When he played, all else was IRRELEVANT!!!

“When Sachin plays, big-city roads are easy and trains and buses ply empty at rush hour and the markets take a beating… When Sachin plays, grandmothers who know next to nothing about the game forget knitting and resting and medicines and pray to their gods as they sit frozen, staring nervously at their television screen… When Sachin plays , busy, ambitious executives ignore their calls and cancel their appointments and avoid their clients and miss their deadlines and put their careers on hold… When Sachin plays, college common rooms are dense and tense and hushed as an entire generation sits on pins and needles… When Sachin plays, school-yards are silent and playgrounds are deserted because those who normally make such a racket imitating their hero are all too busy watching him make batting look so ridiculously easy… When Sachin plays, fathers who want the news and daughters and mothers who always want soft stuff and brothers who fight for action, for once all agree on what to watch… When Sachin plays, bowlers and fielders and opposing captains feel their impotence and inadequacy like at no other time and curse themselves and wonder what they can do, if anything, to end the shame, the nightmare, the humiliation… When Sachin plays, commentators and experts run out of adjectives and expressions of wonder and comparisons… When Sachin plays, lay spectators have no need for words at all and just jump and scream and whistle and clap and hug each other and cry and wave their flags and banners and thank their lucky stars for being there… When Sachin plays, India forgets its differences and divisions and teeters between tensions and exhilaration and breaths and laughs and cries as one, as its heart fills with pride and joy and patriotism… WHEN SACHIN PLAYS, ALL ELSE IS IRRELEVANT”

Such was the impact of this one man army as quoted by Adidas in one of their commercials about Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. The greatest ever to have grazed the cricket field.

I started watching cricket at the age of 10. I really did not know much about the team then. In India, you can be a fan of any cricketer, but there is a fact that you can never really hate one man. This man redefined cricket in India.  I had the privilege to watch him up close during one of the best test innings he had ever played. 136 against Pakistan on a grueling hot day at Chennai. Although India went on to lose that match after Sachin’s effort, it will stay etched in the memories of many for the sheer audacity and fight the man showed. And who can ever forget the twin centuries at Sharjah. You have to be a fool if that doesn’t get a mention on your blog post. And then my recent favorite best of Sachin would be the 175 vs Aus in the 2010 series where India were on the brink of a remarkable victory and lost by just 3 runs chasing 351. That one innings made me watch with awe at what this man had been doing for the past 20 years. It was a spellbinding innings with masterclass written all over it. If i begin to write what i like about this man, this one page can never be enough.

The man who shouldered a billion dreams every time he walked into bat and gave everyone a reason to watch cricket today called it a day to a glorious 23 year old ODI career. Things will never be the same again. The game of ODI cricket loses its greatest servant. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, Legend, Sir. Respect for all your achievements & thank you for all those wonderful moments you had given us all along. Thy shall be missed!

Curtain Call-Goodbye to “The Wall”

This week marks the end of an illustrious career of a man who has shown us how you can reach great heights with focus and determination, will power & grit, passion and humbleness. Rahul Sharad Dravid, the greatest ambassador for the game of cricket and perhaps the best cricketer the world has seen. If ever the history books were willing to lend a page to jot down the achievements of someone it would be for Dravid. LEGEND in a true sense.

Goodbye, Sir!

“THRILLER” NO MORE-R.I.P M.J

KING OF POP

MICHAEL JACKSON

1958-2009

Its been months since my last post and i haven’t had the opportunity even if i wanted to make a post, but i had to do this for a man who gave a new meaning to the word MUSIC as the world saw it. Here goes my tribute to the KING OF POP M.J. As the world mourns the death of a singer,a dancer,a performer,an entertainer, call him what you care he was the man, the THRILLER. He was loved by all. Rewinding back to the mid 1990’s i still remember dancing to REMEMBER THE TIME everytime it was played at home. Then i knew a man called M.J existed and his music was spellbinding. And then came the new revolution in dance…The MoonWalk, even today i secretly practise MoonWalking inside the bathroom(simply because thats the only place where i can slide backwards pretty easily) but Jacko could do it even on a mountain terrain. Such was his talent. Then as years went on the name faded to oblivion and was in the news for all the wrong reasons M.J was no more the man i used to know. He was in all kinds of problems, but he had one thing with him that nobody else possessed, the aura to entertain. And he was about to do the same come July 10, but god had other plans though. He cut short the life of a man who gave us so much with his music. You Live in your Music M.J!!!! The time has come for you to entertain the gods, show them your dance steps and let them be mesmerized!!!! RIP

