Delhi Rape - Time For Stricter Measures

People say you are either born a leader or you are not. I was not and in the country I live in I am thankful I was not. At least I don’t feel like spitting on the mirror when I see my face in it. Well my frustration does not stem from the fact that there is so much hue and cry about Damini’s incident, it comes from a longer evil which our society has not been cleansed from. Sure we celebrate Independence with all pomp and joy but has much changed for the common man after Independence? I mean what is the use of my freedom of speech if I can be put behind bars for posting something on Facebook. The money from our country does not go to the British Banks anymore that has changed. But what about the fact that the money goes to Swiss Banks!! I mean Swiss Bank is not really Indian, is it?

Sadly, when it comes to female equality we have leaders championing the cause but what about the most basic of needs – female protection. Rape girls because their clothes provoke you but rape them as equals!! Is that what we are trying to achieve? But of course no one wants to champion the case for a harsher punishment for rape because that will not get them votes while on the other hand female equality will. Sad, that the people leading our country has not got their basics right!!

Finally, I will applaud the effort taken by my fellow Indians to bring about a change. But non violence is not the need of the hour, non co operation is hit. If you want to be heard then hit them where it matters. Rather than going on candle light marches, stop spending. Do not go to pubs on 31^st, organize a movement for closing down everything. Let us not go to our offices and schools till the leaders wake up from their slumber and at least protect our women.

Do not get me wrong, I love my country and that is why the current state of the country hurts. I am just a common man who is sipping coffee while writing the blog. I am scared of posting it even but more than scared I am angry. After all, someone has been killed for no apparent reason and we as a nation have collectively failed to learn anything from it. Rape cases are still happening just that not everyone is getting the same attention as this is. Slaughter one rapist in a public place and the second pervert will not be born!!

Titanomachy 2011 – Devil’s Take

I will skip the bidding process and the painful details about how we went on scouting for the best talents in the junior batch to finally land the team we did and jump straight to the event description.

Even before the start of the event, Agneya were out and out favorites because of the sheer quality of co owners and managers they had. No one gave any of the rest three much of a chance and we were quietly content that we could just go out and enjoy without thinking too much about justifying the hype. We had a decent team and were quietly confident about our chances but taking on the might of Agneya seemed extremely daunting.

Our first match was in cricket against Lazzardous, a team which was probably built only with the view to win only cricket. Nevertheless, they had an extremely competitive cricket team and we started the match and tournament as major underdogs. Our case was not helped by Sagar Kashyap who decided to show off his batting antiques as Lazzardous raced off to 90 in 8 overs. Faced with such a steep total we were never in the game except for when Rohit hit three consecutive sixes in the 6^th over to bring the required run rate to below 12 runs for the first time since the first over of our innings. However, the fight was short lived and we lost the match convincingly by 19 runs.

Probably, it was a bad way to start a tournament but that will be a shallow judgment. It brought our entire team together as a cohesive unit. A unit which wanted to win Titanomachy for each other. We were down but our heads did not drop.

In the other games of the day we demolished our opponents in TT, Football and Badminton to romp into the finals without dropping a single fixture. Come next morning we will face our strongest test in the form of cricket where we will have to bounce back from a crushing defeat to win two games on a row to qualify for the finals. Backed by Udhav’s destructive opening spell we made some serious early inroads into the Agneya batting and they were skittled out for a lowly 42. We chased the target with minimal fuss off just 4 overs. In our last league match we faced Blazing Sunburns knowing fully well that defeat would mean elimination. On a pitch in which the ball simply refused to come to the bat, a fiery and inspired spell of fast bowling by Manish bhai and Vinit Singh did not let us get off to a good start. We were merely scoring at 6 an over by the time the opening bowlers were done with their respective spells. Late onslaughts from Vineet Bakshi helped us to post a competitive 70 but our bowlers came to our rescue again as we bowled Blazing Sunburns for as cheap as 45.

So, at the end of the group stages from huge underdogs we had emerged as the only team which had qualified for all four finals. We started to realize what being a Devil meant, we learnt how to fight bodily limitations to win but there was no time to revel in our unity as due to scheduling problems we had to play all four finals on that very day.

After the group stages, our toughest competition was from Agneya who had qualified for three of the four finals. So, the equation was simple for us, we needed to win two out of the four finals. The first final was Cricket and already bruised and battered by the tough schedule we were farther plagued by an incisive spell of fast bowling by Sukesh and then Sagar completed the proceedings with a quick fire 40ish score. More worrying was the fact that Rohit had gotten injured while bowling and given our dependence on him in Badminton and Football, it could spell doom for us. In spite of cramps Rohit got onto the ground during the Football match but on that day Agneya’s fire power was too much to handle for us. With Shijil and Nakul standing strong in central defense and Nadeem connecting excellently with the strikers Karan and Jayanth, there was little we could do to stop the marauding Agneyas. Rohit suffered another injury during the football match and had to be carried off the ground.

Next up was TT and from being the only team to have qualified for four finals, we were one final away from losing our stranglehold on the cup. But we beat Blazing Sunburns quite easily in the singles finals to wrap up the proceedings in TT which meant it all boiled down to Badminton. It was a scene to behold as everyone from both the teams arrived at the scene of the clash and the players were greeted to a rapturous applause from both sides. This was when the Let’s Go Devils Let’s Go chant was born, which would later grow to epic proportions during the matches and managed to shake the entire locality.

