Junior Cometh ... !!

Its close now. Very close.

I have always loved my wife. That's not a secret I guess. But for the last nine months, I don't know if I should say that my love for her has increased. That does not sound appropriate, does it? Sounds too cliched maybe. Yeah. Lets end it there.

Maybe, its the respect and care that has shot up. Yeah maybe. Something has changed for sure.

I am not famous for most of my relationships. I have been quite a disappointing son. A sucker at being a brother. None of my cousins are close to me. There were some but not any more. I am quite a pathetic Mamu. I have just about managed to be a below average son in law. So ...

The 2 relationships that I have somehow tried to save the ship is with my wife and my friends. Even here, both of these have taken a hit over the last year. I have hardly reached out to any of my friends and I have a wife whom I have kept waiting. Sounds like a self bashing up, isn't it? It is ...

I would have liked lots of things to be different. I would have liked to read more stories to my would-be-baby. I would have liked to satisfy more of my wife's cravings. I would have liked more of those late night strolls with my wife planning for my baby's future. I would have liked to be there for all of the get togethers of my friends. I would have liked and I would have liked. That list is pretty long. Not so great for a person who is going to be a father pretty soon.

That's the next relationship test for me. Being a father. I get goosebumps imagining that one more relationship might end up the same way as so many have in the past. Dratch.

Somehow, for a person like me who likes to be confident (and over confident a lot of times) almost always, the pressure is getting to me of being a good father. And that's the last thing I need. I don't want to be pressurized to be a good father. That will make matters worse.

But, I hope and I kinda know that all is not so bad. I am more than looking forward to it. I (along with Amruta) will ensure that our child gets to live a good life, if nothing else. I am sure all parents feel the same. I don't think I am saying anything new here to be honest.

Nervous. Tensed. Excited. Happy. Jittery. Anxious. In a loop.

Waiting to hold Junior in my arms.

Cheers ... !!

MadRAZMATAZZ ... !!

Its been 13 years since I last visited Chennai. I guess it was called Madras then. I had some very emotional memories of this place. The last time I was here was with my best friend, Aditya who sadly passed away in 2007. The flight was close to touching down in Chennai when it was circling over the sea. It was obvious that we were flying above Marina Beach. Chepauk stood out like a huge black box. I was with Aditya at Marina just one day prior to our departure from Chennai in 1998. Sigh.

It was quite unexpected that I was to go to Chennai. It was late Monday afternoon when I was informed about a visit to Chennai for 3 days starting from Tuesday. I was to go there with Lokesh and join Guru in Chennai for a KT session for the team being set up in Chennai.

To be honest, Chennai did not give me the same big city feeling that a Mumbai or Delhi or Hyderabad gives me. Even entering MEPZ which is supposedly the IT park of Chennai did not impress me coz it looked like the old industries of Pimpri-Chinchwad area in Pune.

Anyway, the 3 days in Chennai were great fun.

We reached Chennai at 0730 on Tuesday morning and reached office by 0830. Well before anyone showed up. The KT started at 11 am and I started it and it had a very smooth flow to it. The 3 of us were really enjoying this KT without any PPT or other documents. Just a marker and the White board. Frankly, I just got up on Tuesday morning at home in Pune and got myself to the airport at 0430 hours. I hardly knew what I had to speak before I left for Chennai. So having said that, I was surprised at myself and the others for having answered all questions asked by the audience. Well done.

We were now brimming with confidence and that took us into the lunch break and we had some local stuff like Rassam Rice, Sambhar rice, etc. The 2nd session continued in the same way and we had a great KT day.

We were discussing plans to drive to Pondicherry but being a Union territory, friends in Chennai said that stuff shuts down by 11 pm over there and we will need to find a place to stay to avoid the cops. Plan dropped. Now what? Booze anyone? Sure.

Guru took us to a fine bar called Aatangudi close to MEPZ. We started at 7 pm and were there till 11 discussing vague stuff like whom do you like the best in the team as a person and as a crush. Whom do you hate the most, etc. It was insane. When people are drunk, they can say such a lot of great stuff and in a great way about people they like. In the same way, the manner to express anger about people whom you hate is equally enjoyable. It was 11 pm. Now what?

We had our guest house booked but we hadnt been there yet. Lokesh and I set off in a cab with Guru and Uday on their bike. It took us some time to locate our guest house but Whoa. What a place.

A huge 3 BHK with one bedroom allocated for 2 people. So Lokesh and I took one. Uday and Guru being locals had to go home some time. The other 2 rooms were occupied by other folks. We had a cook for everyone who made us lovely tea at 12:30. A Wi-fi router, A/C, lavish bath and we were set for the night. The terrace was huge and we made frequent visits for tea over there. To make matters worse, I forgot my Pyjamas at home. So I was going around in a towel all along.

We played cards. Surprising. :) I taught them how to play a game called Minimum and the very popular Maharashtrian game of Mendi Coat. It was fun and Cards + Tea ensured we were up till 0530 hours. Having slept at 2200 hours on Monday night and having got up at 0330 on Tuesday morning, we were asleep for just 6 hours since Monday. Damn it.

Guru and Uday went home at 0530 hours. Lokesh and I reached office by 11 the next day all drowsy. The next day again had some KT sessions. In the evening, we decided to head off to Marina. In a local bus. Yeah.

It took us around 1.5 hours to reach Marina. We had some Fried Fish, Bhajias and Ice cream there. Marina reminds you so much about Juhu. Beautiful place which has unnecessarily been commercialized. Sigh. We were still hungry and we also had Yuvaraja with us today. He is also a local from Chennai who was in Pune for 2 months back in February. He wanted us to have food at Sarvanam, one of the most popular South-Indian joints around the world. Apparently, present in 18 countries. Impressive.

So we were back in a bus headed to Chennai Central. There is a Sarvanam branch at Chennai Central itself. And it was a lip smacking delight. Parota Bhaji, Chilli Parota, Ghee Idli, Sambhar Rice. Just out of the top draw. Yuvaraja left for home. The 4 of us boarded a local train to Guindy. And then a cab to the guest house. It was 12 again. We played some more cards and some more tea was consumed. This time we needed to sleep early since we didnt have any sleep. But the bed supported only 2 people. But we had to adjust for 4. So be it. Done with plenty of space to spare.

The last day was more of a drag. Our flight was at 2115 hours and we decided to go down for final round of tea and gupshup at 1900 hours. We also called the cab so that it arrives by 1930 and we can reach the airport in time. At least we thought so.

It was 1940 and no signs of the cab. We called him and he said he will be there in 5 minutes. Called him again and he said it will take 10 minutes more. It was 1955. This was getting scary. Finally, we called him again and he said the number of the cab is 5588 and the name of the cab driver too. The cab turned up but to our surprise the cab driver said that he had to pick up someone else. Doomed.

We were fortunate enough to get an auto immediately who demanded Rs. 170. We did not care. We just wanted to reach the airport. He said that it will take 20 minutes to reach. It was 2005. The auto driver was driving like a man possessed and we were hoping we would be alive by the time we reached the airport. And then calamity strikes. We ran out of petrol. What more can go wrong? We were still around 3 kms from the airport. We started yelling at him but to no avail. He did not understand Hindi or English and we did not get Tamil. Panic struck, we started waving at cars and buses to stop but it was of no use. Finally, we saw an auto and literally stopped in front of it. We just jumped into the auto and asked him to take us to the airport. Now this guy was in no hurry at all and was driving at his own sweet pace.

But, we were at the aiport at 2035. 40 minutes away from departure. And now we realised that autos are not allowed inside the airport campus. Dratch. We ran for 2-3 minutes to reach the Departures gate and showed our tickets to the Guard. Problem. This was International Departures gate. Man. A jog for another 2-3 minutes got us to Domestic Departures gate. We got out Boarding passes and the lady said "Gate 7. 1st floor." OK. Again a jog for 1 minute got us to Gate 7, 1st floor. But it was a Delhi flight. As John McEnroe would say ... YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS.

We had not even looked at our boarding passes. It said Gate 2. Where the hell is Gate 2 now? Ground floor of course. Back to the jog again. Reached gate 2 to realise we are the last 2 to get in to the bus that takes us to the aircraft.

Just the icing on the cake for the most memorable 3 days in Chennai.

Some incidents ...

Me: How do you guys survive over here man?
Guru: You mean the humidity?
Me: No dude. The crowd. The girls. There is hardly anyone to look at.
Guru: Aah. I see. Yeah. North Indians are very beautiful.
Me: Well yeah. But, even Pune has such a great crowd. You will agree right?
Guru; Yes buddy. By North Indians, I meant north of Chennai.

Lokesh: (singing a song from Robot) Kilimanjaro. Ladki parvat ki yaaron. Iska roop nikhaaro. Yaaro Yaaro. De do hamein ek chhoti bosi. (and then stops singing). What is the meaning of Bosi in Tamil?
Yuvaraja and Guru: Bosi? Whats that? We have never heard such a word.
Lokesh: Its there in the song
Yuvaraja and Guru: We dont know
Lokesh: Maybe it means a kiss. Ok, what do you call a kiss in Tamil?
Yuvaraja: Muttam
Me and Lokesh: (look at each other and burst out laughing)
Yuvarja and Guru wonder why.
Lokesh: It sounds so funny.
Yuvaraja: Why? Is there a meaning for Muttam in Hindi?
Me: Yes. Kind of. It means Piss or Pee.
Guru and Yuvaraja start laughing. This is the time when we get into the lift and are waiting for the door to close.
Lokesh: How funny will it sound if I say to my girl friend ... Can you give me a Muttam?
At this very time, 3 girls enter the lift and stare at Lokesh. Yuvaraja and Guru yell at Lokesh to cool it. Its a big issue here. ROFL.


