Sometimes I cry

Sometimes I cry when I am alone
I don't have anyone with me,I am on my own

The tears from my heart so torn
Flow with life but find no form
If I had an ear to confide in
I would sob my heart out in lights so dim
But who do I know who is there for me
And help me achieve what I want to be
Time flies by,people pass by
Without stopping to know why you cry
The pain is gulped with a glass of wine
The next morning I am all happy and fine
But it's true that sometimes I cry
But no one knows or cares about why

Best quotes about Sachin Tendulkar

"Nothing bad can happen to us if we're on a plane in India with Sachin Tendulkar on it."
Hashim Amla, the South African batsman, reassures himself as he boards a flight

Yaseer Hameed:
"Sometimes you get so engrossed in watching batsmen like Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar that you lose focus on your job."

"To Sachin, the man we all want to be"
What Andrew Symonds wrote on an Aussie t-shirt he autographed specially for Sachin

BBC on Sachin:
"Beneath the helmet, under that unruly curly hair, inside the cranium, there is something we don't know, something beyond scientific measure. Something that allows him to soar, to roam a territory of sport that, forget us, even those who are gifted enough to play alongside him cannot even fathom. When he goes out to bat, people switch on their TV sets and switch off their lives "

"But the finest compliment must be that bookmakers would not fix the odds -or a game - until Tendulkar was out."

"Tuzhe pata hai tune kiska catch chhoda hai?"
Wasim Akram to Abdul Razzaq when the latter dropped Sachin's catch.

Brian Charles Lara:
"Sachin is a genius. I'm a mere mortal."

"We did not lose to a team called India...we lost to a man called Sachin"
Mark Taylor, during the test match in Chennai (1998)

M. L. Jaisimha:
"The more I see of him the more confused I'm getting to which is his best knock."

Glenn McGrath:
"The joy he brings to the millions of his countrymen, the grace with which he handles all the adulation and the expectations and his innate humility -all make for a one-in-a-billion individual"

Anjali:
"I can be hundred per cent sure that Sachin will not play for a minute longer when he is not enjoying himself. He is still so eager to go out there and play. He will play as long as he feels he can play"

Matthew Hayden:
"I have seen God, he bats at no. 4 for India"

Anil Kumble:
"I am fortunate that I've to bowl at him only in the nets!"

Shahrukh Khan(quoting Shahrukh from an interview)
"Q: Who do you think as most important celebrity ?
Shahrukh: There was a big party where stars from Bollywood and cricket were invited. Suddenly, there was a big noise, all wanted to see approaching Amitabh Bachhan. Then Sachin entered the hall and Amitabh was leading the queue to get a grab of the genius!!"

Navjot Singh Sidhu:
"India me aap PrimeMinister ko ek baar katghare me khada kar sakte hain,par Sachin Tendulkar par ungli nahi utha sakte.."

Waqar Younis:
"He can play that leg glance with a walking stick also."

A banner once said:
"I will see God when I die,till then I will see Sachin Tendulkar"

Allan Donald:
"Sachin Tendulkar has often reminded me of a veteran army colonel who has many medals on his chest to show how he has conquered bowlers all over the world"

Allan Donald again:
"I was bowling to Sachin and he hit me for two fours in a row. One from point and the other in between point and gully. That was the last two balls of the over and the over after that we (SA) took a wicket and during the group meeting i told Jonty (Rhodes) to be alert and i know a way to pin Sachin. And i delivered the first ball of my next over and it was a fuller length delivery outside offstump. And i shouted catch. To my astonishment the ball was hit to the cover boundary. Such was the brilliance of Sachin.His reflex time is the best I have ever seen. Its like 1/20th of a sec.To get his wicket better not prepare. Atleast you wont regret if he hits you for boundaries."

Peter Rebouck, Aussie journalist:
"On a train from Shimla to Delhi, there was a halt in one of the stations.The train stopped by for few minutes as usual. Sachin was nearing century, batting on 98. The passengers, railway officials, everyone on the train waited for Sachin to complete the century.This genius can stop time in India!!"

