Sportif Quotient!

Me being a student of fine arts, once I remember having an argument with a fnd saying sports was also a form of art but an incident made me realize that sports was not only a physical art but a wary game of approximation and concentration.

Last week started with yet another dull monday morning at work. That was the week of Hit-n-Run tournament at office. This is nothing but the "gentleman's game" played in our own office parking lot, which I guess is almost half the dimension of the actual cricket ground. To adapt the game to this customized cricket ground, the rules of the game were tweaked a little here and there. One of those special rules was the mandatory inclusion of two female players in the team, else the team is considered incomplete! Well, wat was the intention of having the fairer sex in the area of male bastion?..... was it to prove "why should only boys hav all the fun" or was it just to relish the eyes of onlookers... wel lets not delve on it...!!!!

The team from my project called themselves " The Alphacenturions" and on monday, the commencement of the tournament, they were desparately in need of a girl for the team. Unaware of this, I was engrossed in a technical discussion when the captain barges straight in and requests me to play. I almost panicked, I've never held a bat in my lifetime and now straight into a tournament! I resisted but my resistance was short-lived when I found the tournament jersey on my desk with the number 13, co-incidently my lucky number........ I reluctantly put on the brand new jersy and the borrowed shoes and took my maiden plunge into CRICKET.
Before the match, the team gave me batting practice for mere 5 mins and some quick hints on how to not lose the wicket!
The match started, it was for a total of 10 overs and an additional ladies special over, where the bats(wo)man has to face the lady-bowler. When it was my turn to bat, the first two balls were total bonkers, my estimation of the approachin ball was horribly bad-timed and I kept swinging my bat aimlessly in air nevertheless not losing my wicket. But I got lucky the third time I hit the ball and was so startled myself that I forgot I'd to literally run to score a run which is equivalent to 3 runs (ladies special u see)..... do I call this beginner's luck or just fluke? well, watever not a bad start indeed...:)


I was in a good team, with veterans we soon made our entry into semifinals. This time having THE meagre experience I was eager to try my bowling prowess! Again that meant 5 mins of pre-match practice and the priceless tips of stumping...:-D.............
This match was surely my most memorable one. As a first time bowler, my face was stiff with tension but the guys pushed me and I was surprised to see myself perform well. I gave one run, one wide and took 3 wickets.... I was jumping on the ground jubliantly with the crowd cheering and jeering. I was complimented for my beginner's luck again!!

On the fielding side, I was put on that side of the ground where no ball comes and if it did come accidently also it couldnt be cared less........:-D

As a team, we were enjoying every match lest the finals, were I guess we took it seriously landing as runners-up, well "jo jeeta woh sikander aur jo harah woh bander to nahin hain"......... Its all in the participation, the sportsmanship.

One sadist later remarked that I was a mere "aatakontu-lekakilla" (derogatory term for substitute) but I rebuked as "like I care!" and I genuinely didnt care, all that mattered to me was to be a part of the ebuillent team and share the verve......... which I did enjoyably.

All this while I thought I'd zero sport quotient but hey with this experience on hand I can prove I've a teeny weeny bit of S.Q in me.....:)

Dancing to the tunes of rain

Bangalore witnessed torrential rains on the eve of Ganesh Chaturthi recording around 200mm of rain in one single day! Unfortunately it was a friday and the lovely festive season kept both the people and the roads jammed. Ganesh Chaturthi being a 3 day grand affair in my house, I'd taken the friday off, so I was blessed with not witnessing the "Black Friday" as the papers termed it.

A week earlier the sun shone rather too brightly surprising the september weather and the downpour that followed wasn’t a surprise after all. On Friday, it kept raining incessantly. It was only the next day the papers updated me the magnitude of the damage done by rain. People from e-city actually used caracoles on the hosur road !!!! ... Its funny the way they had the caracoles handy, did they actually foresee this?? Lalbagh lake had overflowed again after a gap of 2 years. Houses built on dried lake beds were flooded. Among all these the one that was thought provoking was the photo of the IT fav Silk Board Junction. Instantneously, I was reminded of the TV clips of Mumbhai monsoons. The scenes were strikingly similar, kms and kms of stranded traffic and people wading through the dirty rain water almost upto their knees. Will Bangalore become another Mumbhai? Agreed Mumbai monsoons are way too severe but the problem is not the rain, it is the city's infrastructure. Mumbhai is so badly crowded with humans and their establishments that the poor rain water has no escape and it stays on. Isn’t a similar story unfolding in Bangalore? Yes, it is expanding at a very fast pace but not at the cost of the city’s safety. Did I forget to mention Mumbhai is a port city! Well, this is my foresight and I’ll be glad to be proved wrong.

When I started this blog, my intention was to describe about one of my latest performances in rain…… yes rain :) ……… but I ended up writing about my city. Some of my fnds ridicule me for this excessive patriotism abt my city and I always laugh back and say blame it on my stubborn leo trait… :D

Anyways let me get back to my rain dance….:) I was to perform in Vidyapeetha temple on the occasion of Krishna Janmasthami. I was told it shall be held in a open auditorium. I was excited since I’d not performed in an open auditorium till then. My dance Guru was out of station then and I had to prepare for the event all by myself, which was actually tiresome. Having her around would have been a great relief. On the day of the performance I was well rehearsed although in the corner of my heart, I wished I’d little more time to fine tune the items. Be it performance, exams or client presentation, no matter how well one is prepared, there is always room for perfection – man the insatiable animal…..:)

It was a usual bright and a busy morning and by noon the weather turned turtle. Suddenly there were thick grey clouds and the skies opened up. It poured, poured and poured. By evening I was worried for obvious reasons and the disappointment of audience absence. Audiences are the prized possessions of we performing artists.

After the customary welcome, I was about to start my performance in the inside auditorium, when the temple head announced that the rain had stopped completely so all cultural programmes shall be shifted to the open auditorium. I was thrilled. But only after I performed an hour later I realized what it is like to perform in an open audi after rain. The carpets on the stage were totally drenched in rain. My every footstep created a small fountain by itself which was very uncomfortable. The sound system was in a playful mood too. To cater to a big crowd of around 500 people, there were multiple loudspeakers which were echoing back and it was an effort to synchronize to a single sound. By the mid of second item, it started drizzling and the audience got restless. I’d to end the program half way through since it was already late, thanks to the delay by the rain-god. My hardwork was wasted. The program was disheartening despite that performing in an open place with cool rain-kissed breeze cant be penned but is to be experienced.

At the end of all this I still feel “only if I’d got to complete my program!”………….. man the insatiable animal…. :)