A year later... What have we learnt?

*** Please be warned that this post will contain a hell a lot of expletives. I apologise.***

What does the image below remind you of?

It reminds me that this motherfucker who had killed so many people and who was a part of a grand scheme of terrorizing an entire city is still alive.

What have we learnt a year later? How to show humanity to a fucking terrorist is it? That fucker and his gang of terrorists go on a killing spree in Mumbai on 26th November 2008 and what then? Mr. Ajmal Kasab is given a trial. What the hell for? For being the man who shot the Mahatma is it? To understand his bloody motives? Or is it just to show that he is a Paki? Or is it just to show that the Indian Government is taking some action in retaliation for the attacks? To spend 31 Crore Rupees on a worthless piece of shit?

Look at the number of lives lost. Look at the gory, monstrosity of the attack. The people responsible for national security- not our army, not our BSF, not our coast guards, etc- but our great netas. Hemant Karkare was killed due to some fucking asshole messing up with his bulletproof jacket (I really hope not only Maharashtra Police, but Police departments of all other states have learnt from his death).And poor Mrs. Karkare doesn't even get to know how he was killed or at the very least should receive his bulletproof jacket, which has now been discarded to oblivion. Sub-standard bulletproof jackets for cops while some bloody asshole in the middle sees a shit load of money from the deal. What is this- BLATANT CORRUPTION.

Apart from all that, think of all the poor NSGs who were killed or injured in the counter-attack. To die for the nation is a great honour, but even in those deaths, the politicians want to take the limelight as if they have done the ultimate sacrifice for the country, when they actually are sacrificing us for their own needs and benefits. Imagine the plight of Sandeep Unnikrishnan's parents. Spare a thought for them. And it takes a week for a political party to apologize for one poltician's stupid actions.

Why has this happened? We are all a part of this grand massive scheme. Would you believe it if at least 15% of the money for the attacks was funded by ourselves? Where from- Pirated DVDs, Tax evasions- by which police and all other departments are forced to use substandard products (doesn't make a difference really, 'cause whatever tax we pay is not used for our benefit), all that.

We have only learnt to take things more lightly. Forget things easily. This is why we feel the rage only when we see images of the attack being telecast on TV. Such a dastardly attack of terror and as usual, has not influenced our mentality in anyway. And why the hell are we holding Kasab still? So that there can be another hijacked plane and a fucking demand for his release? Look at the number of lives lost, number of people killed by him and his trigger happy group of fucking self blowing jihadis. And despite all this, we expect Pakistan to act on terrorists, when we can safely say that at least half of Pakistan (that's a fucking underestimate) is full of terrorists.

Shouts, rallies and memorial services for the victims won't do. There needs to be something more. More than that- A revolution. India has to change a lot. We need to change a lot. You and I need to change a lot. Had the fire which burnt atop the Taj Colaba been in our bellies, India would have changed a lot over the last 1 year.

To quote my previous posts- (my posts which were done during the attack)-  These terrorists seem to keep asking us this question over and over again- we can hit you anyway, anytime we want. What can you do?
Such an attack can happen again, and again and again, until and unless we are ruthless, courageous and good enough to do certain things that we never have.

WE HAVE LEARNT ONLY ONE THING- TO FORGET THINGS AND MOVE ON, WHATEVER HAPPENS.

If cricket's my religion...

That title says it all. If cricket's my religion, the man in the pic is my god. That s the motto of every Indian, every cricket fanatic all over the world. 

There are so many many sayings about Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. The most famous of them include quotes by other stars such as Matthew Hayden- “I've seen God. He bats at No.4 for India.”

Shane Warne- “I'll be going to bed having nightmares of Sachin just running down the wicket and belting me back over the head for six. He was unstoppable. I don't think anyone, apart from Don Bradman, is in the same class as Sachin Tendulkar. He is just an amazing player.”

Brian Lara “Sachin Tendulkar is a genius. I'm a mere mortal.”

Don Bradman once said to his wife "Come and take a look at this guy. He bats almost the way I did."

There are endless odes and tributes paid to the greatest batsman of all times. There used to be a point of time in Indian Cricket, when Sachin's wicket meant that India could be defeated. 

Imagine that man, performing at the highest level of cricket for such a long time. A journey that began way back in 1987, in Pakistan, facing Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram, on debut. That journey has continued ever since. Sachin's career has spanned 20 years, 17000 ODI runs, over 12000 test runs and over 42 test hundreds and 45 ODI hundreds. Imagine. Those are mind boggling figures. There is no way that he'll retire without 50 hundreds in each format of the game, except for T20 of course.