NKP Salve, former Union Minister (This was when he was accused of ball tempering):
"Sachin cannot cheat. He is to cricket what (Mahatma) Gandhiji was to politics. It's clear discrimination. "

Andy Flower:
"There are 2 kind of batsmen in the world. One Sachin Tendulkar. Two all the others."

A placard at the SCG when Sachin Tendulkar was on his way to a magnificent century
"Commit all your crimes when Sachin is batting. They will go unnoticed because even the Lord is watching."

Hansie Cronje:
"I had to remind Gary Kristen often that he was in the covers to field against Sachin not to applaud him"

Shane Warne:
"You have to decide for yourself whether you're bowling well or not. He's going to hit you for fours and sixes anyway."

During the Bangalore Test, frustrated, Michael Kasprowicz went to Dennis Lillee and asked, "Mate, do you see any weaknesses?" Lillee replied, "No Michael, as long as you walk off with your pride that's all you can do."

"Cricket is my religion, Sachin is my God"

"What do you call a critic of Sachin Tendulkar?Atheist"

"Indian defeat was God's way of saying... 'I exist'. He was threatened that Sachin would take over"

Ravi Shastri:
"Sachin has been sent by God to play cricket and then go back."

Ajay Jadeja:
"I can't dream of an innings like that. He exists where we can't."

Shane Warne:
"I'll be going to bed having nightmares of Sachin just running down the wicket and belting me back over the head for six. He was unstoppable. I don't think anyone, apart from Don Bradman, is in the same class as Sachin Tendulkar. He is just an amazing player"

Adam Hollioke:
"In an over I can bowl six different balls. But then Sachin looks at me with a sort of gentle arrogance down the pitch as if to say 'Can you bowl me another one?'"

Paul Strang:
"What we (Zimbabwe) need is 10 Tendulkars."

Dennis Lillee:
"If I've to bowl to Sachin, I'll bowl with my helmet on. He hits the ball so hard."

Sir Donald Bradman:
"I saw him playing on television and was struck by his technique, so I asked my wife to come look at him. Now I never saw myself play, but I feel that this player is playing much the same as I used to play, and she looked at him on Television and said yes, there is a similarity between the two...his compactness, technique, stroke production... it all seemed to gel !"

Desmond Haynes:
"In terms of technique and compactness, Tendulkar is the best."

Sir Viv Richards:
"I think he is marvellous. I think he will fit in whatever category of Cricket that has been played or will be played, from the first ball that has ever been bowled to the last ball that’s going to be. He can play in any era and at any level. I would say he’s 99.5% perfect."

Mohammad Azharuddin:
"The more I see him, the more I want to see him."

Steve Waugh:
"We won with ten, but lost to one"

Harsha Bhogle:
"For every ball Sachin has two shots in his mind. And he gets out when he plays the third one".

"People say they saw Christ walk water..People say they saw Gandhiji win us freedom..People say they walked alongside Buddha 'The Enlightened One'. I will always say ~~ I SAW SACHIN BAT ~~"

Greg Chappell:
"He is a perfectly ablanced batsman and knows perfely well when to attack and when to play defensive cricket.He has developed the ability to treat bowlers all over the world with contempt and can destroy any attack with utmost ease"

Mark Waugh:
"The pressure on me is nothing compared to Sachin Tendulkar.Sachin,like God,must never fail.The crowd always expects him to succeed and it is too much pressure on him.But,he rarely disappoints them"

Brett Lee:
"You might pitch a ball on the off stump and think you have bowled a good ball and he walks across and hits it for two behind midwicket.His bat looks so heavy but he just waves it around like it's a toothpick"

Shane Warne:
"Don't sledge Sachin,rather befriend him"

Michael Kasprowicz:
"Don't bowl him bad balls, he hits the good ones for fours."

Wasim Akram:
"Cricketers like Sachin come once in a lifetime, and I am privileged he played in my time."

Mathew Hayden:
"When Tendulkar goes out to bat, it is beyond chaos - it's a frantic appeal by a nation to one man."