In the first match Tarun teamed up with Apurva to face Archie and Viksit. It was an extremely close fought match which could only be decided after two match points apiece. A telling moment was when at match point Tarun and Apurva smashed the cork together and though we won the point, it was awarded to them for double bat. In the second match Nadeem faced off with the till then unbeaten Tarun and what a classic they produced!! The game started with Nadeem dominating the proceedings and threatening to wrap it off real soon but Tarun managed to pull off an incredible fight back to level it 1 - 1 with all to play for. The Let’s Go Devils Let’s Go chant grew even louder with every point and was almost deafening by now.

The next match was the girls single and Archie managed to stroll through the match without much ado to make it 2 - 1 for Agneya. Rohit, who hardly showed little signs of movement till then, stepped up to play the fourth match. But there was little he could do to stop an explosive display of smashes from Vikshit. His limited movement did little to help the fact that he was facing one of the best players on show in the tournament. Agneya clinched the match 3 - 1 and along with it the tournament.

For a moment all felt lost but reflecting on the “what could have been” is never a good idea!! All was not lost and Devils would come back to fight another day with renewed vigor. Devils, was a family like never seen before in IIFT, all motivated by the same burning fire to come back and fight another day. We did not win the cup but we managed to win hearts for our never say die attitude, the way we came back from being major underdogs to challenge the might of the Agneya. Sadly enough, Agneya is not participating this time. The Agneya - Devil rivalry could have been the stuff of legends but it is never a good idea to delve in “what could have been.”

Finally, this is just an earnest request to bring back Agneya. Remember the name Nadeem Khan, Shijil Neyan. Remember how Nakul stood all alone in the path of everything that was thrown his way to stop us from clinching the title in football. Remember the rivalry of Tarun and Viksit in Badminton and do bring back Agneya. Titanomachy will not be the same if not braced by Devils and Agneya.

P.S. – Udhav will miss you in Devils bro.

Manish Bhai – Thanks for the support even when you were not participating.

Rohit, Tarun and Sourav – Once more!! Let’s go Devils Let’s go!!!

Once Upon a Time in Kolkata

Kolkata was one of the safest places for women. For someone who has problems in differentiating between tenses just study the difference between what Kolkata was for women and what it is. Even before the wounds of the Park Street incident healed completely another dysfunctional pervert took it upon him to tarnish the reputation of the city. While you might chose to ignore it as a one off incident let’s look at the deeper problem. Such incidents at close proximities really leave u dumb stuck and wondering exactly what went wrong. Dysfunctional personality, lackadaisical police force or ignorance of people towards such issues or is the problem even more deep rooted to the system than this?

Horny men were always a part of the system but it is a sad day when the people in charge fail to control them. If what happened in Park Street was shameful what happened yesterday to a household woman was vile disgusting and loathsome. A women getting picked up from Exide and then taken to a city tour before being finally raped is something that makes your guts wrench out in utter disgust. And what do we choose to do – We let it be just one piece of news in the papers and hope to GOD that it does not happen to any of our near ones.

But what about the woman who died thousands of death at the hands of that mentally challenged retard who calls himself Mumtaz? What is the government doing to even remotely help her in overcoming this unparallel trauma? Wait, this is just in. Nothing, the government is doing nothing to help her. And what about the psycho rapist? Well, he will go to jail for seven years, eat, drink with the government’s money and come back and repeat the same feat again.

I know nothing’s gonna change by what I write and even I will go into the deep slumber the entire system is enjoying for so long. But things need to change. Now, more than ever things need to change. Create an example out of one such man, castrate him publicly and all of a sudden the entire landscape of such vile bastards will change. Instill so much fear into their heart that they are too scared to open their zip.  

IPL Review – Dhoni’s Midas Touch Likely to Continue?

How often do you need three results to go your way against the run of play and that is exactly what happens? Well call him lucky or whatever it has happened for Dhoni again. After Chargers crushed Rajasthan’s hopes and Delhi put an end to Punjab’s run it was left to Bangalore to stop Chennai from going into another finals.

 Till the break everything seemed to be going well and only Duminy’s innings was an aberration to Bangalore’s largely dominating bowling performance. Chennai players had almost booked an early flight home when the Gayle storm started early this time round with Gony’s first over going for 25. What happened next can be best termed as an act of GOD as calamity like never seen before hit the RCB players. Steyn bowled scintillatingly well and set up Gayle to bring the game back into balance. A few balls later Dilshan also followed suit and it was left to AB and Kohli to salvage the ruins. A mistimed shot from AB and Aggarwal’s dismissal brought on crease the injured Tiwary who had already gone back to the pavilion retired earlier in the match. Just when RCB were looking to finish off the match with only 24 off 30 remaining and Tiwary and Kohli going strong Kohli skied one and was caught in mid on. From a player who is generally known to finish games it was unexpected and disappointing and from being down and out Chennai was certainly into the playoffs again.

Some might argue that Dhoni has lost his midas touch as well as his ability to finish off games after the recent drubbings in Australia and England. In fact both in Australia and Asia cup while the entire nation waited with baited breath for the desired result both results went against India against the run off play. Dhoni’s indifferent form made the whispers turn into a large clutter from a cricket crazy nation. IPL gave no respite to Dhoni as comparisons were made between Dhoni and Ganguly, two of the most successful captains of India. Dhoni continued with his indifferent form and talks were even there about what Dhoni had done to deserve a place in the team.

While he has not done anything on an individual level to answer his detractors but his two fours and one six against the Kolkata Knight Riders at a crucial juncture surely returned a semblance of sanity among his critics. And while the loss to Punjab was supposed to spell doom for Chennai somehow it did not and they held on to that ray of hope to qualify. Surely, Dhoni’s midas touch is coming back.

