Study-ectomy...

Along the standards put up by Barney Stinson, you could think of this name as a attempt to highlight my 'Visitivity' (Those who got no clue what I am talking about, watch How I Met Your Mother). Study-ectomy, although the name is self-explanatory, I would like to put it down because of my recently acquired habit (during MBA) of stating the obvious. Study-ectomy is an act cutting out the brain cells which help in studying. (Not sure if its cells or liquid or acid whatever that makes us study, lets just agree upon cells for now, shall we??) Value Addition isn't it?? :P

Since engineering, it is becoming evident to me that the study books are the best tranquilizers been invented till date. You pick up one and you doze off. There are times when you dont even have to pick one up. And then if you put down the book and watch tv or something, all of a sudden you are not sleepy anymore. As far as I understand evolution, our body adapts and changes itself to a form which is required by adding or removing certain things (I know its a bad definition but smart logo k liye chal jayega, else try google :P ). So, is it that our body itself removes these cells which make us study? 

We have been studying for a long time (or we say so, at least I do), and now our brain is responding to the changes that are required. Its our body telling us that its time to stop studying. This happens may be because higher the education we go for, lesser is the time we give for studying (plot my study graph and you will agree). So, our body starts thinking may be there isn't a need for studying and removes those cells for 'good'.

Now, the trouble is I want to study for the exams coming up (honestly) but there seems to be no way of being able to study. Right now, I am writing this because I wanted to avoid dozing off and I know if I pick up a book, all these efforts will be in vain. But the battle is on, I will grow those cells back. I just hope it happens before its too late. :)

The Mother of ALL games!!!

Yes. The Mother of ALL games...(You can count all the other sports as well). And its not the World Cup Final. Its India against Pakistan. Some might even say its not a game, its a battle. I think they might be going a bit overboard with that one. Old days are gone. There was a time when India would play Pak which is always a high-tension, high-drama affair, even spicier when its in the World Cup. One can always think of the Miandad's frog jumps (Recommended for watching :P) or the Sohail-Prasad spat in 96 World Cup (I hope you like this post just because I mentioned this incident :D). These days though you wont see similar kind of altercations, it will be more of a verbal dispute but you cannot say that happens in only Ind-Pak games because thanks to Aussies, you can generalize this stuff. But this WC it was different or to be more precise it was supposed to be different but again it ended the same way, India- 5, Pakistan - 0.

 

People said this was different because Pakistan's team looked balanced and India's bowling minus Zaheer looked like a bunch of trolls. But everyone had forgotten the spirit that plays a huge part in these games. India had it, Pakistan I doubt, even strongly after the game. Pakistan's bowling always was better. The Imrans, Wasims, Waqars or the Shoaibs; no matter who they brought in, India always had the answer, at least in the WCs. Whereas India had one man all this time and who turned up for almost every such game, Sachin Tendulkar.

He was again on a roll and played a decent knock to put up a good score on the board. 85 is a better knock than decent but if you saw this game, no need for telling you why its just decent. Out of the earlier 4 WC games between India and Pakistan, Sachin was Man of the Match for 2 times and this time collecting his 3rd, I am sure he must be feeling most proud because he had taken India into the Finals, one step away from his own and the whole nation's dream.

India put up a 260 on board which looked bad considering how Sunny kept on saying that its a 300 run wicket, although when a commentator who is not Harsha Bhogale says something, its most likely to be wrong. And the pitch turned out to be something different than expected (who could have guessed) but lets just not give all the credit to the wicket. Indian bowlers put on a great show, contrary to the popular belief, and turned the game in our favor. Munaf was almost inch perfect every time he bowled, Yuvi was getting better with every game, Bhajji was taking wickets too along with stopping the runs, Zaheer was, well Zaheer and Nehra was smiling less which meant he wasn't getting hit for fours often.

India, in the finals of the WC...with SriLanka waiting with even tougher ask. But Team India is not the one to be beaten easily. Ask Pakistan, they have the experience since 1992.

