The Journey...

    If anyone's been watching the recent India VS Australia cricket series then I have one question to ask you, don't you enjoy all the sledging that goes on, on the field?  Hell I do, its great to see the Aussies getting back everything that they have been handing out to teams all over the world for the past few years.  It's good to hear Symond's complaining about Sreesanth and his childish attitude, I guess he thinks there was nothing wrong with his own attitude?

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    Well my problem is not really with the Aussies this is part of the game that they created and now others are picking up on it and going along well with it.  I don't think the sledging is hurting anyone, not yet at least.  My problem is with the Indian media thats complaining about Sreesanth and about the dignity of the Indian team (Here's an article from the BBC).  To them I have to ask what dignity?  What are we some gentlemanly players who should clap for the other team and shake hands with them when they hit 4's and 6's and defeat us?  I for one do not want to see that being done.  India is moving ahead in many different areas and is becoming an economic powerhouse that is renowned globally, why don't we ask our Vijay Mallya's, Tata's and Mittal's to be less aggressive?  Aggression is something that has been lacking in the Indian team (not just cricket) and the only other person that I can truly call aggressive was Saurav Ganguly.  There is a reason to play aggressively and put everything on the line when you are playing a game that's being watched by more than a billion people who are cheering for you.

    Cricket is a game and as long as Sreesanth or some other player from our team does not get physical with another player then I see no reason for all this bickering about conduct and dignity.  If someone has a problem with it then they should just stop watching the game and maybe pickup golf.

    Well since this is Ramadan and I am in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia most of the malls and shops are closed until about 6 in the evening.  So I went shopping today but didn't go to any of the main areas which are about an hour's drive from my place.  Instead went to the small shopping mall thats right across our house.  They had some nice stuff that I might pick up tomorrow evening.  Not sure what I need though, maybe a couple of polo's and another pair of cargo's.  Wish we could go to Bahrain which would be a heck of a lot more fun that Saudi.

    After the little trip to the mall I had to head to the Aramco compound to visit some family friends. Before that I decided to make a stop at the library to return some of the magazines that I had picked up.  While walking to return the magazines I was thinking of books that I needed to read so I decided on Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five".  Once I got in and started searching I realized that someone must have had the same idea and taken it before me.  So I settled for another novel of his called "Hocus Pocus".

Hocus Pocus

Kurt Vonnegut

    I am sure that most people have heard this song somewhere along their lives and if you haven't you should.  But since I don't have the mp3 on hand to upload let me link you to the actual article that was the reason for this song coming into being.

    Its from the Chicago Tribune and the article was written by Mary Schmich on the June of 1997.  Here's the link to the article.

    Check it out!

What sources do you count on for national news coverage?  How about international and local news?

    For the national news it has to be NDTV or the Doordarshan 8 o'clock news.  For the international news I don't think  any channel can really beat the BBC for world news coverage.

    Well since I am in Saudi now I don't have much of a problem hitting up the GYM in the Aramco compound.  SO I'm making the most of it.  Went lifting last night and was pretty happy with all my lifts.  Here's the weights:

Squats

5 * 90
5 * 110
5 * 130
5 * 140
5 * 150

Bench Press

5 * 90
5 * 110
5 * 130
5 * 140
5 * 145

Mid Rows

5 * 60
5 * 70
5 * 70
5 * 70
5 * 65

Deadlifts

5 * 90
5 * 110
5 * 115

Really happy with the fact that I could bench and squat more than my body weight (132 pounds). Thats something that I have always work hard on.

Also did a set of chin ups as warm up and managed to get 10 with strict form (dead hang at the bottom for a second) and a set of dips with 8 reps.  Neat work I think : )

What fictional creature do you wish were real?

Phoenix_detail_from_Aberdeen_Bestiary

    The Phoenix is a fictional creature that I have always been really interested in.  I don't remember which book it was that I first read about it in bu tit left a lasting impression on me.

    Well I didn't see this one coming till the Tuesday of this week.  I was on my way home and my dad just calls and make me get a ticket to fly to Saudi for Saturday.  All my well laid out plans for the weekend after the midterms have all been ruined.. oh well when I get back we have a month of holidays for Dusshera so I can make up for it!

    I'm missing all my friends already cause we had planned a lot of things to do, but I am also glad to be here cause I know that this will be a short visit and my mom and dad are really happy to see me.  This works out well with my plan to stay fit since I can have my own choice of food here unlike at my Aunt's place and also hit the gym and go swimming everyday if I really wan to!

    Well I gotta run now.  Peace out people!

