Ah Aah

Saw the movie a couple of days back. There's a dialogue in the movie that got me thinking. The translation goes something like this...
"Do we ever break our relationship with our mother? No. We never go in search of a different mother, come what may. Then, why are there so many break-ups in bf-gf relationships? It's because we don't treasure it as much as that of a relationship with a mother. We are not totally sincere in love."
- what else could possibly be the reason?...i wonder...

A short story-5

Was tagged by K7 and here it goes, a short story in 55 words...

A Must-Do
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What a misfortune! There were hundreds of things that Raj had stopped doing while in USA, things that MUST be done while in India.
"How come THEY dont have this facility?", his grandpa blamed the States' infrastructure. Raj couldn't believe he let his slippers in the open outside the temple and not to a person-in-charge.

Tagging Bugs and Shy- write at your leisure girls...

Andre Agassi and The Ashes...

I used to hate the name even until 3 years back. I smiled whenever he lost, the way i do for Federer now. It was because i loved Sampras. Once Sampras retired, i kind of started liking Agassi, for i always knew he was a good player...a very good player. This is Agassi's 20th straight year at the US open, starting from 1986. Am not sure if anyone else has this kind of record...simply unbelievable. At 35, he's still the king of service returns, which was amply on display in his Quarterfinal game against compatriot James Blake last night. This was one of the best games of tennis i have ever got to see and i am thankful for it. Down 3-6, 3-6, 1-3, only Agassi could have possibly taken it to the fifth set, let alone...win it! I kept believing that he'd somehow pull this one off and he did! Agassi won 3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(8-6). He did not give Blake a single matchpoint, which was not great only because it was Agassi. I started feeling sorry for Blake right after Agassi evened things out in the third set at 3-3 and almost lost my confidence when Agassi was down a break in the fifth. For all his worth, he broke back and took it to tie-break. There he was down 1-4 again! Agassi was on the comeback throughout the match, where he showed a lot of character. If he gets to meet Federer in the Finals, it'd be an awesome game where Federer would be made to give his everything to win, which is itself becoming a rarity these days. Ofcourse, there's Ginepri waiting to pounce on the old tiger to enter into a Grand Slam Finals for the first time in his career...but after seeing the way Agassi played in the QF, Ginepri would be hoping for something more than just his talent to beat the legend...

Another bad day for the Aussies in the Ashes. England are 319/7 at the end of the first day's play in the fifth and final test. Atleast, it wasnt too bad relatively based on what has happened in the last 3 games. I thought that losing the toss was a blessing in disguise, for this will give them enough time to take 20 English wickets. Hope rain doesnt take too many overs away from this game and spoil a well fought series...

IIT? what is it?

i hereby announce with great pride that i studied in a college that is one step ahead of IIT Madras and two steps ahead of IIT Kharagpur- hehe!

Read this

Dead Man Alive!

How i wish i had the mentality to disregard this as absurd without giving it a second thought....or do i?

just in time...

Happy 58th Independence Day, India. You've done me proud and I'll try to make you proud in all sincerity. Jai Hind!



gandhiji.jpg, originally uploaded by Minimal Ego.

Knee Injury...

