Sachiiiiin, Sachiiiin!!

As we move from the era of Lara, Ponting, Dravid, and Sachin to Kane Williamson, Joe Root, Steve Smith, and Virat Kohli, one thing has still not gone out of fashion: the cries of Sachiiiin, Sachiiiin!!!

Fans resonate with that chant all across the world even today, invoking his name even when everyone knows he isn't on the field anymore.
Such is the legend of the man they call God.

While I am loathe to equate Sachin to Godly status, I do consider him a role model (on the cricket field) and a huge influence on how to maintain one's equanimity amidst all the temptations and adulations in the world, day in, day out.

To add a fun twist to the nostalgia, here's a humorous take on Sachin and his impact, courtesy TVF!

Dear Sachin,
We shall continue to get heroes galore.
A Kohli within, someone else ashore.

But what will never happen with anyone else except you..
Is for someone to now not know, when successful too early, who to look upto

For you are a lesson for all of us mortals-lesser
On how to remain grounded in compliments and pressure.

This is for you, Sachin - from one among millions of your fans!!

Rest In Peace...

As Indians, we have heard a lot about demonetisation, its effects/affects (as per your political leaning).

However, for me, November marks the anniversary of 26/11, more than any other world event.

The Mumbai attacks of 26/11 are well-documented, and we still await justice being done, the perpetrators being brought to book.
This, when the world has seen the rise of similar attacks in France, Brussels, along with the rise of the ISIS.
Despite all the cacophony, the international consensus has been more about being mute spectators and about doing nothing more than making perfunctory noises and condemnations, time and time again.

Yes, we have done better than before, in retaliating towards Pakistani strikes.
Yes, we have been more firm, but we still need to do a lot more.

Let us keep ensuring that we isolate Pakistan completely - both strategically, diplomatically as well as militarily with enough quid pro quo.

My thoughts go out again, to all those who lost their lives or loved ones, to the cowardly and dastardly act of terrorists.
Rest In Peace to them.

To all of us here - let us not rest in peace - till we get the culprits and make sure justice prevails.
Jai Hind!

Dear Hanu

Pyaare Hanu,

Aap jahan bhi ho, jahan bhi raho, hamesha khush rehna.

May your soul find peace, happiness, blessings, and contentedness, Hanu.

We love you Hanu.
We all do.
Always did, always will.

We are fine Hanu, just don't worry.
We don't want you to feel stuck due to us.
Yes, your void and absence will always hurt.
Yes, we will miss you all the time.

But do know Hanu, that it does not mean we want you to stay stuck with our pain.
So we are fine Hanu, and we will always remember you with joy and love only.

We will be happy in wishing and praying that you get mukti, happiness, and peace.
Just want you to know our love for you, our missing you, is not our weakness or your handicap.
It is our joy. Always was and always will be just that.
With lots and lots of love, love, and only love from all of us: Bless you, forever! :)

May you always stay protected, pampered, blessed, and loved by God and all the angels up above.
Stay in peace, stay blessed, stay happy, always!!!

So glad!!

Many (mere) condemnations ago, I had written about the predictable futility of just empty displays of restraint.

September 29, 2016 ushered in a paradigm shift from that hackneyed and impotent approach.

So glad to finally see that we have an administration that believes in making the enemy pay for his misadventures and transgressions.

So glad to finally witness a day when our armed forces were NOT on their (by-default) perpetual defensive state.
For a welcome change, they not only attacked, but did so by going for their kill, even into PoK.

So glad to finally see that when a rogue state broke the threshold of our patience, it was not followed by mere rhetoric but actions too.

So glad to see an unequivocal message from this action: you go after us, our army, and our people...we will not sit back, we will hit back.
 
To all the terrorists and their Aakaa's: You have nowhere to hide, and you know that now.


Kudos to our army, our government.
For displaying that statements work, but work when it is seen as not without muscle.

They are not meant to be dished out as platitudes or ceremonial condemnations.

So glad to see a statement from the other side, for a change!
So glad to see rogues being paid back in the same coin, in the language that they understand best.

Jai Hind, Jai Jawaan!!!

LOVE = Love Outspokenly Verbally Expressively

Love - such a beautiful emotion.
Isn't it even more wonderful that it does not have any one way only, of expressing it?! :)

There are all possible ways of loving.
The last post was about loving quietly, lovingly, silently.