It was fun. Cheers ... !!

Two Tales Of A City ... !!

I am back.

Its almost like every post of mine is a I AM BACK post. Unfortunately.

Here I am sitting at home and basically just relaxing. Am I? Well, weekdays are quite hectic in office and even today was hectic despite me taking a day off. Some long pending household chores. But that's done. Perhaps the best take-away from a holiday spent at home is home-made hot lunch. Delicious.

But anyway, life at office has been so fulfilling. I have already bragged about my new responsibilities in some previous post. So its no use repeating that.

I have had the chance to work with some very cool people. One of them being Guru. The background is that we needed some Senior SQL developer and he joined the team in December when I was on leave for a week. So, when I came back from my leave, Guru was the first person I met. He hails from Chennai and was supposed to be in Pune for just 2 months. Well yeah. ;)

It's August and every attempt of his to return to Chennai seems to be running into a road block. In the meanwhile, he seems to be enjoying his stint in Pune. It's not that bad after all.

But my first distinct memory of Guru goes back to either December or January. We were having a casual chat about some basic introductory stuff like Where are you from OR Where have you worked previously.

The chat meandered towards whether both of us have been abroad. And we both had. He mentioned that he had worked for L&T Infotech. I told him that I went abroad working for Tieto which is a Finland based company. And then it was like back to my strange relationship with co-incidences.

I mentioned to him that I was in Sweden. Being in Malmo, you tend to mention Sweden as compared to Malmo since it is not one of the more popular cities of Sweden. Surprise surprise. Guru was also in Sweden. I probed him about which part of Sweden had he been to. Without taking the name of the city, he mentioned something like its a small city in the southern part of Sweden. Then I mentioned to him that I had also stayed in a small city in Sweden called Malmo.

That's it. He didnt need another invitation. Guru happens to be very touchy about Malmo and how he regrets returning back to India from Malmo. He intends to be buried in Malmo apparently, maybe at the cemetry in front of Gustav Adolfs Torg. Since then, barely a week passes without us talking about Malmo and trying to find out ways to return to Malmo. We have even irritated our team mates with our Malmo tales. As a co-incidence, we both still carry our Skanetrafiken cards in our wallets. When I showed him my green Skanetrafiken card, he was quick to flip through his wallet and show me his white Skanetrafiken card. Memories.

And another co-incidence. He lived at Davidshallsgatan which was like one bus stop prior to the one I got down at, at Mollevansgatan. We both knew identical super markets, hang outs, etc.

And the discussions dont seem to end.

Two tales of two super sentimental losers about a beauty of a place called Malmo.

Cheers ... !!

In my lifetime ... !!

Yes. Something I cringed for every 4 years. Prayed that I could see India win the World Cup when I was alive. And its here.

Its quite a common Indian trait to own something special that has happened. As in this case, I said "And its here". It sounds like I myself made it possible. Its not. But thats why I say we tend to own it. And why not?

One thing that binds the entire country. Cricket.

I am quite infamous for my boasting (did someone say Fudkya?). And here comes another. Being a pious Indian supporter, I have this tendency of supporting the team no matter what. While it was obvious during the league stages that we were far away from the great quality of cricket that we usually play, (and I knew this), I somehow still couldnt bitch about the team. After the South Africa game, I had boastfully written that this would be India's last defeat of the tournament which meant that we will win the Cup. Honestly, it was nothing more than a boast, sheer optimism for a lot of people. But I am like that. Someone will really need to convince me to bad mouth my country. And that someone has still not been conceived.

It was not the most ideal World Cup for me as a spectator. I was on leave during the 2nd week of the tournament wherein I caught the India-England and India-Ireland games but for the remainder I was a hassled individual. Working late in office and setting off early in the morning.

The first real sign of India gaining momentum was against the West Indies when we were going through the motions only to take 8 quick wickets to win and set up a mouth watering QF against 3 time defending champions Australia.

Back in office, having been aware that we have been set 261, I thought it will be a tough chase. When I left office, we were 5 down and we were still 70 odd runs adrift. I was going home in my car, one of those rare days when I get a car to office. I am a bit superstitious in the sense that I feel India does not play well when I am watching. Sounds absurd. So as soon as Dhoni was out, I decided I will drive ever so slowly so as to reach home after the match is over.

Sounds simple aint it? Far from it. Even after convincing myself to do so, I was so inquizitive trying to pick up signs on the road. With a TV shop frequenting me every now and then I was trying to make out things. A crowd of 10-12 people watching the game with great intensity. What does that mean? They are not even looking at each other. Does that mean we lost another wicket? A traffic signal had very few vehicles. The next had some more. Does that mean we lost a wicket and more people have switched off and come out? No. Please No. A lot of youngsters on the road. Why arent these guys watching the match? Another traffic signal. A Pulsar stands next to me. I want the 2 guys on this Pulsar to say something about the match. I will pay you guys. But say something. Not even a word about the match. This is killing me.

I drive for 40 minutes to reach Nimantran hotel (normally on a road as isolated as this day, it takes me 20 minutes to reach home) which is still 2 kms away. From my calculation, there are still 5-7 overs left in the game. Whats happening. I dont want to reach home and start crying if India has lost. I park my car outside Nimantran. And curiosity gets to me. I switch on my cell and head to cricinfo. 28 required of 35 balls with 3 boundaries in the last 7 balls and still just 5 down. Thats it. No more waiting. As I slam the first gear, Raina hits a SIX off Lee. I covered the last 2 kms in less than 2 minutes. And rushed home. Ravi Shastri exults "He has nailed it through the covers". Yuvi almost does his own version is the Sajdah midpitch. Raina embraces him and sparks off huge celebrations. Lots of things happen. Punter eats the humble pie and gives up captaincy. But more importantly, its India-Pakistan in the Semis. HUGE ... !!

Same old story. There is a mail circulated in office to assemble at 2:20 for the National Anthem. We get Poster Paints and color people's with the tri-color by lunchtime. People wearing India jerseys (those who had it). Others had to wear Blue atleast. I was one of them. National Anthem at 2:25. Goosebumps. Sehwag starts like a train on fire. Pakistan respond. Typical India-Pakistan match. They drop the GOD several times and finally when he goes for 85, there are some who celebrate. Wonder why? I ask them why are you celebrating. Pop comes the reply. "Come on. Be a patriot. He fell short of his century. We win." I smile sarcastically. But still hoping that it comes true. Anything for an Indian win.

The tension starts getting to me. I decide to play TT to release the tension. The TV is adjacent to the TT table. Hafeez and Akmal start briskly. When will the first wicket fall? Not with me watching the match. Well if its a hoodoo, then lets try it methinks. I rush upstairs. Shove my bat in the drawer and head home. This time I am glued to my cell.

43/0. Crap. This aint meant to be this easy. I fiddle around and almost drop my cell on the road. "Akma falls after brisk start" exclaims Cricinfo. We are in it. I reach home to find them at 52/1. Run rate was not bad. Shafiq and Hafeez look confident. Hafeez plays a T-20-final-Misbah shot and gets out. 2 down. 8 to go. I am not going anywhere. Shafiq and Younis start stitching a partnership. Why? Why? My demons are coming back to haunt me. I cant watch it anymore. There is a huge screen put up in the society. So I have to get away from that too. I force Biwi to come with me even though she wants to see the match. We walk for hardly 200 steps from the society gate and huge roar. Shafiq bites the dust and in some time Younis follows suit. We are back home. Umar Akal sams Yuvi for a four and 2 sixes. I am back out. But it does not last long. Bhajji takes out Akmal. I am back home. Munaf takes out Razzaq. You wonder where is Afridi and the Powerplay. But Misbah is taking care of India :). Afridi hits a few. Misbah hits one. Its happening again. I start feeling twitchy. Mom says "Arent you supposed to be out"?. I nod. I walk into the night. No roars. Whats happening? Pin drop silence for well over 15 minutes. And finally its here. A huge roar. Afridi goes. But I am not going up so soon. Again, a period of no roars. Wahab Riaz and Gul are also out. They are 9 down. Surely, India wins now, right? I run back home. And Misbah hits 3 in a row off Zak. I almsost do a McEnroe "You cannot be serious". He hits Munaf for a Six next over. Good Lord. What made me come back? Off I go again. Praying that the last over should not have a target of less than 20. Its 30. 30 off 6 balls. I am convinced that India can bowl atleast 2-3 good balls. I go up again. Dot ball. Dot ball. Dot ball. Dot ball. Out. Huge celebrations. Its India vs Sri Lanka in a dream final at Mumbai. One win away. First World Cup won ;)

The Big Final. Super Saturday. I convince myself that I will watch every ball come what may. We are at my in-laws place. I had taken 4 chilled bottles of Canon for me and my father-in-law "khoob jamega rang" style. India start off well. Its almost like a wall on the off side. Lanka cant penetrate Yuvi, Raina and Kohli. But Mahela plays a blinder and Perera ends in style. 275. Stiff. But possible. Malinga takes out Viru and SRT. Curtains? For once, I decide to stay put. Biwi and Saas-Sasur have had it. They move to the balcony for some TP. I am all alone watching the Finale. Believe. Believe. We need to be 7 down to lose this match. Until then ... Believe. We surely cant lose this. When will we be in a Final again. I woudlnt have taken a loss. Besides, Rajnikanth was in the building. No way we are going to lose. The Totkas were running around everywhere.

