The Great American Upset

It seems like whenever i am emotionally drained or mentally distraught, the mind responds by invoking my creative (or so i would like to think of it) writing skills. And so, here i am, furiously typing away the frustration and anguish, climaxed by utter disappointment in the course of events of the last few hours. Yes, I am talking about the 2009 edition of US Open that concluded in the ungodly hours of the morning leaving thousands of fans in utter disbelief at the result.

A certain 20 yr old Argentinean with the looks of a (gentle) beast and gargantuan frame upset the GOAT in a gruelling 5-setter…. playing with the confidence of Dumbledore in a duel with Pettigrew hours after upsetting Rafa in domineering fashion. The guy perhaps didn’t know that you “are” supposed to feel  the nerves of playing in your first Major final against arguably the best player to have ever graced the tennis court in a jam-packed Arthur Ashe stadium. Hitting every shot with the ferocity of a winner, attacking every serve with flat uber-powerful groundstrokes, it was evident that he was not going down without a fight. And fight he did! To think that he started the year with a double bagel from the hands of Federer himself, Juan Martin del Potro has certainly come a long way!! Ahh! How i wish the “shot of the lifetime” had come during the final and rescued Roger!!

To add to the disappointment of the final, my other favourite Gonzo, after having played on level terms against Rafa, surrendered so meekly in the 3^rd set to hand over a literal walkover. Damn you Rafa! Had you lost to Gonzo, he may well have defeated Del Potro and gone down fighting to FedEx!

All in all, a disappointed end to a great year…. and a bad start to the day for me!! Got a quiz and with the “night out” in the TV Room, how can you expect me to have prepared?!?! Wish me luck, i really need it!!

PS : Chelsea off to a flying start!! Go Blues!!

Game, Set and… History!

Dated : 7 June’09

The day i have been waiting for the last 4 years has finally arrived… and the first person i have to thank should be our cable operator, who had cruelly denied me of the action at Paris by not showing Star-Sports, but took pity to our repeated pleadings on phone for the final! And i was fortunately witness to the making of history by arguably the best tennis player ever (except for the irritating Parle Lite ads with some really un-cute sumos (unlike the Takeshi’s Castle sumos!) performing ballet dance to hindi scores… perfect recipe for disaster!! Certainly nothing “cho-chweet” about it!!)

The weather at Roland-Garros was so perfect that i wished i was myself out there playing! It seemed even nature wanted this to happen! And the smile that Fedex carried on his face as he entered the Philippe-Chatrier Court implied that perhaps he too felt the same!! And what a start to the match! Till Soderling came to terms with his first Grand-Slam final, the first set was over… 6-1

Soderling looked to come to his own self in the second set but was cruelly denied the set by some classic service by the King! No break-points for either player as all games went with the serves…the tie-breaker was inevitable and trust me, it is unnerving!! But this was not the Federer of RG 2008 who barely managed to get his first serve in, in the final…I mean, what can you possibly do if your opponents thunders down aces on all his serves in the tie-break!! 5 aces in 5 serves and it was 7-6…

The third set was now a mere formality as his till-now shoddy backhand now started to produce down-the-line winners and there were to be no surprises here!! Even for some cool backhand winners off Soderling’s racket, it was 6-4 and a perfect end to a magical fortnight when universe conspired so that there was to be only one winner here… A deserving tribute to the maestro, a perfect gift from Parisian clay that had given him only heartbreaks for the last 3 years!! As he stood there, barely able to hold his tears as he listened to the Swiss national anthem being played, something that he may have been wishing for the last 3 finals, you couldn’t help but cry with him, share the joy, remember the past frustrations and finally relish the sweet end to the misery!! As Soderling put it, he lost to the deserving winner, the greatest player there ever was…

PS : I almost forgot about the entertaining cameo by a moron as he entered the court to give Federer some scares and almost escaping the many security personnel who came to the rescue!!  I say, he should try his hand in rugby!!

PPS : Wimbledon, here we come!!