The Banana Ride

Pre-Script(No idea if thats actually a word) : DO NOT IN ANY CONDITION CURSE ME AFTER READING THIS. I have intentionally gone into philosophical stuff knowing full consequences and damage it can effect to the perception you guys have about my posts. But this was one of the most memorable events of my life, however frightening it may be and thought it must be shared.

So I am on the way to Goa along with 14 of my friends and 3 already there in Goa, waiting for us to be there. Now, there is a lot of stuff along the journey that happened which I can tell, fun stuff and mostly others which I should not just to keep the 'decorum' in place of this post. So, lets just say we skip to the main stuff.

So, Goa, Calangute Beach, Water sports. I haven't said much but those words must have set up the premise very nicely I suppose. I have never been to Goa before. In fact, I had not been to a beach before if I had not gone to Kashid just a couple of months back. And this was the first time I was going out of Maharashtra, as duly pointed out by a friend of mine just before I went to Goa. (I haven't traveled much.... huh...apart from the to and fro journeys from Pune to Amravati, there's hardly been any travelling...enough stuff to think about already, lets get back to the story). I was having enough fun on the beach already ( ;) ) when a friend suggested water-sports. I thought what the heck. Abhi aye hai to itna to karna hi padega. But no one told me what I was signing up for. I mean, not that I was thinking water sport on the beach would entitle me sitting in bath tub but this was pretty brutal.

First came the bike ride. Not a cake walk but come to think of what happened afterwards, it seems now like one. Then was Bump ride. This was amazing, I kept shouting loud through out the whole ride and enjoyed it a lot. Felt it was a bit scary at first but once it started, didnt feel like that at all. And then came the moment which could prove what Rani Mukherjee says in No one killed Jessica to a man in the flight. Dont mind thinking which dialogue that is if you cant remember as I am exagerrating anyways.

We were returning from a bump ride and saw guys getting on the banana (quite weird to say that actually), getting on the banana ride sounds better. So as soon as we get back we had to get ready for the banana ride. And to make matters worse, only one seat is left for me, the one at THE front. No going back from here I thought to myself. First kya last kya sab same hi hai. No idea how the guys at the back felt, theres only one to find that out and I am not very enthusiastic about it. So, it starts and I am watching it from the front seat, with no clue what-so-ever about whats going to happen. But I didnt had to wait for long.

The boat thats dragging the banana ride into the sea suddenly takes a sharp turn and we all fall down, holding on tightly to the handle on the ride which makes it even difficult to get above water as theres this whole banana ride pushing you down. Then comes the helper guy to tilt the ride back in position so that they can make us fall down again (that too 3 more times). And then he starts pulling people up on that ride again ( I wonder where the hell he was when Jack was drowning in Titanic). This happens another three times as I mentioned and I am deliberately skipping the part where I was shouting at those guys that it was enough and I will go back to the beach in a boat and not on that stupid banana.

Reason for writing this post is not to frighten you about banana ride, although I would say its something to be frightened about ( :P). But when I look back to this incident, I can see how it relates to life and so much can be learnt from it. I know its an unusual metaphor for life but thats the best I can do for now so suffer.

Life is like this banana ride, so many ups and downs, you never know whats gonna come and hit you in the face. You will never be ready to take it on but you willingly or unwillingly have to get back on it and start your journey again just to fall down again not to mention keep fighting again and again. The most important part of this is that you will have people around you to help. When I fell down from that ride, my FRIENDS were around me, fighting to stay up and helping me to do the same. These FRIENDS will be there for you for what may come and help you fight for yourself because thats what FRIENDS do. Imagine you being alone on that ride and you fell down and no one to pick you up. Not a comforting thought at all is it? Same goes for life, theres no point in living life without FRIENDS and FAMILY.

And finally you have to learn to fall down, make mistakes because that gives you the most important thing in life. Experience, of knowing whats wrong and whats right. Learning who are your Friends and how to be there for them just as they are there for you. To finish this one I would like to quote one of the best movie dialogues I have ever heard- "Why do we fall?? So that we might learn to pick ourselves up"....