Kohli and Gauti steady the innings. And Dhoni stamps his authority. What an innings for a big match. I start my "one-up" chatter with my in-laws. I am on a rampage about India. Dhoni dumps the ball in the stands to win the Cup. Lay down the red carpet. Start blowing the trumpets. Let the booze flow. I get some more beer, call up relatives and the plan for Sunday is done.

The scenes at the stadium were unreal. WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS ... THE MIGHTY MIGHTY CHAMPIONS ... !!

Yes ... in my lifetime ... !!

Cheers ... !!

Ultra Dumb Reaction Syndrome ... !!

It happens ... happens quite a lot ... and it goes into the bracket of "It happens ony in India" ...

OK ... so much has already been said of the UDRS decision going against India in their match against England. For starters ... we need to move on ...

Maybe, it has become such an issue because India was involved. It is very likely too that it is more so because we could not defend 338 and even more so coz after being outplayed by England, we somehow got the grip back only to tie the match ... so are we running away from the reality once again?

Well lets first see what the UDRS means? It stands for Umpire Decision Review System. According to this, each team gets 2 reviews per 50 overs. So each team gets 2 reviews in the first 50 overs as well as 2 reviews in the next 50 overs. The UDRS essentially tells you about 3 things ...

One ... whether the ball pitched in line and not outside the leg stump ...

Two ... whether the ball is hitting the pads in line and not outside the line of off stump ...

Three ... whether the ball is hitting the stumps after impact with the pads ...

In addition to these, the UDRS checks if its a legal ball by verifying if its a NO-ball ...

Now there is a catch ... if the Third Umpire is not sure even after reviewing ... he may ask the on-field umpire to stay put and keep the decision unchanged

... lets see the following examples ...

Lets say a batsman was given Not Out and the bowling side asked for a review ... now the Third Umpire got an affirmative response for the 3 points mentioned ... I mean the ball pitched in line, hit the batsman in line and was also hitting the stumps ... but it was hitting the outside of leg stump ... in such a case the Third Umpire will ask the on-field umpire to keep his decison unchanged since there was a minute chance of it hitting the stumps ... so the on-field umpire keep his decision unchanged ... had it been hitting the middle stump instead ... it would have been a reversal of decision ...

Imagine the same scenario with the exception that the batsman was given Out by On-field umpire and the Batsman calls for a review ... even in this case the Third Umpire will inform the on-field umpire that the ball is hitting the outside of leg stump ... so you decide ... and hence the on-field umpire does not change his decision and the Batsman is Out ...

This is where I agree to what Dhoni says ... how fool-proof is this UDRS? If it is still going to let the on-field umpires make the decision then you are forced to question the credibility of such a system ... however I do not agree to one point of Dhoni ...

Even with the fallacies of UDRS, it is still enabling the game to have fairer decisions as compared to previous times ... for example, a huge inside edge can be detected by the eye (this is very important) and the batsman can be saved from a howler ...

This brings me to the next point ... why is this UDRS half-baked for an event as big as the World Cup ... where is the Snickometer? where is Hot Spot? If you are going to use technology, you bloody well use it in its entirety and dont get installments of it out ... a very faint inside edge for lbw or for a Caught-Behind cannot be detected by the naked eye ... you need a Snicko and Hot-Spot for that ... and the reason given for this is Money ... good lord ... if the ICC (or should I say the BCCI) cannot arrange money for a Snicko and Hot-Spot who will? Its almost laughable ... how come folks in Australia are using it on a normal basis ... even in domestic cricket?

And finally, there is this 2.5 metre rule which I guess 99% of the people did not know ... I dont think even the ICC knew about it ... so what is this rule?

It states that if the impact of the ball with the pads is more than 2.5 metres away from the stumps (which means that either the batsman has had a huge stride forward or he has danced down the wicket), then the Third Umpire informs the on-field umpire of this and then the on-field umpire has to think again and make a decision ... in most cases ... a 2.5 metre distance most definitely means that the ball has a long distance to go before hitting the stumps and its highly improbable that it will hit the stump coz the bounce may take the ball above the stumps ... quite true ... but as an umpire, you have to think about a lot of things before giving a decision ... the current state of the pitch, the angle from which the bowler bowled that particular delivery, the pace of the delivery, was it a particular kind of delivery (a yorker, full toss, good-length ball, doosra, off break, leg break, skidder?) ... lots of things which may not give a correct decision ...

This is exactly what happened in the India-England game ... Ian Bell was given Not-Out by the on-field umpire and India reviewed ... the review showed that the ball was pitching in-line, hitting in-line and going to hit the middle and off stump half way up ... but the impact was more than 2.5 metres away from the stumps ... so the Third umpire may have said to the on-field umpire that it has 2.5 metres to go ... if that is what he said indeed then its a problem ... probably a message should have been sent to the on-field umpire that despite being 2.5 metres ... its hitting the stumps only half way up which means that it didnt make a difference if it was 2.5 metres away ... it was still not a boundary decision ... and it should have been given Out ...

That's that ... did it change the course of the game? Maybe ... Maybe not ... Ian Bell did go on to play a match winning innings ... but then thats just food for thought ...

The reaction in the media and within the Indian team was appalling ... Dhoni giving out statements in the press was most uncalled for ... poor Ian Bell was being grilled for no fault of his own ... after all he did not give that decision ... if anything Dhoni should look at himself ... there was 2 instances where Strauss nicked to Dhoni but there was no appeal ... if they would have appealed maybe Strauss would have been on his bike ... the field placements were downright ugly ... England picked a boundary per over with utmost ease ... if it hadnt been for Strauss's shocker to have the batting Powerplay in the 43rd over ... it would have been curtains for India ... Dhoni wad forced to keep an attacking field in the Powerplay and it brought India back into the game ... lots of stuff for India to think ... they better look at themselves before giving this UDRS thing too much attention ... but then again I aint a cricketer ... I am sure Dhoni knows what he is doing and he does not need any advice ... at least not from a non-cricketer ...

Then there is the media ... I have come to the point of hating Arnab Goswami ... you put him in any Newshour Debate and he brings some pre-conceived ideas and keeps putting his point across while embarassing himself as well as Times ... that too in front of legends like Barry Richards ... come on guys ... move on ... how can you say something like "Did Billy Bowden's (the on-field umpire who gave Bell Not out) ego stop him from giving a correct decision?" ... ridiculous ... how can you state if it was a correct decision or not? There is this so called Cricket historian Boria Majumdar ... well this guy is good ... he has a lot of Cricketing knowledge but still ... you put your opinion forward and move on ... dont be hell bent on proving your point when it is clear that the debate has no proper conclusion ...

Lets enjoy the World Cup ... it will have its low points for an Indian spectator ... but its still a spectacle ... if anything then this match was a cracker for a cricket buff ... its been years since I saw a cricket match from the first ball to the last and it ended in a tie ... more than 675 runs in a day ... what more do you want?

I am quite sure India will come out all guns blazing in their next matches ... they were caught off-guard by a resurgent English team ... but who's to say that we still cannot win the Cup? I wouldnt ... as long as we keep our focus on the game ...

Go India ... !!

Cup tales ... !!

They say it does not take a lot of effort for Indians to provide advice ... and Cricket rules the roost in here ...

The mother of all Cricketing events is here ... THE WORLD CUP ... and no matter how much you hate Cricket, you cannot escape being engulfed in this phenomenon ... you will at least have to ignore it ... ;)

Every Cup has a tale ... and I feel privileged to have grown up in an era when Cricket craze was at an all time high ... the mid 90s and early 2000s ... but

when did it all start?

I was just a year old when India brought home the World Cup in 1983 ... so I was not even aware of what it was or what it meant ... today when I speak to my father, he says that Yes ... it was quite a happy atmosphere all over India during that time but still people did not feel it was a big deal ...

My first teeny tiny memory of the World Cup was of 1987 ... I wont say I distinctly remember everything ... but I do remember the India-NZ match at Nagpur when Chetan Sharma got a hat-trick and Gavaskar got his only ODI hundred ... he had totally shunned his drop-anchor image and blasted Sir Richard Hadlee and others for a brisk 100 ... even Krish Srikkanth was only a spectator ... imagine ... I remember it more coz it was probably one of the few matches in which the Man of the Match was shared between 2 players ...

I also remember my father getting very angry when India lost the semis to England ... as the experts very fondly said ... Gooch sweeps India out of the World Cup ... but I was still very naive even to understand what it meant to win or lose a Cricket match in the World Cup ... I remember it more for our home being flooded by gully-waalas to see every match ... the days of the TV antenna ...

