kid (with amazing dancing skills) who's been told that the more energy and expressions he shows on stage, the more candy he will be given! :P

Srajna: awesome costumes! Mummy ke stitching classes into use eh? :P

Even though I hardly know anyone from the macha dance, it was as good an my year 1, which is the one which distinctly stands out in my memory.

Bollywood: With so many people on stage, I do not know how you people managed to stay so co-ordinated.
We all know how much sweat and blood (literally) goes into preparing each year.

Overall, you guys were just in a different league all together tonight. I know I am probably biased, but the moment it ended, I was like "hain? bas? aur naacho na please!" Not to sound too much like a sore loser, we all know who deserved to win tonight.

I admit NTU was very creative, like they always are. The sari thing was very nice, using the screen created a very sensational effect and the start with tabla was genius. It was SUCH a surprise to see Gattu dancing too! :D

But overall, I will maintain till I go to my grave that today, of all days, NUS deserved to win. I know (ok I don't know, I can only sympathise) it must feel awful to not have won when you worked so hard. But then you win some, you lose some. You come back stronger next year.

To everyone in NUS who was there:
It has been a pleasure yelling my lungs out with you guys :)

India vs Australia coming right up!

Immense Zaheer continues his Australian opera

The world may not have noticed it, but there's a tumultuous opera on between Zaheer Khan and Australia. The first time they met in an ICC event, the 2000 Champions Trophy in Nairobi, Zaheer kicked down the door, burst onto stage, got Adam Gilchrist, yorked Steve Waugh and said, 'hello, sunshines.'

They meet again on Thursday, in the quarter-final of the World Cup. Not merely in another league or group or roundabout game, but a knockout. Between 2003 and 2011, the protagonists have had another minor scuffle, last May at the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean, but let's get real, this is the big one.

Finally, after all the preparation, he has got to the game where the opera will reach its abrupt conclusion.

In the tottering-teetering four weeks of India's World Cup, if Yuvraj Singh has been fire fighter with the bat and the ball, Zaheer has been its game-breaker. The leader of a bowling union that has been pilloried for lacking express pace and incisive spin, Zaheer has kept it all together, now second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 15 from six games.

He has become more than what the commentatariat love to call the 'go-to' bowler. He is now India's make-it-happen man, the partnership breaker, the kind of performer who can produce a performance from what seems like sheer will and a glowering expression. But this cricketing Heathcliff has been born out of the monotony of long practice and hundreds of overs bowled.

Javagal Srinath wrote this week, "I can say with conviction that I have not seen an Indian bowler show as much control as Zaheer has." And Srinath has seen several, some holy cows, others merely famous names.

In the World Cup, Zaheer's spells, particularly with the old ball and a command over the reverse, have been Aerodymanics 101 dished out with a soundtrack of cacophony. It is left-arm bowling with the illusion of angle and change of pace, in which the fast may be fearful but the slow can be equally sinister; as if sending the ball down 22 yards to a brute with a bat has nothing to do with either earth or air, but is merely a sleight of hand.

If you want to understand what bowlers like Zaheer are to captains, maybe Sachin Tendulkar can explain. He described what it was leading a team that had Anil Kumble. "If something was happening, I would give the ball to Anil. If nothing was happening, I would give the ball to Anil. If you needed to contain runs, you give the ball to Anil. If you needed to attack, you give the ball to Anil." Right now, replace the regal 'Anil' with the cool nickname of 'Zak' because it is what he has become in Tests and ODIs.

At one time, Zaheer used to be one of India's earliest 21st century bad-boy cricketers, his name clubbed in with that of his mate Yuvraj, who ironically, is another of India's standout performers in this World Cup. Today, Zaheer is a pillar of his team's bowling, a seasoned performer, whose career could turn into a case study in India's National Cricket Academy curriculum about how fast bowlers don't always have to fade away. They can just get smarter. VVS Laxman said of him, "People won't look at him for statistics, they will look at Zaheer for impact."

If he had to pick a moment of enormous impact, Motera on Thursday would be a pretty good choice.

Battle of the flawed heavyweights

This match can be seen through several prisms: champions of the world v pre-tournament favourites, misfiring middle order v misfiring middle order, pace-reliant attack v spin-heavy attack, athletic fielders v incompetent fielders. Australia against India is a clash between teams with obvious imperfections.