Is Dhoni back in form? Probably, not till now but surely it is around the corner. Is Dhoni’s midas touch back? Yes yes and I hope he will prove me right today. As an Indian cricket fan I hope to dear GOD he proves me right. Dhoni has a knack of firing when the chips are down - Remember the World Cup Finals.

Dada vs KKR

Even before the IPL started Facebook and Twitter started buzzing with talks of Dada coming to Edens and conquering the city of joy. As Pune got off to a flier the whispers became a roar and pictures of Ganguly chasing SRK with a sword were too visible for anyone to miss.

One month into the IPL things have changed. Kolkata have played some great cricket to be safely perched at number two with four wins from the last four games and Pune have lost their way and is languishing at second last just ahead of a hapless Deccan Chargers. Gambhir looks in blazing form and Kallis has done his bit to ensure stability in the middle order. In Debabrata Das KKR have found a finisher they really lacked. KKR’s bowling has probably been the deadliest amongst all competing teams and Narine’s tremendous wicket taking spree has contributed significantly to KKR’s rejuvenated look. With Mc Cullum and Pathan still to fire KKR has all the potential of destroying any side in this IPL.

On the other hand Pune has been let down by an inconsistent opening pair, minimal batting depth and lack of impact players down the order. Smith has looked the only player in the squad capable of winning matches. Even Clarke’s arrival has failed to create the impact it was expected to have and Pune have continued nose diving farther into a bottomless pit. What bodes even worse for Pune is Ganguly’s inability to remember the format of the game while in the middle. In the last two matches Ganguly’s slow strike rate nullified heroic efforts by Steve Smith and Mithun Manhas. He looks like a complete misfit in this IPL and honestly should consider dropping himself for a few games at least. If not anything else, it will send a very clear message to the team to perform or perish. However, Eden Gardens might just be the place for Dada to make his comeback.

Looking at the two teams this contest is unlikely to justify its billing and KKR should steamroll over PWI like the heavy roller rolled over the Eden Gardens pitch. Gambhir should again be too hot to handle on an Eden pitch he has made his own over the last few matches. Law of averages will probably catch up with Mc Cullum who might just make a mockery of the game. A tight KKR bowling should be too much to handle for a clueless Pune batting. Finally, the best chances Dada has of going back as a hero is by dropping himself and sending an unequivocal perform or perish message to the entire team.

Caution Girls – Asshole Ahead

I was going through various Troll pictures on Facebook when I saw one which claims that guys who do not treasure their girl friends are assholes. Why? Because there is another guy always willing to give the girl that extra amount of attention or care the previous guy has made her crave. Seems like quite a life altering insight eh!! So what should guys do? They should wear their nanny pants and be ready to baby feed their girl friends, right?

Now, let me attempt to explain why it does not work that way. The reason is very simple. Most girls who will be reading my blog will know from experience that the second guy turns out to be the same asshole. Most men suffer from Intense Chauvinism Disorder referred to as ICD from here on and ICD is much easier to accept in the guy you just broke up with because you are used to it. Now, once the wooing period is over and the honeymooning is done with, the next guy also has the exact same flaw for which a girl breaks up for the first time. From the blue eyed girl you will be treated like a nagging pain in the ass. So if you are good looking or intelligent it is obvious that you will get a lot of attention but even if you are with an asshole think before you break up. The world is not too rosy out there!!

So what’s my advice? Do not break up? Oh God, no!! If you are out of love by all means break up as soon as possible but do not break up for a rosier tomorrow. If you do so then may GOD bless you because Satan (Next Guy) surely wont. 

They Say That a Hero Will Save Us I am Not Gonna Stand Here and Wait

Owing to my screwed up head and conscious attempt to do things a bit differently I have been called an attention seeker, arrogant, cocky, proud and what not. In this blog I will make a feeble attempt to explain what I do and why it should not be interpreted as any of the above. Gandhiji once very famously said that be the change you want to see in the world. Of course my interpretation of it was not the way he intended it but then I have managed to make it serve my purpose to a great extent. I just dare that one bit more to solve my problems, act a bit more crazy, take that risk which is generally not regarded sane by the society.

How many of you believe in miracles? Let’s not move ahead of us; miracles will probably be overdoing it but let’s say how many of you actually believe that luck will average out. From my personal experience I can tell you something - Luck never averages out. If you are having a run of bad luck you need to grab the situation by the throat and mould it. Similarly, if luck is going your way don’t get too cocky and don’t sit and relax, rather try pushing yourself to the limit to try and make most of it.

I was reading a book by Donald Trump where he speaks about how he had been affected by recession. He says in the book that his business had taken the beating after recession and he was once passing a beggar and realized that the beggar was richer than him by 9 billions. Woh!! 9 billions is some money right!! The easiest thing he could have done is laid down, waited for the recession to over, the government to pump in some money and then voila the business runs again!! But that’s not what he did. Rather than waiting for the Hero (Economic Condition Getting Better) to come rescue him, he stood up and made himself count. He worked out deals with bankers and other things which I could not really understand but at the end of the day he saved himself rather than waiting for the hero. What would have happened if he had waited for the Hero, no one knows but guessing from his current situation I don’t think his decision went too badly.

Anyway I have bored all of you enough with another mindnumbingly stupid blog but here’s one last pointer before I end. If you really think that bad luck is a passing phase and you can just wait it out, be my guest, but by my reckoning is if you do nothing about it, this phase will never pass.  

                       

Ego – Thou Heartless Bitch

How often have you kept on looking at your google talk list waiting for someone to buzz? Have you ever meant to message someone but have waited for your friend/girl friend to make the first move? If none of these things have happened to you then this blog is not for you. And well if everyone bounces off from this blog I guess I am the dumbass, lolz.