My first real World Cup experience was in 1992 ... I was in the 4th Grade and I was a totally fanatic Indian supporter (I still am) and I had participated in Scouts and there was this All-Pune Scouts associations meet on the opening day of World Cup 1992. India was playing England at Perth that day. Scouts participants from Schools from all over Pune had marched till Dastur High School just to be part of the event. This was very early in the morning and there were no TV shops open too so as to check the score. So I was missing it bigtime. By the time all this got over and my father came to school to pick me up, the England innings was already over. I guess they got 230 odd. By the time I reached home, India had lost the top order and SRT and Pravin Amre were trying to get India out of the hole. SRT looked on track until a Botham beauty ended his innings ... and India fell short by some 20-30 runs ... not the most ideal beginning ...

This Cup had several memories ... Pakistan being all out for 70 odd against England only for the rain to intervene and give both teams 1 point each ... this 1 point enabled Pakistan to make it to the semis ... Jonty Rhodes' acrobatic run out of Inzy ... India's teary 1 run loss to Australia ... the emergence of SRT and BCL ... South Africa's re-entry to international cricket albeit a very sad end to their campaign by Messrs Duckworth and Lewis ... Martin Crowe using Dipak Patel as an effective opening bowler which saw the Kiwis go right uptil the semis ... but my best memory is of the India-Pakistan match at the SCG ...

India and Pakistan had never squared up against each other before in a World Cup ... so this match was going to be rough and tough ... India were still suffering from Aquib Javed's 7/37 (including a hat-trick) at Sharjah ... and we did not put up a huge total ... it was around 225 ... thanks mainly to SRT again ... I remember coming home when Pakistan's reply was about to start ... and we got some quick wickets ... but it was going to be Miandad, Imran and Malik who were going to be thorns ... Javed was nursing an injury but was still playing (come on ... it was against India) ... but he was playing very slowly... Imran came and went ... I guess he was stumped ... Prabhakar took out Malik with a trademark banana ball ... and Javed finally fell to the rising Srinath ... there was this Kiran More-Javed tussle too which was great to watch ... everyone remembers this incident but something that not a lot of people remember is the way Azhar got angry ... you seldom saw Azhar lose his cool but so much was at stake ... India won against the actual winners ... the 1992 Jersey was by far the best Jersey that any Indian team wore ...

In 1996, there was a lot of hype for the World Cup ... I remember Sony being one of the upcoming channels and they ran a special pre-cursor to the event

hosted by Harsha Bhogle called The Final Countdown (it also had the same song :)) ... I remember lot of experts voicing their opinions about who will win the World Cup and there was one man who said Sri Lanka ... that was Sir Richard Hadlee ... he said Jayasurya and Kaluwitharna alone can win the Cup for them ... well a lot of other players (and teams ;)) put their hand up for the Lankans and it was great to see them defeating Australia at Lahore ...

I was in the 8th Grade during this time and the TV room at Lunn Dorm was abuzz every day for any match ... Mr Guzder used to be very keen in knowing the scores from any boy who was emerging out of the TV room ... I remember my sister being in college at that time and her college was next to my school ... she used to pick me up specially during the World Cup so that I get to see more of the matches and waste less time travelling in a PMT bus ... I distinctly remember her screaming "Lara out ho gaya" when she came to pick me up during the India-WI match at Gwalior ...

I remember Nathan Astle getting the Kiwis past the Poms in the first match ... India starting off with a win against Kenya ... Courtney Browne dropping a sitter off SRT at Gwalior ... Manjrekar's stunning catch to dismiss Ponting ... Jayasurya and Kalu almost ending Manoj Prabhakar's career at Delhi ... Kenya upsetting the Windies at Pune ... the Proteas winning everything only to come up against Lara at Karachi and lose in the Quarters ... Heath Streak reducing India to 30 odd for 3 including uprooting SRT's off stump only for Vinod Kambli to play a blinder to rescue India ... Warne winning the semi against the Windies from a hopeless situation ... but again the cake goes to the India-Pakistan high voltage clash at Bangalore ...

So much at stake ... Wasim Akram pulled out ... SRT played an uncharacteristic innings on 30 odd ... but Sidhu played well and later it was the Jadeja show against Waqar ... but everyone was silent when Anwar and Sohail bludgeoned India in their reply ... until Sohail got out to Prasad after some pointing and sledging ... from there on it was India ... and it was a comfortable win in the end ... not the fairy tale ending that Javed was hoping to have ... and India were in the semis at the Eden Gardens ... only to lose to the Lankans ...

Switch to 1999 ... you wondered why the World Cup was played only after 3 years ... ideally it is 4 years ... now it makes sense since the venue was England and its generally held in the English summer ... waiting another year would have meant a 4.5 year wait ... I was in Junior College at this time and was enjoying the summer holidays and not-so-enjoying the Vacation classes for 12th ... my father bought me my Yamaha during this World Cup ... this was the first World Cup since I started going to college ... and around the same time I started playing for Deccan ... so it was quite memorable ...

It was a different format ... the Super 6 made its entry ... India lost their first match against the Proteas at Hove ... and then calamity struck ... SRT rushed back to India since his father passed away ... India lost to Zimbabwe in the meanwhile ... but SRT came back and India won their last 3 matches against Kenya, Sri Lanka and England to make the Super 6s ... the hammering meted out to the Lankans at Taunton was sweet revenge for 1996 ...

This World Cup was best remembered for Lance Klusener ... both for his good stuff and his stupid stuff ... he was clearly Man of the Tournament but he played the choker to the hilt in the semis against Australia ... indeed one of my all time favorite one day games on a rainy day in India ...

India played Pakistan in this World Cup too ... and we won again ... bat first and bowl them out seemed to be an evergreen script for India against Pakistan ... this time it was Prasad who was the tormentor ... but India lost the 2 other Super 6 games and didnt make the semis ... Shane Warne lifted himself for the semis and final after a bad start to the tournament and Australia started the most stunning sequence of victories which is still ongoing ...

I guess 2003 was my most enjoyable World Cup ... Dada had changed the face of Indian cricket and finally we could say that India's fielding was good ... the team had a balanced outlook and the expectations were very high ...

I had a steady girl friend at this time (who is my wife now :)) ... I was in my final year of Graduation and this was the time when we had to finish files for practical assignments and also submit our final year project ...

every game of India is etched in my memory ...

India were embarassed by the Aussies in the first game and it resulted in a fierce backlash back home ... no one would have thought that India would surrender so meekly especially since Warne was banned from the World Cup ...

This was also a time when Pranay, Satya and I used to study at Satya's place and also play Cricket in his courtyard ... I remember seeing the India Zimbabwe game at Satya's place ... given the unpredictable history of India-Zimbabwe games, we were expecting a tough match ... but India won handsomely to get off the mark ... in between India also won against Holland with Yuvi taking 4-6 ... incredible ... I had received a call from XLRI Jamshedpur and my interview was in Mumbai ... I had gone there with my Jiju the same day as the India-Namibia match ... there was a Electronics expo bang in front of Bandra Kurla complex and we saw the Indian innings at one of the giant screens put up there ... the next game was India-England ... and this was the time we were having night labs from 9 pm to 6 am in college ... since there were 2 divisions in college and the night lab schedule was distributed across divisions ... it was not our turn that night ... instead our lab timing was 7-9 pm ... and then the other division took over from 9 pm to 6 am ... the match started at around 6 pm and Pranay, Satya and I were watching it at Satya's place ... Satya's Dad's expression is still so vivid when SRT hooked Caddick into the parking lot ... he had both his hands on his forehead in pure disbelief ... we then attended the lab from 7-9 pm only to rush back to his place to catch England's reply ... and AshishNehra took over ... 6/23 ... almost all dismissals were behind the wicket ... it was great to watch an India pacer bowling such a spell ... and finally India-Pakistan ...

This has a story ...

It was our practical assignments submission day in college and there was utter chaos for getting sheets signed and submitting the files ... and it was a day game which meant it would start at 2 pm ... we had planned a big Biryani-Booze bash at my place that day ... we were done by around 1 pm and rushed to my place in the afternoon ... I dont exactly remember who all were there ... I guess Pranay, Swapna, Mahesh, Suchit ... who else? Dont remember now ... and it

was hungama when Zaheer got the first wicket ... but Pakistan played well to get 270 odd ... by the time India's reply began, the Biryani and Booze were ready ... and so was SRT ... the most astonishing knock ... the first over from Shoaib Akhtar was magical ... a cut over third man for SIX, a wristy flick backward of square for FOUR and the best of the lot ... a trademark SRT check on-drive past mid-on for FOUR ... there was a poster backfoot cover punch from SRT off Wasim in between ... India were away and Yuvi-Dravid saw us through ... this was followed by Pakistan-Zimbabwe (or was it England-Zimbabwe?) match being abandoned which meant Pakistan crashed out of the World Cup ... yipppeee ...

In the Super Six, India faced Kenya and almost made a hash of it only for Dada and Yuvi to bail us out ... and then we won convincingly against the Kiwis and Lankans to make the semis comfortably ... I remember Pranay, Swapna and I were sitting outside a printing shop near MIT watching the India-Lanka match ... we were waiting for our Project copies to be binded ... in the Semis we were pitted to play the Kenyans again ... this time we won more comfortably ... but the Final is a bad memory ... the Aussies were just too strong ... but it was a memorable World Cup ...

