Stay Hungry..Get Something New

This has been happening to me for quite some years now. I write about it only now because I thought it was just a passing phase. Fortunately or unfortunately that is not the case. So how about lightening my 'burden' by sharing it...

Every 3-4 months out of nowhere I get this sudden feeling that there should be 'something new' in my life. I don't think it is something profound that I wish to change but something small, really inconsequential but even then something which might make a difference in my life.

Somehow I knew the urge was materialistic. For a novel experience I turned to online shopping. The small things which I needed to again feel good about my existence where books to start with. Flipkart, Infibeam, Indiaplaza etc were the sites I frequented. The new releases sections were scanned biweekly to see if any of the novels would interest me and ofcourse fit my monthly 'novel' budget.

After that was the turn of the t-shirts. I bumped into this cool site almost 2 yrs back Inkfruit.com which had really cool tee designs and messages as well at an affordable price. Next time I got that same feeling, I was scanning the site and ordering a tee. Those tees hold good even today :)

This same feeling in the US, gave me my cellphone, my kindle, a few additions to my wardrobe and the latest and brand newest of them all - Gillette Proglide Styler :)

I did survive OK I think after my 'Beard Tales', with a few of the clients surprised at what they called the 'new look' and a few commenting candidly that I could hide behind that beard all I wanted but they will eventually find me when needed!!! Infact I was introduced to a few as a 'look-shifter' something of a mutant, not sure how would I look the next week. The attention both positive and negative added that much more excitement to a mundane weekday.

The beard is now the thing of the past.I am a well groomed gentleman now. I am so impressed with this Proglide styler that I actually went ahead and created my own banner for the product :

Guess the Friday's gonna turn out good after all.

At the end of it, all I can say is "Stay Hungry, Get Something New!!!"

SRT : The Rajya Sabha Nominee :(

I am sure that this was the first time that so many arguments and counter arguments would have been traded with regards to the nomination of members to the Rajya Sabha. Frankly speaking even I was attracted to this only because it had to do with SRT!!!

I am not going to waste sentences trying to convey how great SRT is and that I have utmost respect for what he has achieved both for him, the country and ofcourse the game of cricket. However even after being a world beater SRT still retains that boyish charm about him. Looking at him facing the camera even now I get a feeling that he is still that 'boy next door'. That is precisely the reason why I feel that the sobriquet 'God' fits him well. He is up there but at the same time also amongst us.

So is the beleaguered Congress led UPA trying to salvage its image by playing the Rajya Sabha nomination trick? Frankly speaking I don't even want to go there. The moment I heard the news of the nomination, I fervently wanted SRT to politely say no. SRT at that instant had the power to snub the political class and make a profound statement out of this denial. That denial however polite if you ask me would have meant a lot for the man on the street. That denial however polite would have sent out a signal saying that really there is no need to mix sports with politics or even to make politicians out of sportpersons.

On the flip side, I feel that I am over-reacting. It is afterall only the Rajya Sabha. I mean the elected members of the Lok Sabha don't do zilch these days then what can a nominated member in the Rajya Sabha possibly achieve? And it is this simple, logical thought that pulls SRT down from the pedestal where I have perched him in my heart for all these years and eqautes him to the low-lying mortals of our generation called - 'politicians'. This is precisely why SRT's decision to accept the nomination pains me.

Some say that its Rajya Sabha today, then it will be the Bharat Ratna. Frankly speaking the cricket and the SRT fan in me doesn't really care. We have to remember that it was the game and the fans of the game that made SRT and so his ultimate achievement, his crowning glory for me will always be on the cricket pitch rather than in the parliament or even in the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

SRT how about surpassing that highest individual test score of 400(n.o), for a change??!!!!

I leave you with this montage of SRT's cricketing shots. Its around 10mins long but worth every second

1st May : Maharashtra Divas and much more!!!

While I was being appraised of the situation back home in my pretty much weekly parental calls, my Mom reminded me to talk to my nephew (Aditya) without fail today. It didn't strike me at first so I blurted out, "Aditya, why? Because it is Maharashtra Day or because it is Labour day??!!" . Mom's answer had me kicking myself in self realization. How could I forget what 1st May used to bring each and every year for 11 years of my life. Of course it was the annual result day!!!

In those 11 years there were not many 1st May's which turned out disappointing for me. I had this uncanny ability of some how peaking scholastically in the last exam of the academic year. Well it was not much of use from the annual prize distribution perspective as that would have already gone by with me standing behind the most decorated student of my class for that year. Nonetheless, upping my performance for the final exams gave me that sweet feeling which only vengeance and that too 'scholastic' vengeance can bring.

The part which was most cherished was after the report card was collected. This was the time when it was Dad's turn to keep up the part of the deal. So be it new shoes, or a much promised season cricket bat or even a video game. Me and Dad used to reach home before Mom could make it from her school. I still remember how she would tentatively get in and before talking to me I am sure there would be glances exchanged between the two of them so that she was sure that everything was fine. 

A mark less here and there was catastrophic. The Borate household was held in the maze of tantrums, cries of anguish from yours truly :) and of course words of encouragement and soothing from his parents.

Post lunch, friends gathered in the building's parking lot. Friends going to different schools, a year or two elder or younger. Sometime was spent in sharing school gossip. I was especially interested in how some girls from a local co-ed school did. Being from an 'all boys' school I couldn't really beat the girls you see, which at that time I found really unfair for the girls' :). Then there were always a few who needed consoling because they didn't get what they thought they should have.  

After school for a few years I made it a point to visit my 'Alma Mater' on this same day. Talking to teachers, just visiting classrooms. Trying to remember where each of my friends sat when we were in that class. Each time when I walked out of school I had a lump in my throat. Only if I could turn back time and experience all that one more time!!!

Guess talking to my nephew will be the closest I can get to the 1st May that I cherish so much :)

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Aani ho aaj Maharashtra Divas ahe tar ek vinodi prasnna (only for Marathi readers) :

Ek shetkari hota. Thyachya kade don (2) bail hote....

Ek mayla ek mayla, tar sanga thyachya kade kiti bail urle te??!!!

(Leave your answer in the comments sections)

Jai Maharashtra!!! \m/