Shane Warne:
"You have to watch India in India truly to appreciate the pressure that Sachin Tendulkar is under every time he bats. Outside grounds, people wait until he goes in before paying to enter. They seem to want a wicket to fall even though it is their own side that will suffer"

Geoffrey Boycott:
"Technically, you can't fault Sachin. Seam or spin, fast or slow nothing is a problem."

Time magazine:
"We have had champions, we have had legends, but we have never had another Sachin Tendulkar and we never will."

"To err is human,not to is Sachin"

"Sachin Tendulkar - Reducing the number of atheists since 1989"

David Shepherd:
"If he is not the best then I want to see the best"

Shane Warne, when asked about who he thought the greatest batsman in the world was:
"Sachin Tendulkar. Then daylight"

Mike Marqusee:
"Tendulkar is one of that narrow stratum of elite sports stars whom people will clamour and even make great sacrifices to watch, regardless of their national identity. If you care for cricket, you must love Sachin. In this regard, his peers are few - and mostly found in other sports, and certainly in other lands."

Shane Warne:
"You have to watch India in India truly to appreciate the pressure that Sachin Tendulkar is under every time he bats. Outside grounds, people wait until he goes in before paying to enter. They seem to want a wicket to fall even though it is their own side that will suffer. This is cricket as Sachin has known it since the age of 16. He grew up under incredible weight of expectation and never buckled once – not under poor umpiring decisions or anything else. I place him very slightly ahead of Lara because I found him slightly tougher mentally."

Daniel Vettori:
"He has been in form longer than some of our guys have been alive."

Some article:
"The silence in an Indian cricket stadium when he gets out is said to be the loudest in the world."

Adidas print commercial:
"When Sachin plays, big-city roads are easy and trains and buses ply empty at rush hour and the markets take a beating... When Sachin plays, grandmothers who know next to nothing about the game forget knitting and resting and medicines and pray to their gods as they sit frozen, staring nervously at their television screen... When Sachin plays , busy, ambitious executives ignore their calls and cancel their appointments and avoid their clients and miss their deadlines and put their careers on hold... When Sachin plays, college common rooms are dense and tense and hushed as an entire generation sits on pins and needles... When Sachin plays, school-yards are silent and playgrounds are deserted because those who normally make such a racket imitating their hero are all too busy watching him make batting look so ridiculously easy... When Sachin plays, fathers who want the news and daughters and mothers who always want soft stuff and brothers who fight for action, for once all agree on what to watch... When Sachin plays, bowlers and fielders and opposing captains feel their impotence and inadequacy like at no other time and curse themselves and wonder what they can do, if anything, to end the shame, the nightmare, the humiliation... When Sachin plays, commentators and experts run out of adjectives and expressions of wonder and comparisons... When Sachin plays, lay spectators have no need for words at all and just jump and scream and whistle and clap and hug each other and cry and wave their flags and banners and thank their lucky stars for being there... When Sachin plays, India forgets its differences and divisions and teeters between tensions and exhilaration and breaths and laughs and cries as one, as its heart fills with pride and joy and patriotism... WHEN SACHIN PLAYS, ALL ELSE IS IRRELEVANT"

US President Barack Obama:
"I don't know about cricket but still I watch cricket to see Sachin play..Not because I love his play, its because I want to know the reason why my country's production goes down by 5 percent when he is batting."

Virat Kohli after the Indian team carried him on their shoulders after winning the World Cup:
"He has carried the burden of the nation for the last 21 years, it is about time we carry him."

M.S.Dhoni:
"What can i say about him? He has scored more than 17000 odd runs. I have not even faced 17000 balls."

As long ago as 1998, the Bombay poet C. P. Surendran wrote:
"Batsmen walk out into the middle alone. Not Tendulkar. Every time Tendulkar walks to the crease, a whole nation, tatters and all, marches with him to the battle arena. A pauper people pleading for relief, remission from the lifelong anxiety of being Indian, by joining in spirit their visored saviour."

