Zoomed in…

I have not been consistent in blogging since school started, trying to juggle between work, team discussions, classes, meet-ups and assignments. I don’t remember if I started this year on a high note but definitely this is a year that’s ending with many sweet memories, new challenges, intrinsic learnings, futuristic visions, growing bucket lists and much more. I always take time to reflect and rewind to see how things scaled up and this is what exactly I told when my classmate asked “What do you want to achieve personally by doing an MBA?”. My reply was “There should be a difference between how I was when I joined and how I am when I leave. There should be a graphical representation that shows a giant leap of weaknesses that transformed into strengths” All these differences and transformations should align me to make a difference in this world. Pete Cashmore whose blogging turned into a site that is ‘mashable’
today attracting 23 million readers everyday. He considers his success as 1% of what Steves (Woz and Jobs) could do to put a dent in this universe from their garage. My view of life is similar to this – If I could do a 1% difference [subjective] in this world before I die, I would die happily having lived a worthy life. That difference is my dream. That difference is my vision.

Joy of Giving:
This year had been a great year filled with the ‘joy of giving’. Be it donations to ‘Give a book’, ‘CRY’, ‘Petral dhaan Pillaya?’ or buying cookies for seniors or adopting a family for giving Xmas gifts, nothing in this world can beat the feeling of giving a ray of hope, an arch of sunshine, days of happiness to those whom you can never expect or get anything in return. That’s when I decided that I will donate something for a noble cause for my best buddies and close relationships special days like birthdays and anniversaries. In a way, my materialistic gifting to all those people has dwindled but karmic goodness and blessings has reaped.

Vroom:
First trip of the year in NJ and MA spending time with family was delightful (Kids are the best part in life). Then a pleasure and sight-seeing trip to Vegas followed (No gambling but beautiful views of casinos esp. Bellagio’s). Trip to SFO for my friend’s baby shower and spending late nights decorating and enjoying the company of friends with laughter and joy was a memorable one (Did not realize that I may be visiting SFO often after that). Each one of us who long for, get excited about and end up with ‘don’t want to go back’ feeling – The India trip revealed a new me in me (lots of attitudinal shift for good). Trip to Seattle to meet the two tiny ones for their first Birthday – Had a blast mingling with people enjoying the fun times (Happy feeling). And the time with my best buddies for the B’day, roaming in MN, WI and IL (That’s special). Then the first foot at my dream school gave a feeling of pride (That awesome feeling cannot be equated to the words expressed). Later and now Silicon Valley has become my next stop

The flops:
Started various things in this blog but most of those did not prevail – The Leadership Ladder, I read. I liked, One observation, one new thing, The starting point, Stanford’s online classes. ‘Time Management’ needs focus

New realms:
Focused on many interpersonal skills, initiated new strategies to study, got new people whom I can look up to, thought about new ideas and approaches in my entrepreneurial readings this year. Had a huge smile while looking back and connecting the dots on how past experiences and initiatives has helped me to step into Babson. It has reiterated a point strongly – any skill, any knowledge, any effort can never go waste. It may not render immediate benefits but at some point in life, it would help – At that time, you would look back and smile.

2012 definitely had been a great year for me. And when I look forward for 2013, I can see many challenges, many new experiences on its way.

May the new year 2013 bring you
New avenues to accelerate your learning
Challenges to shape you better
Happiness to show the beauty of life
Prosperity to show you how to live and give
Good health to have fun
Wonderful times to accelerate the hopes
Blissful moments to show the purpose of life

Wishing you wonderful days in 2013 and have a great and happy New Year!

