Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar

This is a mandatory blogpost.
I just got off the television after watching his farewell speech and the tears couldn't stop rolling down my cheeks.

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Today I realized what drew me towards the game the MOST. It was during the farewell speech that it dawned that I probably loved Cricket solely because of this wonderful gentleman giving this extremely emotional speech. He is undoubtedly the Best Cricketer in the world and his statistics are beyond imagination but today what sparkled right through his face, what made the thousands cry, what made the people chant his name like a prayer, what made the atmosphere so surreal - was the person he is.The way he spoke, the way he took every name that mattered, the way he kneeled down and touched the stadium in respect, the wide smile he gave to the people while holding the flag and the way he spoke about his family spoke so much about his charachter  He played extraordinarily and made India proud but what made it so lasting through a few failures and many successes was something beyond his game!

 Beneath all the skills, all the layers, all the media attention, all the hooting and shouting and cheering he seemed crystal clear today. Anybody who heard him talk could see how passionate he was about his game, how true he was to what he was doing, how humble he was to people and how grounded he was to his belief. Thats what set him apart and added a zing to his aura. There might be better players some day after a few years, and better statistics and maybe even better media attention but  the connect that he built with people through his heart is what is rare. They say that we are innately good people and we connect to people who are innately good. That connect is what made people tear up, what made people sad and what inspired people to be just like him.

Today like many others I want to be Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. I want to be true to what I love, passionate about every single thing I do, humble to everybody around me and unaffected by any attention or praise that I receive. I want to be remembered for the person I am, and the things I did by not changing the person I am and above all I want to love what I do and do what I love :')

I just read this somewhere and I think its amazing : I Imagine Ramesh Tendulkar going up to Sir Don Bradman in heaven right now and saying, "See there, That's my son!."

You Inspire us, Sir. We are very very proud of you.

(I've never been a crazy Cricket Fan, I have watched a couple of matches, cheered a lot, danced on the roads at Midnight after the Worldcup and followed a little bit of IPL but my knowledge about the game is minimal. Its just enough to understand what's happening. But today, I read my way through the first two pages of Google after hitting "Sachin Tendulkar". Thats the effect he has on me. That's gotta be something ! Something more than mere statistics. Something close to the person he is! )

Hello Ladies!

Hello Ladies ! This is something I want every woman to read because I know how I feel about myself when I read something powerful! That's exactly how I want you to feel :)

(& obviously the wonderful men who I know believe in this cause! )

I'd love to spread this little powerful thought amongst women because words are more powerful than any other form of revolution! If I am selected I get to perform this and spread this through a book published by them :) I believe it's a cause and I'm sure you do too :)

I've entered a Poem for the LITLIVE Mystory contest :) Genre is Spoken Word Poetry :) The entries that are selected will be called to perform in front of a panel of esteemed authors at Literature fest Mumbai in November :)

Please vote if you like my work :) Link is below!http://bit.ly/1gWs93i

Art is you, And you are Art

The little Sketch-pad lying in the corner,

It keeps your dreams intact,

In the fine lines and the sinuate of graphite,

Your future and you have made a pact

The dream catcher that you made for yourself,

It keeps your nightmares away,

And the poetries you write, The words you use,

They breathe out your thoughts and say :

That pick up the paintbrush,

And paint your future,

Go insane with the microphone,

Sing as though you hear no sound,

And let your ink pen be your milestone!

Dance as though your body,

Is swaying like the sea,

Crash the shore and go inwards,

And fill your mind with glee,

Don’t be demure and shy,

Be the million colors of the evening sky,

Be the midnight violets and the morning dawn,

Be the pretty black birds that you have drawn.

Be the art that flows out of your veins,

the kind that flows out of your lips,

Be the art that moves your hands,

The kind that sways your hips,

The art that strums the strings,

And the art that types,

The art that thinks and the art that writes,

Be the art that warms your heart,

Because Art is you and you are Art.

