Homecoming.

There was a time., when it was the most formidable team in the global arena. They proved time and again, that they deserved to be called so. The game in this country got its name, and fame. As time rolled, unfortunately came the shame associated too. Adding to the burns was the emergence of another 11-man aside that became a 'Religion'.

But as they say, "The wheel of time has turned a full circle." There had been a lacklustre performance for a 'considerably long' while. But the team now knows what it wants. The boys know what the nation wants. The mix and match of experience and youth is ready to take on the best teams in the world now. C'mon Australia, England or Pakistan, our boys have learnt to dare. The last 8-9 months with their new coach have proved a fruitful association. Putting aside the recent trifles where, (like in Chak De! India, the movie...) despite of it, the team proved they stand united, there has been smooth sailing. It was more than a quarter century ago, that the best in the World Cup was put up by the MiB... And now, another World Cup awaits. With the tournament being played at home, it's time the trophy finds its true masters. The world over sits in anticipation. The country looks up to you. The game relies upon you to reclaim it's lost glory. Like the Phoenix which rises from its own ashes, it's time for the game in India to be celebrated. Let not the 'Other' World Cup'a year later outshadow your performace, and send you deeper into Hades. Team India, You are the Messiah for the game in your country. Prove that you have it in you to live up to your 'National Game'.

Get us back the glory of 1975. You have a billion dreams behind you. Well, atleast part of it, if the others still say Cricket is their life. Damn them. Only you can turn the tables for all those who still say so. Wish you the best of your performance in the FIH World Cup. Don't keep us waiting till longer.

Update: India beat arch-rivals Pak 4 goals to 1 in their inaugural fixture :).

Over... But Out!?!?

A long time since i've really felt like doing some activity here. But this stuff...! i should be mentioning it here... for it has been something so very dear to me...

It all began formally in 2005, when the big-guns gave a go ahead. By Nov 2008, it had reached it's culmination... Ever since, it's been something so fascinating... something that's redefinened, in short, ourselves. and then, sometime by April this year, a small snag developed somewhere and brought in problems. Things were still alive until last week. Everything was still somehow under control. Some minor activities had already been stopped, but the important talk still continued. Last week, just past the mid of night, for some unknown reason, everything stopped. There was no response. It was game over for a long standing relationship. so to say., mission control could no more communicate with the spacecraft. It was all Over!!! But so goes a saying: "well begun is half done."., and here... it went to more than just the beginning... It was far more than the beginning, a journey, that was not intended to end so soon... (Read a journey that should have not ended!)

But again, all good things come to an end... And this was such a beautiful thing... Built on the faith of so many! As it all terminates, it opens up newer avenues... leaving for us, its share of lessons... to be incorporated into the future...

No Regrets! the job is done... and this will stay in memories for ever...

and then i missed it...

it all started on the 24th of October 1995... days when i did not know anything about superstitions or omens... at 11 years, all that i cared for... was the hand held video game that my ajji's neighbor's daughter had lent me.. i was happily spending time at my "Ajji Mane" in Padmanabhanagar.

The Precedence:
the day before., the 23rd of Oct 1995 is etched into my memory for ever... it was this day that i asked my first question in science. Prof Ramachandra Rao was giving a 2 day seminar on Vedic Chemistry at Aksharam. little did i understand that Chemistry and Physics were different... after that day's session, i walked up to him, and this was the conversation...

"ಅಂಕಲ್, ನಮ್ಮಪ್ಪ ಹೇಳಿದ್ರು light speed 3 lakh kilometers ಅಂತೆ... ಹೌದಾ?
"ಹೌದಪ್ಪ, ಅದು ಒಂದು secondಗೆ ಅಷ್ಟು ದೂರ ಹೋಗತ್ತೆ."
"ಹಾಗಿದ್ದರೆ ಅದನ್ನ correct ಅಂತ ಹೆಂಗೆ ಹೇಳ್ತೀರಾ? ಅದನ್ನ ಹೆಂಗೆ check ಮಾದಿದ್ದ್ರು? ಭೂಮಿ ಅಷ್ಟು ದೊಡ್ದದಿಲ್ಲ್ವಲ್ಲ..."
he said he'd let me know about it the next day. (i don't know if he did not know the answer at that point, or did not want a 11 year old to be confused with such "Weird" stuff...) but i was not there the next day i.e. on the 24th... my dad told me he mentioned me more than once on that day...he'd just got back from the seminar at Aksharam.

The First:
My dad came back and woke me out of my reverie... and took me out to watch the sun with a shard of brown glass...
it was the first time i was looking into him. i could see him slowly being engulfed by something that was not visible through the filter. when i removed it, i saw the moon eating up the sun. it was my first solar eclipse. i could not contain my excitement, and saw the partial eclipse that was in Bangalore all through from the begin till the end.
a celestial love was kindled within me... ever since, i have been a faithful follower of every eclipse that could be seen from wherever I've been... unfortunate though, that I've never been in the path of a total solar eclipse...