Enriching experiences

[Warning: Long post. Read at your discretion]

Taste buds: It’s a series of festivals…Halloween and then Diwali…As I said earlier, I’m in the road to breaking my routines. So, made up my mind to prepare 2 new dishes for Diwali this time – K (Kaaju Khathli) & K (Kaara Bhoondhi), it was! Poor me, with my tooth braces tightened, could not relish much of the Bhoondhi. But was grabbing the K sweet every evening as I passed by that small dabba where it resided. For everything I do, there’s either a self motivation or an inspiration from someone I saw – This cooking inspiration was from my friend ‘A’ who has a forte in preparing sweets like Badam Halwa, Kheer etc., For you all to believe that my hands on these two new items turned out well, here’s a picture [2012 'From Raji's kitchen' Copyrights reserved ]

Celebration time: Not only this, we had a Diwali celebration at work place like the ones that we had last year. My responsibilities spanned from ‘Rangoli’ to ‘Diya decoration’ and I did help sometime in serving desi food. After watching all those creative minds decorating diyas, I couldn’t stop my longing to do one. So, grabbed a Diya type that most of them did not pick and created a colorful one, realizing that the diya had only five petals. I thought it had six and started decorating with two different colors. Mine was an average creation. I saw some superb ones, gold plated, plush green ones etc. I’ve placed it in my cubicle now. It was a fun time with friends and colleagues enjoying some music, sports, dress booth, dance, food, ethnic decorations, Henna decorations etc. I couldn’t stay till the end for a group snap (Cha…I missed it this time) since I had to rush to catch my flight to SFO for my face to face MBA classes.

Traveling in trains: Though I did not have any clue of how trains operate in CA or the different public transportation systems (BART, Caltrain, Muni, Light rail), I did enjoy the journeys. I could use that 1 hour 40 mins train travels from Sunnyvale to SFO to review my class notes, do the case studies, talk to family and friends, browse, observe people and surrounding and sometimes munching snacks. I hail the technology of this time – My friends in those trains were the iPhone apps – Caltrain and BART and Google maps [No, I don't have iPhone 5]. I relied on them totally for my walks from train station to the class, getting tickets, checking timings and even sometimes some FAQs. I don’t know even if my other friends would have helped this much as how these apps did. Thanks to Technology!

Class connections: Since I am one among those who comes from a different state to the classes in CA, all my classmates cared to ask where I stay, how I commute, when my flights were. Every breakfast, lunch and snacks time was a time to connect with different people. During one of those lunch time, met one of the prospective student visitor who was asking about the classes, course work etc. I could see a bit of intimidation in her face watching us cramming through the presentations and case study reports even during lunch time.

Memory game ice breakers: Our first class was our final project presentation of the innovative product that we created as a team. All of us had this anxiety syndrome on how we were going to present and tackle through the questions from the other class mates and professor. The professor found our inherent anxiety and started the class with an introduction game where we had to tag our first names with an adjective which starts with the same letter as our first name and then tell about our job and a fun fact about us. The next person has to tell the names of those previously did the process and it continues on. We all had a notebook with all those names. I could have told ‘Relaxed Raji’ but I said ‘Reluctant Raji’ and the whole class now calls me with that name Snakes coming in my dream was a fun fact [Idhu fun fact-a? it should be a nightmare] about me and one of my other Asian class mate detailed that in their custom, if someone gets snakes in their dreams, he/she will get a very good guy in his/her life. I smirked and said ‘I have been waiting so long for one’ and the whole class giggled. The same Asian classmate told that she drives out the snakes in her dreams…I turned back and asked ‘Are you the one who drives away my luck of getting a good guy?’ After the whole game of introductions, we laughed much that the anxiety went away. Each team presented an innovative product prototype that has a potential to be in the market. I don’t want to reveal any of the product ideas here which will hinder our chances of being an Entrepreneur to create such new products. Though all of those products including ours were not mind blowing but each had its own usefulness and uniqueness.