This one (thanks to Word Porn's inspiration again), is about being expressive and outspoken in loving your love.

Image Courtesy: Word Porn

Even if what you are saying is at the cost of sounding repetitive, say it, if your heart feels just that.

Even if what you are saying might seem that your love knows it, no problem in being boring as long as you are true and genuine in your words, and not saying for just saying sake!

You are fine in every quiet, restrained way too, and even in the outspoken, unabashed way too.As long as you are sincere and genuinely feel & as long as you mean every word you are saying (or not saying), you are fine!

So go ahead, and leave how you express your love to your personal choice.
But do love, if you truly do :)
The way you want.
The one you want.

Truly.
Irresistibly.
Happily.
Unabashedly.
Unconditionally.
Forever.

Loving - quietly, lovingly, silently

It is not for nothing that they silence, at the appropriate moments, is golden.

And since this post deals with the subject of understanding, less/no words and just supporting quietly without talking too much, let me simply share this:

Courtesy: Word Porn Quotes (Internet)

This is all that one needs to do, at times.
Just hear, just listen, just understand, just support. Genuinely. Quietly.

Yet, such comforting and reassurance is able to clearly make one's love palpable enough.

Stay with your sugar, all through.
As she shares, as she talks, hear and understand her intently, 'coz that's a sure sign that you love and value her immensely :)

Cheers...
To love, to listening, to sharing, to hearing, to healing each other, and to feeling each other, the way it should always be in love - irresistibly, happily, unconditionally, forever :)

Aansu bhi, hote hain dil ki zubaan..

शायद होती है आंसुओं की भी एक भाषा अनूठी सी

आते हैं तभी, जब खुद से आँखें हों रूठी सी 

सिखाते हैं आंसू, जीना

जीते जी, हर ग़म को पीना

टूट कर बिखरने लगती है जब दिल की ज़मीं
छलक पड़ते हैं आँखों से वो तब, वहीं
   

यूँ ही तो नहीं आ सकते हैं ना वो, किसी के भी लिए...

गंगा जमनुा बहेगी भी तब, जब दिल कराह के कहे...

हाँ, यूँ तो ये सच है और रहेगा भी, कि कुछ भी शर्त या उम्मीद नहीं रखी है वैसे

पर उनपे लुट चुके इस दिल को कैसे मनाएं, कि उनके बिना जियें, तो जियें कैसे?

You know what..

"You know what, sugar.."

"Hmm..."

"Even after knowing and loving you so much over all these years, I have been getting the feeling that I am even more close to you now. Is it because you love me even more now?"

":) No, sugar...this is because YOU love me even more now :)"

He

Though he was well-off, he could've made even more money, but stopped.
He listened to his heart before pursuing anything, and so the plan got dropped.

It was no issue for him to take a car when alone, but he loved walking any day.
He just walked, because it kept his feet on the ground - in more than one way.

He felt admired a lot, with most calling him nice, likeable, brainy, witty, funny, though nothing great.
Because while liking and respecting every compliment, he never ever gave any of it, much weight.

He got everything pretty easily, so he didn't strive for more.
Resting, chilling, enjoying - made him lose focus from the core.

Life is not just about living, but also about making a difference.
If we are not striving to always get better, we are losing its inference.

The story is still in progress, there's a lot more that still needs to be written.
Hope he lives and loves well. To life and love, he will always remain smitten. 

For a better world, a better future..

Some times, truth is indeed stranger than fiction.

One cannot fathom even in fiction, that a country that prides itself on its tolerance and culture of mutual respect, love and brotherhood, would have to brace up for such facts.
That one would have to come across incidents such as these, that could make anyone shudder and writhe in disgust.

In a rather unwanted way, an ostensibly innocuous incident turned out to be fatal for a dentist father, in the heart of India's capital of New Delhi.

I mean, seriously?
Killing a person (correction: coming back with a mob, to drag out a person from his home, only to lynch, main and kill him) in front of his 8 year old?

Is this what have we come to?

Is this the India we live in?
Who are we looking up to?
What will that child keep thinking about?

Imagine the trauma, the distress, the angst, the pain, the hurt and even the resentment and rebellion that would engulf the child all through?
All for having ventured to fetch a ball outside his house?
All because his father wanted to ensure his well-being and safety?
Would he have to curse himself for wanting to have played a game of cricket with his dad that night?

Abominable, reprehensible, downright shameful.
Please spare the kids, if no one else.