This July 22nd, when i heard it would be a 60-70% eclipse for Bangalore, i was excited. for it would be the maximum eclipse i'd have seen. after having seen clear skies around 5:15 AM, i pulled out my T-scope and prepared myself to follow the sun. less than 5 minutes later, nothing but gray could be seen... the clouds had already pulled down curtains on a spectacle before it had begun... :(
thought it was just another of the lost opportunities.,(the fourth so far...) and went ahead with the day... that night had something really big for me. the news channels were all busy showing the "Diamond Rings"... mighty, beautiful, and sparkilng rings before the sun was completely eaten up...After having known so much over the years about eclipses, i felt so miserable for not having been able to take a glimpse of all this... miserable to such an extent, that a morsel would not go down my throat... still convincing myself that all that happens, happens for a reason...
doesn't it hurt when you lose the most romantic of rings...???
here's a glimpse of it...

Varanasi, 22ndJul 09
Image courtesy:ToI.

.

Dawn.

The Sun has not yet appeared in the horizon,
people around this place have still not arisen.
Another beautiful bright day breaks in town,
as Ms.World comes out of her darkness' gown.

The colors of dawn are so astounding to see.
Wondering if this is how heavens would be...
In a while everything will be like it always is,
the ruffled sounds and sights, as another day proceeds.

-Anon

Himachal, the Mystic Snow peaks...

No Image editors... this is as my 3.2Meg SE-K series cellphone cam captured the Himalayas in its most serene form. and as someone pointed, there was a touch of Mysticism in this photo... the top left shows the formation of "OM", which was also mentioned by one guide with us before we actually reached the camping site.

The "couple " rainbows welcomed our team of 53, as we reached the first of camps after touching a height just short of half the Highest @ 4207mtrs ASL, drenched in rain and snow...

WOW!!! i luvved the blend of green, white and maroon (from the mosses) after a stint just beneath the peak... that image was captured forever in my memories...:) unfortunately not in my cam.:(

Another memory with this trek was the encounter with a glimpse of how an avalanche begins., scarring 2. What if???

Future in your hands.

Ever wondered how the future looks like?
H G Wells has given us a glimpse of it in "Time Machine"(1895). The story of a "Time Traveller", who goes into A.D.802701, and beyond, and gives us an insight into life of the future, comes back to the present, and tries to convince his friends. When they disbelive him, he decides to go on another trip in time, this time with gadgets to bring proof back. Does he succeed? Find time, and if interested, go ahead and read it.
A blend of creativity, Sci-Tech, and Literature in one story.
Wells has thought beyond his times, in a few facts of Physics, like the 4th dimension of time, before Einstein. If only he was a mathematician too... Einstein would have been too late:P

Untitled.

Two lines of his, one friend wanted me to publish...

Why?? Well... for him, blogging is rather childish...

मजबूत यह दिल तुम्हारे इनकार से ऐसे खोखला हो गया।

मानो सावन न आया तो पत्थर जैसे डोख्ला बन गया॥

For those, who don't know डोख्ला, it's a Gujju Special, soft n spongy, swwweet n sour dumpling,

our canteen cooks prepare to the best of their abilities, never to match even a Gujju fledgling...

All these words are his, including this line...

all that I can claim, is that the blog is mine...

-Anon

(P.S: name not published:( , for that's what's asked of.)

I also don't know, what inspired to make a dhokla out of stones now:P

springing nature...

this one, again from the jungles of the Western Ghats... Nature was at it's colorful best, with leaves just budding out in the woods.

picture-perfect

another one... this on a recent trek to Gerusoppa, a very small piece of evening life along Sharavati.

Kepler Wakes Up

Johannes Kepler. He taught the world how the planets behave. NASA yesterday (IST, UTC, and the day before, ETZ.), after letting him take a deep slumber, woke him up. NASA wants him now, to look for planets in deep space. I'm speaking of the "Kepler" spacecraft named in honor of the German. The spacecraft was launched in an earth trailing orbit (i.e. to follow the earth all along, during it's revolution, and not orbit the Earth itself.) at 3:49 UTC on the 7th of March. The slumber that I mentioned, is the delay of about a year and a quarter in the mission., which was mostly financial @ NASA. Being used to detect planets in the Milkyway, that are approximately at our Sun's distance from the galactic centre, and in the same galactic plane, It will have a probablity of locating "Earth like" planets for 1 in about 200 stars. Which means, with an estimated span of 3.5 years, and about 3000LY deep, Kepler should have, by the end of the mission, found atleast 350-400 earthlike planets.
Hope I find my loooooong lost cousin soon...;)

PS:If anyone wonders why the label "travel", then please remember, that Kepler has to travel too, to reach outer space. lol...