Martin Crowe:
"The shot played on this ball is possible only for the God of cricket."

Ravi Shastri:
"This is the stuff champions are made of. I have to repeat that word time and time again,because that's what he is."

Brian Lara:
"For me, the best batsman in the world is Sachin Tendulkar. I admire Jacques Kallis' consistency and Ricky Ponting, with the purple patch he's going though. Everybody gets 15 minutes of fame. But if there's one person I've admired over a 15-year period, it's definitely Sachin."

Wasim Akram:
"Cricketers like Sachin come once in a lifetime and I am privileged he played in my time."

Will keep adding as and when I find more :)

At the pearly gate

There I was,standing in front of a gate which seemed so different,yet seemed so familiar. Then,from the corner of my eye, I could see God walking right towards me.

Me: "God!!Is that you?"

God:"Yes, it's me.Here is my ID."

He showed me his ID. It read "God,CEO,Heaven Inc."

Me:"Oh My God!!!!!"

God:"Yes??"

Me:"Never mind,it was just an expression."

God:"Dude,completely missed you,good to see you here.How are you?"

Me:"I think dead that I am standing in front of you :"

God:"Happy realization."

Me:"Good thing,I was a bit tired of life anyways. By the way where is the nearest 24/7 located?Need to buy some beer before its 2 am."

God:"Its just round the corner,take first left after the entrance."

Me:"Cool, just the way it was in good old Rochester.Take a left and just round the corner..nice. Is NY state license a valid ID in heaven?"

God:"You left it on earth dude.But don't worry the guy in there knows you are above the legal age to drink."

Me:"Hey,is that 24/7 wala Sri Lankan guy dead too? He never checked my ID on earth too...nice. Will be fun to make fun of him here as well when Sri Lanka lose their next game against India."

God gives me a blank look.

God:"btw i have a few questions for you, care to answer? "

Me:"Shoot.Be quick please. Need to reach before 2"

And that is when the conversation got a little serious.

God:"Don't you get angry at me for all the pain you suffered?"

Me:"I was, at some point,terribly pissed off. But in that pain you taught me the meaning of life and gave me some valuable lessons. At some point of time, I wanted to give up. But you gave me the courage and the desire along with the pain to keep me going."

God:"Do you really think I am so bad to be hated by so many people?People blame me for all the bad in the world,but rarely thank me for whatever good happens."

Me:"No father.Its just that you were too kind that you allowed them the freedom to think that way. And people tend to think of you only when they are in the dust, and not when they are soaring in the skies. I have a question though. Why don't you meet people face-to-face? This will help them realize your existence every day of their life."

God:"I am present everywhere. You just need to see me. You can find me in a beautiful sunset, or when I go walking in the woods and see beautiful birds and hear them chirping. I also can be seen in innocent children's eyes, or someone doing something genuinely nice. I answer all your prayers. You just need to find the answer yourself. It is right there. All you need is the vision."

Me:"Ah!!So you ask me questions and then hand over the cheat sheet. All I need to do is find where the answer lies. You give an assignment but you give a sample code. I just need to modify it.Ah, why didn't I realize this when I was alive.You are smart!"

God gives me a disgusted look. I realized RIT had taken its toll on me. Maybe,it was the cause of my death.

God:"Have you sinned in your life young man?"

Me:"Uhh..yes. More times than I can count. But,I regret all the sins I have done. I tried to compensate for them as much I could. God, I am sorry. Sorry for hurting people with my senseless and unthoughtful acts."

God:"I appreciate your honesty son.Proceed.Hope you have a good time in here. You need to ring the bell there to get into heaven."

Me:"Thank you."

I took a few steps,paused and looked back at God.

Me:"You knew I answered all those in hurry.I was really thirsty.Don't you?"

God:"Ofcourse boy!"

I started ringing the bell. It kept ringing and ringing and kept growing irritatingly loud. I rubbed my eyes to see my cell phone ringing. Without my chasma,all I could see is "G....".G??God?What is happening?Am I alive or dead? Where am I? I picked up the cell hesitantly. The voice on the other side said,"Hi Amogh, this is Diana from Gracies. You had a 10:30 shift,you have not shown up yet. Are you coming or no?"