I am not sure if anyone is still with me but here’s to hoping that someone is here till now. Both of these have happened way too many times to me and you can think of me as gay but most of the times it has happened with a friend, a guy friend. We had lived in the same colony all our lives and somehow never talked to each other. On retrospect probably ego had played a part on a sub conscious level even during those days. We became friends for the first time while coming back from an English tuition as we used to live in the same locality. We shared the same kind of enthusiasm about food, sports and especially cricket. From acquaintances we quickly became best of friends who shared most of their darkest secrets and GOD knows we had some really dark secrets. Actually all our secrets were dark some were just darker than others. I remember how he came and boasted that after dumping a girl he had been called ridiculous by her and how he said No he is calculus.

After, I went to my Engineering College we drifted apart, not really out of sight out of mind but yes out of contacts surely.  Then due to some misunderstandings we stopped talking to each other. We used to come across each other and felt the same longing to talk to each other but something stopped us. Oh Ego!! Thou heatless bitch spreadeth thy fangs across and encompasseth friends. Lolz, I hope I will get some pointers for trying the Shakesperean style at least. Anyway, for four years we were not in touch and again as fate would have it we were put in the same group. Yes, there was some rustiness but the old feelings remained. Oh, how many matches we could have played side by side if we had not lost those four years. We are best of friends now and after that incident try to keep it simple and on your face hoping not to repeat our mistakes.

Anyway, there is some contorted hidden moral to all my blogs which I write explicitly about in the last paragraph. So, here goes. There is no winner or loser when you have a fight with someone. Wait, let’s just hold on to that thought. Actually if you both really miss each other both of you are the losers. So if the friendship or the relation means anything to you then try to get it back on track even if you have to shed your ego. 

Mama – I’m coming Home

It’s been 8 years and the excitement of returning home is that much greater. I can still remember the smell of the lush green outfield and I can still remember every six I have hit in this ground. Every ball I played in the last innings I played in this ground is firmly etched in my memory. A slow 35 punctuated by only two fours amidst a batting collapse was probably the only time I had applied so much in my entire career. However, the run rate had fallen so much during my painstaking existence that even a late charge from Subha was not enough to secure a win against what was a strong and solid batting line up of our Swaraj Sangha seniors.

Our makeshift home, the FE Ground has treated us in great fashion and most of our players had already accustomed themselves with the uneven bounce and slowness of the pitch.  We had won the last match by 50 runs and the match before that with only one wicket down. When you are playing this well, shifting your home ground is not a preferable option, not at all. But then it’s CMDA, the ground half of our team members have grown up playing in. The ground that probably brings out that extra 10 % from everyone in our team, the ground which irrespective of the time gap will seem like familiar territory to us.

On the flip side, we will be pitted against the only team which probably knows CMDA better than us, a team which understands the pulse of the ground as much as we do and enjoys playing there in the same way we do. However, the landscape has changed completely since the last time we met. Their mainstay in both batting and bowling Buku has been snatched away from them and if his form stays anything like the previous match, homecoming will be sweet for all of us. Moreover, the culmination of players from Techno India has also added an extra dimension to our team and the commitment level seen in our team is unparalleled.

At the end of the day, the result of such a high voltage clash is generally decided by who comes with a stronger mindset. In this respect we have a team which has seen people coming to play with a fractured finger and a stiff neck just because we did not have any replacement for them. We have seen a bowler come back from being hit for four sixes in an over to bowl excellently in his second spell. We have seen a fielder dive full length to take what can only be termed as a stunner.  So mentally we are as strong as ever but there is a chance that even they are, so here’s to wishing that may the best team win. 

Dancing in the Rain

Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it is about learning how to dance in the rain – so read one of my friend’s gtalk status. The obviousness of the truth simply cannot be denied. I will go ahead and make one of those statements which might come back to bite me in the back but here it is – Adversity is a man’s best friend. If you are having a dilly dolly ride all your life then you never realize what it takes to make a comeback when the going gets tough. Why is it important? Let’s face it the ride ain’t going to be as smooth your entire life and you need to have that ability in you to fight back when it is not. This is why Roger Federer is not the greatest of all time according to me and this is why there is utmost respect for Lance Armstrong and Sourav Ganguly.

Now, I will go back to what I do best, that is ramble on about myself and bore everyone attempting to read the blog to death. If you can thrive in adversity the rest of the path becomes easy. In this blog I will primarily write about a rivalry which has been a constant source of entertainment for everyone in the group and has been a part of our lives ever since the first day I met him. It was probably our third meeting and we had gone to play pool and Subhojit Da challenged me to a singles match. What happened thereafter was history!! Though after a few ups and downs Sadhu urf Subhojit Da had taken an unassailable lead the verbal conflicts which punctuated the rivalry heightened the stakes for both of us involved. What started off as a rivalry in Pool was then taken forward to Cricinfo, Counter Strike and then the rivalry was so hot that we had to devise an event known as HumpKing to decide who the better man is. I will just take a minute to describe what is HumpKing. In HumpKing every contestant gets to pick a game which is his forte and everyone else competes in that game in a league format. Points for every game are allotted and finally the winner is awarded according to the cumulative score.

Now, I will come back to the title and describe exactly what lead me to talk so much in details about a rivalry which has got nothing to do with the title of the blog. Well, here is the thing as much as I hate saying this but I have been at the losing end of the duel more often than not. Every time I come up with a seemingly full proof plan to beat him he comes up with something so out of the box so unpredictable that you can just stand and admire. Competing with Sadhu is a thunder storm I had never experienced in my life but every time it makes me feel like going one better. This rivalry has made me firmly believe that there are no points for second place in this world and in the want to best Sadhu I have bettered myself. I have been bruised and devastated by this rivalry at points but never have I shied away and at the end of the day I feel more confident every time I go out there to face any problems whatsoever. We all need a Sadhu in our lives and hopefully Sadhu will admit he needs a Souptik in his life to test his limits.

