This date, that year!

Seems just like yesterday, not so long ago, when I first saw him standing in front of me. Smiling innocently, asking for my name, he sure knew how to make me feel the most special girl! I could feel myself lost in his eyes. That moment stood still. I wanted time to freeze. And it did freeze. In pictures.

I know life may change. But nothing will ever change this moment for me. It has been engraved in my heart forever. Standing so close to me, I could feel his aura surrounding me. Enveloping me with love! While my heart is racing, and my palms are sweating, all I could manage to do was smile, like never before. A smile that came instantly from a content heart.

My wish from 16 years had finally come true. My first love was in front of me. I could feel weak in my knees and my heart melt. Romantics were coming true! Though he will never know how I feel, I know deep in my heart that it will not even matter. Love is far beyond feelings! And I can prove it too. Just a few moments with him and my life had changed. I had accomplished the dream! I had done the unthinkable. I had met him. And I could not ask for more in this life from him.

I will always be in love with this man and nothing can change that. I will never get him and I know that. But just about time, I cherish and relive this moment now, just for a while... As I go back to my dreams, I wish to see you again and again! :)

IPL 6, Why did you do that?

IPL 6 is coming to an end today. The controversies, the final journey, the victory lap, that no-ball, those 175 runs, Miller force, Gilchrist, Dravid... The list is endless. With all these being spoken and written, there is a little left to talk about. But nevertheless, I would want to pick up my pen...

As far as I remember, the first rift was between 2 Delhi boys - Kohli and Gambhir. Mind you I am writing Delhi boys because IPL is regional and not the end of the world! :P Then, came in Pollard vs Watson, Sammy’s celebration and Hodge’s reply; Dravid vs Bisla + Gambhir; Johnson vs Dravid, and so on. Since IPL is not Cricket, I would refrain from saying anything about “spirit of the game”.

And it was just the beginning of the 1.5 months journey. And how did it end? 3 players arrested. CSK’s “whatever post” guy is behind the bars. For the teams that qualified, outcome was already known. Amongst everything, I sit here and feel so disgusted, that I wish IPL takes a break for a couple of years. None of the top authority members are ready to take responsibility and sort out the mess. Instead, they are the ones involved in creating the ruckus.

But does anyone think why do such activities happen? What could be the reason for Cricketers getting so charged up against each other? Is it scripted to create drama and get attention? Or is it the stress and pressure? Whatever be the reason, it is surely not going in the right direction. But who is going to take any action?

Media men, Cricket analysts, and gurus of the game have ensured that all the topics are well covered and their opinions have been duly noted. Srini mama has trolled millions of fans with his wit and lie. His relative is behind the bars; but before that, he managed to change his Twitter profile to save CSK. Those 3 RR players have been bitched about and forgotten. Of course, because bigger names are expected to come out next week.

Meanwhile, has anyone thought of how all this drama has affected a fan's mentality? And by a fan, I mean a person who knows his facts and stats about the game. Unless you know what was KKR's winning score last year, please do not mind. I am not even 1% interested in watching the final game. For a simple reason, in my head all I am thinking about is, IT IS FIXED.

On the emotional side, this IPL has marked an end of the Cricketing journey for my favorite man, Rahul Dravid. For those who know me, know how much more than the whole world he means to me. And it is pretty obvious that  am not interested in IPL anymore. With him, started my journey of Cricket viewing and analyzing. With he quitting it, I would love to end my relation with the Indian version of the game too.

Good bye IPL, though shall not be missed for good reasons. 

A love story.....

I was on my death bed with my mom and dad next to me. I was in some pain and I knew my end was near. But I had that one last wish in my mind; I knew it had to be fulfilled before I leave. 

I took courage from my inner self to express what my last wish was. I could not tell it to my mom-dad as I knew they would not understand. So I asked my “friends” to help me. 

The forces of the nature were on my side. It worked. They helped. My last wish was about to come true.

As I lying on my bed waiting for him, thinking about him, I realized how much he meant to me. Why was he the only thought in my mind at this time? All my pain and suffering were left behind and I was just waiting to get a glimpse of him. In my life I had practiced and preached "love does not exist." And yet, in my last moments of life, I understood "this is exactly what love is." 

So what is this love? It is when you are going to breathe your last and yet, you have eyes open to see him. It is when he can never be yours, but you still want to be known by his name. It is when you want to hold his hands forever and be gone in his arms. It is when you know what the sacrifice of Meera bai was. It also made me realize that we do not need the other person's agreement on love. Love is, all by itself. 

Love needs no names, no relations. My inner-self told me "your heart is always filled with love; you just need to see it." And here I stay still and agree. As every moment passed by, I knew he was coming closer to me. He was going to be in front of me and will stay there till I could see. 