And The Mountains Echoed

Book : And the Mountains Echoed
Author : Khaled Hosseini
Publisher : Bloomsbury

And the Mountains Echoed :) I caught up with this book a little late but it has been the best thing I've read in a while.
It is Surreal. Completely takes you in. It is one of those books that actually makes you Time travel, through generations, places , atmospheres, events. It takes you on a journey. From Shadbagh to Kabul , to Paris, to the Greek Island of Tinos to San Francisco and then the book does this funny thing by taking you from Old-Age back to Childhood using a Farsi Nursery Rhyme! A small short story about the Div is the highlight!

The character sketch is brilliant and each character has a unique, sometimes strange yet beautiful feel.  From Pari to Abdullah to Uncle Nabi to Gholam each character has equal importance to the story. The story wouldn't be complete without any.  The old middle eastern charm along with  new age coming-out-of-the-closet-sections, the box with beautiful feathers and the big peacock feather to the reuniting of the siblings after years. The different edges to the same character of Nila and Maman and how different they feel due to their circumstances. The unrequited love between Nila and Nabi ! 

It encompasses Life Lessons, Relationships, Ego, Passion and Human Insecurities and binds it all so seamlessly! Hardly any books are read twice but I am sure I could read it again in some time and imagine the same beauty again !It is simple worded and concentrates on fine details and paints a picture in front of your eyes! Must Read!

PS- Mr Khaled Hosseini ! If you ever come across this review :  Your imagination is limitless! The details, the story , the winding of the events :) I am inspired, Sir.

Devoured

She was thirsting for his touch,
His bloodshot eyes, his delectable poise,
She wanted him to devour her,
To be extirpated by his charm,
Consumed,
She wanted to be read like she was a book,
Page by page, word by word,
His eyes reading the red leathered strong cover
His long fingers tracing the nuances of the crisp paper,
She wanted him to bend the corners of the pages he found to be abstruse,
And re-read them while sipping on a glass of red wine,
She wanted to be understood, taken in,
Mind and soul, body bones and flesh.
He was laconic, and she was long cursive handwriting,
He was churlish, and she was complaisant,
He was dangerous and she was innocuous,
He was like a mountain that couldn't be weathered by a storm
And she was like a stream that would keep changing shape and size,
He was the Mahogony Bonfire on her cold frosty winter's night,
Theirs was a tryst that couldn't be understood,

But little did he know,
That he was being devoured by her,
By the scintillating shine in her eye,
By the way she loved and the way she let poetry flow out of her crimson lips,
He called her meek and weak but he knew he would have to surrender to her strength,
She was the one who made ridges in his strong statuesque self,
He judged her, he chastised her,
but he wanted her, all of her,
Mind and Soul,body bones and flesh,
It hurt him that he could not have her,
because she was the stream and he was the mountain,
She'd left him way behind.

Vacation

Hello there!
Haven't written in a while, have we?
We usually feel like writing at ungodly hours like 1:22 AM.
It's our little problem.
By we I mean me and my inner-in-black-peeptoes-and thick-mascara-audrey-hepburn-looking-inner-goddess.

So the problem for the nightis,
I don't do what I love.
I've been doing Data Sufficiency all day . I could throw up. I WANT A VACATION.NOW
This generation, we all have a problem.We all constantly need a vacation.
WHY?
Because the daily rut's not a vacation.
So what's a vacation?
Its not just traveling to fancy places and drinking expensive wine and adventure and shopping and getting spa rituals, NO! Its just loving life, each moment of it, unwinding but being occupied, not sleeping, being wide awake, breathing, feeling the breath.
I think a vacation is loving what you do and doing what you love.
Doing that thing that gives you instant gratification from all the burden of life.

That thing for some people is travel, paint, sing, write, fly like a butterfly, aaah, what rose-tinted-visuals.
& no sir, you don't need a vacation if you do what you love all your life.
I am looking for that one thing, that I can do, that I love, where I won't want a vacation, where I will earn lots of money and yet live each moment like I'm gliding through (Read:Greedy Pleasures).
All of that.