Off-field dramas aside, Australia's progress in this World Cup was smooth at first - a comfortable win against Zimbabwe, a smashing one against New Zealand - and then uninspiring, when they laboured against Kenya and Canada. In each of those matches, at least one weakness was evident: a captain struggling for form, a middle order troubled by turn, spinners incapable of striking, and fast bowlers with wonky radars. All of these frailties were exposed by Pakistan, who ended the legendary unbeaten World Cup run on 34 matches. Australia's successes have been built around the opening partnership of Brad Haddin and Shane Watson, and the energy of Brett Lee. That might not be enough to topple India - but it might, for MS Dhoni's team is far from the shoo-in semi-finalist it was expected to be.

Before the World Cup began India's batting line-up was thought to possess the armour of God, their bowling was considered less formidable but effective in home conditions, and the fielding was known to be average. As their campaign played out, it became evident that the armour didn't fit the middle order - there were collapses of 9 for 29 and 7 for 51 - and the bowling, while adequate on helpful surfaces, was mediocre on flat pitches. The fielding has not been average. It has been abysmal. Slow anticipation, slower approaches to the ball, failure to cut off angles, and plain lethargy have allowed opponents to run at will.


I read all these articles about how such brilliant battles are going to happen on-field. And then the whole Indian batting collapses. Or if miraculously, it doesn't, the bowlers and fielders give away all the runs they made while batting.

Please let this not be a one-sided match. And please let India win (the WC).

43

43 days. That's how many days I need to work for.

I am so sick of it. Ever since the sem began, the work hasn't stopped.

I have had several burn outs. Where I would just refuse to work for days on end.

FYP thesis.

3 giant papers.

1 presentation.

1 test.

3 exams.

Please make it end soon. I don't care already that it's last sem. I just want it to end.

Pray for Japan

After the fifth worst earthquake since the 1900s when the Richter scale started being used, with a magnitude of 8.9, a gigantic tsunami, with 10m (33 feet!) high waves in places, has swept away entire villages and towns along the coast of Japan.
Though right now the numbers being estimated are 1300, so many people are unaccounted for that the numbers will surely increase. 4 entire trains are missing, 10,000 out of 17,000 people in one town are missing, scores of fires including an oil refinery blaze on, and aftershocks are still coming. There have been about 125 so far, and the largest one has been about 6 plus. Some geology expert on the news yesterday was saying that for a giant earthquake, the largest aftershock has to be about 1 point less, which might strike any time. So the worst may not be over.

Specially with the nuclear reactors melting down, it has gotten progressively worse. And even if it isn't as bad as Chernobyl, it will be bad enough. And Tokyo Power doesn't have the best reputation.
[The government, which took power led by the Democratic Party of Japan for the first time less than two years ago, was already facing criticism.
"Crisis management is incoherent," blared a headline in the Asahi newspaper, charging that information disclosure and instructions to expand the evacuation area around the troubled plant were too slow.
"Every time they repeated 'stay calm' without giving concrete data, anxiety increased," it quoted an unidentified veteran party lawmaker as saying.]

The rescue teams have a very uphill task ahead of them. Many people have spent the last 2 nights out in the open in freezing weather. Aid is just beginning to trickle in. 3 US warships have reached Japan and have been tasked with searching the debris out at sea.

Ironically, this is another date 11 which has struck. 9/11. 26/11. 3/11. Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology said the earth's axis shifted 25 cm as a result of the earthquake, and the U.S. Geological Survey said the main island of Japan had shifted 2.4 metres.

Seismologist Daniel McNamara says the quake caused the land to sink: "You see cities still underwater; the reason is subsidence. The land actually dropped, so when the tsunami came in, [the water is] just staying."

The nuclear situation is just getting worse. Government spokesman Yukio Edano: "We do believe that there is a possibility that meltdown has occurred - it is inside the reactor, we can't see. However, we are acting, assuming that a meltdown has occurred and with reactor number 3 we are also assuming the possibility of a meltdown as we carry out measures."
Nuclear expert Bill Nye just said situation at Japan plants sounds 'way more serious' than authorities saying. Deeply worrying.

Pray for Japan. And donate money to Red Cross please! Let us help in any way we can.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80CH_XkpSCE&w=640&h=390]

India vs. SA

My "Twitter" feed

0.1: 5 matches begun with fours by Sehwag

"By the way, on this day in 2006, South Africa chased 434. Just saying ..."

1.3: van Wyk pulls a Kamran Akmal. Does not even move as Sehwag edges a ball towards him. Gets a 4 instead.

