Ants, life jackets and other random thoughts...

Life is cruel to everyone who doesn't want to or get to enjoy it. There's no option other than what is destined to happen. Be grateful for everything and do not harbour remorse for not getting anything. Maybe you don't deserve it and someone else does deserve it. But when that someone else is the one who reaps all the benefits you are left helpless and are forced to accuse your ill fortune. Dreams transform into lifejackets keeping you buoyant only to help you cross the ocean of life. They are the only means by which you live the life which you have always aspired for. Better luck in your next birth if you believe in rebirth. Just pray that it is something more meaningful like an ant's life.
Meaningful; because the ant is focussed on a single motive and toils hard to fulfill it. It faces hardships and sometimes drains its energy to achieve nothing in the overall sum total called life. It cannot enjoy the fruits of its hardwork but works because it is supposed to. It is unaware of the riches of life. Sugar prices may rise or fall but an ant carries the burden of a sugar crystal irrespective of the estimated value of the goods just because that is the only action which it can perform.Selfless.
It does not take birth to change much in the world. It is like a mere catalyst aiding the reaction. One who makes profit out of business is called a businessman and others are just catalysts in the economic world. Being a catalyst is just another way of living an ant's life. It is upto you to decide whether you wish to live like an ant or you wish to face the hardships of a life full of struggle and disappointments. People who choose the second path reach the zenith in their respective fields. The others are just those with an 'also ran' tag, the mediocre masses who hardly contribute in any form to the world. They are ridiculed as 'losers', an appropriate tag for those with a loser's mentality. So don't give up and don't try to be an ant if you wish to succeed. Feel lucky because you can pity the ant's situation. Be proud of yourself for having the capability of distinguishing between mediocrity and excellence.

Finalists tamed on Day 1

The second edition of IPL, it seems, has a lot of surprises in store. The first day had both the finalists of the 2008 version of the game pitted against two teams which had not even qualified into the semifinals last year. Both the champions (Rajasthan Royals) and the runners up (Chennai Super Kings) went down fighting and left the cricketing world awestruck.
The Chennai Super Kings suffered from a touch of arrogance as they played against the Mumbai Indians. Dhoni and Co. had to endure the crafty gameplay of Sachin Tendulkar as he smashed an unbeaten 59. He carried the bat through the innings and led the Mumbai side with great dexterity. Abhishek Nayar's hurricane innings of 35 surprised the Chennai side and the spectators as he banished 3 balls bowled by Andrew Flintoff beyond the boundary. 167 seemed to be a meagre total total to chase but Mumbai bowlers made sure that Chennai could not reach the target. Rohan Raje's single over proved to be the only blunder. Lasith Malinga's 3/15 was a match saving figure. The presence of hard hitters like Matthew Hayden, Suresh Raina, Andrew Flintoff and Dhoni in the Chennai side didn't make much of a difference as they struggled to keep up with the steeply climbing required run rate.
The second match saw David slaying Goliath as the underestimated Bangalore side punctured the reigning champion side led by Shane Warne. Rahul Dravid hit a magnificent half century keeping Bangalore's hopes afloat. The task couldn't be simpler for Rajasthan but they were bundled up for just 58 runs as Anil Kumble ripped through the batting lineup. The defending champions were humbled as they were bowled out for a record lowest score. Wickets fell quite predictably and IPL fans across the globe were left amazed by this unbelievable match. Bangalore successfully defended a 'low total'.
Complacency took its toll and stalwarts like Tendulkar and Dravid proved their mettle on Day 1 of IPL Season 2. Trends and exit polls are surely not going to work for IPL and the excitement and anxiety involved will be maintained right upto the finals. If teams start competing and stay at par, the purpose of a league format will be satisfied.
And finally Go Mumbai Indians! We have God himself playing on our side!

Cacophony

Do you ever imagine how the populace used to stay in touch before the mobile phone became an inseparable part of our lives? Was life as smooth as it is now? How could people coordinate to decide a point of assembly? And travelling used to be so quiet!
The yelling out of numbers and addresses, the exchange of cordial greetings by the jovial lot, the intricacies of a family feud, the details of some planned celebration,the sweet nothings of lovers is now audible to an entire compartment of passengers packed like sardines. People in the vicinity are forced to assume the role of eavesdroppers against their will. There is one misconception which causes the most trouble- the louder you yell into the mouthpiece, the clearer can the person at the other end can hear! How ridiculous is that! What were telephones invented for, if yelling was the best option! There's no need of this conversion of sound energy into electromagnetic energy and into sound again! You could torture your lungs and the addressee could hear you quite clearly. There are a few people who can stick to their mobile device for hours and just nod, sigh,sprinkle a few monosyllables between two gasps. You can spend your lifetime guessing who the person at the other end is. Maybe that person is busy intriguing some other keen observer like you in a similar place. 99% of these people belong to the female gender! Not shocked,right? There are some people who have ringtones which leave you chewing your own gums (the ones which are a part of your mouth) and resisting from driving your knuckles towards the other person's jaw. In one variation of this irritant of a situation, the possessor of the phone sings along as the cursed device rings. Some people are just so friendly on the phone that you start smelling a rat. Their long drawn hellos and byes are so synthetic that your eyebrows leap up in a fit of exasperation. Ever tried dictating a phone number to somebody when talking to him on the phone? The careful repetition of every digit makes sure that everyone around you knows the number and can dial the number before being able to dial their own number. A fairly prominent group of people love to flaunt their devices by narrating an interesting story, guiding someone to their home or explaining why he could not make it to a celebration. People crane their necks to check out who this 'loudmouth' is and the 'loudspeaker' enjoys the attention. Then there are some who keep on saying 'Hello' because they can't hear the other person. I pity the poor guy whose earpiece repeats the same salutations.
Whatever is your style of using the telephone, don't you think you should mind others' tranquility and have some civic sense while speaking? A telephone is to facilitate better communication, don't let it hamper civic life. Life would be a din, a cacophony, a clatter, where human beings would be lost in a mess of technology and audio waves. Can't wait to finish the post and call my friends to let them know that I have updated my blog!