PPPS : My apologies for the delay in posting this (not that anybody is waiting for the post!!)… I live “offline” when i am home…

Atrapats a la tempesta

The last two days have been eventful… i tried my hand in Pool for the first time, a thing i have been wanting to do for quite a while… And while i blasted every opponent (actually just one, who wasn’t much of a pro either!) on the first day (beginner’s luck, i wonder!), reality soon seeped in ! The brilliaaant 2 hours were followed by a visit to the good ol’ Solani… and little did we know what fate had in store for us!!

A stroll to the Solani is quite a timepass with the right company… and the 7 of us made up more than just that!  Sitting on the banks of the canal (or river, i am still not sure what it is) as the chilling waters of Ganga lapped our feet while we blew away our time discussing our crushes and love life (or the lack of it) is actually much more fun than it sounds (with the oooohs and ohhhhh moments to go with the story!)… The unerringly regular lightning far away either meant a storm on its way or an alien warship trying to communicate to the earthlings… and the geniuses that we are, we discussed the possibility of the latter!

And soon enough, rain started to pour… not the little droplets of heaven to soothe us in the summer heat, but rather like little stones that we enjoyed throwing at moving vehicles (i mean not me ofcoz! The kids!!)… and within seconds, it had taken the form of a full-fledged storm! As if not being able to see even the next 100 metres while battling the cruel icy winds crashing down upon us and the ‘stoney” rain drops slapping our faces wasn’t bad enough, we were drenched from head to toe in our now-heavy-and-drooping clothes and had to try and make our way forward to find a shelter… Strangely enough thinking about it now, it almost felt for a moment that we may not be able to make it safe!! Already shivering in the tempest, we finally saw the glimpse of a bus parked nearby… Thankfully, we took cover in its shade, as we watched the rain, now coming down in waves, and the sky lightning up every now and then… The bus-driver, taking pity on us drenched souls, let us in and we took shelter in the warmth of the insides…

Soon enough, we were back to the very serious discussions we were having before the timely interruption by nature… As the storm waned off, we started making our way back for a well-deserved peg of whiskey… but the basters, all but one, backed off the plan and we finally settled for a plate of steaming Soup Maggi and tea at the, where-else, Bus-Tea… Feeling all smug and filled, all of us rounded up at the Terrace for continuing the all-important bakar session, discussing the (mis)adventures of the day! Looking back, the storm made our day (or night, rather) a memorable one… Being “caught in a storm” never sounded terrifying to me, but now, it sure sounds one heck of fun!!!

PS : For those who haven’t noticed, the title of the post is Catalan for “caught in the tempest”!! A tribute to the victory of undeserving-finalists Barca over a mediocre ManU… And now i have even greater respect for Bosingwa on how he was able to keep down the genius, mercurial Messi !! He was on fire on the night! A beautiful display of football- “Joga Bonito”, i guess! What say Devils??

PPS : Hoping to be able to write a cheerful post next Sunday! How i wish something magical to happen on the clay of Roland-Garros!! How about a 6-0 set for a revenge, FedEx ?? (Fingers crossed)

Adios

And i was all sobbing by the end, i mean even for the fact that she was the “Cut-throat Bitch”, she deserved better… anyway i had kinda started to like her by the time she was seeing Wilson and while i would anyday choose “Thirteen” over her, it was surely cruel on her… Besides, all’s well at Princeton-Plainsboro… Greg continues to save lives with magical epiphanies, Cuddy is still all cleavage and ass, and i still love Cameron!! And for all the poor folks scratching their heads over the context, i am talking about the very addictive(and i don’t really mind the addiction) and insightful(for it got me into some real deep musings over my life and its purpose… which i duly got over by cracking some skulls and kicking some butt in Crysis) House MD.

Trust me, this post was long due but for House and his racist and sexist jokes that had got me hooked for the last fortnight (yah! And also his remarks about life that made me envisage on the quest to finding the answer to life, the universe and everything….. but i suppose thats not really the point here!). It would also be pointless to write about my recently messed-up end sem exams where Murphy’s Law was at full flow… the same old whining and regrets (and certainly no sentiyaap!!) won’t really be serving much purpose, i suppose…

The last sem has been uneventful, to say the least. No tennis, 3 months wasted not playing AOE (as part of a resolution actually, that lasted till there was “Chaos” everywhere) and a dismal SGPA to show for all the efforts that i (seriously!) put into acads, it has been regretful. And to add to the misery, there wasn’t even any Lit quizzes (till ofcoz, the Old Monks weaved their magic upon us for one last time)… And so it turns out that the only (almost) productive thingy that i managed to do this sem was this particular blog!