DADAGIRI-A FIRE WITHIN

“The Prince Of Kolkata” as he is fondly called by all his fans Saurav Chandidas Ganguly surprised everyone last week by calling it time to quit. He declared that the Australian series would be his last. Even if this is his last series he will always be fondly remembered. Who can forget a cricketer who had passion,fight,aggression and desire both on and off the field. Named the King Of Comebacks, he is surely one man i would always associate with the word COMEBACK. Thrown out the Indian Cricket team after a spat with the then team coach Greg Chappell, he showed resilience and patience(i can never forget the PEPSI ad which featured him just before the world cup) and after 16 long months proved all his critics wrong once again!

The video ad by PEPSI featuring DADA:

He is one of the finest or should i say “THE BEST” captain India had ever produced. He captained India for a record 49 matches and led them to victory 21 times which is yet another record. Of these 21 victories 11 came in foreign soil which in itself is a special distinction for any captain. He captained India to almost the pinnacle of glory in the 2003 WC. How can anyone forget the “Payback” incident. Here are pictures and an extract from a local daily that stresses the importance of that act.

The Payback

If you ever wonder who provoked this reaction, this picture will answer all your queries.

The Incident that deserved the Payback

Which captain would give an eye for an eye, i can’t name many since there are really few of them and Ganguly would top that list. If it wasn’t for him the present Indian captains won’t be half as aggressive as they are now. Such was the impact of Saurav Ganguly.

He was insulted again and again by the Indian Cricket Board, was dropped on numerous occasions accusing him of the most dubious of things, but still it was always dada who bought glories to Indian cricket everytime. History repeated itself many a time when he was at the helm of his career and captaincy. If ever there was a “Maverick” in the Indian cricket team, worthy of our respect for exactly those qualities, then it had to be Saurav Ganguly.

This is the story of a Phoenix who emerged from the ashes. Once it was almost declared that his career is was over but he was back in the team. He made a comeback yet again and repeated the history of his own comeback in 1996 after being dropped in 1992. He surely is the king of all comebacks. His comeback is an inspiration not only to his fans but also to his critics.

DADA-A FIRE THAT BURNS FOREVER IN THE HEARTS OF MANY!!!

WE WILL MISS U DADA…

A SALUTE TO FRIENDSHIP

It’s August the third, some might wonder what relevance it has to this post. The relevance is not the date, it is the day. The first Sunday of August. Yes, it is World Friendship Day today and i wish all my dear and wonderful Friends a very Happy Friendship Day.

Friendship is a very important thing to me. It always has been, always will remain the same. Friendship is a thing that knows no religion, no boundaries, no caste, no creed, it is a unified central human experience. It is a blessing, and a friend is a channel through whom great emotional, spiritual and even physical blessings flow. Appreciating a friend is not merely seeing each other often…What counts most is that somehow in our hectic lives, we remember each other just by saying, “Please take care”. A Good Friendship has thousands of memories, both good and bad, but all are important and although i am miles away from my dearest friends right now as i write this the memories that we shared together will always be treasured in my heart. I’ve learned that there are many good friends around, but that true special friend is always hard to come by and most importantly of all that best friends will always remain best friends, no matter what is happening in their live, where they are, or what they are doing. A best friend is irreplaceable. God made man, God made mountains, but he outdid all his creations by creating friendship-A feeling divine which can only be made felt by a friend. Friendship Rocks!!!