And then he entered my room. I saw him walk towards me, standing tall, with a confused but calm look. I smiled and he returned the smirk. He remembered me? Or no? It didn't matter then. I knew he was here for me and only me. He was going to be with me till the time I was going to breathe. 

I stretched out my hand in struggle. Only to meet his hands. He recognized my efforts and came closer to me. He held my hand with both of his hands and comforted me. His touch made me feel the warmth I had never experienced before. The touch soothed my pain and made me relieved. I felt the gush on my cheeks and the smile grew. 

I speak, "I knew you would come to me. You have always been mine and I have always been your follower. Today, when I see you, I want to tell how much I love you. You mean the world to me and nothing else matters. I have realized that this love is the probably the most genuine kind. I searched for definitions and examples all around me; but I failed to see within me. This “love” was always with me, in me. It involved nothing else but feelings." And then, I feel the tears rolling down and words failing to come out. So I stop and stare at that one person I have only and truly loved. 

He looked and ran his hand on my forehead. He probably knew the intent. He did not say a word but, his eyes told me everything.

And I see myself leaving my body. As I wanted it to be; holding his hands, in his arms. My soul never felt so ecstatic before. It was probably dancing with joy! And as it left, my soul saw my face and it had the best smile ever. 

Yes! died with a smile. That is how it was meant to be. Tears rolled down his cheeks too, touched my hands and fell on the bed. I was so happy. I was overjoyed with my accomplishment in life. I told him how much I loved him. And that was the end of my love story.... 

...........................................................................................................................................................

{I saw this dream the other day. The man who I was waiting for, was none other than Rahul Dravid (anyone would have guessed). But the dream was so real in front of me. I woke up smiling and I knew, I had to share this!}

Goodbye 2012. Happy New Year!

Here are some of my lessons of 2012. To be honest, my experiences over time have made me really smart. Now, every time something goes wrong, I don’t cry; I don’t question why. I just sit and analyze. I know it is boring; but it really is a better way to solve issues.

1.       Take up fitness seriously! Health is wealth. Getting out from death bed, I became a better runner in just 8 months. Now, I can proudly post timings of my run and brag!

2.      Let go of unwanted things in life. Donate books, clothes, accessories, medicines and even your precious time to the needy. It will remain in your memory and make you smile all the while.

3.      When nostalgia strikes, just watch comedy shows. Believe me; revisiting old times is a plain waste. Because it is human tendency to remember the bad times more often than the good moments.

4.      Music is the solution to almost everything. For everything else, there is Sleep! :P 

1.       Let go of people who upset you. In personal life, at work and even online. If you don’t like someone, be polite and just leave. After few days, it won’t even matter. It is nature’s tendency to fill up void spaces.

2.      Do only those things that you want to. End of the day, if it doesn’t make you smile, it is not worthwhile. Life is too short to waste time on upsetting things. Do not give-up to pressures. Remember - At first, they’ll ask you why you’re doing it. Later, they’ll ask you how you did it!

1.       Whatever happens with you today was planned long ago. So it is for good that it has happened to you. Of course, not justifiable at extreme, but always good. Like Team India’s performance! Never took practice seriously and look at what we are now! :P

2.      If it is bad, try to change it. If it good, make it best. If it already the best, preserve it. I do it all the time with my nail color, blogs, drawers, photos.

3.      People you really loved once will leave you. Be upset, as being loved is a priceless feeling. But don’t stop there. Miss them, but don’t stop meeting new people. 

1.       Make new friends. But at the end of the day, make sure you have one special friend with whom you can share your day’s story. If you don’t have someone like that, become one. Everyone here needs a BFF.

2.      But also remember, you cannot be friends with everyone. And there are definitely some people who can never be your friends. Don’t bother about such people. Learn to discard them. These days it is really easy. All you have to do is “unfriend” or “unfollow” or delete them from the phonebook. Believe me, you’ll never need them. Never.

3.      Old friends will leave you too. Let them go. You cannot stop time. You cannot change the destiny.

4.      Love yourself the most. (Most important)!!!

1.       Be happy with "Now". Keep smiling. Take things lightly. You won't escape happiness, just like you won't escape pain. :)

2.      Everyone (even your loved ones) will say something that’ll hurt you, upset you. Stay calm. Trust yourself. Think it is God’s way to test your talent. You shall succeed. Faith in self is as important as faith in the Almighty.

3.      Indian Cricket is suffering at this time. Support them. They are committing mistakes and losing the games. But so have we. Mistakes are a part of this journey called life.

4.      Do not run away from your responsibilities to your country. As of now, we are ashamed of everything happening around us. So, don’t give up yet. Remember “however far wrong goes, right is always a step ahead!”