Anyway here’s Souptik signing off hoping this blog will at least make you feel like facing a storm no matter how humiliating the results are. At the end of the day even if ends justify the means, you will never reach a different end if you don’t mean to.

Anna to Sachin - The Hero the Nation Deserves

Now I am literally pissed off with Facebook. I am even thinking of supporting Kapil Sibal in his movement to regulate social media content. Just kidding!! But seriously stupidity abounds on Facebook like never before nowadays. It is like people just want to put up controversial status messages and they are ready to look stupid for that. After the recent spate of Sourav’s new life and how he made a miraculous comeback now they have started with why Sachin is the MP. If Sourav’s comparison with Dhoni was unwarranted Sachin’s entry to politics is something that should not be judged so soon.

I don’t get it!! The nation was fooled by one gentleman called Anna Hazare not too long ago into believing that he wanted good for the nation selflessly. I will quote one of my friends Arunabh out here. “So a member of Anna Hazare Camp was thrown out for recording stuff … and here I thought he was a champion in keeping everything before public.” The entire nation dreamt with him and then was woken up to a harsh jolt that he actually wanted to be the gatekeeper for the government. Hold the ruling party at ransom if you don’t get your way and how shrewdly you manipulated the rest of us to believe in you. Reminds me of what LEFT did during the 123 agreement, at least they were forthright in their demands. This is neither the Hero we want or deserve.

Now let’s take a look at Sachin, a man who has been serving the country selflessly for 24 years now. He has battled injuries, braved fast bowlers, stamped his authority in every part of the world and here he stands at 40 and still at top of the pedestal. A player who had been attributed the legend status at 24 and GOD at 28 HIS achievements are surely too fantastic to be true. HIS on field heroics are well documented in statistics but what sets HIM apart is his off field behavior. No controversies for 24 years out of which for 12 years he was regarded as GOD by the entire nation. Let’s also take into consideration that we live in a country where most of our celebrity words are misconstrued and a controversy is created out of it and yet Sachin manages to be above all this.

Cricket is like a religion in most parts of the country and Sachin is GOD. His stature in the country is not limited to that of a cricketer; he is regarded as a role model, an idol by most of us. Sachin’s election to MP was not because of what he has achieved on the field; it is because what he has achieved off it. For the last twenty four years he has been the Hero Indians needed to keep believing that our Nation will win, albeit on the field. He has been the hero India needed on the field and now it is time that he becomes the hero India deserves off it. 

Left at the Altar – What next!!

Nothing about being left in the altar is funny. It is potentially a life altering experience the scathing wounds of which may hurt for life. Not till Chuck Lorre decided to give it a totally new perspective did people think too differently. Ted Mosby’s never ending search for his suitable life partner was extended by at least three more seasons and all of us got a fresh way to shatter our age old conception that being left at the altar is life ending.

As the few of you who will end up reading this blog already know, I was in love with a girl who was supposed to get married. These kinds of things never end well and it did not for me too. Two of the most important things I have realized in life are breaking up is never easy but it is tougher to try and hold on to someone with whom the future is bleak. So it is important to realize when to let go. One of my friends Animesh had told me that “If a story does not have a conclusion then let’s leave it at an interesting end.” How all of us keep missing this simple fact!!!

From here on, I will leave the painful and excruciating details of the sob story and move on to the fun part. After I came back from Bangalore I was shattered but then I was blessed to have people around me who stuck by me through thick and thin. I had people who actually put up with my fickle behavior and tried to work around it. They stuck the perfect balance between when to crack the first joke and when to actually stay quiet and hear me mourn. And voila here I am, a changed guy, playing counter strike every night, darn excited about leading (what looks like an invincible team) my team every Sunday, crazy drives, sloshed as hell on weekends. To think that I could have been married and raising a child is not very pretty. Phew, dodged another bullet and this one was close!!

I do not claim to have all the know hows about what to do and what not to do in a relation. But 11 years and 37 girls later I can always stake my claim at the coveted and controversial position of Break up King. The most important thing about breaking up is to know when to break up. I have seen people sticking it out because they are too insecure to let go and trust me that never pans out well. Even if you manage to stick it out, it is not pleasant. For me, the equation is simple if it is not working let go now than later. How do you know the right time? Well, if you do not feel like picking up his/her call understand that time is drawing near. If it happens on a regular basis, understand it’s over. Look around you and you will find friends who are there for you irrespective of what you are going through. Hobbies are a good start too and work for me.

Anyway this is Souptik signing off with a simple moral – If you do not have the guts to break up when you want to, look around you and you will find friends to back you up like I and Ted did. 

Crazy is Good

There is a Bengali word called ‘choraano’ and all through my teenage I have been hell bent to personify it. Most of the things I do border on craziness and some would say is a sign of disturbed mentality. I will like to iterate the immortal Sheldon’s famous words “I am not crazy, my mother had me checked.” The only thing that is uncommon about me is a second passion gland taking the place of my sanity gland.

If someone asks me why I do what I do, I will be as dumbfounded as Federer is against a Rafael Nadal onslaught. Starting from missing an IIM C Interview to abusing the police and having them chase us throughout Kolkata to breaking my leg racing on a bike when I hardly knew the difference between clutch and break, most of my actions are inexplicable and so I will not even try and explain them. In this blog I will just make another attempt to say why crazy is good. How that one moment of insanity lives on like a memory and even though you screw up you do not and should not regret it.