Me:"Yes, I am on my way. I had kinda an important meeting going on just before this :)"

Murphy's Laws

Most of us are familiar with Murphy's Law."If anything can go wrong,it will".In our daily lives,the above statement holds true without us realizing it.Here are some of the Murphy's Laws I have observed:
1. Sugar gets over only when you are making tea(and not when you are making kheer).
2. Toilet paper roll always gets over when you take a dump in the morning(not any other time of the day).
3. Your cell phone battery always drains out when you are in middle of a call.
4. People ping you only when you are busy.
5. Your boss will give you work when you are about to leave the office.
6. Your boss is already in the office when you are late,and never there when you are on time.
7. If you are following a friend's car for directions,you will stop at the red light while he zooms away on yellow.
8. Bugs will appear in one part of a working program when another unrelated part is modified.
9. Your installation/download will encounter some error/loss of internet connectivity when it is about 90% complete.
10. Your internet connection is always crappy when you are submitting an assignment/online exam.
11. You wake up earlier than usual during vacations(I don't think it holds true for me though :P)
12. Cop cars are always present where you least expect them to be.
13. All urinals are taken when you need to take a piss real bad.
14. If you are running late,the bus is too.
15. If you arrive early at the bus stop, the bus is never on time.
16. Someone puls out his car from the nearest parking lot after you have parked your car in the farthest parking lot.
17. If you are having a bad day in the field,the ball will follow you(Yes,cricket here too).
18. The elevator is always going up when you want to go down.And converse.
19. Severity of the itch is proportional to the difficulty of reaching it. More the difficulty,more the itch.
20. If you are looking for something,you will never find it inspite of searching for over half an hour.But someone else will come in and find the same within a minute.
21. The lane you shift to in a multi-laned highway always seems to be the slowest.

ME

The rules of the world,
Are but so strange,
I love myself and what I am,
Yet I am forced to change,
Yes, I am a new person now,
For the world to see,
But deep down inside,
I will always be "me"!!!

Graduate

I had my graduation walk and convocation last week. Officially, I am now Masters in Computer Science from Rochester Institute of Technology. In reality, I still have my masters project left. Although I want to get over with it and get the heck out of this hell called Rochester, I intend to prolong my project till the job situation improves. Lets see how it goes...

Speaking of hell, RIT has been one hell of a ride. It has been a journey which has seen some good days, some bad days and some worse days. Nevertheless, it has been one amazing experience. From the day when I left Mumbai and landed in the US, till the day I heard my name called and going to the stage in front of thousands, it has been a fruitful journey. The sense of satisfaction and pride I felt at that moment is something I cannot describe in words. But this has not been a piece of cake.

I was sitting on the couch in the lobby of the CS department after giving the last final exam of my MS curriculum. Reflecting back, I still remember the day when I was sitting at the exact same place in the first quarter and thinking if I can even pass the C++ exam. And here I am now. I think all of this happened too fast. Blame the notorious quarter system at RIT for that. None of this would have been possible without the great friends at the CS department-Bhaiyya, Nana, Gabba Gabba, Manan, 1su, Issu beta....sorry to all others whom I have not mentioned in here. I still remember those nights when people used to get up in the middle of the night and start coding. And those all nighters before an exam or a submission. Or those "Ae code bhej na" wala phone calls and "ok,but change karke submit kar" replies. Or those 11:58 pm submissions for 11:59 deadlines. Or those meals together. And late night drives to nowhere with music blasting and people dancing in the back seat(Ban than chali bolo..... :D). And those visits to Tim ki tapri aka Tim Hortons after the submissions. Those booze and hookah sessions at home or those visits to Macgregors. And those visits to Seneca/Turning Stone (NANA FORCED ME INTO DRIVING HIM THERE!).And much much more. More than all these, I remember the people who have made a difference to my life in many ways than they could have imagined. Thanks for the memories guys.