Lack of a proper fitness regime, it's got to be. On Friday, during our regular cricket practice, I was bowling as usual. Suddenly, on my follow through i heard a cracking sound from my knee and the next moment i was on the ground crying in pain. My immediate thought was that i had broken a bone. I have never had a fracture in my life before and to have one at this point in time was the worst i could imagine. My teammates took a good look at my knee and the experienced ones diagnosed that it wasn't a fracture since there was no serious swelling. I waited there for another hour and a half for the practice to end and by that time i was feeling reasonably better and so decided against going to the doctor that night(i hate visiting hospitals- am quite the opposite of an hypochondriac). I was helped all along by two of my team mates, who took me to a nearby pharmacy to buy a pain relieving gel and then took me to a restaurant where we had dinner. Thanks guys, for being very helpful. They then brought me home and I was on my own from then on for another hour or so until my roommate came home. I broke a towel hanger in the bathroom putting my full weight on it! I took a painkiller and decided to sleep, when my roommate arrived. I told him about this and we decided to go see a doctor the next morning if it did not get any better, and it did not.
So, i went to the university hospital on Saturday afternoon and after having waited for nearly 5 hours, saw the doctor! Thanks to my roommate and another friend for their patience and support, the time flew by. The doctor diagnosed it as a possible lateral ligament tear or an inflammation in the meniscus. He said that he would not be able to find which one it was without being cruel to me. He said that it would hurt me a lot if he tried to then and so asked me to see an orthopaedist on monday when the pain would have lessened. I'll have to fix up an appointment and it could well be a week before I actually see an orthopaedist. Am on painkillers right now and was on crutches until earlier today. Now, am able to walk around without the crutches. There's pain(better than what it was yesterday though) and the swelling hasnt come down by much. Hope it heals soon.
Thanks a lot A and J for your help. Thanks a lot K and S for your patience and help. Living away from home will only be a nightmare if not for friends like you...

speechless...

It's not a daily phenomenon. Neither does it happen once a week nor probably once a month. You mean to say so much...yet, all you manage to do is be silent. The pun-man in you goes on vacation. The past haunts and the future seems to be one of solitude...while the present makes an onlooker wonder if you are naturally dumb. Parting with people you have taken for granted...certainly the time and place when and where words fail you.

Midwest, Game 7

We knew that this could be the last midwest game we'd be playing this season, if we lost, even before the game had begun. We felt this wouldn't be the last game after having scored 193 runs batting first. We were more than sure that this wouldn't be the last game when University of Kentucky CC(UK) required 23 runs in the last 12 balls, more so because we had lost a close game already this season. The odds were so much against us losing from there. I had more reason to believe so because i was going to bowl the last over of the game if we got there for UK had just 2 wickets left. It required only 9 balls including a noball and a wide in the penultimate over for them to score those 23 runs. Their number 8 batsmen hit 3 fours and a six in the space of 7 balls that he faced out of those 9 balls and took them home.
The game was closer than what it was after 33 overs in their innings. They needed 29 in 24 balls. T bowled the 32nd and gave just 2. I bowled the 33rd and gave just 4. K decided to bowl himself and this time there was no reason to believe he was wrong. He had bowled his previous over pretty decently. The first ball which was pitched a little fuller than good length on the middle stump was whacked atleast 20 yards over the midwicket boundary and right then we knew we could lose. It was too good a shot for a lower order batsman to play. The next ball was a little shorter and was pulled one bounce into the midwicket boundary for four. It could have been stopped but wasnt to be. 13 from 10 balls with 2 wickets in hand. It was anybody's game now. I was already starting to worry about the last over and wasn't sure if it'd get there for different reasons this time! A wide. 12 from 10. A single. 11 from 9. The number 10 batsman managed to pick up an easy single. 10 from 8. A noball over the waist was pulled to deep square leg for four more. 5 from 8. A dot ball through to the keeper. 5 from 7. Another ball through to the keeper and the batsmen risked a single. The keeper could have walked to the stumps and taken the bails off but he panicked and threw the ball. It missed the stumps and more importantly number 8 would be on strike when i bowl the final over. 4 required from 6 balls. After having taken a good look at what had happened, I knew i had to bowl a good length ball outside off, way outside off rather. I did but it was a little shorter than what i had expected to bowl and the batsman proved to be a class act for he managed to cut it for four with an exquisite timing. I finished with figures of 6.1-0-29-1.
Earlier, our batsmen did a great job to post 193 from being 92/5 after 22 overs. I did not get to bat.
The scorecard for the game is here. Our team stats for this season can be found here. My stats in midwest league can be found here.

the thespian in us

how should one react when an acquaintance says, "You have impressed me with the kind of courage you have shown in this time of distress", when the one concerned actually spends sleepless nights worrying about the distress and just puts up a calm face for the public?