What you need to understand before you read on is in order to accept these screw ups you need to be a tad disturbed, but then are not we all a tad disturbed? Come on, who are we kidding!! In my case what helps me to overcome this screwed up feeling is an intense sense of competition. Every loss, be it in counter strike or on field cricket or super selector in Espnstar should hurt!! And if it does not then I do not think you will find this blog convincing. It is not only about the matches you play, it is also about the fanaticism you support your team with. There was a time when after every Sampras loss I used to skip dinner. Irrespective of whether you lose or you win all of those moments will be special. If you have an exam on the next day, all the better, it will just help the moment be even more special.

Maturity and sanity comes at a price!! The price of not living these moments!! The price of always doing what is right for the future and compromising your present for that. Of course, that is one way to go!! The other of course is to live life your way, seldom giving a damn about rules, enjoying the moment and then waking up and doing it over again. Of course you will be more successful if you chose the first option and maybe a lot richer. However, if you dare to follow the latter then you might have memories etched in your brain which might be worth remembering and feeling elated about even in your worst phases. The choice is yours!! This is Souptik signing off. Have a nice day!!

Super Sunday

Super Sunday it was!! Rafa demolished the joker, Vettel and Kimi raced against each other for a nerve racking five laps for the top position and Everton came from two goals behind to ensure an all important Manchester derby next week. But in this blog I will ignore all these much more significant happenings and like all other self obsessed morons talk about the most important that happened to me.

Early Morning Jitters

Faced with the stiffest of all challenges of leading a side after seven years sleepless nights were a given. It might seem like I am overdoing a Gully Cricket match but that is how serious we are about Cricket. As an Indian, Cricket’s my Religion and Sachin’s my GOD. Back to the point!!! I had just managed to catch some sleep around 4 o clock and was woken up harshly by Tukul’s call at 7. What was even crueler was the news he had for me. Kaushik had fallen sick all of a sudden and would be unavailable for the match. One hour before a crunch match such news can be disheartening as Kaushik was one of our strike bowlers. Though we had a ready replacement in Tushka, who is one of the best batsman I have seen, the team’s balance was shaken. Visibly shaken!!

Cricket’s a leveler

I will skip the other mishaps and start with the toss. It was for the first time we lost a toss in the last 10 matches and well I was having a feeling that this will not go too well. Rahul the opponent team’s captain was elated with the toss and by their bunch’s celebration I felt they had won the match. The match started on a bombastic note with Tintin smashing our strike bowler Jito to all corners of the park in the first over but Jito came back to claim his wicket in the last ball. One over fifteen runs and one wicket!! The momentum they had snatched with the early hits had well and truly been equalized.

Cleanest of Clean Hitting

Another three overs later, they were cruising at 63 – 1 and arguably our most potent threat in bowling Subhadeep had been taken for 22 runs in his last over. By any standards 63 – 1 in four means you need to gear yourself up for a tough and long chase. Respite came in the form of Tukul as he broke what seemed to be an increasingly dangerous partnership. About this partnership, I must admit that it was the best exhibition of clean hitting I had seen till date and the wide array of strokes both batsmen had was indeed mind boggling. It was the kind of batting which will make the bowlers not feel like going to bowl but that is where our team is so special. This is the fighting spirit that defines our team and has been instilled into our team by the ex captain Tukul.

The Comeback that Defines Us

An excellent over by Tukul had given us a minute to breathe and while Rishi was dismissed Debarshi was still there and going great guns. Deepayan who was playing in our team for the first time and will hopefully become an integral part of the new look team, came on to bowl next. Though his coming on to bowl was not a part of the plan yet his acquaintance with the opponent team and their constant attempt to get under his skin gave me enough reasons to bring him on to try and snatch another wicket and put the pressure on the batting side. Delivered he did!! Another wicket and all of a sudden from 63 – 1 the batting team were at 73 – 3 and survival for fifteen over became an issue. Tukul bowled another quite next over and since the batsmen were playing for survival I felt it was the right time to bring Subha who was a rhythm bowler. And what a devastating spell he bowled!! He caused all kinds of problems to the batsmen who were as clueless against him as Djokovic was against Nadal in Monte Carlo. Tenth over and I brought my best bowler Subhadeep back to try and finish things off and he did not disappoint. Two wickets including that of the set Debarshi really set the cat among the pigeons. I should also mention that the catch that Buku took to dismiss Deborshi was one of the best I have seen in this season. Moving around 20 feet to his left and with the sun blaring down, he took the catch with no fuss at all. Kudos boy!! Tukul came back to bowl the fourteenth over and his clever variation of pace was too much for the nine, tenth and jack of their team and they were bowled out for a paltry 117 of 15 overs. From 100 – 3 in 8 overs to 117 all out in fifteen, we had done half the demolition job!! Brilliant!!

Think Before you Sledge

Sledging I maintain has become the biggest misguiding factor for teenage boys just getting into cricket. While it might be used to fuel reactions in a youngster or someone with a hot head you do not use it against someone who has been there and heard it all. You do not use it against someone who stays unruffled even when two of the cleanest hitters in the game are tearing his bowlers apart. Tintin the opening bowler of the opponent made this mistake of sledging me after the first over with a comment which suggested he had me all sorted out. Five sixes and one four in the next two overs he bowled, may force him to think otherwise. Anyway back to the point, we hardly wasted a sweat in bringing up the paltry 117 and within 11 overs we coasted to the required target with only one wicket down. Way to go team!!! I and Buku saw the innings were there till the end to pile on the pain on an opponent who had been thoroughly demoralized by then.