I have never been good with words, let alone the spoken word that rarely manages to present itself before an audience (i suppose it gets all tongue-tied!). But this seems to aggravate in the presence of some fantastic beings i have the honour to call my seniors… For all i know, i may not have the privilege of being in presence of such legendary characters ever again together! I may not have sweet memories or cherished moments with them, but i cannot help but be awed by them.

Be it NamJham who was perhaps the first senior that i really talked to, who made me feel comfortable, who did not demand any respect and inevitably got it… I still remember that rainy afternoon at the RJB mess at the Kshitij interview when my write-up managed to impress someone (he actually said it was similar to the one he had himself written during his selection)and for all the reasons that i dislike Kshitij (my sincere apologies, Jham), i have got sweet memories… and add to that, the fact that he plays fantastic tennis and he was an instant role-model for me!!

Be it Lefty, the person i admire the most in the campus for his sense of style (no sarcasm here! You look cool in those capris!) and ofcoz, his enviable brilliance in anything he does–speaking, quizzing or humour! And for the handful of seniors that i idolise, he comes up there on top! And the problem with star-struck fans is that we tend to get all gobbledegook in front of our idols… and not having been able to know them better and share few memorable moments with them, would perhaps remain my only regret…

And ofcoz, Rapu! For his quirky arbitness (and Desi convincing me that he is a Delhi-Mallu!). And he plays violin, for goodness sake!! He’s a genius or what!

And not to forget, my Age Gurus! The likes of Novice, the grand-daddy of them all… Or Walker, who surprisingly has an excellent ear for music and a flambouyant taste for um… liquor! The DP was certainly “lighted” by your presence!

It seems rather ironical, but i suppose it was all for good… perhaps if i had known them close, they may not have the aura of awe around them as they have for me now… And i will still have my idols, to guide me, to inspire me and propel me to perhaps top their achievements! Best of Luck to you guys!! Go grab the stars and make your awe-struck fans proud!

PS : Lefty, i forgive you for hating Chelsea!

PPS : Walker, we actually let you win at Chaos… a farewell gift!

Blue…. Forever

Now that’s two in a row… and i have retreated to accepting the inexcusable inevitability of the current flow of events. As SS so aptly put, no matter how well you plan things, they just go wrong when they are supposed to. And the preparations, expectations…. are simply washed away. This post comes in the wake of the disappointment of my now-screwed up Physics and the events of Wednesday night. And with Eco and Machines to follow, well….God!! U still there to help me, na?

But the prime motive of this post dwarfs anything else, including my not-worth-mentioning acads. After almost completing my CAD syllabus (i mean CAD!! Seriously??), i enter the TV room to find it filled with “fans” shouting and booing at every Chelsea foul and exultant at every Barca shot hit from 30 yards to go flying into the Shed. 1-0 read the scoreline. And better still, Chelsea still had the hunger and the character to still go searching for that elusive second goal. A handball appeal ignored. 93rd minute and Essien makes that crucial defensive lapse that gets the ball to Iniesta… and the rest is heartbreak. Twice in as many years, we were so close…and yet so far.

Was i disappointed? Till then, i considered myself an anti-ManU and pro-Chelsea-by mistake. But that night, i was glad. Glad that i was supporting the team that showed so much character. Glad that we gave the toughest competition ever possible at this stage, to arguably the best team in the world now. Glad that we came so close to Rome.

But most importantly, i was oh-so-glad i was not among them. They, who felt it sportsmanlike to boo every time Drogba fell. Who stood up and applauded sardonically at any wrong foul awarded in favour of Blues but was happily mum over four times as many penalty appeals not awarded. Who gagged on the goddamn Chelsea striker when he was tackled down. And worse, felt proud to puff up their chests at the 93rd minute late strike and show finger at the other goal scorer of the night, who perhaps scored the best goal of the tournament this year. Laughing sarcastically at the 10 year old crying at his team’s ill-fate.