The Proteas again ran into Lara in the first match of the Cup and failed to get their calculations right against a D/L affected match against Lanka ... Kenya upset the Lankans and later defeated Zimbabwe in the Super Six ... John Davison of Canada smashed an unbelievable 60 ball century against the Windies ... I guess Vaas took a hat-trick in the first over of a match ... lots of people took over 6 wickets in a game ... Bond, Nehra, Mcgrath, Bichel ...

By 2007, I must admit I was not following cricket the way I used to ... I was married just 2-3 months before the World Cup started ... the format of this tournament left a lot to be desired ... and India and Pakistan were knocked out in the first round itself by Bangladesh and Ireland ... sigh ... it hurts ...

There was still some hope for India especially after they hammered Bermuda ... but they had to win against Lanka ... and I was back at Satya's place watching that match ... we didnt play badly ... the reply was strongish but we kept losing wickets ... and Satya and I could watch no more ... and went off to sleep only to get up in the morning to see newspapers and TV channels spewing venom on the Indian team ...

The tournament went on an on and never seemed to end ... the loss of India and Pakistan took the sheen away from the 2nd round ... Australia won another World Cup on my birthday in 2007 ... I was in Matheran that day ... but I didnt seem to care ... I didnt watch the 2nd round at all in that World Cup ... one of the forgettable World Cups ...

But here we are in 2011 ... back in the sub continent ... and India are a strong team now ... but there are several good teams ... here's hoping for some more tales ... and wishing Team India all the best ...

Baaki baatein baad mein ... Cheers ... !!

Badhaai Ho ... !!

No, its not something great that has happened in my life.

One of those things in life for which I am infamous for ... my sad sense of humor.

A colleague of mine was on leave for a week. He called me from his hometown just to ask about what is happening in office. I was in the middle of some important work at that time and I was not paying too much attention to the discussion on phone while pretending to take immense interest in it. After discussing about the state of affairs for around 2 minutes, he said ...

He - Aapke liye ek khush khabari hai ...
Me - Haan haan bolo ...
He - Meri shaadi fix ho gayi ...

This was the time I completely ignored the task I was doing and started wondering why it could be a good news for me if his wedding has been fixed. This guy is probably the sweetest person in the team by a long distance and is extremely innocent. Had it been a bumchum, my reply to that statement would have downright cheap ... I am sure all my good friends reading this know what I mean ;)

Anyway ... since I could not completely ignore the job at hand and I could also not afford to hurt him and I wanted to finish the discussion soon, I had to say something ... and I failed miserably at it ... my exact words were ...

Chalo ... tumko aur mujhko bohot bohot badhaai ho ... tum aa jaao fir saath mein celebrate karte hai ... (one can possibly think of gazillion meanings for that statement)

Dratch ... after about an hour or so ... I realised what I had said ... even though I knew it was something uncalled for ... I still feel ... hell forget it ... he said it was a good news for me so why cant I congratulate myself for that ...

Just a day in the life of Pratik Beri ... RIP bro ...

Cheers ... !!

Pressed for time ... !!

I just have 5 minutes ...

The last 2 months have been so painstakingly busy that I go home when my wife is asleep and by the time I get up the next morning, she has already left for office ... damn ...

Weekdays have joined forces with weekends ... if anything, then weekends are busier than weekdays ... and not at doing household chores but at office itself ...

I have had the chance to learn a lot ... thats the only saving grace ... I am finally doing something which I always wanted to do ... and to be honest I think I am enjoying myself and doing well ...

But at what cost? I need to strike a balance between work and family ... aah that evergreen cliche ...

I have missed out on so many posts ... the larger than life wedding at Bihar, the escapade to Corbett, the year gone by post, the first set of appraisals that I have done, Calendar 2011 ... man I have missed my blog posts ...

Koi nahi ... my watch tells me that I had only 5 minutes ...

See you later alligator ...

Paris Quickie ... !!

I wish I was there ... Oh I wish ... sigh ...

Paris was one city that I had performed the maximum R&D when I was in Malmo. I was so smitten by my trip to Paris that I hardly worked during the week that led to the weekend when I was supposed to go to Paris. But the stupid Icelandic volcano chose a wrong time to ejaculate ... I could have used a more sombre term ... but I have lost all respect for Iceland and everything related to it ... errr ... was it Miss Iceland in the last 5 at Miss World? :P

By the time that weekend arrived, I had the entire Paris metro system on my fingertips and I had a ready time table for the weekend to visit places ... Eiffel tower, Louvre, Champs Elysses, River Sienne, Disneyworld ... I had Paris going all over in my mind ... but alas ... it never happened ... and that remained the sore point of those magical 18 weeks ...

But they say lightning strikes twice ... whatever ...

Biwi had a 6 hour stopover en route to her flight to Helsinki on Sunday. The fact that she was going to land in Paris at around 7 am was even better ... her connecting flight to Helsinki was around 12:30 ... we had to plan it to precision ...

the target was to get to the Eiffel Tower and head back to the airport ... thats it ...

I am not a huge fan of flight departures and arrivals from and to India ... so accounting for an hour of delay was inevitable ... so we were talking about arriving in Paris at around 8 am ... check-in could be done even half an hour in advance since there was nothing to check in :P ... so the deadline was to reach Paris CDG latest by 12 ... we assumed 30-45 minutes to get out of the flight and get to the metro station at the airport and to purchase tickets ... so we were staring at a departure of around 9 am from Paris CDG ...

This also meant that Biwi needed to be seated very close to the exit of the aircraft ... that was done by web checking in ... the easier part was done ...

Paris metro is known by the name of RER ... there are several RER lines in Paris similar to Central, Harbour and Western in Mumbai ... Paris CDG fell on the RER-B (Blue) line ... Biwi had to board a train to St Michel Notre Dame which is around a 30-35 minute journey from the airport. Get down and then switch to RER-C (Yellow Line) and head to Champs de Mars ... which is around a 10 minute journey and its the closest metro station to the Eiffel Tower ... it is a 10 minute walk from Champs de Mar to the great structure ... so an hour was a good time to reach Eiffel Tower from the airport ... spend 15-25 minutes over there and another hour to get back to the airport ... which meant Biwi would be back at the airport by around 11:30 am ... wonderful ...

As expected, there was a 30 minute delay in departure from Mumbai ... the flight arrived at CDG at 7:45 am ... and it took her around 8:15 to get her passport stamped and stuff ... she spent some time identifying the metro station at the airport and purchasing tickets ... and she was on board a RER-B headed to Saint Remy (last stop on the Blue Line) at 8:55 ... switching trains was quite straight forward according to her ... and she was at the Tower before 10 ... well before 10 ... and she left at around 10:20 am to be back at the airport at 11:25 ... amazing amazing turn of events ...

Sitting at home in Pune ... I was predicting what she would be doing and where she might be at every minute ... praying that she does not back out of the plan ... afterall she was alone in a city completely new to her ... in some way I may have been a bit selfish that I wanted her to go to the Eiffel Tower at any cost ... but I knew that is capable of pulling it off ... and she did ... proud to be her husband ...

Some pics from Paris ...








So for anyone in a similar predicament ... here is how to get to the Eiffel Tower from Paris CDG airport (remember there are 2 airports in Paris ... the other being Paris Orly) ...

There are 2 RER stations at CDG ... at Terminal 1 and at Terminal 2 ...
You need to board a train with the last stop either as Massy Palaiseau or Saint-Remy. There are fast and slow trains in Paris too. A fast train skips lot of stations and halts at the important ones while the slow also skips some stations but halts at more stations than the fast one ... thats the only difference ... but if you are going to the Eiffel Tower ... it doesnt make a difference if you board a slow or fast one since the station in question is a Halt station for both the fast and slow train ...

It takes 30-35 minutes to reach a station called St Michel Notre Dame. Get down here. Switch to RER-C (Yello line). The train you board at St Michel should be headed to either of the following stations ...

Pontoise
Argenteuli
Versailles - Rive Gauche
Saint Quentin en Yvelines

It is a 10 minute journey from St Michel to Champs de Mars and then a 1 km walk from the station to Eiffel Tower. Biwi tells me that its visible from the station itself ...

I have also attached a map. There is a black box for St Michel and a Purple one for Champs de Mars ...




Happy PARISing ... !!

STATUSfied ... !!

Yeah ... so what?

I dont recollect when I started it but I liked putting up a real-life status message everyday ... atleast on the working days coz I hardly accessed the Net during holidays ...

Of late ... I have been skipping it ... partly due to a change in job and partly due to the fact that I am always online ... on my cell ... so the holiday logic was not working ... so I thought I better move on ...

Its no use doing something if you are losing the plot or disrespecting a trend ... so I guess its time to say good bye to this everyday phenomenon ...

Over the last 5-6 years ... its been a good way to interact with people ... people pinged me and started talking ... so it was a nice mediator ...

There was some philosophy ... some witty ones ... and some garbage ... but it was a good ride ...