5.      Fight, if you have to. But sort all your differences. Don’t carry grudges to the next day. When you wake up, think of newer problems. They are in infinite numbers; old ones will get boring! :P 

1.       Say sorry. Gandhiji was right. Asking for forgiveness requires real guts.

2.      Forgive easily. It is the virtue of a strong. And you are!

3.      Keep your parents happy. They will be the only people who “care unconditionally”.

4.      Stay close to your cousins. Buggers will always be there, in every occasion, to make fun of uncles and aunties at functions! J

5.      Dream. You’ll know what you exactly want in life. Someday you’ll wake up and will want to make them true. Try; go against the odds. For your dreams are yours, no one else will ever understand.

1.       Learn from your favorites. They are your beloved for a reason. Find out why and follow. Make yourself even better! Rahul Dravid has taught me a lot. How to be classy all the time! Stay dedicated, results will follow!

2.      Thank God. You have to. For He has blessed you with everything you should have.

3.      Thank me for writing so much! :P :P :P Hope it has helped you in some way!

And I thank you for reading this. Happy New Year. 2013 is going to be awesome!

“I know because making it better than 2012 is in my hands. And I trust myself! J “

Never to be forgotten: England tour of India

That sweet taste of victory was clearly seen on the face of Alistair Cook and his Team. 28 years is a long wait. England is going to cherish this victory for a long time. It means a lot and we Indians know it. (Rahul Dravid and Team won a series on English soil after 23 years!) That was special then! This is special now! Meanwhile, back home, there is a plethora of mistakes. What went right for India? Nothing. What went wrong? Here is the list:

A Captain sails the ship. To the harbor or in the storm; is a matter of choice.

Captain Alistair Cook celebrates his TON

Virender Sehwag: scores a TON in the first match and then, is not able to reach double digits. This is exactly how an opener should not play

Gautam Gambhir: blame him, complain against him. Play for self or play for team, winning is a distant dream.

Cheteshwar Pujara: A new kid on the block who started very well but was unfortunate. Wrong decisions marred his performance. Long way to go. 

Sachin Tendulkar: for he knows what he has to do, he'll let his action speak.

Virat Kohli: He loses his form at the start of the series and gets it back in the end; literally the end.

MS Dhoni: enough said. You did something that changed Team India's good luck to better. Can you do anything that turns bad luck in to good luck?

Yuvraj Singh: I don't get it. No one has performed well. But he is the only one sacked. And worst still, replaced by Jadeja. Probably that makes his sacking even more questionable. Yuvi may not be awesome, but Jadeja is not even an option.

All in all, the No. 6 remains empty since Ganguly left it.

R Ashwin: started as a spinner, and now, he is in the team because of his batting skills. No complaints. If only he could win it!

Zaheer Khan is sacked, Umesh Yadav is injured. We are still searching for that 1 bowler who is our answer to JImmy and Finn. Ishant Sharma? Ya right. 

Pragyan Ojha: the only saving grace of this series. But the pitch-bitch has done its witch in Nagpur. Maybe he needs to change some tactics. 

Piyush Chawla: He is the RP Singh of this tour. From rags to riches; at least Chawla picked some wickets and has a puppy face.

Umpires have gone wrong. Pitches have been a let-down. But England have survived. And won. Keeping Motera aside, England looked better in every sense: batting, bowling, fielding, planning, determination and even good looks.

Make a spinning-pitch, Monty Panesar takes the glory in Mumbai. Make a neutral pitch, result-less pitch, James Anderson managed to break through. Spinner had to be a match-winner, Monty did it. Number 4 had to score runs, Kevin Pieterson did it. Captain had to shine, Alistair Cook did it. Openers were the key, Nick Compton found his form. Middle order had to sustain, Bell, Trott, Prior and Root did it. Repeating myself, but every player put his 100% efforts to make that dream come true. No Indian player was even half close to match the standards of these guys. Literally.

Team England celebrates dismissal of Yuvraj Singh

Nothing worked in favor for India. And it is our fault. While “in-form” players are hatching eggs on benches, we are continuing with the legacy of archives.

Why is it that we cannot take bold steps? How much it will affect to bring 6 to 8 changes in a Team? Surely not more than a loss; which by the way, we already have.

And if I missed it before, here is last praise for our coach Duncan Fletcher. Well done! You managed to help England win in India after 28 years.

James Anderson celebrates after taking Sachin Tendulkar's wicket

With this, I end my Test series. Team England have won it, fair and square. We were no match to their hard-work and "thirst" to win. World may or may not end by 21st Dec, spirits of India's Test Cricket lovers has surely been put into coma.

Worst still, this budding phase of the Team looks stagnant. Players may be good in first class cricket, but that does not assure International level performance. So who is going to work on this issue?

Will we ever get those 2 fast bowlers who, with the help of Ashwin and Ojha, will rip apart "in-form" batting line-up of Australia in February?

Will our batsmen score Test Hundreds against that cracking pace attack of Australia?

4-0. And again. No revenge. Not even close.

Images courtesy: www.espncricinfo.com