5 things for this week (Part 17)

My affair with her is a classic illicit story, if any. Even though it was short lived, what we had was spiky, lusty, beautiful and more, up until the last moment, when the roof fell over our heads, reminding us both that we were never meant to be together, at least in a physical sense. That doesn't mean that we are not flirting anymore.

To avoid any unnecessary assumptions from your part as to who she is, I would like to let you know that "she" here means FOOTBALL - the one true love I have now.

My feet zombie walk towards a football on seeing one; I still watch from the sidelines as those more fortunate than me knock around the ball, and show some skill for a good measure; I FOLLOW a football team to the little bits of news that come out from it; I still wish I hadn't done that simple turn on that fateful day - then maybe, I could have still played today.

That was just the trailer. I started writing out the whole script for this one, and found that it was too long for the regular readers, who usually come here for the "5 things" post. So, I'll doing two posts today.

Doesn't that make you happy? Doesn't it just spice up your mood to know that you are getting double of what you thought you were getting? Well, if it doesn't, I'm very sorry, you are getting two posts none the less.

So this week's theme is football, and some (in)famous incidents and facts and proceedings, that have happened in it over its long history.

I'm going to overlook the obvious candidates for the same like the Hand of GOD (Maradona), the infamous headbutt (Zidane), the other hand in the other world cup (Suarez) and so on. So, bear with me, for round one, as I tell you 5 things you must not have known about football. And in round two, I'll set off on a rant, with you tagging along hopefully, as I recall the brief, though eventful history I've with football.

Shall we begin then??

Did you know...

1. ...that Messi is the highest earner in football at $41m every year?

Well, this isn't a surprise to anyone. He scores all those goals; wins all those awards and accolades and has won every possible title with his club. And no one will hold a grudge against him getting paid to be a top class entertainer. By the way, for those of you who want that amount in rupees, that equates to about Rs.237 crores. And this is just what he earns as salary from his contract with his club. On top of this comes bonuses included in his contract, the deals he would have with kit makers for his boots and all; the other commercial deals he would have signed on for.

Just to put the $41m in perspective, the salary he earns is more than the GDP for this country.

P.S. This is an extra bit. The professional football players get paid on a weekly basis. They join a club on a contract that runs for a specified amount of time (varies from 6 months to 5 years). And since they are pretty useless in their field after 35 years of age, they try to get obscene amounts of salary during their playing career.

2. ...that there is a person who has scored in twenty consecutive seasons for the same football club?

Given that the shelf life of an average footballer at the top level is around 15 years, you have to appericiate the commitment, dedication and skill of a person who plays at that level for 20 years. And in these days of degenerating loyalities, to have played for the same club for those two decades is also no mean feat. And when you play for the same club, in the top flight, for 20 consecutive years, and manage to score atleast one goal in every season, then you are no less than exceptional.

By the way, the name is Ryan Giggs, who plays for Manchester United in the English Premier League.

3. ...that a guy lived as a professional footballer for 20 years, without playing a single match?

Now hear an opposite case. This happened in Brazil some three decades back. This guy used to get friendly with famous professionals, and use them to get 'trial contracts' at their club. He would then ask them to give him time to hone his fitness, and would waste a month or two in that by just running around. When they asked him to play, he would run fast/kick the ball hard, then complain about a hamstring injury (which couldn't be diagnosed by a medical team in that era). Then he would lay on the injury table for a few months, and repeat the same - at the same or a different club.

4. ...that there is a Golden Premier League Trophy?

Yes. I'm going for a bit of personal glory. Normal trophies are not made of gold, but the English FA decided to honour the Arsenal team of 2003-04 season with a golden trophy. Why you ask? Because they went a whole premier league season unbeaten. That is 38 games in a row. Over three seasons, they went 49 games unbeaten in a row.

5. ...that football is the most followed sport in the world?

Football can be passionate like 95000 fans in Australia singing what can be called the club's theme song in unison. Football can be crazy like this save or this penalty kick. It can be controversial, it can be exhilarating, it can be unifying, it can be divisive. It can be everything. And that's what it is one of the most followed sport in the world.

In recent times, the Juventus team went 49 games unbeaten in the Seria A Italian League.

