Sachin Sachin



+Sachin Tendulkar



I am sure there are hundreds of posts going on today, over the last few weeks, months, and will probably come over the next few weeks, months, every one coming out with their own views, comments, experiences, how they have enjoyed, what they will miss, once Sachin is gone.

Not that I am trying to do the same, but watching his last game this week, was an amazing testament to a guy who defined all odds, for such a period of time, made himself into the greatest cricketer the game has ever known. For sure, every country produces greats. Bradman, Sobers, Lara, Grace, Gavaskar, Richards, each one was brilliant in their own way, each successive one better than the other. Bradman for his consistency and high averages, Gavaskar for his technique, Lara for his grace, Sobers for his all roundness, Richards for his raw power, the list is endless.

However Sachin seems to have imbibed the best of every one. Bradman saw him as the closest who was like him, Gavaskar, the master of technique admits that Tendulkar is more focused than he was, Tendulkar himself admitting that he emulated a combination of Gavaskar and Richards. Amazing. And what was truly improbable was that Tendulkar managed it, not for a few years, but for two and a half decades.

The passion, the love, the respect the man had for Cricket, probably, is unbeatable, insurmountable, unreachable. One does not acheive those heights until and unless one is willing to give up every thing. His speech on missing movies, missing evenings with friends and family, are all testament to that. It heightened his greatness and I feel why he succeeded there, was simply because of his humility and humbleness. Ali the Boxer was another example. No one remembers Tyson, Ali IS the one. WAS the One, WILL remain the one. Why, simply because of his humbleness.

Cricket for sure lost a Gentleman today when Sachin decided to call it quits. The emotions he went through will remain etched in memory for a long time. There were many who wanted him to leave, he was not his best in the last two years, however every one who cried today when he left, cried from their heart. Managing the expectations of a Billion People for 2 and half decades, is not an easy task.

Sachin leaving is termed as the last of the Gentlemen leaving the game. For sure, the game will be poorer, and for the sake of the Game, there needs to be another role model that sets such high ideals and examples. It is this very combination of talent and quality that made people term him as the God Of Cricket. Should he turn out to be bigger than the game, it would not be unexpected.

After all +Sachin Tendulkar comes once in a lifetime. And being there is a blessed opportunity.

Treasure Hunt

Don't we all love one! I still remember days gone by, where we used to either setup Treasure Hunts or Participate in one, trying to figure out where the clues are.. Of course, it was a Merry Go Round across various places, finding clues leading to the next. And before you know, you have spent a good part of your Friday or Sunday Weekend participating in one, to end with a prize voucher.. Of course, you had a good part of the tour running along with friends, each trying to outwit one another just to get that first prize... At the end, all in good fun, followed by a good meal. Simple, Right?

So, quite impressed and amused to read the story in the +The Times of India about the Gold Rush at Unnao. A seer's dream of 10,000 tonnes of GOLD to be given to India as a gift to make it a world power. Obviously in trying economic times, this seemed like a boon and the Gold Hunt was on.

Nation wide derides, jeers, political believers, political stunt callers, back trackers, of course we saw the works. The BJP calling is a stunt, backing out because the Sadhu challenged Narendra Modi and he suddenly called him a visionary. Of course, one can term it as an outcome of Election times, and no political bureaucrat worth his or her salt, would have wanted to come out a cropper.

Two weeks later, huge resources spent, a whole lot of grave diggers taking part, the findings so far have come out a blank. Political parties backing off, not wanting to take any fall outs from a possible excavation failure. Of course, if it does come that we find a few tonnes of Gold, surely, every one would take part in the credit, and who knows, where the Gold would end up to.

What's my point? Similar to life in many a case. We hear about a miracle that can happen. Riches that can be had overnight, with limited work (Akshay Khanna got duped recently). There is easy money to be made. There is Gold hidden under our ancestral property. There is wealth hidden in the ancient walls of our ancestral house.. And we take every opportunity that we can and have to get that extra money / Gold, that is supposedly ours and we can get it for free.

True, the generations past, had huge reserves of Gold, however as today, the Gold that was with our Maharajah's was probably a 100 times more than what our politicians have today. True they amassed, but then they also had morals, that they had to take care of their people. You would not hear of a Rajah running away to Switzerland, simply because his enemies were coming. The question though remains.. Is that Gold still available? Did our forefathers leave tonnes for our use? Did the looters not loot every penny that we had before they left?