Congratulations to the Class of 2009. We finally did it. :)

India Rising-The New Empire

100 Truths

100 Truths About Me..!!!
Read this on some random blog, Sounded pretty interesting.And more than that I do not have anything better to do in life :P
So Here Goes...........

LAST TIMES…
1. Last beverage: Water
2. Last phone call: Mom
3. Last text message: Manisha
4. Last song you listened to: If today was you last day-Nickelback
5. Last time you cried: When I lost my dad

HAVE YOU EVER...
6. Dated someone twice: No
7. Been cheated on? : No
8. Kissed someone & regretted it? Errr... Nooo......
9. Lost someone special? Yes. Read 5.
10. Been depressed? Yea, I have my emotional attacks
11. Been drunk and threw up? Just twice till now

LIST FOUR FAVORITE COLORS:
12. White
13. Blue
14. Black
15. Red

FIRSTS :
16. Made new friends: Yes,many. Right from school days and still continuing
17. Fallen out of love: Yes
18. Laughed until you cried: Yes, when my roomie couldn't stop laughing and I started laughing seeing him laugh
19. Met someone who changed you: Yes. Have met some people who have changed my outlook towards life
20. Found out who your true friends were: Yes. I know who they are, and in times of need, they prove me right
21. Found out someone was talking about you: Surprisingly yes

HAVE YOU:
22. Kissed anyone on your friend's list: Yes
23. How many people on your friends list do you know in real life: Nearly all of them
24. How many kids do you want to have: One... maybe two :)
25. Do you have any pets: Nah, I hate fidos n fifis
26. Do you want to change your name: No.I like it
27. What did you do for your last birthday: Got my ass kicked, had a great time with friends and completed my DBSI project
28. What time did you wake up today: 12:30 pm (pretty early after a crazy night out with the gang)
29. What were you doing at midnight last night: Drinking and controlling drunk people
30. Name something you CANNOT wait for: graduation(not really)
31. Last time you saw your father: 16th august 2007
32. What is one thing you wish you could change about your life: Learn to say NO to some things
33. Most visited web page:Facebook/Orkut/Gmail/mymail.rit.edu

WHAT'S YOUR :
34. Name: Amogh
35. Nicknames: Bunny or Bani :), tintin, moghlee
36. Zodiac sign: Aquarius
37. Male or female or transgender: Male :
38. Elementary: St.Thomas High School (Miss it, the best time of my life)
39. Colleges: Patkar College, Vidyalankar Institute of Technology, Rochester Institute of Technology
40. Hair color: Black
41. Long or short: Short
42. Height: Bit above 6
43. Do you have a crush on someone? not reallyyyyyyyy a crush... no i dnt think so...
44. Ever been in love? Yes,once was
45. Piercings? Not really, had pierced years when I was a baby (I think)
46. Tattoos? Nah. Won't exactly go with my 'muscular' physique
47. Righty or lefty: Righty
48. First surgery: Fortunately none
49. First piercing: At the age of 2 I guess.... maybe even before that
50. First best friend: Vikrant
51. First sport you loved: and still love - Cricket
52. First pet : NO PETS ALLOWED
53. First vacation: Dont remember really, I thik it was Bangalore or Goa,one of the 2
54. First concert: Jagjeet Singh. Legend
55. First crush : A girl in my school named Ruhi
56. Eating: Nothing right now
57. Drinking: Water
58. I'm about to: Finish writing 100 truths and update my blog, and then get back to reading a paper(maybe)
59. Listening to: Never gonna be alone-Nickelback
60. Waiting for: a job

YOUR FUTURE
61. Want kids? Yes, ofcourse. Didn't I answer this before?
62. Want to get married? Yeh sure..... the question is When? n to Whom?
63. Careers in mind? I am doing my masters in CS,so I guess I have decided it long back right?