I'll be back with more in the next blog, as soon as it is finished.

That's all folks!!
Have a great weekend!!!

5 things for this week (Part 16)

If you ride a bike or a car, even occasionally, you would be familiar with the feeling of frustration at being in the front of the line at a red light. It's one thing to get stuck for 100 odd seconds in the middle of the traffic, and an entirely different scene to be at the front of it, knowing that even a short burst of speed earlier, would have saved you that much time.

Normally, not much thought is given to what you would do with a hundred seconds so saved, other than spend it at another red light. But that doesn't stop us from trying to get across that short stretch at full speed, lest we rue the missed opportunity.

So, on my way to office today morning, as I turned a corner onto the last red light on my route, I saw that I had about 6 seconds, plus pause time, to get across some 300 odd meters. Normally, I would have got through, but a certain Esteem was hell bent on making it difficult for me. He manoeuvred left and right, and right and left, before I could free myself from him, but by then, he had made sure that I was left at the front of the queue.

That hundred odd seconds that I spent there made sure that I got to see a really beautiful gal going in a rickshaw at the next junction, as well as, making sure that I arrived at the gate of my office at the exact moment when the cleaner was coming out with the broom. An inauspicious start, if any.

I was late by one minute; there was talk of the increment letter being handed out today - they didn't; the work I was doing for submitting on Monday, had to be restarted cos revised input was received from Korea; I spilled coffee on the jeans I washed yesterday; and more.

Even though I could easily blame getting stuck in that traffic light for all this, I don't. Because of two reasons...

a. I am a 'destiny-ist'. Whatever is meant to happen, will happen. I can't change it. Even if I could make myself not get stuck there, I'm pretty sure that this is how it would have all ended up.

b. I've seen the Malayalam Movie 'Traffic'. The guy who tries to jump the traffic light like this doesn't end up in that good a position to my liking (dead).

You would be thinking as to why this little incident is such a big thing to me. It's because I was forgetting the reason number two (go ahead, laugh at that).

Now, the memory of this incident will remain with me, for a short time at least, reminding me that there’s nothing to be gained by pitching your skills against traffic lights. Every memory teaches you something. The best lessons in life are taught and kept alive by memories.

And this week, we will be going through, what I consider to be, my top five memories.

Did you know..

1. …that pain is necessary in the pursuit of happiness?

This is with respect to me getting my job at GS during the final year at college. As if the continuous heartbreaks I received from various corporate entities weren’t enough, my friend (who was the Placement Coordinator) decided to let me know of the good news that I got into GS, by leaving his hand impression across my backbone.

The pain from it was quickly forgotten though, not because of the glad news I had just received, but thanks to the series of slaps, kicks and hits I received as a mark of congratulations from my other friends.

P.S. I wasn't laughing like this maniac.

2. …that change is going to happen no matter what, and that you are gonna end up liking it?

You see your grandmother presented with a white towel bundle. You then continue to peek inside that bundle to see something reminiscent of the human species. You are then told that this is your brother and that you have to take care of him.

That must have been the first major change in my life, because this is the earliest thing I can remember about it. It has been nearly two decades since, but as I look back upon it now, it was all for the best.

3. …that you should be happy that you are here?

The time is towards the end of October 2011, and the place is Auli, near Badrinath. Yeah, the same area which was recently flooded. Six guys had travelled through and around mountains to reach a lonely campsite. There were sightings of a bear in the past few days in that area; the food that they bought with them was scarce; there wasn’t enough firewood to last the night; the cold winter winds were bellowing against them; basically, it was a bad idea.

But at 9pm that night, after eating whatever we had, and after lulling our campfire to sleep with some select songs, we lay on the uneven ground looking up at the sky. That’s when I saw, till date, the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen.

I’ve heard/read/seen in pictures about the beauty of the uninhibited night sky. They say that the countless stars make your head swoon. They write that the light coming from therein overwhelms you. They show that this is a place you must visit before your last breath. The sight that lay before me was all that and more.

And then, rising above the worries that I had for my life, was a feeling of happiness of being there.

P.S. In case you are hard of sight, this is the next day morning.

4. ...that bad things happen to you, even if you did no wrong?