Rocket pitch: Since I had been following the TV series ‘Shark Tank’ and some entrepreneurship forums and articles, I was aware of what a Rocket pitch was. Nevertheless to mention, earlier, I went to my professor who’s also a venture capitalist and said ‘I want to become a VC and what should I do to become one?’  He gave me a ‘bulb’ asking me to find what VC is and why I want to become one? I’m yet to find the answer for that We have to show case our product ideas to a bunch of investors within 3 minutes allocated covering all significant details that will make an Angel investor or a Venture capitalist to invest in the idea. The most important learning was the feedback and questions and insights shared by the other classmates and the Prof, after it was presented. It was a coincidence that I had glimpsed through ‘Steve Jobs’ presentation skills and tips few days before and it helped me to easily traverse through what was discussed. I’m seriously considering some tips to be put into action. There’s one big area of improvement for me, Public Speaking – Planned strategies in place and its going to take some time for me to implement and become successful in it. Some people are very good at it and they inspire me. Inspiration does not help in its entirety, some action needed from my end.

Role plays: This was the most fun part for me. We were put into positions of being CEOs and planning strategies and composing visions and subjected to “If I were the CEO of company X, what would I have done differently?’. After we reported the role play pointers, class discussions happened on analyzing and working through which would work and which wouldn’t. With a mix of different thinking abilities of people, I automatically learn new perspectives which I would have never even thought of. Another time, we were partnered and negotiate for a start-up company that we were about to start as partners. To my knowledge, I played it very well that most of the negotiations fell in my favor. High fives!!! But I failed considerably in the role play of how to give constructive feedback and gain momentum to work with others. My partner said ‘You are too humble and giving up easily. Give me a tough fight so that we can learn from each other’ for which I smiled (not knowing what else should I do).

These freedom of thoughts has brought out my openness in asking how to bring innovation at work place. I could see a change in me - Analyzing the business reports of the company which I never spent much time earlier rather than just reading it. As one ages, memory deteriorates. I try harder to keep up with the memory after I read various case studies and text book articles, but its not coming up easily. Any tips are welcome!

Time with friends: It was a (S)Funday! Spending time with friends, eating loads, watching movies and playing with ‘S’ (my friend’s 4 month old son) – A relaxing day after travel and studies. Flights are not being friendly with me these days. Missed the connecting flight last time (not my fault, airlines’s) and stuck inside the flight for 2.5 hrs due to some servicing yesterday.

Back home now and enjoying my ‘Me’ time – Yeah….it’s the first break time of the course! Time to clear the back log of reading magazines, watching video and movies and connecting with friends.

Deep sense of gratitude to all my friends and family who’s helping me in (m)any ways that they could, to achieve this ‘MBA’ dream of mine possible. With this thanks giving note, wishing ‘Happy Thanks Giving’!

The early buzz

Days pass by so fast. It’s already November and holiday season is near by. We had Halloween celebrations last week. After 2007, I dressed up for Halloween this year, even did some cubicle decorations, invited kids to home for ‘trick or treat?’. Won the costume and cubicle decoration contest at work and our team won the contests both in CLE and CO. It was a great moment for all of us for our deliberate prep work and we all owed to it 2 guys who were the think-tanks behind the idea of executing the ‘CLUE’ board game. I was Ms. Scarlet and people asked me why I look pretty (thanks to a team-mate who gave her very beautiful red gown) rather than spooky or creepy? I remember running to Walmart in the morning to look for an alternative and the similar purse that Ms.Scarlet held in her hands in the ‘CLUE’ movie that I watched the weekend before Halloween (I thought I could enact well if I see the movie. It helped with the costume and accessories but not the seductive look and cigars though ). Had some decorations at home too. Did a handmade ‘boo’ door tag and had a pail of candies for kids. When 3 kids knocked the door, I was a bit scared to ask for trick. I passed the first moment by saying ‘Treat’ and gave a handful of candies to each of them I did research on the history of Halloween before all this happened and so I was well prepared. This Halloween was different from the earlier years since I engaged myself to do something on that day. A pumpkin carving and ask for tricks next year may be…