Is it how an objective football-knowing person is supposed to act? Cheer at you team’s success, thats one thing. Jeering at another team’s apathy when they actually deserved to win much more, thats quite another. Of all things, on that kid who stood heartbroken at the Bridge, like the million other across the globe!! Is that you way of sporting your loyalty on your sleeves??? Well…. if it is, i would much rather not be a “fan”!! I am new to the game and i confess to being naive. But not so naive to not look down upon such unsporting behaviour.

The thing about true champions is their humility, their down-to-earth attitude and their appreciation and respect of their opponents. And sadly, i don’t see them in the current reigning European “champions”. They may play a beautiful game, but their fans certainly don’t. I have got nothing against any team. My rejoicing at ManU’s loss to Everton was because i would much rather have Everton than ManU for the final, just like i would hate Rafa to reach the finals against FedEx (it almost seems unfair to FedEx!). But “pure, unadulterated hatred” against any team… No!

The very thing that made me dislike ManU and support their opponents at the first place was the arrogance and air of superiority of their so called Red-devils, here. Who laugh down at all other teams with contempt. Who never tire of singing glory to ManU, while frowning down upon the beauty of Scousers or Catalans’ game. But i suppose, you always need some elements to hate the game. And rejoice at their downfall. And ManU fans, you are doing your job goddamn well!!!

After the game, i couldn’t help the tears streaming from my eyes. Shock, disappointment, feeling of being cheated and robbed of the place we truly deserved. We fought and we didn’t lose a match. For 183 minutes, we held our own. We almost didn’t put a foot wrong. Before this, i would have been hesitant to call myself a true Chelsea fan, but now i can say with my head high…..

I am a Blue…. and i am proud of it!

PS: I have never felt so good after posting anything!

Late edit : Lefty is truly a trend-setter!! Look below at the page-long comment fad he started…… it may just be the ‘in’ thing now!

Morning blues… and red, violet and orange!

5:29 am : Reads the clock on my lappy, as I am faced by this unusual dilemma… Having spent the better part of the night watching Barney Stinson blind us by his awesomeness and fighting off the now-increasingly regular drowsiness creeping upon me whenever i try to put my mind to understanding the function of a Class-B Chopper for more than 15 min at a stretch, it suddenly dawns upon me (literally!) as the night sky outside my S-149 window lightens up…

Feeling so hungry that i have now started seeing pakoras and paranthas in my Power textbook, i can now either try to sleep away my hunger or wait for the next 2 and a half hours trying to again fight the famish, perhaps with Robin and Ted for aid…

And as i try to figure a way out of this utterly inexplicable situation, i gaze outside to view the first rays of sunlight streaming through the foliage… perhaps the first Roorkee sunrise i remember seeing… the sky before me, a mixed hue of red, orange and violet while the one behind me still unable to shake off its darkish tinge… The beautiful violet flowers that so majestically adorned the tree seems to have shaken its hues to trees nearby as nature seems to be at its prettiest best…There’s this Aunty jogging her way to cholesterol-free and healthy life as the capricious chirpings of mynas (i guess thats what they are!) remind me of those cool morning outings at my village… haah!!!

And i am still undecided about the to-sleep-or-not-to-sleep conundrum as i finally get a reason to update my blog thats been moving southward-bound on people’s blogroll for much too long… Now i realize what the Spartan Shuttler (till i find a better …and more original name for you) meant when he said he has got better things to do than blogging!! I mean, when you have got Dr. House, Barney and Scoffield for company, who cares about that particular wordpress url that i had promised myself i would be updating regularly… Hmm…. enough of musings! Before i doze off or manage to find something interesting to keep myself awake, let me bid you good-nite…. or in Barney’s wise words, Good morning!! (yah… pretty lame!)

PS : My argument on the Blue-Red fiasco in my next post… wait for it!!

Jai Ho!

And this is not a tribute to the Oscar-winning masterpiece(really?? i am still not able to appreciate the song), but happens to be our Bhawan Day’s name! Sitting in my room whose walls now closely resemble a graffiti, here i type on…

Its been a long time since my last post. And its been one hell of 3 weeks! With a week well spent at home…well… sleeping and having bakar sessions with my bro(who btw had his boards going on), it was back to R-Land… away from all those exotic beauties of the city (ya! Living in a village does that to you! Even the girl-next-door suddenly appears a damsel! ). But all was not lost as we were ready to go green (and think energy or something…. but thats not the important part).

