A sport called Life

Life can neither be defined nor does it be understood with time or energy but can be felt and experienced by our titanic pursuits of realizing its glorious uncertainties. Sport like life has its own share of victories and defeats, fame and misfortune,moments that take us to the apogee of ecstasy and agony. Both Sport and Life have an inexplicable aura and charm associated with them that it becomes easier to contemplate the similarities that one possesses with the other. It will be an interesting and fascinating journey as this article tries to explore what some of the most enchanting aspects, principles of sport if applied in life can make it more exciting and pompous.

The most intriguing persona about sport is its unique way of handling failure. How sport gracefully accepts failure as a part of it and moves on is by far the most enviable aspect of it. Tendulkar with all his might and genius could never be a great captain while Ganguly with all his vulnerability to hostile bowling attacks could become the most successful captain the

country ever had. Failures taught him to think better and gave him the ability to empathize and thereby get the best of his men. Failure, besides making success sweeter gives a whole new perception and dimension to Life. After all it comes down to one single question. Will a smooth sea with its pleasant voyage make a good sailor?

Another dramatic insight is from how sport effortlessly handles the eternal dilemma “Which is more important? The process or the Result.?” Sport emphasizes in making the process of achievement supreme and the result irrelevant. A sprinter has absolutely no control over his opponent in the adjacent lane and the best he can do is to concentrate on his performance

and let go of things out of his control. Sport enunciates how sometimes ambition can turn into anxiety and affect one’s performance and foments on the principle that giving 100% every time is more important than being on the winning side It is an interesting thought that matches are won or lost just because one team does not play to its potential. Sport edifies us to chase

our performance or professional goals relentlessly and letting the result take care of itself. Ian Thorpe, one of the world’s greatest swimmers, once said “for me losing is not coming second. It’s coming out of water knowing you could have done better.”

What makes a man play, toil and give his heart out for victory even if he holds all the records of his sport? Why does a Federer still fight hard in every match he plays even though he has the most number of grand slams than any other man in the planet ever had? It is the appetite to conquer greater heights that have never been explored by fellow men that drives these men. It is about challenging oneself and coming out on top. The joy, curiosity, energy and the child like passion towards the game with which a Tendulkar,a Federer,a Schumacher confront new challenges coming their way is what every man has to emulate in every endeavor of life.

So, next time when you see a sportsman perspiring in pursuit of giving his best, spare a thought for him and spare two for what you can take from him.

Roger does it ....in vintage style

"The higher you soar,the smaller you appear to those who cannot fly"

Words that Nirmal Shekar quoted nine years ago when Sampras won his 14 th Grand slam when people around him said he was "a step and a half slower" and had lost his firepower .He battled all odds and did it when it mattered the most.

Things similar to what were said of Federer before the French Open. Roger ,like Sampras ,has proved his critics wrong and shown the world why many consider him the best ever in history.

The killer forehand was missing, the first serve percentages were having a negative slope,the unforced errors were suprisingly on the higher side than his opponent.Roger could have easily given in to a persevering Hass or a mercurial Del Porto or even a nameless Tom who stretched him to five sets ,but he found his own way to manufacture winners that came from nowhere.The shots had the necessary friction,speed,spin,momentum,direction,swing when it needed the most.

When Roger lost his Wimbledon crown to Rafa last year ,it took a while for us to sink the result into our minds.He plays with his heart.That was why he wept when he won his first Grand slam, wept after losing the Australian Open and wept after crossing the final frontier.When the going is tough,when people start thinking he is done and dusted ,when people doubt his supremacy on court,he comes with his genius and asserts he is still the best craftsman on the court.That's what make champions and Legends.That's what make Roger Federer.

When Roger could not cross the final hurdle at Roland Garros,.someone asked "Is Federer destined not to win the French open ?".And only with time we came to realise "Federer is destined to win the French Open as his 14 th Grand Slam,making it the greatest victory of his career".....How beautiful is sport...!

"God, It's killing me "

Greatness can seldom be defined,nor does it come with time or victories but from the titanic pursuits of attaining it.It is marked by an unparalled skill and mastery of an art,but this man was not an artist,he was the one who created the art itself.His raquet spoke to the tennis ball giving it instructions of speed,movement and direction, with clinical precision.The art was so fascinating and awestruck that Wordsworth would have declared his sight at Wimbledon more beautiful than the one upon Westminster bridge.