Classes and Assignments have become an integral part of my day-to-day life. I used to be stuck with routines, not any more – One basic thing that is thrusted upon me in the coursework. Break the routines and do something new. I’ve been trying to put this technique to work. No more ‘pre-programmed’ 9:30 sleep time, social networking for a few hours in the evenings etc., 2 courses this time – one that squeezes your brain to handle difficult situations and bends you to think on leadership capabilities; the other one pushes you to bring out your creativity, challenges you to get out of your comfort zone – I never thought creativity and Entrepreneurship can be thought, until now. Every week, I try out new strategies to improve my game plan of reading case studies, working on assignments and bring out new things that I may have resisted to try before. Though time stays critical and significant in all these, its worth the experience and energy spent. Our team is creating a new product which we got to present in 10 days during my second face to face classes. Lovviingg it!

Amidst all this, trying to catch up with Masterminds session. After missing a few in the row, did listen to it this week. Some of my interpretations from it:
Give up your comforts to go up
Make a difference – You should feel like this birth of mine is worth it, everyday
You shouldn’t be in a position to give up things that your heart desires, because of economical reasons

Amitabh Bacchan, T.T.RangaRajan, Robin Sharma, my cousin J Akka – I’m sure I’ll add many more to this list – I wonder how in this world these people get time and energy and passion to do things that no ordinary person like me can think of, accomplishing in 24 hours a day that’s given to all of us in this earth. They inspire me every now and then. I wish to be like that one day.

3 songs that I’ve glued my heart and soul to it. Worth listening:
‘Nenjukulle’ from Maniratnam’s movie Kadal – Nenjukulle is definitely in my nenjukulle now.

‘Ayyayo anandhame’ from Kumki:

‘Oru paadhi kadhavu neeyadi’ from Thaandavam

That’s for now. More later…

My Mini Travelogue tales – MN, WI, IL

Visiting all states in USA is one of the items in my bucket list. It’s going to take a while to make it happen but I hope I can do it. This time it’s midwest coverage. Excitement factor of trips, visiting friends used to creep in sometime before boarding the plane. Ditto, this time as well.

Day 1 – MN:
Minnesota – City of 1000 lakes – It started there. I was the last one to arrive at the airport and N, A, S and Sh came to pick me up. I was hoping for a tiffin box full of food to be offered to me in the car while we headed to N’s home. They were giving me hints of what they ate and what will be offered to me for dinner – I knew all that was a lie. Truth turned out to be a ‘Saravana Bhavan’ special consisting of Dosa, Adai, Pudhina Chutney, Tomato Chutney made by N – In addition to it, N and S made fresh musk melon and water melon juices and served those past midnight [Sema Saapadu...burps... ] Then the award ceremony started – Who’s got gifts for whom? One of them took the vocation of a photographer while I got my share of gift – Aha…this B’day became a B’day of watches. Now, I have the privilege of wearing different watch every day of the week – Different straps, dials, colors, shades, pattern, brands. I gave the cards that I made for A/S and N. I started talking to Sh about his MS coursework, classes, credits, professors [See ya...it's student student conversation] Heard from N that Sh pulled a full nighter before he came to MN. I thought to myself: It’s not far for me…Classes are nearing. We all spoke for some time and went to sleep after discussing the next day’s menu and logistics.

Day 2 to follow…

Give a good book!

Time flies off easily. It’s been another year and another birthday around the corner – Not only a birthday but also a birthday wish

“Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime”

Books are the treasures of life. What’s the best trait that you can develop in a child? Reading habit. Reading makes a child to think, explore, focus, communicate, gain knowledge and create ideas. Reading is a discipline. While most people know this, not everyone in this world are able to develop this discipline in a child just because they cannot afford to buy a good book. We can change that and make at least some children to gain accessibility and own a good book which he or she can cherish for lifetime. That’s my birthday wish of this year – ‘Give a good book’ fund-raising campaign.