More importantly, did you know that I was privy to the first conceptual model of the Nano?

This happened when I first came to the Capital city of India in 2000. Had I known then that I would spend so much time here in the future, I wouldn't have gone out to see the city in that January cold; but I did. After covering Qutub Minar, and just after bidding goodbye to the Red Fort, as we were making our way to the Lotus Temple, the Tata Sumo we were travelling in was involved in an accident.

Not our fault, but the guy in front, cruising at around 60 kmph, decided that he wanted to check his brakes for full stopping at that speed. What happened was that we bumped into him; the Maruti 800 behind us crashed into ours; and the bus behind that car crashed into it. And as soon as the that happened, the guy in front, left the scene as soon as he could.

Fortunately, no one was hurt. I was sitting at the back of the Sumo, and should have been more concerned for myself, but I felt bad for the guy driving the 800. That car was brand new - it still had it's temporary number plate - and it was crushed from both sides. I can always crack a joke, saying that it looked like a Nano, but it was a cruel example of a recurring phenomenon - bad things happen can anyone, anytime.

5. ...that change comes from within?

This is from my current favourite saying, which was in turn taken up from this pic.

I think I'll just leave you with that. I've been writing more on that one saying for the past three weeks. Hopefully, I'll post it on Monday.

Well, that's all for this week folks.

Have a great Weekend!!!

***

In line with the fact that the "5 things" I'm sharing with you weekly, wasn't necessarily learned that week, I was hoping to change the title for this series to "5 things for this week". Having got enough positive feedback for that idea, we'll be filing the posts in the series in that name from now on.

Once again, thanks for the feedback and the clicks. Keep them coming.

Cheerio!!

5 things I learned this week (Part 15)

I got nothing to complain about this week.

Nothing. Nada. Nil. Zilch. *all these words mean Zero.

There wasn't anything (ridiculously) wrong with the work this week; I got good food through out; there are no new diseases to pester me; after two months of stuttering and breakdowns, my bike has finally started running smoothly; the summer showers were late, but they finally arrived this week to ease the heat - so I can't even complain about the weather. Like I said, during this particular week, nothing has happened for me to complain about.

This has lead to an uncomfortable consuquence. I don't have anything to moan about in the blog post for this week. Maybe those among you, who are adept at picking up patterns, have noticed it long before. But I noticed it recently only that, almost always, I start a blogpost in this series with a complaint. And over the course of four months, what was meant to be conversation starter has become the conversation.

I typed in, and then deleted, about four different topics before settling in to this one. I couldn't find a coherent string of words to continue the topics I had started because they weren't necessarily complaints. So, in order to have a post, I decided to complain about the fact that I've nothing to complain about. Such is my state now. :-/

I don't know who we can blame for this. A week, like a day, can be like a week you have had before. Life is after all a repetition of history. And this repetition makes everything look blunt. We don't have anything to be amused about, we don't have anything to be concerned for; we look at the events unravelling around us, and say "Meh!". We just don't care about it, cos it fails to dial up the interest levels in us.

But then, something happens. A faint rumour, a new info, a funny incident - something which spikes up our interest. And for this blunt week, I am going to try and give you five such surprises.

Did you know...

1. ... that there is a word to describe the smell of rain on dry earth?

Now who amongst us haven't felt good on smelling "that" frangance, which fills the air when the summer rains reach the earth. And they have coined a word to describe the same. "Petrichor" is defined as "the distinctive scent which accompanies the first rain after a long warm dry spell". Now, you know what to say when you smell this heavenly scent. ;)

2. ... that there is a famous West Indian cricketer from the past, who is of Indian origin?

I'm not talking about anyone in the current crop of players. Now we have a South African playing cricket for England, Polish and Turkish footballers playing international games for Germany, and what not.

The person I'm talking about is a double World Cup winner (1975 and 1979); is considered to be one of the best exponents of ODI cricket; and was adjudged to be only behind Sir Don Bradman and Sachin Tendulkar among the All time greats in Test Cricket.

Remember to have your face in that expression as you read the next line.

The cricketer I was talking about was Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards, known affectionately as Viv Richards, and he is a Malayali.

