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!

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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?

A short story-4

Dilemma
-----------

"I love you Divya", Raj said placing the red rose he held in Divya's hand. She was blushing and was happily grabbing the rose from his hand. Instead of feeling joyous, Raj was having mixed feelings, for Divya knew nothing about what he once felt for Shruti. He could not imagine what'd happen if she came to know later on that he hid this from her. Anyways, it wasn't a big thing that demanded a certain mention before proposing his love to Divya or so he felt...he knew that she could easily feel otherwise. She was a very sensitive and possessive girl. He hated himself for this premature proposal. Right then, he half-heard the "love you too" when he realized that Divya was in his arms. He hugged her tightly, more out of fear than out of affection, out of the fear of losing Divya's love...Divya's too.

Shruti and Raj were very good friends...are as well. There was a time when they just couldn't live without each other's company. Months and years rolled by and the friendship grew strong. Shruti knew everything about Raj. Raj knew most things about Shruti...more than most of her other friends. One fine day, he knew not why or how, he realized that he loved Shruti. He knew that his life will not be complete without her. She was everything he needed to survive. She wasn't the most beautiful of girls around but for his eyes and he was sure he did not love her for any one particular thing...it was everything put together that attracted him, made him go mad in love for her. He proposed his love to her the same night, the night that will remain in his memory forever.

He entered her house with a red rose. She was alone and welcomed him with a smile. He held the rose in front of her.
Saying, "Shruti, I love you", he smiled. She smiled back and accepted the rose. He could not control his emotions. He was blushing, smiling, laughing and crying all at the same time. He wasn't sure if he was dreaming or if it was really happening!
"Raj. I don't deserve you", she said. He now felt sure that he was dreaming.
"What?", there was only one emotion this time and she was wiping the tears away from his cheeks.
"Yes Raj. You are a nice guy. You certainly deserve a better girl and you'll find one too, pretty soon. Now, stop crying."
"But why, Shruti? Is there something I need to know", he had stopped crying- but his thoughts were wandering in all possible directions.
"No, nothing. I know about me very well and I know you better than what you know about you. Now take my word when I say that you deserve a better girl", she was patting his back. He knew that he will not be able to push her any further and that she knew it better than anyone else.
"All I know is that I'll never be able to love another girl the way i loved you, ever", he sounded helpless.
She was genuinely concerned, but managed to joke, "Am sure there are a lot of hot babes around who'll get you in no time. Now, let's have dinner".
He stayed there well past midnight, lying down after dinner, resting his head on her lap for a couple of hours, trying not to think about what had happened. She handled it very well, talking about Aishwarya Rai and Formula One and other stuff he loved. That was the only time she assumed the role of his mother. It was him playing the dad in general, and in that way, it was a night he could never forget.

Raj was happy to hear that Shruti was engaged, to the son of her dad's friend. Shruti held a special place in his heart, as a friend. Once in a while, he'd think about the night he had proposed to her. But, he knew for sure that he felt nothing more than friendship for her then. Somehow, the thought made him feel happy. He could not tell how, what once seemed to be the only thing he'd live and die for, wasnt so anymore. Yet he gladly accepted this fact. Their bond as friends never slackened and he knew that it'd have been impossible with any other girl but for Shruti. His feeling towards her had evolved into one of respect. She'd always be the best girl he had ever met in his life.

Then came Divya. The fire was almost immediate. Both of them were madly in love with each other. They were not the most open of friends around, but it did not seem to matter. Divya knew that Shruti was Raj's best friend and the feeling of jealousy was quite evident. Raj was always in a dilemma as to whether he should tell her everything or not. He decided against it. If she truly loved his present, she'd not mind this past of his-if she ever comes to know of it, he felt. He asked Shruti for her opinion and she said he'd be a fool to tell Divya about the past, she said it was not even worth a mention and that Divya would laugh right on his face, if he said this to her! This was Shruti's way of making him do what she thought was the right thing and he sure couldn't do anything against what she had said.

"Raj. Thanks for making this easy for me...Are you listening?...", Divya shook Raj. Reality stared at his face.
"No. There's no dilemma", he blurted out.
"What? What dilemma?", she looked puzzled.
"No. nothing. Want icecream?", he smiled wickedly.
"Sure", she winked.
They walked hand in hand to the icecream shop...

Midwest, Game 6

It was an away game against Eastern Kentucky University CC and also happened to be a must-win game. Our captain lost the toss and we were asked to bat first. We'd have batted first anyways and so there were no complaints there. Not one out of the 22 players present there would have predicted what followed. It was a run fe(a)st. We scored 303 runs in the allotted 35 overs losing 7 wickets and my contribution towards the total was a 1 not out- yes, at last i got to bat this season! Everybody had a good time out in the middle scoring runs at will, well aided by a plethora of extra deliveries bowled by EKUDCC. Full marks to our batsmen considering the fact that the temperature was in the high 90s throughout our innings. It was like watching the Indian team batting a test match where runs were scored mostly in boundaries and extras.
The total was overwhelming and we knew all along that there was no way we could have lost the game. We had to boost our net run rate and so started out a little defensive. I was asked to share the new ball owing more to the lacklustre performance of J in the previous games than for my own bowling having been lethal. I was happy to have earned it, though. I gave the first breakthrough, making their opener to mishit a good length ball to mid-off where C took a brilliant one handed catch well over his head. Once we got their top 3 batsmen, we took some liberty and tried various bowling options- maybe overdid it a bit because it took us 32.1 overs to get them all out. I was not required to bowl again in the game and thus finished with a spell of four overs costing 16 runs for the solitary wicket. We won the game by 132 runs in the end. It could have been by a lot more but for their biased umpiring. A lot of plumb in front lbw appeals were turned down and a lot of wide balls that weren't wide enough were called.
We have one game to go and it happens to be another must-win game. Practically, the playoffs have begun for UCCC and we've started off well. Hope we win the next game and get into the actual playoffs- something that UCCC has never failed to do in over 15 years of having played in this league.
Here's the scorecard...

Sania Mirza

Sania Mirza participated in the Cincinnati WTA Tour. She managed to win the first two rounds and lost to the Japanese, Moregami, in the third round in straight sets on July 22nd. I was there at the court watching her lose! This was the first time ever that i was watching a tennis match in a stadium(or whatever!), and the experience was good. It'd have been sweet had she managed to win. After seeing the way she lost, i couldn't help but feel that her laziness was the major factor against her. She has a lot of scope to improve her backhand game and in rushing to the net to take the opponent's drop shots. She has power and I guess with a lot of practice and seriousness, she should be able to break into the top 25 ranks within a year or so.
Goodluck Sania!