What hasn't Sachin done for India. He's not been a 'keeper. That's it. He s won matches single handedly for the team. He s done that with the bat and the ball. He's even captained the side, but not with much success though. There haven't been too many cricketers who have endured heartbreaks as much as him. There have been so many situations when he had played so many wonderful knocks and India did not make it over the line. The most memorable and the freshest memory would be that of his stunning 175 against Australia. However, India fell short by 4 runs.

A few knocks that anyone would remember would be his back to back centuries against Australia at Sharjah. His brilliant 98 off 75 balls against Pakistan at Centurion, South Africa. That  blinding 155 vs Australia at Chennai in 1997. And that 136 against Pakistan at Chennai in 1999, though that was in a losing cause. That man has contributed a lot more to cricket than anyone else.

Injuries and lack of form have always been a part and parcel of any cricketer's career. And Sachin too has had his share of injuries- tennis elbow, ankle injuries, back problems, finger injuries. The game has taken its toll even on his body. But despite all that, he shrugs them all off and continues to play, continues to dazzle, continues to amaze.

He has had so many batting partners. One can even remember him batting with even a number eleven batsman, trying to save a test match. But at the mention of his batting partners, his best opening partner was Sourav Ganguly, with whom he had scripted a huge number of stunning partnerships. 

Every man has his own weakness, and apparently captaincy was not Sachin's forte. India did not do well under his captaincy, but his batting was as dazzling as always. India has not seen any cricketer perform time and again like Sachin Tendulkar. 

He has terrorised bowlers all over the world with his batting skills. There is no batsman in the world who has made bowling to him to seem as the most terrifying job on earth. Bowlers fear bowling to an in-form Sachin. A cricketer has to be born again to replace Sachin. 

If cricket's my religion, Sachin's my god.

 
P.S: Down below are some thoughts that my friends have shared about the Master Blaster. 


Sankari says- "I like Cricket only because of Sachin. The day he stops playing will be the day I stop watching cricket. "

Rohit says- " My fav sachinism moments : 1. The India Pakistan match at Chepauk.. I am blessed to have seen it live at the MAC stadium. Consider it to be the highpoint of my dumb -life.


2. The Century against England at Chennai which he dedicated to the ppl of Mumbai post 26/11. goes to show , the man still plays for the ppl of India , and not to get the eyeballs of Adidas and Pepsi , unlike a few blokes in the team.

3. The Sharjah sandstorm. I still remember watching it when I was a kid.. I was in my native town Nellore for the holidays , and the roof literally came down , watching it with a dozen equally passionate relatives.

4. The ball tampering scandal.. there waws so much outburst against the umpire who accused Sachin . "You mess with Sachin , you mess with India .

5. The World cup. India was doing poorly and back home cricketers houses were being stoned and effigies being burnt etc. many players appealed for the public to stop this. but went in vain. Sachin comes, holds a small press conference abt it. It all stops. Many ppl demand respect , he commands it."

Jayaram says- "That six off Andy Caddick's ball out of the stadium during the world cup in 2003."

Bhargava- "That dazzling 98 off 75 balls against Pakistan. Amazing. No one can ever forget that."

Venkatraman- "Sharjah- 143. Need I say more?" 

Ashok- 155 not out vs Australia at Chennai. cant forget it. I am very fortunate to see that innings live at chepauk. and more fortunate to have thrown back the ball back to the field after one of his sixes landed into our stand.

Sathyanarayanan- Sharjah, 104 against Zim at Benoni(must win match to go to Final - Ganguly, Azhar and Rahul Dravid went cheaply. We required 240 of 40 overs to qualify for finals. Sachin scored 104. Jadeja and Robin would complete the match). He was totally out of form coming into the match. He played some extra ordinary shots for a player who was out of form. 
155 vs Aus at Chennai(Test Match)
116 vs Pak at Chennai(Test match)
85 vs WI at Mumbai(Test Match)
116 vs Aus at Melbourne(Test match)
169 vs SA at Cape town(India were 67/5)
114 vs Eng at Edgbaston(India 66/5 with Manjrekar not able to bat)

Srinivas- 1.Sharjah "Desert Storm" twin Classics.
2.The 98 against Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup game at Centurion (That back foot cover drive off a bemused Akram is etched on my memory).

Krishnan- Sachins won't happen to the game everyday. He is a prisoner of his own (dare I say, Indian) Mind and had his ups and downs but his abilities were exceptional. In that short 22 yards strip, he carved out 100s of 1000s of runs, won millions of hearts (and of course made tons of money). At the same time, despite all his achievements, I won't exclude him from being questioned. But he's unlike anyone we've seen in world cricket and will leave a big stamp on the game- not just for being able to play cricket but also for being disciplined outside of it.