"i am a nervous wreck ...i cannot watch...the way sehwag is playing dangerously on the edge of my seat...he just might lose his wicket any moment and the momentum just slips ...plenty of evidence from the past," says Abhishek. Calm down man, it's only a group game!

Sehwag is hogging the strike here.

There was a time when Sehwag had played 37 balls, and Tendulkar only 9.

"Watching Sehwag play is like throwing an ice-cream in the air and catching it with your mouth. It's exhilarating if it works out, and you go hungry if it doesn't. I figured if I use such a ridiculous metaphor, my comment might actually get put up," says Archit.

End of over 8: 7 runs off it. The commentators call it a good over for SA. Says a lot.

"12 fours from 8 overs...what sort of score do they want?..This is great stuff," says Darryl.

10 overs: 87/0

8 fours, 1 six. This is the highest mandatory Powerplay score of the World Cup, beating India's performance against Netherlands.

11.2: Sehwag reaches 50! Off 44 deliveries. Brought up with a 4.

11.4: India reaches 100.

I remember when I was a kid, I always used to hope that India would score 100 in 10 overs. I always wondered why they never managed it. It seemed such simple calculation to me. 10*10 = 100 :D

"I think its fair to say that this World Cup has been a most entertaining one thus far. A few upsets, a tie, Ireland's heroics and glimpses of progress made by the Dutch and the Canadians etc., has made it wonderful to watch. Never mind some of the flat pitches. Everyone loves to see some lusty hitting, and both sides get equal opportunity to do so, too!" says Ron.

13.3: Sachin almost goes at 49, after a amazing catching chance by already injured de Villiers.

13.4: Sachin gets to 50 in 33 deliveries. As the commentators keep commenting, we know Sehwag plays crazy cricket, but Sachin has just played amazing cricket. The crowd has gone beserk.

"Sehwag and Tendulkar have been quite impartial to all the bowlers - No one has done better than 8/over and no one did worst than 10/over," writes Leo. They're equal-opportunities batsmen!

14.5: A really, REALLY high rise size from Sachin, which eventually just about crosses the rope.

15.1: Talking about late cut, how late was this. The wicketkeeper almost had it in his gloves, when Sehwag hit it.

SMV: "India could have taken the batting powerplay straight away. They dont need one when Pathan is batting in the slog overs as it doesnt make any difference to him." We're advocating for it in the Cricinfo office! Why not?

16 overs, 17 fours, 2 sixes. So 80/137 runs have come in boundaries.

Arshad: "Clearly India have forgotten Gandhi's message of non-violent action in South Africa." Clearly!

17.4 Some wonderful entertainment comes to an end with the departure of Sehwag. Bowled in.

19.1: 150 comes up for India.

It seems too good to be true right now. Though now it has become a little more sane. The commentators keep saying a big score is definitely in the offing. I keep wondering if SA will pull off a miracle here.

30.2: 200 comes up for India.

35.5: Sachin gets 100. The crowd is deafening.

36.6: Gambhir gets to 50. He's played an understated yet amazing supporting role.

Milestones out of the way. Time to get the scorecard going again.

"The only way to top Tendulkar's fabulous century is to see the New Zealand Prime Minister face an over from Shane Warne, tomorrow at the Basin Reserve in Wellington - a Christchurch earthquake fundraiser," says John

Gambhir is hitting too wildly for my taste.

Ok he's finally connecting ball and bat well, after some wild hits off Steyn.

That is the problem in the final overs when India plays well. Too many people start watching, and the links go dead.

39.4: Ugh Sachin is gone, caught at point. 111 off 101 balls. Amazing innings.

Who's next? Kohli? Yuvraj? Dhoni? Pathan? (I just wanted to list down India's awesome batting lineup) :D

40.1: Gambhir has loyally followed Sachin back to the dressing room. Pathan is in though, in place of Sachin, and Yuvraj replaces Gambhir.

2 very new batsmen at the crease.

40.3: And now Pathan is gone. The awesome batsmen are being stupid. 3 wickets in 6 balls. Actually Smith took an awesome high catch.

"The Indian middle order looks rudderless right now. 350 is looking further and further away ..."
A gettable score this looks like becoming.

Yuvraj and Dhoni. What can they do in 55 deliveries?

Nothing it seems.
There is a sense of bewilderment in Nagpur. India were 267 for 1 ... they are 296 for 9 now.