WHICH IS BETTER WITH THE OPPOSITE SEX?
64. Lips or eyes: Eyes
65. Hugs or kisses: Can't I have both?
66. Shorter or taller: Shorter (hard to find girls taller than 6 ft)
67. Older or Younger: Hard to say
68. Romantic or spontaneous: Both..!!!
69. Nice stomach or nice arms: Nice Arms
70. Sensitive or loud: Sensitive
71. Hook-up or relationship: Relationship
72. Trouble maker or hesitant: Neither

HAVE YOU EVER :
73. Kissed a stranger: Yes
74. Lost glasses/contacts: Yea, lost my contacts in my wash basin
76. Broken some one's heart: I think
77. Had your own heart broken: Yes, for sure
78. Been arrested: Nope, but I have been in a police van once
79. Turned someone down: No
80. Cried when someone died: Yes
81. Liked a friend that is a girl? Yes

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:
81. Yourself: Yes... Completely ... quite blindly
82. Miracles: Miracles happen if you make them happen
83. God: Yes. There is someone out there. Also,cricket is my religion,sachin is my GOD :)
84. Love at first sight: No, you need to know someone to love them
85. Heaven: I believe in hell
86. Santa Claus: No. That big fat guy is just to fool the kids
87. Kiss on the first date? Nah
88. Angels: Sweet people=angels
89. Devils: Yes-I am the big one :)

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY:
90. Is there one person you want to be with right now? Yes, but won't tell who ;)
91. Had more than one boyfriend/girlfriend at one time? Never
92. Wanted to kill someone ever? Yes (a list is already coming in my mind)
93. Among your friends, whom would you like to kiss? Some of them
94. Committed a blunder and regretted later? Yes, many a times
95. Wanted to steal you friend's boyfriend / girlfriend? : NEVER

ASSOCIATE WITH SOMETHING YOU WEAR :
96. White: Cricketing gear
97. Black: T-shirt
98. Red: Arsenal jersey
99. Pink: NO PINK :

100. Posting this as 100 Truths? Yes. :)

Don't Quit

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must... but do not quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor’s cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out—
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit,
It’s when things seem worst that you must NOT QUIT.

—Anonymous

http://www.thedontquitpoem.com/

Adhantari

Makes me cry everytime I listen to it....
(If the video doesn't work here,double click to listen to it on youtube....some embedding issues)

My Battle of WaterLoo

I came home from Tim Hortons at 1:15 am. I had gone with a couple of friends to have some coffee. Just having submitted a project deliverable at the stroke of midnight hour, I was planning to go to sleep. My roomie was still up doing probably what he does the best - nothing (just kidding Munna). I went to the loo before going to bed. I did whatever is done in there (no yucky details),flushed and washed my hands. And just then tragedy strikes. After flushing, the water started filling in the commode, never to stop. And thus began the Battle of WaterLoo.

The enemy forces had caught me unaware. I panicked, and called out for my lieutenant(roomie). He was shocked to see the water gushing out and wondered what I had at Tim Hortons which made the toilet choke. I told him that this is not the time to ask such questions and dispatched him to get some ammunition and I myself started collecting some. Our arsenal to fight this battle consisted of a mug, loads of classified newspapers which lie around outside our post box and a toilet brush.

I perched myself on top of the bath tub (enemy had taken control of the foothills), and tried clearing the toilet with the brush. Alas, this weapon couldnt stop the progress of the coalation forces who continued to attack in full flow(literally :P). I asked my lieutenant to call up higher authorities (apartment complex emergency phone) for some backup. The guy on the phone asked "Is yours a 1-bath or 2-bath house". "2-bath". "Oh good. Use the second toilet meanwhile since the toilet guy comes tomorrow morning 9 am" and hung up. Thus, we were left to fight our own battle. We cleverly laid the plans (I mean to say papers on the ground). Meanwhile, I had started the use of my most important ammunition, the mug, and stopped furthur damage by throwing the water from the commode into the bath tub. And then, I played the trump card. I closed the knob at the back of the toilet to stop the flow of water. I know this should have been our first step, but we were too startled to think right at that moment.