Please ensure our actions do not prompt them or anyone to make clones of our monstrosity.
Let us make the world a better place for them, if not for any other reason, for their sake.

Live, respect, love, and let live.
If ever there has to be intolerance, it has to be against intolerance itself.

Peace to the unfortunate, departed soul and may God bless the kid with sanity and calmness as much as possible.
Last but not the least, may better sense prevail in all of us.
Let us gift our children a better life, a better legacy, a better world - not despite us, but because of us.

JNU: All about Jingoism Nationalism Uproar

There's not much that one can say at a time when things like JNU happen.

It is truly irksome when one is left with only two choices - a) to ponder over what is more tragic or b) what is more horrible.

Whatever happened at JNU is a matter of shame and disgust.

But what is horrible, is that people are using even this instance to score political points, and further their own agendas. From both sides of the political spectrum.

I had written earlier about us, becoming a highly polarized and divided nation today.
More than ever before, it is today that whatever happens, it is becoming an us versus them issue today, for everything.
I know this video leaves no room for doubt about which position it leans on, but despite that, I share this because it does resonate sentiments, that most people would agree with, if they view so apolitically.

My only hope and urge is that this is not the time to make hay out of issues that concern national interest and  national pride.

Let us not be swayed by anything with ulterior motives behind every event.
Neither by ultra-sensationalized politically-colored jingoism, nor by fake, the much-abused, much-misused freedom-of-expression googly.

Let sense and impartiality prevail.
Let scoring brownie points or petty politics be negated and extirpated.
If not, at least them remain a slave to national pride and national interests.
Jai Ho!

Happy Birthday, Nice Guy!!

"If you can’t get along with Rahul Dravid, you’re struggling in life." - Brett Lee.

It is one thing to be a nice guy while not doing (achieving) much else in life.
As one of the Siddhuisms goes, "he is a humble person, but he has a lot to be humble about"!

Well, let's just say, Rahul Sharad Dravid is certainly a man who wears his legendary status very well.
All his accomplishments have only made him even more humble, even more endearing, and he remains a gentleman to the core.

There are many people who excel in their chosen field. Many become legends too.
Yet, it's only a handful who go on to cap their achievements with the sort of conduct that transcends them from being "excellent" to being an "idol".

A complete team man, and unflinchingly selfless, here was a guy who did all he could, sacrificing his personal comfort/preferences happily, even almost unnoticeably (if given a choice).

Team struggling on overseas conditions.
No one else ready/capable/willing to open the batting.
Need an opener?
There he was. For his team, for his country, selflessly.

Team needs to play an extra batsman in its XI? (Yeah, the pre-Dhoni era).
Sure captain, will also keep wickets, to have the extra man included in lieu of the 'keeper.

Need someone to hold one end up, winning the battle of attrition against hostile bowlers?
Sure captain, will do.

One can find batsmen at a dime a dozen, when it comes to plundering bowlers on flat tracks.
But when all others in the team are struggling to even survive, it takes the class of a Rahul Dravid to flourish and excel, consistently, time and time again, the world over.
It always needs skill as well as big match temperament to dominate Australia in Australia.
England in England.
South Africa in South Africa.
New Zealand in New Zealand.
Without any chest-beating bravado, without fuming any expletives.
By just plundering oppositions (with his bat), while still remaining a gentleman.

If our demigod - Sachin Tendulkar was the Ram of Indian cricket, I dare say Rahul Dravid was the quintessential Hanuman - the quiet, unassuming hero in his own right, happy to scale superhuman landmarks, yet stay rooted, grounded, quiet and behind-the-scenes out of his own volition.

Time and time again.
To borrow a Shastri'ism this time, cometh the hour, cometh the man!

They say, the true mirror of a man's character is how he conducts himself when he is at the peak of his powers.
Even when he had all the bowlers in the world at his mercy, you would never find Dravid behave in any way that would be unbecoming of an idol.
He always accorded due respect to all, even when it could have seemed convenient for him to dismiss some of his lesser equals.

Even after retiring from the game, he continue to do his bit in giving back to the game, coaching the  India Under-19 side, and spotting as well as honing upcoming/promising young cricketers.

The kind of person you appreciate not only for his abilities, but also for his deportment, both on and off the field.
The kind of person you can readily and unhesitatingly showcase to your children to emulate, as a role model.

To such a gem called Rahul Dravid, wish you many happy returns of the day!!