The "Alexander" in his name belongs to his grandfather, Mr. Alexander 'Tintu' Richards, who migrated to West Indies and settled there. (again thanks to Rakesh for bringing this cricket related info to our attention.)

So, the next time I meet Sir Viv, I'll say "Enthokkae unde vishesham?"
*"So what's going on with you" in Malayalam. 

3. ... that, in the standard set of playing cards, the Kings are called Caesar, David, Alexander and Charles??

And this is not some random naming. They are taken from history or mythology.

• King of Diamonds: Caesar (presumably after Julius Caesar)
• King of Spades: David (a biblical king)
• King of Clubs: Alexander (king of Macedonia)
• King of Hearts: Charles (presumably after Charlemagne)

4. ... that someone found a new way to get a gal's phone number??

If you are an average specimen of the male kind, you know how hard it is to get a gal's phone number.

But fear not anymore, for a friend has devised a new way to do the same.

*if you are a gal, please skip the next line; Guys, make the next line by heart.

Give her your number and ask her to add you in Whatsapp. ;)

5. ... that there are some pessimistic people in this world, who can never be happy??

You all must be having that one friend who is suspicious of anything good happening to them. The ones, who are so afraid of bad things happening to them, that they forget to enjoy the moment. Well, they have a condition called "Cherophobia". This is the second combination of Greek words that we come across here today, and it means "fear of happiness."

P.S. I've Cherophobia.

On that bright note, let me take your leave.

That's all folks!!!
Have a great weekend!!!

5 things I learned this week (Part 14)

Normal people categorize their working days into three - good, neutral, bad.

Well, I on the other hand have just two - crappy day & "well, it looks like everyone here has food poisoning" day.

I hope you have enough grey cells up top to know which kind of day I just had.

I would have normally gone on a rant about why, who, what, how and all, but I'm being restrained by whatever is left of my sanity. (based on the reasoning that this is the only job I've now)

Sorry, but this is not how I wanted to start off today's post. I had an entirely different and, if I might take the liberty to say so, a super-awesome blog typed in. But that will have to wait for another day to see the outside world. For now, you are stuck with bad-mood-hari.

Yes, you just saw me refer to myself in third person. I do that. A lot. It's not like there's any law in this land which forbids me to do so. I refer to myself in third person whenever I don't feel normal. So, there's weird-hari, there's hyper-hari, there's bad-mood-hari. There's also sexy-hari, but we don't him to be here right now.

This trait of mine, where I use self-referral in third person, can be categorized as multiple personality disorder. Just over the past one week, I've had more than four people I mingle with on a daily basis, say to me that they think someone else writes this blog. According to them, my personality and my blog's personality doesn't match. Some even said that my blog personality is cool, compared to my real one. (even though I prefer not to believe them)

I hadn't given a thought to whether I act different around here, but once I did, I found that here, I do do a lot of things that I normally don't.

For example, I don't normally use the words "ass" or "sexy" in my vocal vocabulary, but they have made their presence felt in the posts in this blog.

I don't necessarily talk a lot, but I do here.

I don't use, in a week, the amount of English that I use here in a post.

You get the idea na.

This outburst, this this this... I had read of a word for this thing that I do, where I turn my mind inside out in words. I'll let you know if I find it again. Anyways, as I was saying, this thing, this conversation that we just did here has purged my mind of the pains I had today. Thank you.. ;)

Anyways, it's nearly 7pm. I'm to get off from work in 10 minutes. Then I've to take my bike for service(yet again). I'll get back to you after I get home.

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Well, what took you a few  seconds to scroll through took me an entire hour and half. Just back home, and I'm already in front of the internet again. You know why? Not only because I'm a net freak, but I've to do this week's post, and I still haven't got the "5 things" for this week.

Luckily, a journey which involved a bike ride, then a shared auto ride, then a metro ride and an auto ride at the end gave me enough time to think about what to say. So, here we go.

Did you know...

1. ... that "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo" is a grammatically correct sentence in American English?

It's true only in American English, cos one of the buffalo in there is a place called Buffalo in America. To know why, how and more sentences like this, go to this wiki page.

2. ... that Mr.Dhoni has only the 'Ashes' series to win, among the major competitions in Cricket?

Obviously, he can't win that. But still it's a pretty good notion to keep in mind.