Cognizance brought with it some quality NSP (ofcoz quality by Roorkee standards!) and….. well what else do you need? Some ulti-arbit quizzes later (and not ulti arbit-quizzes, note the difference!), where we again “just” failed to make the cut to the mains (fine! just 3-4 questions short!) and when i say arbit, its much above the much-revered Rapu standards! Finally realizing the inevitable inability to make our presence in Lit count, yours truly and Desi were back to the good ol’ Chaos arena! We, maintaining our loser image, crashed out in the second rd of AOE (which happened because of the extra villi at wood meaning one less farm and so less food and late castle timing and late knights! Walker style!!). But what a finale!! Watching the one-and-only Uncle and the veteran Kaptaan fight it out in the best of 7 was a treat! And a befitting end, with Uncle finally prevailing 4-3…. Uncle Raaj kaayam rahe!!

And then the unexpected! The Big-Lit dinner!! Now thats as rare as the Scousers winning the Premier League (but then, even that seems possible this season!). With Lefty himself leading the pack with his quintessential dress to accentuate the Lit-geek image and ofcoz we all maintaining the classic Lit punctuality, the dinner was a chance for me to meet all the amazing Lit seniors. The usual Jettyhood discussions with a proposal to form a Jetty-code was passed.And how can i forget the briliaaant bhangra by HHH!! That was like Masala Dosa and Sarson da Saag!! Classic combo!!!The dinner (which btw was delicious… thank you Dynasty) was followed by some serious discussion on how to improve the Lit image of being geeky (who?? We?? ). Concluding with an inspirational speech from Lefty (forget the quizzes! Just go and win them!!!) and Sushi’s rendition of the Classic (you guessed it! Gunda!!), it was a night to remember (btw, Rajasthan Royals rock dude…less the wardrobe malfunctions!)

Then ofcoz Bhawan Day! Whose preparations start well ahead in the form of “jugaad-ing” passes for respective sections and end with hiding anything liquid, semi-solid, plastic or paper! But then, you can never be too prepared! I mean who could have guessed a docile bottle of cough-syrup could end up splashed across the walls or the toothpaste on the switchboards!! And screw the guy who packaged “Hit” like a Deo!! Now, i am a Human mosquito-repellant! Thank you “Baby”(who btw happens to be one of the ppl i like the most here), “cute” guy and other PM-ites! I love you guys!!

So, an eventful 3 weeks and its time again for another mid-sems! I would soon get crazy ideas for wasting time (or utilizing it…keeping a book in hand and day-dreaming is as wasteful…and fun!!) I think i can complete PB Season 3 in 7 hrs flat (including the toilet breaks!) Wish me best of luck!! Till then, Jai Ho!!!

PS: @ Lefty: A reason to keep us in Lit could be that we are perhaps the only team who rarely qualify for the mains of Lit quizzes… so Muggles (read non-Lit) would be assured there has been no poly!! Besides you need audience for the quizzes and you can’t expect sane Muggles to be that!!!

PPS: What is the hindi version of Anaconda called?? Keep guessing!!

Of Bhawan Days, FIFA and EE-202

Second post in the same week and you know i have reached the pinnacle of vellapan (which, contrary to popular perception, is the attainment of divinity!!) Tired of losing the nth time on FIFA ’09 (Hull 3-1 Chelsea!!! Hadd hai!!) and again seeing ManU win with another mediocre performance, this was the only thing left to do!

Having had to miss out on the SB Bhawan Day (“the most awaited Bhawan Day of the insti!!”), Hacker “nothing else matters” baba, Hemu (“CS rocks, AOE sucks!”), Micro-ladies man (no pun intended) and yours truly decided to eat out to celebrate our single status and console each other of having not been able to land ourselves in some Le”SB”ian’s good books!

Days wore on as interestingly as the lunch that we had today (my all-time fav potatoes!), listening to Vivaah’s songs and fathering Madhuri Dixit (in Tezaab!! Now what were you thinking??), yet another quiz when we couldn’t make it past the prelims (which is a part of the conspiracy to deny us the prizes we would otherwise sweep!). A presentation later, where our prof slept off the major portions and we celebrated having “fodu-ed” (and where Rajjo gave us some much enjoyed laughs… no offence!), its the mid-sem break!!