On my birthday, you all are going wish me to have whatever I dream of. This fund-raiser is one of the big dreams that I have for this year. Will you make my dream and birthday wish come true this year by donating whatever you can and make a child have a good book in hands?

With a book in hands, you can bring a smile in a child’s face here.
http://supporters.firstbook.org/goto/give-a-good-book

Thanks a million, in advance!

King strikes again!

Football – a hot favorite sport of many across the globe, the tennis matches – a ‘I can’t miss this action’ types and the Olympics which is around the corner – a pompous series of gaming, displays a ‘Sporting Summer’ season.

I can argue for being a couch potato and watching soap operas but when it comes to Sports, being a couch potato does not even deserve an argument Especially when my most favorite man with racquet ‘Rafa’ is on the clay field against one of the strongest opponents ‘Novak’, I digress most other activities in my kitty. When the ‘Roland Garros’ king won the first 2 sets in the finals, I was uttering ‘Vamos Rafa! You gotta take the seventh crown home’. The aggression and power not only comes to players when they play, it does come to sporting fans like me when I watch my favorite team or players play.

When the third set tilted towards Novak’s playing tactics, I was taken aback – If Novak wins this set, stopping him from taking a lead in the next would be a high calibre job and the difficult of the difficult. Rain played a spoil sport then leaving all the tennis fans stranded. Like Rafa and Novak, I’m sure many fans wouldn’t have slept by thinking about the next day’s play.

By the time I got up next day and tuned in the TV as the first thing even before brushing my teeth, the match was over. King of clay has proved that he deserved to be called so. With many records in hand, he held the cup smiling. I did smile too, with great relief and happiness.

Rafa, you did it! Many Congratulations!!! Now, go and get some sleep – I was talking to myself.

Image courtesy: ‘The Hindu’

Seattle Times…

The Travel:
It was a trip planned well in advance. It was a trip that was due for a year, waiting for the cute twins grow and giving adequate private time for my friends to enjoy the parenthood and the new experience. Few days before the trip, I told my colleague friend M about the Seattle trip. M, who shuttles between Seattle and Colorado Springs often, told “Say my hi to the pilot” and giggles followed The GPS struggled to work on my way to Denver but some luck showered in the form of my driving skills and the driving directions memory that I held hitherto.

The sleep cycles after the India trip was a deviant that continued even ‘in the air’. I had the Infinithoughts magazine on my handbag that gave me company through out. It was the first time after so many years I finished reading the magazine in one sitting. There was an argument between the airline crew and a lady who boarded. Due to a delay in the previous flight, this lady has gotten into this connecting flight at the last minute where as her boss had missed. The argument continued for a while until the crew member had to discuss about the laws and regulations. I got reminded of actress Sneha who comes in a guest appearance as the Senior airline crew member in the latest movie OKOK – The nuisance in the movie scenes was probably in line with this actual and thats why I gotten Sneha in my mind at that point of time.

Howdy chats:
While we disembarked the plane, saw most of the people taking their jackets and wearing it. I too picked up my jacket and wore it. Seattle weather can be gloomy all the time. I remember my colleague friend M telling me the correlation of percentage inclination of suicides and weather. AP came to pick me up and we talked about work, Colorado, songs, movies, personal things etc. There was a group of friends at his place and we had dinner and ended up chatting till 2 AM in the morning.  S was asking about my India trip and other personal plans. The twins were happily sleeping in their places and we did not disturb them.Is this what is called ‘Sleepless in Seattle?’

B’day Party:
The next afternoon was the B’day party. In the morning, AP’s mom, sis and I were chatting for a while talking about good old stories and how me and his sis used to play teacher games Getting the Y & Y twins ready was not an easy task. The tikes that I had gifted was a hit – the twins and all those kids who came to their place wanted to ride on that. Loved the kids dresses – the boY with a cute coat suit and the girlY with a cute little pink frock and a flowery headband was a delight to watch. The next set of dresses – a girlY chudidhar with a dupatta for a one year old? (wonder how they design such cute dresses for the little ones) and the ‘cool dude’ dress of boY also suited them well that we couldn’t get the eyes off of them. Snaps were clicked continuously.

