The hare left her silent trail
On the grassy bank bare
Hopping across the wind
She floats into the sunset
There will always be a sunset
As I sit watching here
In my hands cold comfort
As I stand rooted in yesterday
And while the sands of tomorrow
Are chiseled rock still
Seeing past the sunset blinds
Binds us to the dark of night
And we fail to see today
The shimmering sunrise
Friday, October 22, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Very Very Special
The recently concluded test between India and Australia at Mohali was a classic. It had great individual performances, enough drama and all three results were possible until the final day. The final minutes had no less melodrama than a Bollywood movie and like such movies, we got a happy ending.
VVS played yet another special knock which he seems to capable of producing on demand against Australia, but this post is not about that. I would scarcely add anything new to the accolades so richly heaped on him and his innings. I am also not going to talk about how Laxman now averages 50 in the second innings of a test match, or how he averages 51 batting down at 6 in the order, or why he has only converted 16 of his 62 50+ scores into hundreds.
What I am going to talk about is how test cricket remains alive, despite it being "old", falling viewership and despite only 4 countries who really play cricket at test standard (India, Australia, SA and England), 5 if you count SL and NZ at their home grounds respectively, 6 if Pakistan turns up.
T20 showcases skills. Big hitting, clever flicks into vacant areas, scampered runs, lots of slower/faster balls, doosras, carrom balls, electric fielding. It fun while it lasts, however like having too many tequila shots I'm afraid for younger players who will wake up with bad hangovers someday when they realize that never really became great students of the game.
Test cricket can often be boring but often it is not, it is however rather subtle and often not amenable to immediate enjoyment. This is where a shout has to go to all those people (like my dad) who took young and clueless guys like me to games and explained all the intricacies, it is truly a priceless gift.
The fact that it’s more than just the skills, but also the mental aspect makes it truly a "test". Test cricket pushes players and viewers alike to their very limit and then some. The notion of a draw, I think is also very important to the essence of test cricket. Most other games demand that there be a winner, but that's a simplification that life does not afford and therefore neither should test cricket. There is something romantic about a hard fought draw that artificially forced tie-breakers do not have. Bowl outs might be fun to watch, but give me a final over 1 wicket to take situation any day.
C.L.R James once famously asked "What do they know of cricket who only cricket know”. I'm quite sure he was referring to test cricket here.
VVS played yet another special knock which he seems to capable of producing on demand against Australia, but this post is not about that. I would scarcely add anything new to the accolades so richly heaped on him and his innings. I am also not going to talk about how Laxman now averages 50 in the second innings of a test match, or how he averages 51 batting down at 6 in the order, or why he has only converted 16 of his 62 50+ scores into hundreds.
What I am going to talk about is how test cricket remains alive, despite it being "old", falling viewership and despite only 4 countries who really play cricket at test standard (India, Australia, SA and England), 5 if you count SL and NZ at their home grounds respectively, 6 if Pakistan turns up.
T20 showcases skills. Big hitting, clever flicks into vacant areas, scampered runs, lots of slower/faster balls, doosras, carrom balls, electric fielding. It fun while it lasts, however like having too many tequila shots I'm afraid for younger players who will wake up with bad hangovers someday when they realize that never really became great students of the game.
Test cricket can often be boring but often it is not, it is however rather subtle and often not amenable to immediate enjoyment. This is where a shout has to go to all those people (like my dad) who took young and clueless guys like me to games and explained all the intricacies, it is truly a priceless gift.
The fact that it’s more than just the skills, but also the mental aspect makes it truly a "test". Test cricket pushes players and viewers alike to their very limit and then some. The notion of a draw, I think is also very important to the essence of test cricket. Most other games demand that there be a winner, but that's a simplification that life does not afford and therefore neither should test cricket. There is something romantic about a hard fought draw that artificially forced tie-breakers do not have. Bowl outs might be fun to watch, but give me a final over 1 wicket to take situation any day.
C.L.R James once famously asked "What do they know of cricket who only cricket know”. I'm quite sure he was referring to test cricket here.
Friday, October 15, 2010
An ode to Water
Three tiny atoms dancing
Forever joined at the hip
All dissolving crystal clear
So much of me is you
You are life, you are death
You are both health and wealth
When you rain down, I find
The world washes its pain away
When you are not there
Lost, I see mirages
Shivering in a dark place
You hide, I embrace you
I've taken you for granted
But you're there even when I cry
All I know that if you leave
The world will say goodbye
This was inspired by the blog action day initiative.
