Achilles' heel

"When I get older I will be stronger They’ll call me freedom, just like a wavin’ flag" In 1995, a nation reborn was attempting to rebuild itself. A captain inspired by Madiba's words, inspired not just his team, but 43 million others. Despite all odds, Francois led his them to glory, a victory that transcended the realm of sport. Looking back, 63 years have passed since we became a nation. In 2007, MSD lifted a cup as we became one nation, a billion united in celebration. Since then, we have been rocked by terrorism, recession and scandals. Today, we are in the midst of trying times. Let us unite and celebrate for there is not one, but two world cups in our presence. In one we look to not just 11 men, but a billion people, in the other, we look to 6 billion!

I rarely take the quizzes in Facebook, why? Probably because I don't want to see what I already know. One of these thousand odd quizzes is the 'Are you good or evil quiz'. It is our choices that make us what we are and every now and then we come across choices which will reflect back upon over time. In October 2009, I had to make one such choice. I was at the airport waiting in a long queue to check in. I had already checked in through the web, but since we still need to get a stamp on the so called "e-boarding pass", we still need to stand in line just like everybody else. While I waited in the line, sleep deprived at 4am, I saw an old couple (Will now be referred to as the OC for the rest of the note). Mr OC was fidgeting around asking people all sorts of questions all over the place. He came up to me and asked "Where do they X-Ray the luggage?". I promptly replied that they don't do that at this airport anymore. He gave me that "This kid does...

"A phobia is an intense and persistent fear of certain situations, activities, things, or people." Over time you tend to realize that everybody has one or may be more of them. How often do we remember things that happened to us when we were kids. I wish I could remember more, but all I seem to remember are repressed memories. In the early nineties thousands fled the gulf in fear of one man's tyranny. Some stayed on cause they knew no other life. I was just over four years old at the time. It was a dark night, a night like none other. The lights were off and the television was on, with the only channel on air. In the corner of the living room, my dad kept those big masks ready... you never know when it would come in use. As I stared out into the horizon, from my balcony, I could see flashes of light going up and down. They looked like fire crackers. In the meantime the television would show red warnings with a blue background... the next one is coming, take cover. So am I ...

A much awaited lifestyle has begun. Long before college was over I had started thinking about joining the workforce. Everyone seemed to be of the opinion that life would never be the same, not in a good way at least . Six weeks into my first job, I can see a lot of positives. The only con being that I am now a full fledged corporate bitch! I eat, sleep and drink what "the firm" tells me to. While delivering the commencement speech at Yale University in 2000, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison said: " Graduates of Yale University, I apologize if you have endured this type of prologue before, but I want you to do something for me. Please, take a good look around you. Look at the classmate on your left. Look at the classmate on your right. Now, consider this: five years from now, 10 years from now, even 30 years from now, odds are the person on your left is going to be a loser. The person on your, meanwhile, will also be a loser. And you, in the middle? What can you expect? Loser....

There comes a time in life where change in inevitable and change often means saying goodbye to a lot of things. For me the first time was when I stepped out of school for the last time as a student. The next time was when I finished college. Weird that the major changes are marked by phases of education. Now I see change in a different light. A major portion of my life and most importantly my childhood has been in foreign soil, a place where every thing feels so different that its pretty hard to believe . The day after tomorrow, I must say goodbye to this land, probably for the last time. What lies ahead? Only time will tell.

Cricket has always been a passion for me… and the passion turns into an infatuation during exams. Unfortunately, cricket and exams always seem to go hand in hand for me. It all began with the ‘96 world cup, probably the first time I saw live cricket and it was also the first time that I saw the little maestro.  The ‘03 world cup was so wonderfully scheduled that I had four out of my five exams the day after a match with India playing. Surprisingly I did quite well in the exams despite the fact that I had watched almost all the matches. School turned to college and the routine continued. India’s first tour of Pakistan in ‘04 was exactly during the mid semesters and again I did pretty well there too. Third year didn’t  turn out to be any different.  A friend of mine and I always had something in common, we get carried away with our emotions on the pitch. On one particular day we lost in the so called quarter final of an intra hostel tournament. For the first time we weren ...

This year I have gone to church only twice… the first was on January 1, mostly because I was at home and my parents wouldn ’t have it any other way. What happened on that day was that I saw someone I didn ’t want to, after a very long time. Life has this funny way of changing things at any moment. Then I decided this is the way to go… god himself was giving me the detour.  After I left home for college, I stopped going to church for a while. It seems human nature causes a person in his most vulnerable state to turn to god when he sees no other way out, well that is the case every time I write an exam, for that matter probably anyone. So during the exams I made a promise to myself that I would try my level best to make the church going thing a weekly business. I usually never meet any of the targets I keep for myself, but I promised myself to try and keep this one, I even made a spot for it in my personal routine. So the first Sunday after my exams, like a good Samaritan I went to c...