Only God can explain why tailenders are trying to be heroes and aiming for sixes. While Dhoni seems to have forgotten how to bat in death overs. Taking a single to get a tailender on strike is all he's doing. Isn't he supposed to be the smart and responsible captain?

This is too painful to watch. Just something to note for the teams playing India, if India is doing really REALLY well, not to worry. They will self-destruct soon enough. Is there a special word for choking in the first innings?

48.4: All out.

AMAZING. Who would have guessed this would happen after 39.3 overs (before Sachin departed)? There was talk of them reaching a 400 around the 1th over. Now I knew they would never get to 400, but 350 seemed very gettable. And now the grand target is not even 300.

"The world's best batting lineup has imploded in the most spectacular fashion."

India choked in the first innings. Let's hope SA returns the favor in the second. Though the Indian bowling lineup doesn't give me much hope.

297. Will it be enough?

300/7. Apparently not. I want to cry. And kill Nehra.

Wurr-ld Cup

I am so happy that Brittania Good Day is now available in Gulf countries. (Why on earth would they use this as their marketing strategy?) And I feel so sad that Gillette is the best a man can get.

Cricinfo is becoming hilarious! :D

Sekhar sends in the best question of the day so far: "How do we pronounce Szwarczynski?" Here's the answer - Stand up on a stool, lift your left hand and tilk your head upwards and to the left. Now squint hard and calculate the net run-rate of Netherlands upto the fourth decimal.. Now then.. What was the question again?

Barresi and Eric Unpronounceable are out there.

@Rameshsrivats on Twitter: "Szwarczynski and Eoin should have an exchange deal. Swap a few vowels & consonants."

What an odd team England are. They are comprehensively prepared, and admirably focused. They are honed with scientific exactness, and led with calm assurance by an irrefutably level-headed captain-and-coach combination. And they are wildly inconsistent. They are like a man who dresses like an accountant, talks like an accountant, lives in a comfortable suburban house, and sleeps in spreadsheet-print pyjamas. But who is actually the lead singer of a thrash metal band, with an unrivalled collection of exotic snakes.

Ireland upset win was AWEsome! Bloody brilliant I tell ya.

Then New Zealand came up with this gem:

New Zealand RR 6.04
Last 5 ovs 100/2 RR 20.00

For all their wild assortment of international players, none of the Canadian cricketers seemed to know how to bat. What a waste of good bowling. I wonder how they got to Associate qualifiers finals.

I can think of few, if any, experiences in sport to match watching Tendulkar succeed in a home game. Roger Federer may occupy a similar status of universally-acknowledged greatness within tennis, but I think it is fair to say that Switzerland is not quite as passionate about tennis as India is about cricket. If Federer were to simultaneously play tennis whilst hoarding gold and providing banking facilities for dubious dictators, perhaps the fervour of his support would match that for Sachin. But the Swiss population is unlikely ever to top the one billion mark.

The Truth Told to Shame the Devil
"Everyone did well other than Sreesanth," Virender Sehwag declared at the press conference after the opening game, against Bangladesh. Cue much delight and eloquence about how Viru pulled no punches on the field and off it. Chortle.

The Unhittable
This old dog's bite's as bad as his bark: Muttiah Muralitharan went two full matches in a row with not a single boundary struck off him and currently has an economy rate of 3.59 and average of 24. Not bad for a pensioner, given that it's a batsman's game and all. The only fours and sixes hit off Murali so far have been by Canada, that bunch of striplings with no respect for their elders.

The Trouper
Like a punch-drunk, much-battered movie monster you just can't kill, the unsinkable Shoaib Akhtar keeps coming back. A little the worse for wear, a bit more creaky in the joints than usual, and the proud possessor of a limp with a capital L, Shoaib waded in against Sri Lanka and produced a screamer like of old, shooting through Mahela Jayawardene's defence to take his middle stump. Drama fans hugged each other and wiped nostalgic tears from their eyes.

Depressed

Ok I am thoroughly depressed, tired, sleepy, lethargic right now. I think I've been stressing myself out too much, thinking of all the work I need to get done in the next 2 months. Mind you, I don't get much of the work done though. It's just that there is something major to do for EVERY module + FYP. Plus there is the general lack of a job hanging like a knife above my head. And I think I might be dropping the ball too soon. I don't feel like doing anything. At all. I just want to sit around all day watching TV Shows. HELP ME!