the mad race

speed killed the fastest achiever.

solitude drove the last man mad.

the whole show was aplauded.

the tour de force was concluded.

the virtuoso clenched their fist in the air,

existence of the superior kind had been unveiled.

the wounded lay in pain,

they search for what they lost,

some thought of the chances they had,

some wished to turn back time.

those who perished are left to be feasted upon,

beasts came from far to wrap their hunger.

all in all, everyone thanked for the entertainment.

the wizard threw a spell on the lost souls,

men with strength were stored for tomorrow.

the weak dispatched to the ghetto.

to live today was to crucify the one ahead.

might today has betrayed the heart,

the heart became another subject of extinction.

curiosity of existence is an instant confabulation,

most among the subjects and some from the audience.

hibernating salvation of humanity,

pride lost, glory regained,

an epitaph filled with nullity.

legends weep for unconquered joys.

the journey is about to end,

there had been no destination,

just the arena where they decide to live,

with defeat in their minds even before the start of the fight.

Team India: T20 World Cup 2009 Report

A DEBACLE OR A BLESSING IN DISGUISE ???

14^TH August, 2009, it was a Sunday and I was all set for the India versus England super eight match which was a do a die match for the defending champions, India. Having lost the first match of the super eight stage to West Indies, India had to win this match at any cost as 2 wins of the allotted 3 would qualify a team for the semi-finals. This is WORLD T20 CUP, 2009. defending the cup would have added one of the most shining medals on their uniforms in Indian Cricket.

The 20-20 stage was set. The early shocker for the team was the defeat in the warm up match against New Zealand. The champions wouldn’t tame the kiwis and were once again thrown into the jaws of defeat. New Zealand never lost to India in the 20-20 format till now and the records were maintained still. The next major encounter was with the arch rivals, Pakistan. India was not only playing for pride but also another distinctive record in which India never lost to Pakistan in the world cup history. The most gentle Younus Khan did know the importance of winning this match, as according to him cricket was the only string left to unite people within the country as well as with neighbours. This was a warm up match but the intensity was no less than a final. The Indian victory in this match sealed that the record still remains unchanged. Rohit Sharma was sent up to open with Gautam Gambhir. Supposedly, Sehwag was down with some shoulder injury and was advised to rest so that he could recover before the group matches start. Sharma played like a champion. An elegant aggressive batsman is always a merry to watch. He slaughtered the bowling with merciless finesse. There was probably no ground for error when bowling to him and I am sure coaches around the world started looking for loopholes in his batting. Newspapers carried the headline that “Sehwag’s absence was not missed by India”. Who ever watched those innings were surely mesmerized by the talent that this young man showed.

Dhoni promoted himself at first down and this did bring in an element of surprise for most cricket followers as Suresh Raina was doing a great job in the recently held Indian Premier League, 2009. Australian great Matthew Hayden did mention in one of his columns that Raina should be groomed to 1 down for potential run scoring as he did in the IPL. Dhoni this move wasn’t fruitful as Dhoni himself failed to show the big games that he is said to be capable off in spite of the fact that he did get a couple of starts. Raina too didn’t give the opposition captain much to think about. I wonder what was Dhoni trying to do. Was he trying to lead the brigade from the front or was he protecting Raina from the new ball bowlers ??? Dhoni is a smart thinker and there surely would have been more to this move than what naked eyes can see. Raina is a guy who can take away any bowler on his day. Yuvraj was his golden self. He is still a terror in this format of the game and he surely did show why.

However, India lost the match and came the speculation about the captains wrong decisions. Not sending Yuvraj at 2 down was something which was his fault, he got to admit this. A batsman is a specialized skill for a certain position and the masters of the game have played the best at their own position. Flexibility in the batting order is a good option but it’s the delivery of the act that counts. He didn’t use RP Singh who conceded just 13 runs off the 3 that he bowled. Question marks were raised when Harbhajan was brought in for the ultimate over of the innings. Now this I will consider as another unlucky thing that Bhajji misfired. What if Bhajji did fire ??? I was not part of this debate as I though it was not necessary. There were glimpses of Dhoni missing stumping opportunities and field placement errors.