Siva- 1.  241* - Sydney'04 vs Aus - the one in which he stifled his natural instincts to play shots in the cover region because he was getting out in that region! 

2. 49 - Bangalore'08 vs Aus - considering how acrimonious the last series between the two teams had been & how we ended up getting "Bucknor-ed" first & then "Clarke-d" to lose that all important Sydney test match, we had to ensure that we didn't lose this first test, considering how the Aussies would never lose their grip once they wrest the momentum.i think we had to make about 290+ to win on the 5th day.the pitch was absolutely two-paced and going for a win was out of the equation.the great man showed such a remarkable sense of purpose in each and every defensive shot he played for close to two sessions he was at crease and ensured that drew that test.we went on to win that series! 

Venkatraman- His 5/32 at Kochi against Aus and his 3 wickets in the Kolkata test match known for Laxman's heroics are tributes to his crafty bowling and his thinking. People often don't praise him about his bowling. He is very crafty as a leggie and the ball with which he got warne in Kolkata was a stunner! The googly spun in so sharply that it hit Warne's pad before he could get his bat down! Warne must have surely commented in his mind, Oh you beauty!

penn- the girl, the lady, the woman...

Penn- No its not penn state or something like that. Penn- means girl/lady or woman in Thamizh. There have been so many love songs, so many songs praising the glory of a hero/heroine (at times). There have been very few songs praising women as a whole.

As kids, always- guys don't like girls. And as we grow older- we kind of think- ok fine, we have to live with them. Finally, at one particular stage- OMG! I love that girl,and I just can't live without her. It's just the way things happen. Every guy at some stage in his life falls in love with one woman or the other. For some of us guys- it would be a girl who is very close with us, for some others the only girl in their lives would be their mum and for a lot others the girl whom they marry.  Isn't it such a paradox- we grow up disliking each other and finally falling head over heels in love with each other?

Anyways. Take a moment to imagine all the various roles that a girl plays in her lifetime. 1st as a daughter to her parents. A good daughter who obeys all the instructions her parents give her, studies well, works hard, grows up to be a nice young lady. A lady who has to then get married to some guy and then live with him, make him happy for the rest of their lives together. A mother who has to groom her kids well and make sure they do what is good for them. All this.

Just imagine, that very same lady if she also works in a concern, she has to fulfill expectations there as well, which makes her task even harder. And believe me- Girls can be total workaholics. When there s something to be done- they'll finish and only then will they sleep. And after a long days' work, she comes home to take care of household work, kids, etc. Poof. Just to type this I feel so tired. Imagine all the ladies all over the world, particularly, in Indian households.

There s this line by கவிப்பேரரசர் வைரமுத்து "விண்ணவர்க்கும் மன்னவர்க்கும், விளையாட்ற்ற செல்வம் பென்". Truly. Todays' ladies define that statement. In terms of achievements of ladies, there are a few names that one can never forget. India's 1st woman Prime Minister- Indira Gandhi, Tamilnadu's 1st woman Chief Minister- Dr.Jayalalitha. Such prolific ladies. Well, even they have had their own darker sides, but still, their achievements in a predominantly male dominated society- very very commendable. And yes, there is another interpretation to that line that I had quoted above- remember the incident when a flight was hijacked, which was carrying the daughter of a minister. The bargain- release the terrorists that you have captured, we' ll let her and the other passengers go alive. Now you know how valuable a girl's life is? that too the daughter of a minister is far more valuable. Now, I believe she herself is into active politics, following her father's footsteps.

Respect the ladies guys. For you may never know when a girl you know might come up with something great and turn out to be someone great.

Friend, Dost, Nanban..

There are so many proverbs about friendship. "A friend in need is a friend in deed", "Tell me who your friends are, I will tell who you are." All that. Really. There are so many great examples of great friendships.

Some of the ones that people who watch movies (any language) regularly will know are- in Thalapathy- Superstar Rajinikanth and Malayalam Idol Mamooty. In Rang De Basanti- the group of friends who avenge the inglorification of Madhavan (Air Force officer Ajay Rathod who gets killed in flight crash). In Chennai 600028. There are so many examples.

All of us do have our own close friends, best friends, etc. Some of us may not talk regularly with some of our closest friends, but we do have that understanding. An understanding that, ok he's busy, but when he does call- i'm gonna ask what took you so long. Some of us may have friends who have been with us for a very long time, but still they may not be as close as people who have been with us just for a few months.

My best friends are 2 guys. 2 guys' whose opinions matter a lot to me. One of these 2 guys has been my classmate since my 4th standard till 12th standard. The other guy I knew him from my 8th standard, but we studied together only for 11th and 12th. And all 3 of us were together in the same class, same school in 11th and 12th. Inseparable really. All 3 of us would roam together, and at times, even study together. lol. It was pretty hard to digest at first that all three of us would be going to different colleges, but still, since we were really close with each other, we did not lose contacts.