Comparing Pete and Roger is like trying to find out which one is better,the discovery of fire or the invention of the internet.Both the most gigantic feats of their time,so are these two champions.The technical and aesthetic brilliance in Federer's game is unparalled and is only overcome and outsmarted by the brute force and tenacity of a man called Rafa , the only man on the planet who could make look an ordinary player on court.

Heros and Supermen dont cry,but artists do.There has always been this conflict between the art and the artist,one trying to be greater than the other.Most times,as in Roger's case, the art has the last laugh proving the artist that there can be only one masterpiece and it is for which the artist was born and not the vice versa.Roger cried because he realised he can no longer produce that killer forehands which made the coup de grace of his battles in the centre court in the All England Lawn Club,he cried for the art that was in jeopardy and not for his career.

The "The year that was" post

I would remember 2008 as the year that witnessed a lot happening around my life.Apart from the fuzz that would normally be there with your transition from a student to an employee,there was everything i could ask for

January to 6th May :The first four months have been the most enjoyable amidst the last few days of my college with nothing to study and everything to have fun.A lot of friends,movies,chatting,sleeplessness(I dont remember a day sleeping before 2.00 am).It would surely be remembered as the best days of my life.How our final year project(There wasn't one actually) turned to be a disaster and how we surrendered ourselves into our project guide during the final month was hilarious even then.Those where days when I would ve said "So what?" even if the sky was falling upon me....

19th May to July 22 nd:The days of so called "Training" at the job.I was determined to give my best and do whatever I could to perform well.The days when i enjoyed studying ,learning new concepts and ideas everyday.those were days that i rediscovered my passion for working hard and realized the fruit of hardwork and dedication.

July 23 rd to Sept 12th : Call it fate or anything ,I was asked to be in bench for these days.the days that reminded me of the final semester in colege life.Again I did nothing,not doing justice to what I learnt in the earlier days.Nothing much happened during these days except for the one-of visit to the college to my certificates and seeing my old friends again and got a glimpse of the old times.

Sept 13 th to December 31:Was finally allocated to a project which was a really good team.I began to understand slowly what it meant to be sucessfull in this software life.I was getting a picture how actually the software industry works and was trying to find the missing part of the puzzle to be passionate about it.It was really painful to miss the old careless college life and movies


This year would be there in my heart as the one in which i got my first salary and the one in which i was able to see a cricket match with my childhood heros in it at the chinnasamy stadium.

'The Sicillian' -Book Review

For someone who has just got into books and reading a book every ten days,it was too much to swallow.As I began to study the last hundred pages of the novel 'The Sicillian' by the famous Mario Puzo again ,at midnight,I knew I was falling into an ocean of unbelievable storytelling.Finishing the book at 2.00 a.m,i could not sleep for the next hour or so.Turi Guilliano, undoubtedly the greatest character that i have ever read about is just too unthinkable and great to forget with time.Puzo with his indimidating style and vocabulary takes you in to a different world where living by your heart is more important than living by the law.

The book starts as if it is a sequel to the' Godfather',but never really wants to be the sequel.While Godfather lighted the underworld,this book shows you love,unimaginable bravery,gratitude,friendship,courage,cunning cleverness,a mixture of kindness and cruelty all present in one man Turi Guilliano who with his friend Aspanu becomes a bandit to help the poor.Though I have never read anything about Robinhood and his heroics,I can be dead sure that Turi will be beter than him in every attribute.The book ,unlike the Godfather ,has fewer characters,with each of them beautifully sculptured by Puzo's brilliance.

It is quiet amazing how I got the same aura after completing the book,that once got after reading the Godfather.I wonder why this book isn't famous as the Godfather.It made sense afterwards that it was the true reflection of mood of the two novels.The pace of the novel that remains the same throughout the plot,the typical phrases that makes you read it over and over again,the pride of those fearless men in killing and running for life,the glory with they accept death and more than anything else, when you are about to think the book has already been worth read ing before the climax,the climax happens to be the actual thing why you should read the book

May be because Godfather was one of the first few books I read ,I like the 'Sicillian' more than I do the former.But I am happy for that.The book is a piece of art ,an epitome of characterisation and storytelling.It is more than a novel about the life of Guilliano,it is a recording of how a story of a man becomes a myth,a legend for the generations to come.The greatness of Puzo lies not in telling you such a wonderful story but in making us think this is the life we would have wanted to live in the wildest of our dreams.Whatever it might be,I honestly beleive 'The Sicillian' is far more heart-breaking than 'The Godfather'( both the books and the men wrapped in their names).