Ultimately majority of the blame was shifted towards the captain, an usual occasion for the losing sub-continent captain. I think this defeat was very important in Dhoni’s ladder of success. Every captain learns from experiences, this has been the law of the game from the time it originated. Innovations and climbing one step at once is what is important. If you miss the steps, you miss the way.

The concern in the recovery of Virender Sehwag as a 20-20 opener. In one dayers the master blaster is unmovable. Gambhir is improving with each season. Sehwag is a fear for most teams. Rohit Sharma has already been considered and one of the most stylish sum aggressive batsman. Yuvraj can be the one man army. Raina, Jadeja, Pathans, Karthik, Zaheer, Bhajji, RP, Ishant and the rest of the bench strength. India can be tough, tough for any team to beat.

I really don’t agree with blaming the captain under whom the team lost a world cup, especially not when the same captain who led the team to the previous and the first ever T20 world cup crown. We need to give him some time, he is young and yet has some of the wittiest tricks up his sleeve. Even the great Steve Waugh agrees.

The grass is always greener on the other side. Maybe this defeat is the building of a better developed captain and also of many more victories stamped by the Indian Cricket Team in any format of the game, anywhere in world, anytime of the year !!!

Monday is the most killing day of the week. And on top of that the summer heat sucks the stability of the mind. Read in the newspaper about the Pakistani team victory in the T20 world cup. Good for them. The only person that I like in the team in Shoaib Mallik. He is a simple and decent guy.

I am sad about the way India played the tournament this year. There were many mistakes made and there was a lot to learn from. But its much easier to comment to someones decisions sitting under the fan and munching a packet of potato chips. Maybe we should rather stand together as a nation for the team. They won the cup for us in 2007.

Watched WOLVERINE and FAST AND THE FURIOUS 4. and if I had to choose the best among the both, I will vote for :

riding again

i've been walking a long time all alone,

faces i knew all along are now strangers that i never met before.

surely no1 misses a memory anymore.

a new born baby and a dying old man,

lot of faces change in a lifespan.

being dead or lost is no1s concern to seek.

all those unfulfilled promises has taken its toll.

when the walls are creeping in

and you are polishing your own guillotine.

the unborn child and the unsung prophecy.

he who walked the wire had to take the fall.

revolution against new mankind,

he stood all alone.

now solitude is his new found friend.

though he talks to all, he is seldom heard.

even if they are standing arms in shoulders,

they dont seem to find him there.

the road was not taken and the shift of destiny.

though the way doesnt look similar at all.

poison ivy has scaled the great walls.

but he's sure some1 has been there before.

when the path of return was lost and when the key was thrown,

he was on his own.

though he wished he wasnt there,

he walked back in when he reached the door.

the mighty sun is eclipsed by the serene moon.

the thorny road is well light by hungry eyes.

the holy pilgrims slaughter in the name of the god.

some fond memory is tearing him apart.

solitude in mind is shadow to his soul,

it goes whereever he goes,

the 3 frames of time are just the reflection of one another.

night drive

as i drive in the highway

in my dad's old car,

i think of what we left

in life and travel.

the path not taken by all

did have some lure.

it didnt show fantasy

but a world of confusion.

and it still strung a cord

and made us merry.

life had to be different

from the rest of them all.

some drive around pitfalls

and some love the shock.

its just the way we see life,

while some with eyes open

some will have them closed.

the choice was always right

untill time to unwind was gone.

though some judged their choice by now,

some still stood in the race.

now i drive into the dawn,

the light seems so new.

i see a million faces,

some too good to be true.

when i look at the rear view mirror,

i see myself left behind

from where i started the night before.

this made me smile

as i had another night to drive,

into the wild,

into the world.

many destinations came,

many journeys ended.

the end was just the begining of the start of another place.