Though I am not used to long earrings, with S’s request, wore one. I looked different to myself The bright colored dress was another thing that was a new attempt from me. The new attempts bore its fruit of satisfaction revealed from the snaps that I saw later. The party place was filled with friends of AP & S. Loved the place which had a park and a lake around. We took a stroll to the lakeside and took few pictures. Then some group snaps followed. The lunch dishes were good and we packed the left overs for dinner. While getting into the car, A came and showed me a photo asking “Why are you not having a Bindi in this photo?”. I said “Ha ha…it’s not me”. The girl in the photo was a look-alike of me and hence the question. I then enquired who that was and since it was AP/S’s friend SC’s sister, I have started calling SC as ‘enga Anna SC’

We had some games in the evening at AP/S’s place and dinner at their friend’s place. There was a game to tell in one line about each of them present there. They asked me to tell about S and after few mins of thoughts I said “Friendly”. I could have come with a better word because I meant to say something more than that. Anyways, my turn was over. S was asked to tell about me and she said “Samaritan”. M said “I have read the word in books but don’t know the complete meaning of it”. I was in the same boat as M but I thought it was to refer a person who lends a helping hand. My vocab is limited that way. When S detailed it, I didn’t know how to react but smiled and felt very happy inside

Dinner time was fun at their friend’s place. We were taken an inside tour of the house by A. Liked the way they have kept things, modelled and adorned the house. We had home made dinner, party left overs, pizzas. Before a game of poker was started, we requested AP and his brother-in-law, a talented vocalist and guitarist to play Guitar and sing songs of “Engal choice” [the songs that were chosen from all of us]. Songs ranged from Ilayaraja’s “Madai Thirandhu” to Harris Jeyaraj’s “Nenjukkul Peidhidum”. Banters were there in between the musical show Kids were engrossed in Wii games. The game of Poker was detailed to some of us who were new to it. I watched the game most of the time rather than taking the role of a player. Time flew and it was well past midnight. Then, to bed.

Sunday treats:
GirlY refused to come to me most of the times but boY did not. Sat besides them and saw them playing. Took pictures with them in AP’s friend N’s place. I knew N from the school days. I was teasing N and AP on how those school days they waited at the bus stop to sight a girl of my class, whom they liked We had a surprise baby shower for AP’s sis and then lunch at N’s place. We had a ‘in and around’ house tour there also

Left to the airport there after. AP & S came to drop me off. On the way I was thinking of the hand written card that they gave. I’ve clipped it on my bedroom now. It means a lot to me as it referred how much I mean to them. Their gift to me reached a week later – it was a very funny desktop organizer. I told S why I did not want to keep that in my work place. If I keep it, I’m sure every one who walks that side, will stop by and pass some comments.

Jazz-Oh!
Boarded the flight and with insufficient sleep for few days, thought of dozing off as soon as I get in. There was an old man sitting across my seat smiled and asked me “Are your parents from India?” I nodded and he said he want to talk to me. I did not know why until he came and sat next to me and told his details. He was a musician who had gone to various parts of India for his concerts. We started talking about various topics – India, Culture, Varanasi, Chennai, Carnatic Music, Brahmins, Religious gods, Marriage rituals, Dowry, Recipes etc., He said he loved Upma and Dosa with coconut chutney and sambar. He went into the details of “how to make Upma?” I told about my iota of knowledge on music and the carnatic classes that I had taken [not worth mentioning though ] We both did some thaalams, aadhi thaalams and talked about some raagas that I’m familiar with. Being at the rear end of the flight, the flight attendant kept smiling at me often seeing our conversation. The old man and I talked about Harappa, Mohenjadaro, Castes, religions, history, tamil linguistics, differences between Hindustani and Carnatic – Most of these topics which I am not knowledgeable enough, I felt bad for not knowing more about my country, history and ancient culture that he asked about. I shared the Dosa recipe with him. He showed me how he wrote his name in Hindi – It was crystal clear and correctly written. He asked me if I am in my 20s. I told that it was a decade before Good thoughts, happiness, peace can bring radiance in you making you look and feel younger