'Rallying'....for a CHANGE!

The favourite pastime of a common middle class Indian family is to sit together in front of the television set and lambaste politicians. The same family loves it when the voting day is adjacent to a weekend so that a short excursion can be planned. They hardly vote and even if they vote they complain and crib for not finding a suitable candidate. Elections are always about choosing the best from the worst. But do people who never vote have the right to complain? What have they done to improve the situation? If they say that all the candidates are not worth their vote then why don't they provide the masses with another option,viz. themselves? Is it only the privilege of a select few to represent the people? Representatives in a democracy can be common men with any background ready to serve the interests of the nation as a whole. These families who love to label politicians as a corrupt and insensitive species have even stopped listening to the candidates' speeches and reading a party manifesto. Earlier in the newborn Indian democracy, political rallies were for the middle class. But now the rallies are for the poorest of the poor who can be bribed by promises. Promises of liquor, cash, tobacco,etc. These people are 'bought' in the units of trucks and thousands of such men and women enjoy an outing to city venues. A rally in the heart of Mumbai at Shivaji Park should technically be for the residents of the upmarket urban Mumbai but a glance at the crowd gathered proves otherwise. It seems that being illiterate and uneducated is a criterion for people to gain entry to any rally because intellectual voters are nowhere to be seen. Decades ago, the upper middle class of Mumbai used to make it a point to be present at Shivaji Park when the cannon named Balasaheb Thackeray thundered in his usual style. But now people run away from rallies. Their faces turn sour when they realise that a rally is to take place. Why are rallies now only for the lower strata of the society? Why can't the educated voters devote time to listen what a particular party has to say? We decided to be trend setters and path makers this time. And what better than a rally where a great orator and Prime Ministerial candidate L.K.Advani was to speak! A joint rally by the Sena-BJP combo meant that we the first time voters decided to be there before the rally started. Only 3 of us turned up is a different issue but all of us were hesitant to be present during the rally. "Look at the crowd","None of them seems to be educated and polished","All the educated people who are here have come for an evening walk and are looking forward to returning home","We are the only youngsters out here", "Should we go in or not?","Are we going to sit in there with all these people?" were some of the many statements made by us. But we had decided to attend the rally come what may! After a lot of 'Should we or Should we not' we decided to plunge into the massive sea of saffron and made our way towards the security check. After a thorough frisking, we gazed around. We had made it! We were a part of a political rally! We had made history. Two twenty year olds and one nineteen year old pursuing a Bachelor of Technology degree from an elite institute had mingled with a huge crowd of party workers clad in snow white clothes and sporting a Ray Ban and an intimidating tilak on the forehead. The Sena's Bhagwa flag fluttered all around us as remakes of the Oscar winning 'Jai Ho' blared on the loudspeakers. "Kay Ho?", the Shiv Sena geet and a few other songs were the favourites. I have to confess that the songs were a bit over the top and embarrassing. The spoof songs were funny and the ambience felt like some college cultural festival where loud music plays and the crowd enjoys it. The three of us made sure that we sat away from the crowd. We found a nice patch of lawn right in front of the house of Mr.Raj Thackeray. So we could even observe whether he was going to listen to his estranged cousin's speech or not. We were beaming at each other because we couldn't believe that we were THERE. Mentioning the fact that we attended a political rally is enough to take your social standing to a clear null but we defied all conventions, perhaps to set an example for the rest of the youth. We wanted to listen to the person whom we three want to see in the PM's chair. I implore to people of my age to start attending rallies and to thus be politically active because politics is our history, geography and future. The star attraction of the rally was the tech savvy Prime Ministerial candidate Mr. Advani. His online presence has surely worked wonders when it comes to reaching the youth. Mr. Advani blogs and that is the best part! Have you seen his website? If not please do visit it even if you don't plan to vote for his party. He is a leader who can be respected as the PM. Someone who can take decisions. So we 3 and thousands of other who want change at South Block, New Delhi waited for him to come. Till then the who's who of the Sena-BJP yuti gave emotional speeches. After about an hour after the rally started, the Guests of Honour arrived. Advani and Uddhav Thackeray were welcomed by the saffron sea. 3 screens across Shivaji Park announced the arrival along with the blowing of the Tutari and bursting of firecrackers. The points presented by the two leaders are outside the scope of this post and may be mentioned somewhere else. The audience also had a surprise package in the form of Balasaheb Thackeray's recorded speech being screened there. The rally was a nice experience for us. It just feels amazing to be a part of this great machinery called Indian democracy. I hope this dare to attend a rally successfully executed by us inspires others to take an active interest and attend rallies too. Because after all democracy is for the people and that includes you!