    Yesterday was the dawn of a new day in Indian cricket.  For the first time in almost 2 to 3 years I saw the 11 men playing in Indian blues work together towards a common goal, to beat the world champions Australia.  Whether it was batting or bowling they worked like a unit hungry to get their just desserts after being unceremoniously trumped in the World Cup that took place a few months ago this year.

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    Is it a surprise that the Big 3 were not a part of this team?  Not really, I think that it is necessary for the Indian team to move away from the likes of Sachin, Ganguly and Dravid towards an era of younger and stronger players.  This does not mean that we need to forget their performances from the recent past but instead they should realize that the time to pack up has come for the three of them.  They need to hang up the shoes and make sure that they provide support to the youngsters who will be taking their places in this new Indian team.

    This young team led by the likes of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh have taken the fight to some of the best teams in the world.  The path to the finals has been a very hard one for India.  We faced the likes of England and stood up in mighty defiance as Yuvraj smashed six sixes in one over to show the world and Andrew Flintoff just what we are made of.  Next up was South Africa, where faced with the loss of Yuvraj Singh to an elbow injury we had our back to the wall but someone forgot to tell this team that we were the underdogs.  Unfazed by the might of Andre Nel and Shaun Pollock, Rohit Sharma went on to make an unbeaten half century by hitting a six of the last ball of the innings.  

The match that stands out to me the most is the one from last night where they fought so hard as a team to beat the mighty Australians.  This is the same team of Australians that has been marching across the globe with machine like precision and dominating every team they have played against for the past couple of years.  They have also been the reigning world champions for.  This Australian team was missing its captain, Ricky Ponting but was there any need for worry?  After all they still had the likes of Adam Gilchrist, Mike Hussey, Brett Lee, Andrew Symmonds and the indomitable Matthew Hayden in their team to take on the Indian bowlers.  Unfortunately for them I think they underestimated the mental strength of this young Indian team and tried to bully them with their usual short pitched bowling and started bad mouthing them from the very beginning of the game.  This tactic worked for a little while when we at 48 for 2 in the end of the eight over.  The loss of the two openers saw Yuvraj Singh and Robin Uthappa walk into the field.  What they did was nothing short of miraculous.  They punished the bad balls and insulted the good ones by going after each and every delivery that was thrown at them.  It is necessary to say that Yuvraj hit the longest six of the match and the entire tournament so far, 119 meters into the stands.  The onslaught was incredible and the mighty Australian’s could do nothing at all to stop it.

There was a breakthrough when a quick piece of fielding and a great throw by Symmonds caused the run out of Robin Uthappa.  This bought the Australian’s back to life only to be deined again by the captain of the Indian team Mahendra Singh Dhoni.  His quick fire innings helped India put up a daunting total of 188.  Not much of an ask for the Australian’s who have some of the best big hitters in the world in their side right?

The Indian’s required quick wickets because once Gilchrist started hitting the ball there would be no stopping him.  First up to bowl was R. P. Singh who took 4 important wickets in the game against South Africa would he be able to do the damage?  The over got over as soon as it started with only a four and a single being given in it.  Next up to bowl was the lanky boy from Kerala, S. Sreesanth who has made quiet a name for himself with his unbreakable spirit and wayward bowling, would he be able to find his line and length and be the lucky Talisman for the Indian’s today?  Only time would tell the importance of the four over’s that he bowled in this match.  The Australian’s soon got into a rhythm and started whacking the ball out of the field with ease.  Something had to be done because the change in bowlers had no effect on the opening pair.  Back to bowl another over was the wayward Sreesanth, and before anyone knew what was happening he had cleaned up Gilchrist with an utter beauty of a ball that saw the stumps being uprooted from the ground.  The joy on his face said everything, he had provided one of the most important breakthroughs of the match for his team, but his work was not done yet.  With the entering of the new player onto the field the Indian’s started playing more aggressively and Irfan Pathan, who is making a comeback got him out in a jiffy to have the Australian’s in a spot of a bother.

Unfortunately for the Indian team the Australian’s have never been ones to bother themselves with any kind of stress no matter how many wickets are down.  Out came Andrew Symmonds, who is one of the best all rounders in the game to join the massive Matthew Hayden.  They set about the task of getting the asked for score in typical fashion.  No one’s and two’s for these men, sixes and fours are all they are used to hitting.  At one point the game seemed all but lost to the Indian’s.  The captain tried out Joginder Sharma but his over went for eighteen and Sehwag’s spin was hung out to dry with twenty runs being conceded in his only over of the match.  The Australian’s were racing home with 120 on the board for the loss of only 2 wickets.  Another breakthrough was needed and Dhoni turned to R. P. Singh and this turned into a disaster with more runs being made in his over.  Sreesanth was called back into the driver’s seat and just when you thought that the Indians were out of the game this young man gave them a reason to smile.  He targeted the stumps of the most successful batsmen in the series Hayden with his bowling and was rewarded with the sound of timber when he had him bowled out.  Another game changing breakthrough provided by the uncontrollable young man S. Sreesanth.  His celebrations would have been even grander had he been given a Bass drum so that he didn’t have to bang the ground with his bare hands.  He then went on to pump his fist at Hayden when he walked past him a defeated warrior.  This new anger and resilience is something that has helped India grow not just in cricket but all other games and walks of life.