On this special day i would like to dedicate the lyrics of the song As We Go on We Remember by Vitamin-C…a soul stirring ode to friendship to all my loving and caring friends…

“Graduation (Friends Forever)”

And so we talked all night about the rest of our lives
Where we’re gonna be when we turn 25
I keep thinking times will never change
Keep on thinking things will always be the same
But when we leave this year we won’t be coming back
No more hanging out cause we’re on a different track
And if you got something that you need to say
You better say it right now cause you don’t have another day
Cause we’re moving on and we can’t slow down
These memories are playing like a film without sound
And I keep thinking of that night in June
I didn’t know much of love
But it came too soon
And there was me and you
And then we got real blue
Stay at home talking on the telephone
We would get so excited and we’d get so scared
Laughing at ourselves thinking life’s not fair
And this is how it feels

As we go on
We remember
All the times we
Had together
And as our lives change
Come Whatever
We will still be
Friends Forever

So if we get the big jobs
And we make the big money
When we look back now
Will our jokes still be funny?
Will we still remember everything we learned in school?
Still be trying to break every single rule
Will little brainy Bobby be the stockbroker man?
Can Heather find a job that won’t interfere with her tan?
I keep, I keep thinking that it’s not goodbye
Keep on thinking it’s a time to fly
And this is how it feels

As we go on
We remember
All the times we
Had together
And as our lives change
Come Whatever
We will still be
Friends Forever

La, la, la, la
Yeah, yeah, yeah
La, la, la, la:
We will still be friends forever

Will we think about tomorrow like we think about now?
Can we survive it out there?
Can we make it somehow?
I guess I thought that this would never end
And suddenly it’s like we’re women and men
Will the past be a shadow that will follow us ’round?
Will these memories fade when I leave this town
I keep, I keep thinking that it’s not goodbye
Keep on thinking it’s a time to fly

As we go on
We remember
All the times we
Had together
And as our lives change
Come Whatever
We will still be
Friends Forever

As we go on
We remember
All the times we
Had together
And as our lives change
Come Whatever
We will still be
Friends Forever

As we go on
We remember
All the times we
Had together
And as our lives change
Come Whatever
We will still be
Friends Forever

A TRIBUTE TO A GREAT LEADER-NELSON MANDELA

Nelson Mandela is a leader no prison cell, no intimidation, no threat could silence. A man whose belief in the future was so powerful that not even at 27 years behind bars and barbed wire could destroy his dream that millions could be free. Despite many years in jail, he emerged to become the country’s first black president and to play a leading role in the drive for peace in other spheres of conflict. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. His charisma, self-depreciating sense of humour and lack of bitterness over his harsh treatment, as well as his amazing life story, partly explain his extraordinary global appeal. Since stepping down as president in 1999, Mr Mandela has become South Africa’s highest-profile ambassador, campaigning against HIV/Aids and securing his country’s right to host the 2010 football World Cup. He has also encouraged peace efforts in other areas of the world. In 2004, at the age of 85, Mr Mandela retired from public life to spend more time with his family and friends and engage in “quiet reflection”. “Don’t call me, I’ll call you,” he warned anyone thinking of inviting him to future engagements.

LANDMARKS OF THE LEADER

1918 – Born in the Eastern Cape

1956 – Charged with high treason, but charges dropped

1964 – Charged again, sentenced to life

1990 – Freed from prison

1993 – Wins Nobel Peace Prize

1994 – Elected first black president

1999 – Steps down as leader

2001 – Diagnosed with prostate cancer

2004 – Retires from public life

2005 – Announces his son has died of an HIV/Aids-related illness

2007 – Forms The Elders group

Today Mr.Mandela turned 90 and has marked his 90th birthday by calling for the rich to do more for the poor. That tells u of a man who has dedicated his life for the well being of his country. To millions of people around the world, Nelson Mandela stands, as no other living figure does, for the triumph of dignity and hope over despair and hatred, of self-discipline and love over persecution and evil.

Happy Birthday Mr.Nelson Mandela…Long Live your Legacy