While we waited to pick our baggages from the side, he sang a carnatic song for me. I remembered my carnatic teacher and my ‘on the class’ experiences then. Back home then…

Every trip offers a different enriching experience. Many more to come…

Smashers & Bashers…

A sport fanatic can give away anything especially a good sleep on Sunday morning for the love of the sport. When it’s any India-Pakistan match, you ought not to miss it. Though it was a huge score put up on the board by the rivals, India did not succumb easily to the pressure. I don’t know how and where does aggressiveness come from, for both the sides when they play against each other. It could have been because of enmity earlier, but now it has become an inherent potential to defeat. Virat’s knocks were delight to watch. If I was in the stadium watching it live, I would have danced like the girl in the old Cadbury’s Dairy Milk ad This man is the youth icon of the cricketing future. When Virat was in his 170s and there was about some 30 runs to score for a win, I was calculating if there’s any odd chance for Virat to score a double ton. Greediness , it is! My hands turned red with so many claps that was a sign of  my excitement and acknowledgement for fours and sixes and a well-played shot. Dhoni’s style of finishing the match with a 4 or 6 has become common. It was another India Pakistan match worth watching.

Earlier this week, with Sachin’s 100th ton, there were lots of criticisms and debates between friends on whether it was worth celebrating. His 100th ton was in the most hyped section for a while and now its about his retirement. My view is that the decision about his retirement should be left to him. I feel he’s the best to judge on when its the time for him to leave. There’s some critical view among all those Sachin bashers that he should retire to pavé the way for youngsters. Why not the youngsters learn from his expertise and experience when he’s still on the field? Only if an experienced person leaves, the youngsters can pitch in and prove their mettle, then there’s something wrong with the system itself. If Sachin is blocking way for some youngster or if his form is not good due to his age and poor stamina or his skills are not up to a level that the team can make use of it, then it’s an agreeable fact that he should retire, but in reality, it’s not. So why to ask him to retire? It was an illogical superstitious connection to make that India loses whenever Sachin scored a 100.

Sachin’s 100th ton was not well received by few because all of them felt that if he’s playing for the team and he knew that our bowling side is weak, why to wait on the crease for sometime between 70s – 100s and miss the strike a ball rate? Well, anyone off the pitch can talk anything about the game. I agree he could have got it sooner. But we can never count that as the only reason India losing against minnows Bangladesh. Bangladesh have upgraded their status from minnows some time back but we still see them as minnows. There’s also a view that why did not Sachin get his 100th ton against Australia or England? How can we question someone’s expertise seeing him bringing laurels all the way many times that’s non countable?

Although as fans, we have expectations that Indian team should win always or Sachin should get a 100 whenever we want him to, we should know a game is a game. Win or Loss is a part and parcel of the game. A player being in form and out of form is also a part and parcel of the game. Only if we can be a fan or follower of any person when he or she is successful, we can never be true fans of any person. Success and Failures are also part of life. The same technique may not work every time just because it was successful for the first time. It’s all about ones efforts, beliefs, learnings and hard work that make one raise back to success after a fatal fall. That makes a difference! And those who make that difference are history makers. I truly believe Sachin is one among them who plays not for his personal feat but for the passion and devotion towards the game.