A similar thought expressed in a Blog - Gold Rush and also my second and probably more relevant question that comes to mind. Would we have been a better off civilization / country / people, had we had our riches still to ourselves? Would the greed that the average common man built in himself, been subsided? Would we have been a better world?

Why can we simply not curb our desires and be happy in what we are and we have? Is that too much to ask??

And then, there was Life...!!!

Death... Followed by Life.. Is that not inevitable? We all do know that Life is followed by Death, as what comes has to go, but rarely do we hear that what goes, surely comes back.

Yes, if one reads the Epics of Ramayan and Mahabharat, they are completely based on people being reborn, either to attain salvation or to extract revenge, which too is part of the discourse in the Bhagvad Gita, that the soul remains for ever, it is just the exterior that changes form.

No, not starting a discourse on Life after Death, or Death followed by Life, but what did bring this subject to mind for a thought was we see people coming and going all around us. A few weeks back, had gone through the sudden demise of a dear friend passing away... Some time later, went through the Joy of hearing that my Kid Brother, was now a proud Father. A new baby in the family.

Of course, both were totally unrelated, both families not connected, but the thought did come across.. Surely there will be families who go through the pain of parting mixed with the Joy of a new addition. What overrides? The sorrow to the one who has lost a partner, or the Joy of another, having a part of one's self entering into the World, with a life that is just starting.

Death and Life or Life and Death (depends on how one views it), are inevitable facets of the cycle of life. Whether walking or flying, all creatures have to succumb to this, some through nature's planned road, some unprepared and sudden. What does remain key, is what we make out of the Life that we get? How well do we use it?

Do we enjoy the little things that we get in Life, or do we cry on what we did not? Some take it seriously, some as it comes, some take it is a joke, some having no value for it. Some always cursing it, some thankful for it, wanting it, waiting for it to come, wanting to contiune for ever.

Life followed by Death, or Death followed by Life. Sounds like the "A Light at the end of a Tunnel" or Every Dark Cloud has a Silver Lining"....... For me it is Death followed by Life.. How about you?

Death..!!!



From Google Images



A morbid topic, or a headline one would say.. Depressing, Mood breaking, the embodiment of darkness. Many other words that describe one of the most hated and feared word in a human being's life, but a stark reality that all of us have to endure at some point or the other.



Why have I selected this as my thought? Why so morose? No, have not gone through this, thank God, but a similar incident on a known person shook the floor beneath.. Literally..

All started with a simple message on my FB wall... "Dear Friends, Our class mate "ABC", who we all studied with, is no more. Was not well, and unfortunately have to announce that he has left us."

A two liner. One would think that ok, we all know that every one who comes has to leave one day.. But what was shocking was that this was a friend we all grew up with, who we had studied with, played with, fought with, passed off through college.. Just about 2 decades ago....



As time passes, we all get a year older, and of course, we don't fall in the 20+ category any more, but then neither do we fall in the 50+ category or the 80+ or whatever... The entire group being in the 40 - 45 range, an incident like this was not even in the horizon.. Not that we are great fit people, but of course, like every "young" person, we too thought that death was far away if any thing else..

Further details gave light that our class mate had a brain problem, which came some where about a decade ago, he suffered, got cured, and appeared suddenly after a long time.... This time unfortunately, no time for realization, cure, or even a second chance... It was simply, Life at First sight.

The suddenness with which Death comes and claims a person, not giving him a time to introspect, fix things, not considering what needs to be done, what not.. How would the persons family manage, how would his children, who were still in school go through life, their Dad not being there any more for any of their key events in life. As they grow older, who would guide them on key decisions, who would they look up to. They would never get a chance to tell their friends.. Hi.. This is my Dad..

Brought a stark realization, that no one is past this. We all live with a great belief that we will live until forever. We never think about tomorrow, never about how our families will move on, what will happen to them, once we are gone, or for that matter any one near and dear goes away.

I don't aim to be negatively inclined, nor do I expect myself or any one for that matter stop living in the fear that we may die tomorrow.. But at the same time, it is a part of life, it will always shock us, shake us, make our hair stand on end when we hear about it.....  I guess that is what Death is all about...

In memory of my friend Anil who passed away recently.. May his soul Rest in Peace..