F.R.I.E.N.D.S

A random day in college. I had made a new F.R.I.E.N.D. who went on to become one of the very special ones. That day I asked her “so what are you doing?” After 2-3 minutes I got a reply saying “watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S”. I asked ‘’what’s so special about that show”? I had noticed so many people in college were watching it. She replied “watch it yourself to get the answer”. Well, I ignored the advice. And it took me five years to realize why that F.R.I.E.N.D. never advised me to watch any other TV series ( as this was her way to punish me for ignoring her advice).  Time moved on. After watching some of the very fine TV series/movies and reading some of the good books, I thought what could be more entertaining than these. Answer again came in form of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. This time I did not avoid the advice. So on one fine evening I started watching this show. What I experienced in next few months is probably the finest piece of entertainment I will ever witness.  I never realized how this show became such a wonderful part of my daily routine. The addiction had grown to an extent that every morning I wake up half an hour early so as to watch one episode before leaving for work. Thus ensuring no matter how bad the rest of the day goes, atleast 25 minutes will be full of laughter, some quality laughter! And I must admit that I have finally got an answer that what’s so special about this show. Anyways now 10 seasons are over. So, what I am going to do next? Well, I guess now I am gonna get an answer to another question. I will now get to know why people re-watch it! And I am sure I will soon get an answer to question that why people re-watch it after re-watching it and why they never get tired of it! F.R.I.E.N.D.S. for life!

Wake up BCCI !

If you ask a 15 year old that what’s the biggest horror in his academic life, in all likelihood he will say it’s the board examinations that scare him the most. Of course it’s one of the toughest challenges a student faces in his life. The question papers are set by some unknown examiner, the answer sheets are evaluated by someone unfamiliar and most of the times, examination center is also new. During non-board exams, we have the luxury that our own teacher will set the paper, he will ask only those questions which are from the chapters covered in the class, infact sometimes he will tell us about the important questions too . But the case of board examinations is very different. Rightly so, one’s success is measured in terms of how well he/she faired in board examinations. Let’s try to relate it to cricket. A cricket team’s success is defined by its performance on foreign tours because on foreign tours, question paper (cricket pitch) is prepared by some unknown person, the evaluators (international media) are not so kind to you and the examination center (the stadium) is also away from your home. Here, we cannot ask the curator (examiner) to prepare the pitch (paper) of our liking. This explains why a foreign tour is always a tough assignment for Indian cricketers. And as expected, due to lack of preparation, we falter big time! Now the concept of pre-board exams becomes so important. As in school, during pre-board exams, the question paper is set in exactly the same format which we will be getting in the board exams. However in cricket, during pre-boards too, we continue to practice the patters which we will be missing in the final exams. Here the role of our institute or I should say the role of BCCI becomes so important. As administrators, they are supposed to provide us with right kind of practice pitches, to provide us with a suitable time frame to make adjustments. Well, unfortunately, we continue to play on flat and bald surfaces in India. Here, we should look at the other cricket board. ECB had sent English team to Australia almost 2 weeks before the Ashes began. Hence they got right kind of practice that was required before the series began. But just look at BCCI, they had sent Indian team to the rainbow nation just 3 days before the ODI series began. Hence no time for practice, hence dismal show by Indian team! It’s so easy for us to blame it on Indian players that they lack adaptability; but in my opinion, the scheduling of tours also hold the key. I am wondering what was the need of ODI series against the Windies  team. They could have scheduled just the test series and straightaway after that they could have sent Indian team for South African safari. To complete the formality, they scheduled one 2 days practice match before test series and that too got washed out. As a result, Indian team will be playing the ODI and the test series without any practice match. I will be surprised to see if Indian team can manage to win or draw a few matches. If that happens, that should purely be credited to our cricketers because the board had made it sure for players to be nailed mercilessly. It’s high thethat BCCI takes the results and the reputation of Indian team more seriously. It is time when they understand that no matter how well we do in our domestic examinations, its the foreign exams that will count the most! Wake up , BCCI !