But theek hai ... maybe sometime in future I will pick it up again ... I am STATUSfied ...

Cheers ... !!

Sahi Sikhaaya ... !!

I think Teacher's Day might be the least celebrated of all special days. Or ... maybe thats relative ... some people attribute a lot of importance to this day and why not? It makes perfect sense to raise a toast to some of the most influential people in one's life ...

I too have been blessed with the presence of such individuals in my life and I found it pretty strange that I have never looked at this day as a special one ... no wonder people call me emotionless ... dratch ...

I started my education at St. Mary's ... not the popular school (with pretty girls :)) but it caters more to aspirants who want to become teachers ... so how did I start at such a place? These aspirants were our teachers ... they were first taught to handle 3-4 year olds and then graduate to higher grade classes ... what's the logic? It should be easier to harder isnt it? :P

Anyway ... I dont remember any specific teacher from St. Mary's but there was one who taught me how to play on the swings and see-saws ... I just have a vague memory of how she looked but nothing else ...

I moved to that beauty of a place called Bishop's High School ... a stone's thrown away from St. Mary's ... an all Boys school (it has changed now to Co-ED ... dratch) ... a place ruled by the canny Mr.B.W.Roberts who taught us to BE THOROUGH (the school motto or tagline) and a place where I met the most amazing teachers ...

Started off with the cute Miss Fernandes in KG ... she was perfect for Kindergarten kids ... curly locks and not too strict ...

I met her polar opposite in Miss Pathak (most of ladies in Bishop's were unmarried ... not sure of the logic) ... a strict middle aged spectacled women ... she knew when to crack the whip ... Standard 1 helped me realise that everything in life is not cute like Miss Fernandes ... :)

Standard 2 threw up a very different kind of teacher in Mrs. Pope ... she was 4 feet 5 inches in height married to a 6 feet 2 inches Mr. Pope ... the Bishop's version of the Bachchans ... she was very affable and not too strict ...

I was then the student of my favorite teacher till date ... Mrs Daniels ... she was the one who convinced me to work harder and come up the ranks ... improved my hand writing ... she made us participate in Art related activities like painting or carving ... she even made me correct books of classmates ... come on ... Mrs Daniels was also beautiful ... I dont know if I had the senses to identify what 'Beautiful' meant in 1990 ... but I would say she was good to look at ... :)

It was Mrs Desilva in 4th ... again a middle aged grumpy lady ... she was always on collision course with Mrs. Daniels ... they kind of didnt get along ... Mrs. Desilva too wanted me to correct books of my class mates and Mrs Daniels had come to know about this and she had given me quite a verbal pasting that I should discontinue with it ... but at that time I kind of didnt know what to do ... :P

In between, we had subject teachers too ... like the so called aunty teachers in Mrs Singh and Mrs. Randhawa who taught us Hindi ... the irresistibly knowledgeable Mrs Sharabali ... and the effervescent Mrs. Forester ... the most bizarre teacher I have ever seen ... in a cute way ... it was as if she had grown old entirely in Bishop's ...

It is a big transition from 4th to 5th ... the Building changes ... we were now in Middle school from Junior school ... and who better to welcome us than Mr. Baskaran ... the man with the swagger and a unique way of teaching and talking ... a heavy South Indian accent ... we were also introduced to caning by him ... and he taught us Science of all subjects ... goodness gracious ...

We had 2 class teachers in 6th ... Mrs. Highland and Mr. Dolas. Mrs Highland was quite a practical lady. She went about her job in her own way which was quite professional. She was also a pretty lady and she was a perfect foil to Mr. Highland who taught Chemistry in Senior School ... she taught us Geography ... she went away midway to be with Mr Highland abroad and was replaced by Mr. Dolas ... a person capable enough of being the school Hitler ... anything was possible for him using his cane ... his slaps ... Gawd ... he also thought of himself of being the school hunk ... forever displaying his charisma (or trying to) to the lady teachers ... but he was not bad at heart ... taught us History ...

Enter the joker ... Mr. Chavan ... the bald headed, duck-walking, India-loving Hindi teacher who was our class teacher in 7th ... he corrected papers just by looking at the name of the person ... if its some one whom he liked ... it would be 8/10 ... else 4/10 ... end of story ... he wrote the most compelling patriotic songs during the School Concert ...

We were now in Senior School ... and we had to start wearing trousers instead of shorts ... Chemistry, Biology and Physics made an entry ... and Mrs Girija was the perfect teacher to not start off our Senior life :P ... she had strange habits ... she kept chewing something ... people said it was Tobacco ... I would say you need guts as a teacher to be chewing tobacco in Bishop's ... she kept shaking her legs vigorously when seated ... and lets not even get into the explanation ... she taught us Physics ...

Then it was Mrs. Mitra ... maybe the prettiest teacher of Bishop's in my time ... did someone say Aarti Saagar? :P well yeah ... she was pretty but she was the music teacher in Junior school ... too bad ... Mrs. Mitra was the quintessential perfect teacher ... taught us Geography ... contours, South-Westerly monsoons, Soils, Volcanoes, Dams ... who cares? when its Mrs. Mitra teaching ... :P

Finally, the most funniest teacher I have met ... Mr. Johnstone ... I think I have picked up waving hands or performing actions while speaking from him ... I used to pull off a good imitation of him in school ... the way he spoke, the way he taught, the way he walked ... everything was funny ... the way he gave examples about Physics ... hats of sire ...

These were just the class teachers ... we had several other subject teachers ... the Principal himself, Mr. B.W.Roberts didnt teach us but his towering presence during the assembly everyday was quite intimidating ... and Mr. Guzder ... a man misunderstood by most due to the way he was ... he seemed very strict and probably was ... but he had a whacky sense of humor ... he taught us The Merchant of Venice for God's sake which was one helluva ride ... I think today Mr. Roberts and Mr. Guzder are most looked upto by the old boys ...

Mrs. Singh was the lady Hitler who taught us Maths, Mrs. Furnell taught us English along with Mrs. Rawlins, Mrs. Jadhav was (and probably still is) teaching Biology ... Mr Aviet tortured us towards History and Civics, Mrs Neena Daniels taught us Chemistry ... another gem of a person ... a great sense of humor for a lady ... Mr Jumbo Fernandes also taught us Hindi ... best remembered for conducting tests on the first day of school ... dammit ...

Mr. Dupratt taught us painting and Art ... Mr Chaudhary helped us pick Craft (Fretsaw, photography, Carpentry) ... Mr Jagtap took care of the Shloks in Sanskrit ... and there were the PT Sirs ... Mr Austin and Mr Wandre ... march-past would never be the same without Mr Wandre ...

It was quite a leap when I entered college ... and I dont have a lot of teachers to talk about from Wadias ... the best I remember is Mr. Joshi ... who taught us Maths ... he dragged the entire lecture solving one sum ... best known for teaching us Determinants ... and there was Mr Mudgi ... who taught us Maths and Physics ... but the most influential person for me in Wadias was Mr Andaar ... he looked like he is a Commander in force ... upturned moustache and a commanding voice ... he was the perfect Department Head for Mathematics ...

In between, I had joined classes for 12th ... where Mr Kelkar was quite close to being the funniest teacher I have met ... while teaching Physics, whenever there was a theorem to be proved ... like e=mc square (pardon me ... I am not writing the power 2 for square) ... he used to say "put it in a box" ... and I had no idea what that meant ... I used to be with my very good friend Nikky ... and I just asked him ... "which box?" ... :P

This was a time when I entered Fergusson ... again a place where I met some great teachers and some really unfortunate ones ... :D

My first encounter was with the colorful Mr D V Kulkarni ... I didnt have the faintest idea that he was the Department head ... he didnt have a lavish way of presenting himself and I was quite surprised when I knew his actual position in college ... an avid gardener ... I must say he was responsible for the prettiest department in Fergusson ... his witty one liners are the ones to die for ...

One of my best teachers was Thakar Mam ... she was extremely professional and very cordial ... I still feel like punishing myself for joining classes on a subject taught by her ... she used to teach us Statistics and Maths ... even Atre Mam was the same ... very good teacher and a joy to talk to ... Joglekar Mam was another bubbly character who taught us Maths ...

Mrs. Page was one hell of a strict teacher ... a disciplinarian to the hilt ... no wonder people were scared of her ...

Snehal Mam tried to be as convincing as possible while teaching us DAA and CCT ... but the subjects themselves were so enduring that we couldnt blame her for not understanding most of the stuff ... Tarannum Mam ... well she was more of a friend to me and I think she was a better friend than teacher ... she taught the most life threateningly boring theoretical subjects and I liked getting into debates with her just to lend some color to her lectures ... not that I succeeded but it was well worth the effort ... :P

There were some mediocre teachers in between ... but still worth a mention for more reasons than one ... Kavita Mam, Deepali Mam. Kukde Sir and the joker in the pack... Sharma Sir ... famous for his outrageous English statements ...

I had joined classes for Maths ... Manisha Deshpande ... more popular as MD ... maybe the most unique teacher I experienced ... her classes were more like a laughathon ... she had so many differences ready about how life is different in Pune and Mumbai ... plus she paid extra attention to her Saaris and her jewellery ... girls paid extra attention to that and maybe learnt a thing or two from her ... she was funny in more ways than one ...