Now, all three of us are in different parts of the world. Sad. I don't even know if either of them would read this post. Even sadder. But one thing I know is that I'll be in their memory forever. Happiest thing in life- someone remembers you.

There are some lines about friendship which I like a lot. Particularly this one from Chennai 600028, "Unnum sorru nooragum, ondruku ondru veragum, uppu illamal enna aagum, uppai poley natpai ezhthuvom." Then there is ultimate scene in Thalapathi, where Mamooty asks Thalaivar Rajini's as to why he didn't join up with his family, even after knowing that he has a family. To which Thalaivar replies "Enna nee en nanban." That- according to me is the best scene ever in Tamil cine history, which defines the true meaning of friendship.

Even Hindu mythology has its example of friendship. Mahabharata, in which Karna knows Duryodhana is a bad guy, but still sticks around with him for the only reason that Duryodhana is Karna's friend. The movie Thalapathi is loosely based on this great Hindu epic.

I have a lot of friends, who are now successful in different spheres and in different parts of the world. But to be honest and frank with everyone of my friends who might think they are not remembered- I'd just like to tell, I remember each and everyone of you guys. It's just that 2 guys who made a lot of difference to my life pipped the others to take the post. Sorry to all my other friends whom I couldn't mention here, but a huge thank you to each and everyone of you, because all of you have made some difference to my life and have given it some meaning.

Thamizha Thamizha..

"Nee thamizha?" apidinu enna pathu kaetavanga romba kammi. In fact, enakku therinju naalu paeru kaetu iruntha jaasthi. Enna pathu nee malayali ah apidinu kaetavanga than jaasthi.

Enna pathu yaarume enna thamizhanune sonnathu kidayathu. Apidiye thamizhan nu kandupidichalum, yaarume naan sonnalum naan brahmin nu othundathey kidaytahu.

Athukum oru nyayam undu. Yenna naan paesara thamizh apidi. Naan Chennailiye poranthu valanthanalayo theriyale, en bhashai apidiye chennai thamzh la than irukum. Athukaga- romba kevalamana thamizh ellam illa.

Ennoda intha postlaye pathinga (brahmana thamizhla- pathel) na athulaye en thamizh epidi irukumnu theriyum. Pothuva brahmin veedugal (aamgal) la ellam paathinga (paathel) na, kuzhanthaya valarkum bothey antha kuzhanthaiku evlouvuku evlo mudiyumo brahmin bhashaiya than solli tharuvanga (tharuva). Antha oru vishayam- ella jathi, inatharukkum pothuvanathu. Epidi oru singam thanathu kuttiku garjikka solli tharuvatho, athey pola than.

Ennai mathiri neraya paer iurkirargal. Naan mattum alla, ennodu padithavargal, vilayadivargal naraya paerukum athey oru pazhakkam than. Chennai thamizh. Athu ennamo theriyavillai- onru namathu kudumbathilaye vantha oru vishayama, illai valarpilaye vantha vishayama- intha bashai maatram?

Indiaviliruntha America, Australia ponra naadugalil vasikkum namathu naatargaluku ippothu thamizho allatha hindhiyo allathu avargalathu thai mozhiyo pathi paeruku maranthu vidugirathu. sirithu sirithaga avargalathu kuzhanthaigalum antha thaimozhiyai theriyamalaye valarnthum vidugirargal. Thidirendru oru naal Chennai varum bothu etho naangu vaarthaigalai kattrukondum varugirargal, vanthu irangiya udanaye antha bhashaiyai payan padutha muyarchikirargal,aanal athu namma oor auto otunargalal purinthu kolla mudiyavillai.

Kaaranam antha bashaiyai sariyaga katrukollavillai namathu veliooril vasikum inthiyargal. Apidithan namathu mozhiyum indru azhinthu kondey varugirathu makkaley. Nammathu mozhi endral, ovoru oorin sontha vasanayum senthey varum. Maduraiyin malli vasam, Thirunelveliyin halwa vasam, ellame. Makkale, thayavu seitha namathu mozhiyai maranthu vidatheergal. kattru kudungal- nam mozhi vaazhatum.

pinkurippu- 1. Inthu than naan thamizh la ezhuthina muthal post. Mannikavum- thamizh fontil illai.

2. Naan jaathi veriyan alla. Thamizhan than.

3. Namathu Indiavil vera pradesangalil vasikkum namathu thamizhargalin kuzhanthaigalukey seriyaga thamizh therivathillai.