Mike Hussey was the next man up and even though the 2 danger men were out of the equation Symmonds was still there to see Australia through.  This was when Harbajan decided to get into the act and stopped bowling his defensive line.  He was rewarded with a wicket that saw the Michael Clarke watching his stumps flying into the air after totally missing the excellent delivery.  Irfan Pathan then joined the party and blew away the stumps from under another batsman.  The last over loomed ahead of the Indians, who would be trusted with this penultimate over of the match?  The best of the Indian bowlers had already finished the quota of overs, who would Dhoni turn to now?

Joginder Sharma was the bowler called into service to bowl this all important over.  The Australians only required twenty two runs of his six balls.  Joginder Singh’s last two overs had cost India somewhere around 30 runs.  Was this the best that Dhoni could do in this final over?

I remember the anger and frustration I felt when I saw Dhoni toss the ball to Joginder Singh.  My two uncles just walked out of the house and I received messages on my cell from all my friends who had decided that we were going to loose for sure now.  I think that there were only two people who held their nerve when the first ball of the over was bowled, Joginder Sharma and Dhoni.  The first ball was beauty and Mike Hussey could do nothing but guide it to a close in fielder.  The second ball was just as good as the first and again the fielder was on to the ball not leaving any chance for a single.  Now the pressure was truly on the Australian’s in four balls they had to make twenty two runs.  What happened next?  Well it was do or die for Hussey so he wound up and he hit the next ball as hard as he could, but he didn’t quite middle it.  It soared through the air and right into the hands of Yuvraj Singh who covered quite a bit of ground to catch it.  The joy and excitement in his face said everything, the game was not effectively out of the hands of the Australians and nothing could be done about it.  Brett Lee walked on to the field and took his position at the runner’s side.  The fourth delivery conceded only a single run while Harbajan Singh danced for joy in front of the Indian fans that had come to see this incredible display of cricket.  Brett Lee had to face the next delivery and I guess he wanted to hoist the ball out of the park in defiance but unfortunately Joginder Sharma had other plans.  He had Brett Lee clean bowled for the fifth ball and the relief on his face was plain for everyone to see, he had conceded runs in his previous overs but he had come good when his team needed him the most.  The last ball was hit for a four… but did anyone really care?  I didn’t and neither did anyone in the Indian team or the crowd at the stadium in South Africa or the fans sitting in India with their eyes glued to the T. V. sets for the past three hours.

Now the Indian team has proven that they can battle with the best of the best and come out on top.  But another test lies before them; this test will probably be harder than the one that they have faced against South Africa and Australia.  They play Pakistan in the finals on Monday and a cricket match between the two countries is nothing less than a war fought with a ball and a bat.  Careers will be made or destroyed forever in this final clash of the twenty 20 world cup in South Africa on Monday.  The Indians will really have to work harder than ever before, even harder than the way they played today against Australia to win this match, because the Pakistani’s will not stop until they have had the better of us.  So far India has never lost to Pakistan in a world cup match; tomorrow will not be a day to break that tradition.

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    Ok the last few months have been really boring and tiring for me.  So starting this month I have decided to get my life into some kind of proper healthy routine. 

    First on my list is to start working out with a proper routine and to get back into shape.  I need to do this so that I can play soccer and other sports again.  I keep running out of energy and get tired way too easily nowadays, so will be working on getting fit again.  The final goal is to end up with a six pack and I know this takes a lot of work and sacrifice but I need to do this for myself.  Checked my weight last week and right now I weigh about 62.5 kilograms (or 136 pounds).  Which is way lower than I thought it would be.  I want to get back to being around 140.. I like the stocky look especially because of my height (5,05).

    One of the main things that I had to stop to have a chance to get to my first goal was to stop drinking Alcohol.  This will probably last for at least 2 months during which I plan to train hard as hell.  But so far its not been an y kind of problem.  I rarely go out over here and most of my friends don't drink too much.  The only one who really misses my drinking is Varun who doesn't like drinking without me.

    The rest of my goals will be put up shortly but I share this with all of you because I want to make sure that I make it and the more people who know about it, the more I will be interested in reaching my goals!

    Peace out people!