Performance Chart (I will rate according to Batting Order)

Tushka – Played a great supporting role, nudging the singles, hitting the bad balls for four and never letting the bowler get on top. After years of playing against each other we opened for the same team for the first time and piled on 90 for the first wicket.

Buku – Did not get much chance to perform but the cover drive he played with six runs to win said a great deal about the genius he is on the field. Made catches which would have been very difficult for most of us to even judge in the outfield seem like regulation.

Tukul – Fighter!! That’s the only word that comes to my mind!! After missing a sharp chance in slip he got it out of his head and came back with the ball and dismissed that batsman. If it was not for that breakthrough we were surely staring down the barrel.

Deepayan – I will quote what Tukul had to say about him. “Gem of a guy!” Did what was asked of him and provided us with an all important wicket which helped us to keep piling the pressure. In what was the closest thing to a technique perfected by the hussy brothers he jumped to scoop of a catch in long off and threw the ball back as he lost his balance and went over the ropes. Well done!!

Pacho – Absolutely lethal exhibition of spin bowling!! Could not ask for more.

Subhadeep – Came back from a disappointing second over in which he got hit for 22 runs to pick up two crucial wickets which made the difference between them scoring 120 and 150.

Jito – Bowled with a lot of guile on the face of an onslaught and though he got taken for runs most of the times he had the batsmen foxed. 

Captain Speaks

Leading a side is difficult and for less blessed mortals like me it can be quite intimidating. It does not matter the level you are leading at, it is tough. For starters, if your team is hungry for success, there is an added pressure to lead from the front and coping with that is the biggest challenge you will face as a captain. That is a challenge I have always relished however though I have not been able to deliver the goods every time but then that is part and parcel of life. You need to take failures in your stride and move on and that is exactly what I have done.

Anyway coming to the point, the last time I actually captained a side was back in school and though we had quite a run I quit after we lost in the semi finals of the school tournament. Not only was I performing dismally on the field but all my decisions were back firing too which left me no choice but to admit maybe I was doing something wrong. Moreover, it was not about the on field reasons also because you win some and you lose some but off field also there was a lot of criticism one asshole I used to call my best friend had too much influence on me and I was doing everything wrong that could be done wrong. All in all I was a mess!! I did not want my team to suffer while I went through this phase. So pissed off was I with captaincy that even when I owned a team during our Annual Sports Event I passed on the captaincy to one of our juniors and my buddy Rohit Raghavan.

Now to recent events – Last match Tukul told me that he is not enjoying captaining the side and he wanted me to step up. Before going any farther I think I will just describe my relation with Tukul. Off the field he is one of my best friends and we have played besides each other since times immemorial. He backed me through my worst phases because GOD knows my lean patches are really lean and lasting. We have spent nights discussing cricket and game plans and we often jokingly say that we have spent half of our teenage discussing cricket. Anyway I have this habit of beating around the bush, so I will come back to the point. When Tukul asked me to be the captain I was repelled going by my past experiences but slowly and surely the idea started sinking in. As it began to settle in and make sense my excitement for the job in hand increased.

To understand why I am so psyched about the job in hand, let me just describe the situation I am in. We have won 8 out of 13 matches this season and Tukul’s super charged and dynamic captaincy had a huge role to play in that. Playing undoubtedly the best side we have played till now in this season and trying to fit in his shoe is scary to say the least. But then again I have always thrived when the going gets tough because that is when you prove your mettle. You stand up and be counted and that is all I will look to do. Secondly, our team is going through a transition because of the injury to Swarnendu and Subhajit and I will be leading a completely new look side. At this age egos can be quite tricky to manage. Moreover, personally I have not played besides more than half of the team for even five matches. To lead them, sounds like a daunting task.

What makes my job easy is that I have the full and unconditional support of Tukul which comes as a relief. I have an extremely talented bunch of players to help me win my first match and probably even we are going to go out there with the best team of the season. Moreover, since it’s a transition phase there isn’t a lot of expectations about results. All we need to do is go out there and enjoy our cricket and hope for the best.

P.S. – We are a fiercely competitive side and if you actually go by the fact that we are out of practice and are out to enjoy hence won’t be that good then you will do so at your own peril.  

My Take on Dada vs Dhoni

This blog was coming from a long time but I was afraid that it will dampen the reputation I have gathered as a fanatic and hence the delay. However, better late than never!!! Before I delve farther into the topic let me just clarify one thing – I have immense respect for both Dhoni and Dada. Having said that no individual is greater than the game except Sachin Tendulkar and that is where my problem with Dada supporters originates from.

Undoubtedly, Saurav is one of the greatest performers to have braced the cricket field. His greatness can be best documented by the fact that his name is pronounced in the same bracket as Dravid and Laxman. Coming to the point what I will like to ask is, given Saurav’s greatness does he deserve to be remembered as a player who stretched it one IPL too many.

If you really credit Saurav for winning matches with his captaincy then discredit him for the matches lost. Any which way even though I accept the importance of captaincy in the modern game is not a captain as good as his team. If it was Dada’s decisions that kept Mumbai from chasing a lowly 130 odd it was his decision to bowl Nehra in the last over. If there is so much hullaboolah about the former why is everyone keeping silent about the latter? And I will request someone to kindly clarify to me why are Samuels and Smith batting lower down the order as compared to Ganguly?

On the other hand let’s take a look at Dhoni!! If it was not for his late blast Chennai would have probably never posted the winning score against Pune. Yes, I am unjustified in just citing one example but can anyone deny Dhoni has performed time and again when the chips are down for our country and his IPL team.