Please visit here to learn more.
Forever joined at the hip
All dissolving crystal clear
So much of me is you
You are life, you are death
You are both health and wealth
When you rain down, I find
The world washes its pain away
When you are not there
Lost, I see mirages
Shivering in a dark place
You hide, I embrace you
I've taken you for granted
But you're there even when I cry
All I know that if you leave
The world will say goodbye
This was inspired by the blog action day initiative.
Please visit here to learn more.
Friday, October 08, 2010
Poem: Not You
The sun shines though
The clouds are escaping
You are not here
As I lay thinking
The perfume I smell
Is now wet earth
Damp with morning dew
Everything looks fresh
A faint sound far
A lonely bird chirping
This silence is more than
Talk of matters exciting
Nothing to do today
No one to be but me
Failing to be perfect
For you now I'm free
The clouds are escaping
You are not here
As I lay thinking
The perfume I smell
Is now wet earth
Damp with morning dew
Everything looks fresh
A faint sound far
A lonely bird chirping
This silence is more than
Talk of matters exciting
Nothing to do today
No one to be but me
Failing to be perfect
For you now I'm free
Sunday, October 03, 2010
Poem: I lied
When I said I'm ok
Its only a little scratch
And the bone was showing
I lied
When I smiled and laughed
At the funny movie
And my life was the joke
I lied
When I let you guys pass
And adopted a courteous stance
Though I was late for class
I lied
When I slogged all night
My pet project and pride
Though I never cared for it
I lied
When I raised another toast
And shouted with rare abandon
But my eyes had run dry
I lied
When I smiled back at you
And spoke of things old and new
But my heart still cries inside
I lied
Its only a little scratch
And the bone was showing
I lied
When I smiled and laughed
At the funny movie
And my life was the joke
I lied
When I let you guys pass
And adopted a courteous stance
Though I was late for class
I lied
When I slogged all night
My pet project and pride
Though I never cared for it
I lied
When I raised another toast
And shouted with rare abandon
But my eyes had run dry
I lied
When I smiled back at you
And spoke of things old and new
But my heart still cries inside
I lied
"Liking" Zuckerberg
I saw the movie "Social Network" yesterday. The movie is a semi-real/semi-fictional biopic of Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook and youngest billionaire in the world. The movie held back no punches and showed Mark as this brilliant guy, super programmer who was also fueled by naked ambition and unfettered by any apparent sense of morality.
Unlike some of my friends however, this movie didn't make me "hate" him. Note that this hate is really more of a "dislike" (a feature not on Facebook, at least not yet). I found myself admiring his brilliance, which I guess almost everyone does; found myself respecting his naked ambition, which I guess many of us would do; but quite disturbingly, I found myself almost jealous of this freedom that being amoral gives you.
In the opening scene, (date break up) which in my opinion is the best scene in the movie, his erstwhile girlfriend says to him "Please don't think I'm breaking up with you because you are a nerd, its because you're an a$$hole". My fellow nerds (and geeks) I'd say that there are many good people out there who do not judge us, lets not be d-bags for their sakes.
On similar lines, I wonder if many of us (and nerds especially) feel the reason they haven't made it big like Mark is because they can't be so openly amoral. Maybe amorality is necessary to making it big, one doesn't know, but there are lots of sociopaths out there who are losers even in the economic and power stakes.
In the end its all about being a better you.
Unlike some of my friends however, this movie didn't make me "hate" him. Note that this hate is really more of a "dislike" (a feature not on Facebook, at least not yet). I found myself admiring his brilliance, which I guess almost everyone does; found myself respecting his naked ambition, which I guess many of us would do; but quite disturbingly, I found myself almost jealous of this freedom that being amoral gives you.
In the opening scene, (date break up) which in my opinion is the best scene in the movie, his erstwhile girlfriend says to him "Please don't think I'm breaking up with you because you are a nerd, its because you're an a$$hole". My fellow nerds (and geeks) I'd say that there are many good people out there who do not judge us, lets not be d-bags for their sakes.
On similar lines, I wonder if many of us (and nerds especially) feel the reason they haven't made it big like Mark is because they can't be so openly amoral. Maybe amorality is necessary to making it big, one doesn't know, but there are lots of sociopaths out there who are losers even in the economic and power stakes.
In the end its all about being a better you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)