The wall will always stand tall :)

Discussion on various topics is an integral part of my life in my room. Very seldom there will be a span of 10-15 minutes when I and Saransh will not discuss something, topics varying from sports, politics to word-meanings and their usage. But this Sunday night was unusual. I was sitting numb in my bed, and when I regained my senses, I found I had been staring at my laptop screen for last so many minutes. I had lost the count of the time. Then I looked at Saransh, he too was sitting quietly. In normal circumstances, everyday he will pick some number and he will sing it and re-sing it throughout the day, at times out of nowhere. But that night even his song had been lost. Somewhere we both were feeling the same void that had just been created in our life. Well, this is life I said to myself and prepared myself for the upcoming struggle to move on.

                I will like to go back in past by some 16-17 years .Although I was a kid at that time but this viral of cricket had arrested me too. By that time Sachin was a huge figure in Indian cricket. Every now and then he will rip apart the bowling line ups and outcome of a match largely depended on how he played. Rightly so, almost all my friends were his fans, while rest of them did not take any interest in cricket. I too admired Sachin but he was definitely not the one who was my favorite. Today even after so many years I am unaware of the reason that made Rahul Dravid my favorite batsman. I guess I was too young and immature at that time to value the test cricket. But somehow Dravid had gained my attention and for next 15 years, my admiration for him kept growing by many folds. My friends used to tease me, mock me telling me how I can like someone as my favorite batsman who could bat just at strike rate of 70 runs per 100 balls which used to fall below 50 in test matches. At that time neither I felt the necessity to answer them, neither I actually had any answer. Afterall their facts were right and were in accordance with rest of the cricket community. As a result, Rahul Dravid was discarded by most of the fans and the rulers of the game. But Dravid had some other plans. He did not get bogged down by expulsions from the team or from hearts of his fans. He kept working hard and harder. He still was far away from getting close to Sachin in terms of stroke play but by that time he had made his own identity and place in the team. Following years were the best for Rahul as they witnessed the consolidation of Rahul-The Wall; a Structure  that will continue to support Indian cricket for years to come.

Alongside Rahul, I too was fighting some battles of my own. As a guy from a small village in Agra, I was struggling to fit in the city life of Jalandhar. Jump from a Hindi medium school to an English medium school was proving tough to cope with. Everynow and then my classmates would laugh at my broken English or make fun of my appearance as I did not have a stylish hair cut as they did or I did not have a car to race with their’s. Life was indeed tough, needless to mention how much I was struggling in studies. Every now and then I will try to take inspiration from Rahul’s life. I will try to recall how people had discarded him, calling him unfit for shorter version of the game but he never gave up. My challenges were different but Rahul’s spirit and willpower was something that made me believe that I can also learn English, I can also fit in city life, I can also improvise. Well, I did not end up being next Rahul Dravid, but yeah this inspiration really helped me to grow.

Rahul had not just motivated just his fans but his team mates too. His stint at Rajasthan Royals is an example of his ability to influence his peers. From an 18 year old kid Sanju to a 41 year old veteran Tambe, Rahul succeeded in harnessing the every single gram of talent they had in them. It is indeed remarkable to hear that Sanju and Tambe were called for trials, where the scouts of Rajasthan Royals alongwith Rahul saw some amazing potential in these guys which rest of the teams could not. Result is in front of us. We all have witnessed that how these lesser known players went on to become huge success in CLT20. Not just this, with his demeanor and his conduct on field, Rahul influenced his fans to an extent that people did not lose faith in Rajasthan Royals despite four of their players being caught in spot fixing. We all believed that since its Rahul’s team, sab theek he hoga! Going back to Sunday night, it was so pleasing to hear people chanting his name while it was Sachin’s last match too. Rahul always believed that he has nothing to prove to anyone. He always answered to his inner self, something that set him apart. It’s true that Rahul did not enjoy the fairytale ending that he deserved, but he will be satisfied with the respect and love he has managed to accumulate, more than that, he will be satisfied with his contribution to the team. For me, it’s been an exhilarating journey following him, admiring him, adoring him. Thank you Rahul for giving so much joy!  New legends will be born, the game will carry on, but the wall will always stand tall!