But alas! Here I am. Studying when I should be sleeping. Writing when I should be snoring. Having lunch at high tea. Its a mess. Recommendation Letters. Statement of Purpose. Stupid MCOM, Bad professors. GMAT in 25 days. Its so tiring, mundane, hectic, Its all so blah. I miss everythingggg. The life, the bests, the boys, the late nights. I've been grounded. By myself. Its necessary.

But you know what gets me through?
That I'm on my way,
To my Vacation :')

Ps. I have repeatedly warned you that things that are written at this hour should never be used as a reference to judge me , *runs away*

Et tu, Brute

William Shakespeare,

He was pure genius.

I had a hate-love relationship with him in school. I loved Julius Caesar,  hated Macbeth and loved Merchant of Venice. Romeo and Juliet was beautiful, The tempest was like a conjurer's dream and Hamlet was pure boring. But when I say hate-love, whatever I felt the stories always demanded a strong reaction. They couldn't be ignored. It demanded of you to form an opinion with real raw emotions. Today we read books -  good and bad. There are books that make you go crazy. The alchemist did that for me. But there are so many that just pass by and you never look back. He could never make that happen. 

That was his magic. 

 I had a phase when I tried talking like his characters.The dramatization, poetic emotions, passionate characters, murder and insecurities, love and lust. It enthralled me. His works were life-like. His characters imperfect. They were like you and I. They were just more honest about their emotions.

Of course, now there is this new theory saying he was they and Shakespeare was a pseudonym.

His language was arcane but somehow his words touched you. They had a certain depth in them. He created an atmosphere that set perfect pictures in front of your eyes. All books do, but these were vivid colored pictures. I haven't read any of his works since school but the stories and phrases were he kinds that remain etched in your memory. I still fear the Ides of March (Something Bad always happens) , I wish life had time pauses where I could come out and recite a Soliloquy. In fact there are times when my mother catches me talking to myself (Read: I am not mad) , and I put the blame on Shakespeare. I do a little literary genius strut and tell her its my version of a Soliloquy. My inner goddess does a cat stretch with her chin up. 

The point being,  we owe him so much today.

We don't realize but there is so much we say, so much we do, the thoughts we feel, the wit that we think is ours -  that we owe to him .

Knock- knock !Who's there? - Yes, we joke because of him.  

I smell "Foul Play" but I'm going to stand by my opinions, "Come what May." 

Lovers that we are we say , "Love is blind" and he is the "Heart of hearts."

 To pamper our ego we quote, "The world is my oyster" and the incessant pride is what we owe to him. 

On confessional days we "Wear our hearts on our sleeves". 

A beggar is a "Sorry sight" and a stupid man is a "Laughing Stock."

 When we are nervous we waited with "Baited breath"  and it "makes your hair stand on ends" and once the results are out "What's done is done." 

When someone dies, "He breathed his last" and "He vanished into thin air" and then follows the philosophy of life and death and how nothing is permanent , 'All the world's a stage".

There is "Good Riddance" of the "Green Eyed Monster" because  we finally "Sent him packing." 

"For Goodness' sake" let me sleep "I haven't slept a wink". 

The "Naked Truth" is that we "break the ice" and make new friends  because "When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions." 

We say good people have "A heart of gold" and bad people are "Devil's incarnates" 

We have "Seen better days" but "Too much of a good thing" is bad.  

We shouldn't be "Faint hearted" and we should "Fight fire with Fire"  because once the "Game is up" we will all be "as dead as door-nails."

 Life is a "Full Circle" and we should "Play fair" to make it a "brave New World." before  the "Game if up" 

Oh, Shakespeare, you were a "A piece of Work" 

ps. There are SO many more. Read them on http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/phrases-sayings-shakespeare.html.