I should have titled this post as ‘A tribute to Sachin’

Bee-hive of activities

Movies & Oscars: Had been eagerly waiting to watch KSY (Kaadhalil Sodhapuvadhu Yeppadi?) and MUK (Muppozhudhum Un Karpanaigal) and watched both after a day it was released. While 1/4 th of MUK was over, I could guess the plot and hence it did not interest me that much but since I like GVP’s music and with the fair presentation of the songs, I did not miss watching each one of them. My favorite pick is ‘Kangal neeye’. KSY is a wholesome entertainer and bring smiles in you. Watched ‘Drive’ and ‘Ides of March’ – Ryan Gosling has been added to the favorites list now Did not miss watching Oscars – had been consistent in the last few years. Liked Billy Crystal’s wit and went high after seeing A.R.Rahman on the deck with other musicians. With favoritism towards George Clooney, thought he would at least pick one of the coveted awards but he went home with none His charm swept (if not everyone), atleast
me Lots of movies have been added to my netflix queue after the Oscars and suggestions from ‘movie-buff’ friends.

Peek @ new ventures: Started using ‘Spool‘ and ‘Saavn‘ regularly.

Though I like this “Get ahead of times” ad of “The Hindu”, I should admit that “Economic times” has a great deal of information about start-ups.

Check out these start-ups:
http://www.xi3.com/
http://www.rangiru.com/
https://getspool.com/
http://traveltriangle.com/
http://www.saavn.com/
http://www.meterpodu.in

Wanna make a difference?
In some of my earlier blog posts, I’ve mentioned about the old-age home which is run by one of my friend’s parents in Chennai. They are constructing a new old-age home for lower middle class family people. Little contributions can make a huge difference to lots of people who are going to be a part of it and who is going to live in the old-age home. Every penny counts! The construction starts in March 2012. Details here:

Website: www.the motherstrust.org
Email address: themotherstrust.2006.@gmail.com
Contact #: 9677298224
ICICI BANK West Mambalam Branch #: 602301514702 (Donations can be made in the name of T. Bhavani Murali)

Some people in a day-to-day life, like this, can inspire you in a big way:
http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/metroplus/article2896247.ece

No child’s play:
The cartoon type articles in “The Hindu” entice me somehow. So, this article caught my attention:
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/article2932763.ece

Loved this paragraph in particular:
To me, parenting means being there for your child. Do what it takes to ensure that your child gets the best out of life; understand that each child is different and celebrate that difference; never compare the child with its siblings/ cousins/friends; recognise their interests that may not always be in sync with yours; foster their individuality; nurture their talent; tell them it’s okay to make mistakes; teach them to learn from their mistakes; love, adore, hug and kiss them; cook for them and clean after them; teach them the simple pleasures of life — such as going out for a walk to the beach, chatting with grandparents, sharing their thoughts , enjoying a home-made meal with everyone; and, above all, don’t pretend to be their friend — they already have them — just be a good parent without trying too hard.

In similar lines, had a chance to watch this week’s “Neeya Naana” where a student wants to become a doctor in future where as her father wants her to become a lawyer since it was one of his personal dreams. And a teacher saw her as a rebellion because of that. I totally disagree with what the teacher had to say when the girl student told her about this ambition of hers. If you say anything against your parents wish is considered rebellious, no individuality can be drawn from a person which will leave them in closed doors. It’s my opinion but the topic is debatable.

The toughest of all challenges in life is bringing up a child, although each phase in life throws you challenges of some sort.

Blitzkrieg Knock: 

How can I miss Virat’s smashes and hits earning bonus point for the team and look fine in the points table? CB series, I’ve been missing you except following the scores on line. Could see a great potential in Virat Kohli, not just because of this particular knock but many more that can be counted on.

That’s a lot for now…Catch y’all later…

What a win!

Absolutely delighted with Rafael Nadal’s win in his encounter against Roger Federer. Brings back last year US Open Tennis memories.

Will Murray beat Djokovic? Highly unlikely! But you never know…any twist and turn can happen in sports. Looking forward for another Djokovic and Nadal challenging finals. And hope that history does not repeat this time Staying up late or waking up early to follow sports can’t get any better than this