I found an astute teacher in Anand Das during PG ... he probably knew every technical detail of anything he taught ... kind of a genius ...

Every person has something unique and all these teachers have left an indelible mark in their own way ... and I would forever be indebted to them ... I am a firm believer in Education being the best investment of life ... and our parents, even though they do a huge favor on us by funding our education, still end up doing the easier of the 2 tasks ... its the teachers who perform the more difficult task ... of inculcating the right knowledge in us ...

I am what I am due to the education I received ... and I wish to thank all my teachers ... I may have missed some but that does not take anything away from them ...

Jo sikhaaya ... Sahi sikhaaya ... !!

Freakish coincidence ... !!

Read on ...

"Pratik Beri?"
"Yes ... that's me"
"Please come ..."
"Yes"

I walk my way down the cubicles and make myself comfortable on the chair assigned to me. A pretty lady sits in front of me.

"Hello. My name is Kiran (this is probably the first time I am not using the actual name. Her actual name is quite unique and not many people have that name) and I am here for your HR interview. Can you tell me about yourself?"

As soon as I hear her name, I start getting goosebumps ... no ... not again ... my history with coincidences is pathetic ... dratch ...

"Oh Yes. As you know, my name is Pratik Beri and I ... (she cuts in ...)

"Pratik Beri ... hhhhmm ... why does that name sound familiar? ... anyway go on ... "


Flashback ... cut to September 2009 ...

One of my dear friends Appu (this is a real name ... and Appu would love this post) had appeared for an interview with the same company and they had informed him that they will be calling him for an HR round later. Some days passed and he did not get a call. He asked me if I knew anyone in this company so that we can know the status. One of my very dear friends was working in the same company.

I wrote him a mail with Appu in CC. The 3 of us exchanged mails discussing the exact scenario. At one point, we all got frustrated and started with some abuses and filthy talk regarding the approach followed by the company regarding the HR interview. We did not realise that my friend had accidentally added the HR's name in the mail thread. The name of the HR was KIRAN ... !!

Not being sure as to whether Kiran is actually a male of female, we had assumed it would be a guy and let our tongues wag ...

Kiran finally turned out be a lady and she wrote my a friend a very stern mail regarding corporate decorum ... that was that ...

Back to real time ...

I had a decent HR interview with Kiran and she asked me her last question. Her question was "Who has referred you?" ... I was so lost reminiscing about September 2009 that I didnt have the common sense to mention a name other than my friend ... and told his name to her stupidly ...

Her reaction left me cursing myself ... it was ...

"Now I know why the name Pratik Beri sounds familiar ... thank you ..."

The result of the interview should not be a secret now ...

Cheers ... !!

Dil Li ... !!

Sach mein Dil le liya ... Dilli ... a city deserving to be the capital of the great country of India ...

I have been to Delhi thrice now in the last 6 months and every visit has been so enriching .... it was extremely chilly in January ... extremely hot in May ... and sticky/rainy in July ... I have seen all seasons ... :)

I was there for 4 days this time ... we had decided to see the Taj Mahal on Biwi's birthday and with Prakash staying in Noida, it was quite an easy decision to make ...



The monuments were a treat right from the first day ... India Gate, President's House, Parliament House, Laal Killa, Jama Masjid, Bahai Temple (also called the Lotus Temple), Birla Mandir, Humayun's Tomb ... every monument had ROYAL stamped all over it ...







The drive on Rajpath was also divine ...



But the icing on the cake was THE TAJ MAHAL ... we had left Delhi at 10 am and reached the Taj at 4 pm ... I have to say the traffic in Agra is pathetic for a city which hosts the best wonder of the world (Yes ... the Colosseum doesn't even come close to the Taj ... not even a contest) ... plus the highway protocol is shabby in this part of the world ... how else can you justify 6 hours to cover a distance of 200 kms ... the last 6 kms took 2 hours :P



But once we saw the Taj ... it was a jaw dropping moment ... we just couldn't get enough of it ... its such an amazing monument ... it took us almost 3 hours to check it out completely ...

I also had the best food at Agra ... a 2 Chapati and Chhola combo for Rs. 10 ... bliss ... and as has been the case with several of Biwi's birthdays ... it rained heavily as soon as we entered the Taj ... it was Mumbai last year and Agra this year around ... something with 3rd July and the rain that keeps following Biwi ...

Towards the end of the trip, we were extremely privileged to be at the Akshardham Temple ... just visit it for the light, water and sound show ... its quite a spectacle at 9 pm ...





The Metro is also another phenomenal landmark of Delhi ... plush trains with quite an astonishing frequency and it runs completely on an over bridge ... so you can view Delhi from a height ... its quite an experience ...

And last but not the least ... my suggestion to anyone who visits Delhi ... go to Chandni Chowk and head straight to Parothewaali Gali ... its one of the best "eating gullis" that I have been to ... and the menu was something I have not seen so far in my life ...

Bhindi, Nimbu, Khurchan, Parat, Mutter, Kaaju, Gaajar, Paapad, Karela, Kela ... if you are wondering what these are ... they are the flavors of Parathas ... at a reasonable Rs. 30-40 per Paratha ... lip smacking delight ...

Seriously ... Basti hai mastaano ki Dilli ... Gali hai diwaano ki Dilli ...

Cheers ... !!

Hejdå ... !!

That's Good-bye in Swedish ...

Its time to bid adieu to Malmo ... a city that I have made my own for the last 18 weeks ... I say it with quite a lump ... but life goes on ... but its been a pleasure living in Malmo ... a weird city where you feel more Danish than Swedish ... due to its proximity to Copenhagen ...



I will miss the daily routine ... getting up at around 6ish and getting ready before waking up Kunal and then calling Biwi ... then proceeding to get the tiffin ready ... followed by tea/coffee ... getting down and waiting for the rest of the gang and trudging out in the snow (and later some sunshine accompanied by a chill in the air) towards Triangeln to board the bus ... and then walking again from Centralen to office ... while coming back it was a different story ... we started discussing about dinner at 3 pm itself ... the knocks on various doors to get the Belan for roti ... :P

We got so much of free stuff at Centralen ... from ready-to-cook chicen to ice creams ... to juices ... amazing ...



The weekend trips to the open market ... a walk down the frozen lake (its no more frozen and it looks inexplicably pretty) ... after-dinner walks till Gustav Adolfs Torg ... those midnight dancing attacks at the hotel club ... casino hopping ... a laidback afternoon at Kungsparken ... brannboll at Ribergsborg ... just too many memories to jot down ...

We talked about it in February that post-April ... time would fly since most of us were going to visit places around Europe ... and with Biwi also coming to Helsinki ... things only got better ...



Helsinki, Rome, Venice, Zurich, Bern, Spiez, Luzern and Copenhagen ... the only sore point was Paris ... but I will be back ... :P

I also learnt some Swedish ... but at best I can define my skills as below-par... :D

I couldnt stay without my Jojo card (its Yoyo and not Jojo :D) ... coz that guaran-damn-teed that I could freely roam around Malmo by bus without paying a penny ... er ... ore :P

It was weird in Jan and it is weird now ... back in Jan, it was like sunset at 1530 and sunrise at 0900 ... now its sunrise at 0430 and sunset at 2200 ... so its been quite weird that way :) ... we almost saw no sun in Jan-Feb since our office timings are 0800-1600 :P



As much as I am thrilled to get back to India ... I am peeved to imagine that I wont be in Malmo now ... a beautiful city and a great host ... I will miss you Malmo ... take care ...



Cheers ... !!

A Stroll ... !!

Its overcast all of a sudden here in Malmo. It reminds me of the time I actually landed in this city in January. There was bright sunshine for close to 2 weeks but it has become drowsy again ... I mean the weather ...

Kunal (my roomie) went back to India this morning to be there for this sister's wedding. We have a 4 day weekend starting today. I went with him to drop him off till the Central at 0715. After his train to Copenhagen departed ... I went back to the bus stop to board any of the number 8s, 2s or 7s ... but the first bus was in 11 minutes ... hell crap ... lets go walking methinks ...

Its a straight path from the Central to our hotel unlike the bus route which meanders around the city.

It was only after 5 minutes of walking that I realised that there are not a lot of people on the street. It was almost pin drop silence at 8 am on a Thursday (Yes, it was a holiday). It was now that I started counting the number of people I see (I counted a moving vehicle as 1). When I was done with the 3 km distance ... the count stood at 59 ...

Yeah ... they do take their holidays seriously here ... :P

P.S: There is a fountain on the way that you can control on your own. Each pipe in the fountain has a corresponding button outside ... and anyone can press any of the buttons to get the ripple effect ... slick ... and I discovered this one week away from my departure to India :P

Cheers ... !!

Losing a P ... !!

One of the saddest days of my life ... DAPP disintegrates and here I am sitting at a place far away from the mayhem ... Prakash leaves Pune ... to pursue something better in Noida ... surely a FLAG AT HALF MAST day ...

KYA DIN THE YAAR ... I have repeated this statement with Biwi so many times over the last 4 days ... its such a crushing blow when we both come back to India ... Prakash Bajiya saale ... :(

He will be missed ... from his unmimickable sense of singing ... to his innovative card games ... from his total negligence of timing :P ... to his filthy mouth ... :D ... kya kar diya saale ... I have never had such a MIXED FEELINGS birthday ever ...