Slowly, but surely, the enemy backtracked. I surveyed the damage around. It was catastrophic. We decided to cordon off the site of attack till backup arrived the next morning. I was totally exhausted after this battle. I had a couple of beers after this, and went off to sleep. But before that, I needed to use the loo again. You know what beer does to your urinary baladder. Fortunately, ours is a 2-bath room :)...

Intimate moments

She was just inches away from a really personal part of my anatomy. She was looking straight into my eyes and I was looking into hers. I had no idea what she was thinking,but for me this was the first time being in a situation like this. I had read about it, heard about it and even seen it a couple of times; but never been a part of it until today. She was breathing hard, so was I. I thought to myself...Is this really gonna happen??? I expected this moment since the time she moved in next door,but didn’t expect it to happen this soon. Should I just stay like this or move away? The latter was hardly an option.

There I was standing helplessly with two grocery bags in both my hands with my neighbor’s dog sniffing all over me. And this lady nonchalantly walks towards me,and says with a smile…don’t worry she wont bite. Yea right!!What the fuck should I do incase she does..BITCH. I almost blurted it out, but abreast of the compromising position I was in, I stayed quiet. And the bitch was not intended to be for the owner, but for the actual one.

All you dog owners, if you are listening, LEASH YOUR DOGS. Contrary to what you may think, they actually bite. They have been designed to bite…then why wont they? They don't have those razor-sharp teeth just for nothing. I really have nothing against dogs(only if I am at a safe distance away). In fact I love them. I think about them many a times in my life. Every time a professor gives my assignment/exam marks, I go "Damn..son of a bitch". Every time my boss orders me to complete the work within the next two hours,I go "Saala kutta". Whenever I see a female driver driving in the horrendous way typical to the female species, I go "Bitch!!". This is not all…whenever I do a self-appraisal of my life, I go "Ya right! It’s a dog’s life".

And ofcourse, we have a certain mr.pqR obsessed with dogs. Every example of his has the dogs Fido and Fifi who have tags, are given bones and stay in doghouses colored red,green and yellow. (If by any chance that person is reading this, I am screwed :P)

Going back to my intimate moments with her (her name was Vicky,just incase you are curious), this was the first among many. However, none of those moments felt the same way as this. Maybe because I knew later, that she does not bite :)

Kaka Transfer Saga

Over the past few days, the news in the January transfer market in the BPL was about Kaka's possible move from San Siero to Manchester City. The offer was an absurd 120 million Euros. I do not even know how many zeroes that would contain, but all I know is that its a lot n lot of money.

At the end of it all, I am very happy that Kaka decided to stay at AC Milan. Money can bring you everything except loyalty. Here is a man committed to stay loyal to his club, his fans and supporters, and most importantly, to himself. It would be obvious to believe that he would have been tempted to move to Manchester City with this amount of money. I have always been a huge fan of Kaka the player. However, his decision has made me a fan of Kaka the person.

However, Milan should not escape criticism though. They have been tempted by the devil and, like Adam, they could not resist the juicy-looking apple. Its true that the money from the deal would have been used to get 3-4 excellent players to AC Milan and making the team stronger than before. However, the second symbol of Milan, after Paolo Maldini, was to be sacrificed for a pot of dirty money. So much for ethics! Had this deal gone through, it would have truly been the end of the beautiful game and the start of a dirty commercial market.

I feel there are many reasons why Kaka decided against joining Manchester City.Why on earth would a world-class player leave a huge club like AC Milan, who have been one of the top teams in Europe consistently for the past so many years, for a team languishing just 2 points above the relegation zone in the premiership? Also, if this deal would have gone through, the tag of "I belong to money" would have been on his shoulders for the rest of his lifetime. Milan fans have a special place for him in their hearts. More than any of this, there was one main reason why Kaka wanted to stay at Milan - his heart said so.

As far as Manchester City and its bloated rich sheikhs are concerned, it is a slap across their face. Do they really think that money will bring them trophies? The greed of money created one devil named Chelsea and its band of gloryhunters, we do not want another one. To win trophies, one needs dedication, commitment, discipline and desire. Not 120 million Euros!