!!!

when the walls keep sinking in and you still look for place to shelter. when you defend the castle walls with the last left batch of men against the tyrant waves of death, hope seems less comforting. when life's laid low lies are unfolding, how you'd wish you werent there. wish you could blow away with the smoke all the pain, when all the strength failed to match the last thrust of insecurity. a troubled mind is what makes a man crumble to his knees. some say god strengthens the back or lightens the load but i am scared of only the dark obscurity coz the mirage on the empty road has mis-lead many born leaders, and i seem to have lost my way following one of them. his vision seemed sound and his idea felt intense. my adaptabily he said was great. but somewhere in the long march, the chain was broken, the fog had blinded me to the skin and i then i went astray. beneath the dying tree sat a man talking to the air, i asked him of what lies in the wat ahead. he said he doesnt know, he had been waiting there for a long time to meet someone who came from that way to ask the same question, but so far the only one to pass was the hallucination of a man. some tend to think of you as the bait and some as the thirst tranquiliser, both way you are asked to choose between being grinded, the choice is before death or after. Same old song, just a drop of water in an endless sea. All we do, crumbles to the ground though we refuse to see, dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind, just as Kansas sang it. when the whole world is burning, the depth of the ocean isnt deep enough. when the swamp is swallowing you, you want it to free you from the grasp of air. when a desperate man cries, he cries from his soul. when he finds no way to run away form his fears, he closes his eyes and walks in the direction that nature takes me to. eventually he starts hating all men who look at him from the outside of the cage.

a confused state of mind of an escapist

when the walls keep sinking in and you still look for place to shelter. when you defend the castle walls with the last left batch of men against the tyrant waves of death, hope seems less comforting. when life's laid low lies are unfolding, how you'd wish you werent there. wish you could blow away with the smoke...all the pain, when all the strength failed to match the last thrust of insecurity. a troubled mind is what makes a man crumble to his knees. some say god strengthens the back or lightens the load but i am scared of only the dark obscurity coz the

mirage on the empty road has mis-lead many born leaders, and i seem to have lost my way following one of them. his vision seemed sound and

his idea felt intense. my adaptabily he said was great. but somewhere in the long march, the chain was broken, the fog had blinded me to the

skin and i then i went astray. beneath the dying tree sat a man talking to the air, i asked him of what lies in the wat ahead. he said he doesnt know, he had been waiting there for a long time to meet someone who came from that way to ask the same question, but so far the only one to pass was the hallucination of a man. some tend to think of you as the bait and some as the thirst tranquiliser, both way you are asked to choose between being grinded, the choice is before death or after. Same old song, just a drop of water in an endless sea. All we do, crumbles to the ground though we refuse to see, dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind, just as Kansas sang it. when the whole world is burning, the depth of the ocean isnt deep enough. when the swamp is swallowing you, you want it to free you from the grasp of air. when a desperate man cries, he cries from his soul. when he finds no way to run away form his fears, he closes his eyes and walks in the direction that nature takes him to. eventually he starts hating all men who look at him from the outside of the cage. the war was started not now but some time back, no-one would think of him as the person who could have been better but will know him for the demon he has become. the only way the person can heal his pain is by observing how other people would do the same but for that he needs to hurt someone badly. he gets desperate to learn a way out but he is scared of causing harm to others but himself. the only thought that comes to his mind is to self-terminate. he had seen the worst, he cant take it anymore. the walls are closing in. the air gets harder to breathe. the pain of his troubled mind leaves a gush of hot air leaving his ears everytime he opens his eyes. he cant believe this is his life. this is not how his life was supposed to be. he had dreamt of a different world and now he sees his friends in the world and he fantasises them like watching them on tv and wanting to be them. he thinks about his parents, how hurt would they be when they realise that their own was more of a creation of lies than flesh and bones. he thought his ending would hurt them less than revealing his life would. he wants to run away, he wants to shoot himself free. the only person to stop him was his sister and she was too far away to listen to him. he had been his everything and now everything seems to be disappearing for him. ITS BETTER TO BURN THAN FADE AWAY - NEIL YOUNG !!!