And btw, Happy Holi to all!!! And i was reminded of this tacky, all-get-dirty-and-high fest of colors and water (buckets of them!) when my comrades almost broke open my door, getting me all coloured and watered! The only good (??) thing i derived from this was that i finally had to bathe! So, all “neat” and clean, here i am typing away before i go home (sweet home) and become cut-off from my cyber friends for the week! Till then, au revoir (all hail google translator!….btw, this is french, which i too feel is like wiping your ar*e with silk!)…

PS : I am not drunk….well not very much!! (Hey, i am conscious enough to type!!)

PPS: All the opinions expressed here are a result of the author’s intoxicated state! My apologies for any truth written here that i may not have otherwise cited…ever!!

PPPS: Just got back from an insti bhraman at 3 with Chat-guru and Ganga, singing “Shaktimaan” title song (which is the Grammy-equivalent of the Oscar-deserving “Gunda”…. long live Kanti Shah!) and ofcoz, discussing his crush(es!)… The insti indeed feels….umm…. silent at nights! (i m really running out of ideas… and consciousness!)

So It Begins (duh!)

This was long due…. what with every other guy (and girl) blogging like anything, i couldn’t hold myself back !! You could attribute this to my insatiable quest for creative expression or the fact that a girl i fancy (or adore in decent way) blogs and i wanted to impress her, but the fact is i have got nothing better to do (trust me, there’s no such girl).

Banished from the tennis courts as per the official orders of the physiotherapist ( who btw is kinda cute, i must say), i am being held captive in this penitentiary (thats my hostel…. or bhawan as we lovingly call it). So, my fans are being deprived of watching my beautiful game… my (out-of-the-) groundshots will be missed!

So here i am, finally having decided that i have had enough of movies for a month’s quota and i have dared venture into more creative unexplored regimes…. God bless me and those unfortunate souls who happen to stumble across this blog for no fault of their own… you have my sympathies.

Having thought a lot about what to write in my first blog (assuming there would be more…. i am an optimist), i decided i should write about my eventful last 6 months that would be my last sem here… Riding high on the 8.95 that i had managed in the first sem and the optimist that i am, i still felt i cud manage an 8+ even after having screwed my last end-sems…. and the optimism paid off ! So, all my promises and resolutions in the summer break about studying harder were gg-ed!!! Yes, the Moron Mallu had introduced me to this spiteful and vain Age Of Empires and here i was, spending hours trying to get the better of the comp!! Then started my LAN sojourn followed by many a night-outs… ofcoz that didn’t make me a better player or anything, i still suck! Most of our conversations were confined to discussing the unfairness of a halberdier against a paladin or the ultimate combo of mangudai-hussar or huskarl-pikeman (yep, i still think they are one of the best combos).

One midsem followed the other as we fumbled with quantum devices (long live quantum god!!) and galvanometer deflections!! But the Spring was here as “It Happened”. Its amazing how despo u become in just 3 odd months as u drool shamelessly everytime you encounter a species of the other planet (Venus must be a beautiful planet!) But Thomso’08 passed and yours truly was just as single as ever! Soon the dreaded end sems approached… i was still just as optimistic as i laid off my preparations in the hope that it will start when its supposed to (yes, i get very philosophical when it comes to study) and lo! they came and went in the blink of an eye. All i could do was wait and watch as one subject after another served me for an ace (now i knew what a tennis ball would feel like)!

So, another sem here ends and looking back, i have no regrets whatsoever! I did what i wanted and liked to do and at the end of the day, i suppose thats what counts! It was fun all along, whether it be going to Solani to see the gushing waters of the Ganga or eating soup maggi at our beloved Bus-tea at 5 in the morning.

And time for another movie as our almost non-existent wifi as given in to our incessant downloading needs and i wait to post this blog…. till next time, its sayonara !!

PS : I like to write and so you are forgiven if you give up trying to read this not-so-long post! I have sympathy with you and will try to curb my writing instincts… lol

PPS : Great people have so much in common… i being only the second person in the country to have tennis elbow after Sachin (Sania was only feigning it!)