My friend Adi's demise is still the worst moment in my life ... but this is a close second ... suddenly I feel too old realising that life has to go on and this is very much close to what's in store post our 30s ...

I dont have too many good (read: close) friends and its doubly screwing when someone as close as Prakash goes away ... I cant stop thinking about how lost we are going to be on weekends ... especially Friday evenings ...

Dev Uncle's kitchen, Meghdoot, Signature, TOaks, Marz-O-Rin, Pizza Hut, Tamhini Valley, Nivaant ... it brings tears when I foresee that DAPP would not be frequenting these places ...

Its with immense pain that I write that each of the members of DAPP would be in a different city starting tomorrow ...

Chal koi nahi bande ... here's wishing him all the best in life ... dekhe to sahi ki Noida mein woh baat hai bhi yaa nahi ...

signing off with a patented Prakash Bajiya dialogue ... one that he used when we reached the top of Rajgad on a terrible windy, rainy and slippery trek ...

Ban naa chaahte ho duniya ki sabse badi company? :P

and I would like to dedicate one more of his punchlines (I have also been using it of late :D) to Prakash ... JAZBA HAI BANDE MEIN ...

Cheers mate ... and Plan C yaad rakhna :P

Regretting a Joy ... !!

Ouch ... this week has been excruciatingly painful ... Paris dreams went up in the air ... er ... ash ... and there are still signs that this may continue ... something tells me I am never gonna visit Iceland in my life :P

This was followed by me not being present for the Bachelor's party of one of my dear friends ... Sabhtarsha ... and today he enters wedlock ...

After irritating the hell out of each other for 9 years ... from FC to Persistent to AT ... it almost felt like I was wedded to him ... and I am hoping my wife does not read the last statement :P

Here's wishing my good old fat (I heard he has been gymming :P but I also heard he has not given up on Good Luck yet :P) friend a sweet married life ... have a good one mate ...

I hope Sabhtarsha is an even better husband than he is a friend ...

Cheers ... !!

Shylock Land ... !!

He is one of my all time favorite fictional characters ... for some reason I like the villains who have this aura about themselves and didnt Shylock have that? A mean guy who was mostly correct in expressing his views ... but not necessarily in the correct way ... and I am going to Shylock land for Easter ... along with another childhood-dream place ... Roma ...

Shylock happens to be the evil twist in one of the very few comic plays by Shakespeare called The Merchant of Venice ... a legendary play that takes me back to school everytime I remember it ...

We were spared the nuisance of Julius Caesar coz our batch was the first to start off with The Merchant of Venice after most of our senior batches went through that ordeal called Julius Caesar ... and we had Mr. Guzder to teach us Literature at school ... who better than Mr. Guzder I say :P

The Merchant of Venice is a play set in Venice and is a story about 2 friends ... Antonio and Bassanio ... where Antonio is a ship merchant while Bassanio is his spend thrift friend ... and Antonio always helps him out in all his endeavors ... Bassanio is in love with Portia who lives in Belmont ... Shylock is also a merchant but he is a Jew and his angst against non-Jews has been portrayed so amazingly ... Shylock and Antonio never get along ... Shylock has a beautiful daughter in Jessica who is in love with one of Antonio's close buddies Lorenzo ... and there is the clown Launcelot Gobbo ... all in all its a twisted plot with Shylock always trying to gain on Antonio in some way or the other ...

Bassanio needs some money from Antonio to go to Belmont and woo Portia ... Antonio's ships have still not returned and he is a bit short on cash so he decides to borrow money to help Bassanio ... and surprise surprise ... only Shylock is ready to lend him money in Venice ... but he has a shrewd condition if Antonio doesnt pay him the money on time ... he will cut a pound of flesh from Antonio's body ... :P

The play can be divided into 2 parts ... the first part is all about introducing all characters and there is more of Antonio and Shylock ... but the 2nd part is more about Bassanio and Portia and how they come to Venice to help out Antonio ... Portia steals the show in the last quarter of the play ... but its a gripping play and makes you chuckle a lot ...

I remember that Biwi and I spent a lot of time discussing Venice for our honeymoon ... but since we got married in December ... we were a bit wary of the snow ...

But it looks like we are pretty close to realizing our dream ... we will be in Rome on April 1,4 and 5 while we will by roaming in the gondolas at Venice on April 2 and 3 ...

I hope we come across Shylock ... Bon Voyage ... Cheers ... !!

Helsingfors ... !!

Well, thats the name of Helsinki in Swedish and I thought it is appropriate if I somehow used both Swedish and Finnish in some way :P

I had been to Helsinki last weekend to meet Biwi and throughout my flight I kept going back to that horrendous day in October when it seemed like every path I was taking had an invisible wall that I was banging against ... and who would have thought on that day that I would be meeting my beloved in Helsinki of all places ... but am I complaining? No way ... :)

The thing I like about Europe is that office hours are only till 4 pm which gives anyone ample leeway to plan something on a Friday evening. I boarded a train from Malmo to Copenhagen (since that's my closest international airport. Malmo has its own airport but it does not have too many good direct international connections) at around 5:30 pm. It takes around 20 minutes to reach Copenhagen airport (the train station is located at the airport called Kastrup Lufthavn) and I was at the airport at 6 pm ... still 2 hours away from my 8 pm flight ...

Copenhagen airport is quite huge (I have not been to too many airports to be honest) and I thought its the right time to explore the airport. And a person like me has to head straight to the liquor section, isnt it? Well yeah.

It took me around 40 minutes to check out all options and short listed a few that I will get to India in 2 months time. But I took some wine biscuits for Biwi and after paying in Euros, I received some Danish change. Man ... I was suddenly carrying Euros, Swedish Kronors, Danish Kronors and INR ... all at the same time ...

It was a 90 minute flight to Helsinki and Biwi had promised me that she will be at Terminal 1 at 2230 local time (Helsinki is an hour ahead of Copenhagen) but I did not find her when I reached. It was 2300 and there was till no sign of Biwi and I was starting to worry a bit ... coz I did not have a cell ... neither did she ... and there was no way to contact her if she doesnt turn up ...

But she finally came at 2315 and I was relieved at first and then extremely happy to meet my wife after 2 months ... I was so emotionally drenched ... thats what I call ... Moments ..

We boarded a bus that took us to Helsinki Central station (called Rautatientori) and its quite some distance from the airport. From there it was a 15 minute walk to Biwi's place ... and we had some planning to do for the next 2 days ...

Saturday morning and a bit of afternoon was consumed in making some food and it was early evening when we headed out ... along with Biwi's 2 colleagues ...

It was colder than Malmo the wind was making it worse ... but we went to The Rock Church first. I must say I have never seen a church like this in the sense that it does not look like a church from outside but once you are inside ... you feel like remaining inside ... its beautiful and has a arena atmosphere about it ... there is a gallery too and the view from the gallery is even more special ...











From there, we went to Zoological museum but that was already shut but we managed some pics ... and then we visited the Parliament house ... I couldnt believe that the President of Finland stays just down the road with zero security ... :P







Helsinki is quite picturesque ... the trams, the statues and small over-bridges make it very pleasing to look at ... Swedish is the second language in Finland and everyone knows both Finnish and Swedish since its part of basic education ...







We then went to The Cathedral ... this is the standout place in Helsinki for me ...

It reminded me so much about what I have read about St Peter's Basilica ... the statue of Alexander in the open space in front of the Cathedral gives you that great historic feeling ... if thats a valid phrase ;)







Unfortunately, there was a procession in place inside the Cathedral and we couldn't quite get inside ... we then roamed around in the streets which was magical ... a typical European evening ... there are people who come out on the street and play music ... just amazing ...





We checked out a few malls. Biwi and I also went off on a metro tour :P ... this was my first time in a metro train and its really something to behold ... Biwi also told me that the metro in Helsinki is the world's northernmost metro ... Kudos ... :P

We then headed back home ...

Sunday morning was also consumed by food and we headed out post 1 pm ... it was funny though ... day light saving had started and there were 2 huge tower clocks in the centre of the city which showed different times ... it was hilarious ... fortunately we had set our watches to the current time ...

We went back to The Cathedral and managed to get inside this time ... and it was even more prettier inside ... there is something about these churches in Europe that does not allow you come out again ... but we had to ... sadly ...

We checked out some more malls and managed to get some Euros for myself and my colleagues back in Malmo since our cards don't work in Sweden and Denmark coz Euro is not the default currency there ...

Back home ... I was eating away since I was not going to get any food till 11 pm coz my return flight was due at 2115 ... Biwi walked me till Rautatientori from where I was supposed to board the bus to the airport ... these are the times you hate being part of ... leaving your loved one after spending some magical moments ... but we are going to meet again and I am sure we are gonna have more fun ... with that I waved good-bye ... reached Copenhagen at 10 pm and then Malmo at 10:30 and was back at my room at 11 pm ...

And as I put up as my status message ... I need a unique scissor ... a scissor that cuts wings ... wings of TIME ... so that it never flies when I am with my loved one ...

Alas ...

Till the next fun trip ... Cheers ... !!