By the way, if you thought that the ashes series was called so because somebody burned the ashes into a urn, then you are partially wrong. Before that event took place, a mock obituary appeared in the British press, which said that English cricket has died, and after the cremation, the Australian team will be leaving with the 'ashes'. That name stuck when the English press hailed it's heroes for bringing back the ashes the next time.

Here's the link to the wiki page. Hat tip to Rakesh for this clarification.

3. ... that I know that you might not know what 'Hat tip' means?

Don't take this the wrong way. I'm not gloating that I've very good vocab. There's a difference between showing off and teaching, and I always try to keep myself to the teaching side of it. What I talk about in a day depends on the things I learned/found out that day. This is a word I came across today, and here's the explanation of this word, 'Hat tip'.

4. ... that I was kept really busy this week cos of work and other things?

Sorry, but I don't have any more points for now. I'm not a literary expert to churn out prose every week. I've my limitations. But I'll point you towards something I had written earlier this week, 'Aise na mujhe tum dekho', wherein I pay tribute to a musical genius.
5. ... that just cos you have a car loan to pay back doesn't mean that I've to stay for overtime?

I think I can get away with saying just that much. ;)


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Well, that's all folks!!

Have a great weekend!!!

Aise Na Mujhe Tum Dekho......

Kishore Kumar.

This multifaceted personality needs no introduction. Well, I hope he doesn't.

In case you don't know exactly who he is, Google and Wikipedia can help you in knowing his illustrious career. But here, in this post, I’ll be telling you who he is to me.

I must have been introduced to his voice very early in my life. My father had cassettes and cassettes of his songs, and he used to buy more whenever he got a chance. And since he is used to having songs playing in the background (like son, like father :P), we had the original KK's sound reverberating through our house all the time.

And what a voice it was!! He has sung songs that reflect all your moods and situations, no matter whether you are

• feeling happy (om shanti om)
• feeling sad (ye kya hua)
• feeling dejected (mera jeevan kora kaagaz)
• feeling weird (Ina meena deeka)
• feeling overzealously happy (bachna he haseeno)
• going to meet a girl (aaj unse pehli mulaqaat hogi)
• just met an unknown girl (ek ajnabe haseena se)
• thinking of an unknown girl (aata jaate khoob surat)
• thinking of the neighbour's daughter (mere samne waale khirki)
• thinking of your dream girl (dream girl & mere sapno ki rani)
• feeling lost (musaafir hun yaaron)
• nostalgic about friends (yeh dosti)
• feeling romantic (pal pal dil ke pass)
• trying to make your wife happy (raat kali ek khawab me aayi)

I know that watching all these songs are going to eat into your data usage for the month, but I can assure you, you won't regret it. I'm yet to meet a person who says that he/she doesn't like the songs of Kishore da ("da" as in brother in the Bengali language).

Well, I started off trying to tell you what his voice meant to me, and in accordance with my usual behaviour here, I've gone on and talked about something else altogether. Let me get back to the topic.

I'm the sort of guy, who never sticks to a certain genre in music. One morning I'm hearing devotional songs, the next day it'll be romantic, and the day after it'll some classic rock/jazz song. I consider myself as a nomad in the world of music - never sticking to one place, always roaming around in search of something better. But for me, when the dearth of fresh music starts to stifle my senses, the songs of Kishore da comfort me. For me, his songs are the innumerable oases I come across in my journey.

You may have already met this song I am going to introduce you to. But this is the latest of the oases that I've come across, which spawned this post. And to tell you the truth, this song is on repeat on my system. Just hear it out for yourself to find out how good it is.

I'm the kind of person who, once he finds it interesting, will keep on playing the same song over and over again. I look for the various instruments, the lyrics, the voice, the effects in the song. I then play the song till the thing which excited me in the first place becomes monotonous. It is in these dire situations that I find Kishore da's songs comforting.

But the time when I really enjoy to hearing his songs are the moments just before I sleep. I like to keep a playlist of his soft songs on repeat in my mobile, and just drift off into the dreamland. And his songs always lull me to sleep. Maybe that's cos I had them as my lullabies when I was born. Thank you  acha* for that.

*acha is father in Malayalam.