What actually forced me to write this post were some people who are calling it Ganguly’s comeback and citing examples from this IPL to demonstrate his fighting spirit. Seriously people? For the records till now he has scored 85 of 6 matches with a strike rate of 102 and let me remind you that you are talking about Saurav Ganguly. A batsman who ruled the world with his bat and such was his stamp of authority that he was feared and revered all around the world. You are talking about a man who was instrumental in building Team India. Do not forget that he came back and silenced even his biggest critics after being unjustly dropped from the team by Greig Chappel. In your bid to respect him you are disrespecting him. Let’s just accept that he stuck on the scene for one tournament too many and forget it.

Anyway I have bored many of you with my extra long and boring post and will end here. One final message – Dada and Dhoni are from different generations, have completely different styles of captaincy and are too great in their own respect to be compared. Let it be!!!

Why Nadal is the Favorite to Win Monte Carlo?

What do you do when your opponent has the strongest of strangleholds on you? How do you actually motivate yourself to go out on court with a belief to win after losing seven matches on a row against someone? How do you beat someone who beats you even in your own game? These are the questions Rafa will have to answer before he can even think of winning a Grand Slam or a Masters tournament which features Novak Djokovic.

Obstacles for Rafael Nadal

The Serb has managed to stun Nadal in his own game and though Australian Open Final was the closest Rafa came to beating Djok, it was by far the most disappointing. It broke the common perception that Rafa could tire out any opponent and as the game grew longer Rafa grew stronger. It was the second time on a row when Rafa looked more fatigued than Djokovic and it was established for sure that Djokovic is the fitter player at the moment at least. Moreover, Rafa surely seems to have lost the mental stability to edge out his opponents in the most crucial of opponents. How else do you explain the back hand he hit leading 30 – 15, 4 – 2 in the last set. Either that or Djokovic is stronger than Nadal mentally. Either ways, it does not bode well for Rafa!!

Rafa – The Champion

Champions always have one fight left in them!! Armstrong came back from cancer to win Tour De France, Schumaker came back from retirement to perform admirably in a below par car and Rock came back in Wrestlemania to beat Cena and well all of them achieved such feats at the fag end of their careers. Rafa is just getting started!! He is only 25 and this is the first time in his life he has been faced with an opponent he can not overcome. Of course, Federer was a great rival but except one off victories in some Masters he never worried Rafa too much in his peak. A seven match losing streak is not only unprecedented for Rafa but confidence shattering too. However, how he manages to come back from it will define the person Rafa is; it will define his grit, determination and will to win. It will define if Rafa is champion material, if he has the mental strength to fight back and best the biggest challenge he has faced till date. Honestly for Rafa the setting could not have been better!! Monte Carlo is like his own backyard and he has not lost a single match in the last 7 years. No one not, even Djokovic can beat Rafa or match his game in Monute Carlo. What remains to be seen is whether or not Rafa gets haunted by Djok’s ghost. And who will want to bet against Rafa's mental agility. Not me at least!!

Kohli - The Rockstar

Virat "The Genius" Kohli continues to amaze. After his match winning knocks in crucial matches against arch rivals Sri Lanka and Pakistan, and 3 out of 4 hundreds you expect even the greatest batsman to bask in the glory or maybe to lose his focus for a few days. Not Kohli!! Probably, the finest exponent of One Day Cricket of this generation Kohli's focus does not seem to be wavering. His ability to finish the match single handedly is absolutely fantabulous and something that India had been desiring for a long time.

In order to understand the significance of Kohli's position let's roll back a few years. Who used to come at number 3 for India? Rahul Dravid!! The most reassuring batsman probably in the history of cricket, his presence in the middle soothed the nerves of even the biggest skeptics. Once Rahul had to go there was bound to be a gaping hole, a hole that can probably never be filled. However, the lull that Rahul Dravid left in the number three position has stopped appearing so scary and if one individual can be credited for that it is Virat Kohli.

What really astounds me about this young man is not the number of runs he scores, neither is it the astounding rate he scores it at, it is the sheer casual fashion he dismisses world class bowlers. Come on, which Indian did not jump off his seat seeing Malinga get hit for 24 in an over. And tell you what Kohli did it seamlessly!! If anyone thought Malinga will get a chance to redeem himself it was dismissed in the very next over he bowled, as Kohli picked him for two more fours. The sheer contempt with which he hit Malinga to all parts of the boundary made me go back to the six sixes Yuvraj hit off Broad. Destroys a bowler, does not it? Of course Malinga will come back and uproot many a stumps but Kohli is someone he will remember forever. Not a bad start eh? Etching yourself in the nightmares of the best death bowlers in modern day cricket at 24.

Finally, I come to the reason of my writing a blog after so long!! Two failures and his rash behavior on and off the field has left many a doubters about his future prospects. I guess the innings he played today against Chennai says a lot about his maturity. After being humbled by Balaji in the last match Kohli came back to play another knock of utmost significance against arch rivals Chennai. The composure he maintained while Gayle went berserk never trying to outscore him and giving him the majority of the strike was commendable. If Chennai thought that things were going to be smoother once Gayle got out, Kohli them a reminder of his destructive capabilities. Before ending, I will like to reemphasize that though there is a long way to go for Kohli but he is a phenomenon surpassing all but Sachin and if he continues to bat the way he is batting now he will surpass all but Sachin before he retires.

A day will come when India will not miss the Wall at number 3. I know Dravid of all people will hope for that. Maybe, no one can replace Dravid, not even Kohli but surely the anxiety we feel about the future when we think of a test team without Dravid will be reduced. Here's to rejoicing a better future for Indian Cricket with Kohli.