I have to confess today to having had a short fling with ...

the game of cricket long, long ago ...

My infatuation with the game was triggered by one very close India-Australia match in the Reliance Cricket World Cup ...it was the match in which India needed two runs to win off the last two balls of the game...we were down to the last wicket...Maninder Singh was batting...Kiran More was at the non-striker's end...Steve Waugh was the bowler, if I remember correct...we were all at home, our eyes glued to the TV set, all of us being our absolute 'cricket' superstitious selves...mom, who had absolutley no idea about cricket was forced to sit with us and watch the game, whole day long, just because her being around the tv had brought India luck in one of the earlier games, or so we liked to believe :-)...you know how crazy Indians tend to become when talking and watching cricket...the 5th ball of the last over of the match was bowled by Waugh...the ball briskly spun over the pitch knocking the bails off the wickets...Singh was back to the pavilion...India lost the match by one run with one ball to spare...but at the end of it all, I was hooked to cricket...

Thereafter I passionately followed every one day international and test match played across the globe...cheered and celebrated India's wins...mourned India's losses...and was absolutely in love with the game,or so I thought...but perhaps it was just an illusion, after all...cause my infatuation with cricket ended just as abruptly, as it had started ...

It was the Wills Trophy final between India and Pakistan in Sharjah...Aaquib Javed's hatrick...Sachin Tendulkar sent back to the pavilion for a golden duck...Pakistan going on to win the trophy...I was absolutely devastated...so much so that it spelled the beginning of the end of my love for the game ...of course, not to deny being further disillusioned by all the controversies and charges surrounding some of the players I had hero worshipped , Azhar and Cronje to name a few, in the years that followed...

That was then, more than a decade back...since then there have been a lot of players who have entered and left the cricketing arena...some have left in glory...some in shame...records have been set and broken...one day internationals have given way to the more exciting and adrenaline pumping 20-20 form of the game and to add to it is the almost inexplicable IPL frenzy...honestly speaking. I haven't really put an effort to keep myself up to date with what's happening in this sport, that I once loved... all that I have been keeping myself updated with is silly gossip that keeps doing the media rounds...who the new handsome hunks in the game are...which cricketer is dating whom...which cricketer has ditched whom and all such BS...sad and shameful, but true nevertheles...

Today though, as I read the headlines about Sachin Tendulkar's record setting double century in Gwalior and subsequently watched the highlights of the game, I was filled with an overwhelming sense of euphoria,hope,admiration, inspiration and pride...22 years of life dedicated to a sport and through all the ups and downs, still going strong ,more or less untainted by major controversies...a historical moment in world cricket...a moment of glory for the Indian sports world...a moment that managed to momentarily rekindle a small flame of the love and passion for the game of cricket that I had once nurtured...a moment that made me bow down in respect and admiration for the Master Blaster, Sachin Tendulkar...the messiah of the only 'true' religion in the country of my birth !!! Here's a toast to 22 years of his glorious cricketing career ...

Random musings...

My posts have become few and far between in the past months...it's not for the dearth of things to write about though... it's just that words don't seem to come very easily to me anymore...so here I am, trying to get back into the groove of writing again :-)

It's been a cold, cold winter for all of us living in the Washington, DC region...snow, snow and more snow :-)...total snow accumulation in the two and half months of winter we've seen so far is supposed to be more than 60 odd inches...apparently more than what upstate New York and Boston put together have seen this season...and to think of it, winter hasn't ended yet...As I looked out of the window this morning , I was elated to see the sun shining down in the area after a really long, long time...this, after I have proclaimed my undying love for snow many a time earlier :-)!!!

The first flurries and showers of snow every winter always give me a big , big ‘rush’ ;-)…the white snow covered grounds, rooftops and the flora glistening in the moonlight add a fairy tailish zing to life and it’s that time of the year when I can just spend hours staring out of the window ,feeling completely in sync with William Henry Davies eloquent words on life...”What is this world , if not full of care…we have no time to stand and stare”...

It’s the aftermath of a snow storm that is difficult to deal with and tends to make me weary...specially with all the “cares” of the real world notoriously glaring down at us...shoveling the driveway, uncanny fears of the roof caving in or the deck collapsing under the weight of pounds of snow transformed to ice, hazards of driving to work and ‘n’ other , often unnecessary ,worries (not that I need any specific reason to get stressed about :-))...and when you have two back to back huge snow storms in an area , not used to being pounded by extensive snow storms, it just makes dealing with the aftermath all the more worse...

Thanks to some lovely friends and neighbors, D and I spent both snow storms, snowed in but partying in the company of some lovely people...

The snow storm over the Super bowl weekend was particularly memorable, less for the havoc it created and more for the fun all of us had...the initial plan was to have an informal get together at home on Super bowl Sunday, watching the game with some friends...but then with the weather forecast turning very gloomy for the weekend, with heavy snow fall predicted on both Friday and Saturday, D decided to turn the weekend into an impromptu ‘Super bowl shoveling’ party...so all weekend we were ten of us at home, making merry ,chit chatting, drinking , eating delicious home cooked food (everyone was an expert on one form of cuisine or another...so we had these whole variety of dishes laid out over the weekend), playing poker and board games, reveling in good music ,hogging on hookah and of course shoveling( we sure had to stick to the theme of the weekend party :-))...so now gambling, in the form of poker, has been added to my ever growing list of vices...nothing to be proud about, I agree...but I believe in living life to the fullest, while I still can:)...anyways, the Super bowl weekend ended on a high note with my team, the New Orleans Saints winning ...not that all of a sudden I love football any more than I used to (all of you have heard me cribbing enough about how neglected I feel due to D’s overwhelming love for the sport :-)), but in the spirit of the Superbowl party and the beautiful town of New Orleans, I was supporting the underdog...and so was happy seeing the Saints win!

Speaking of poker, after winning my first big hand this past weekend, I think I am just getting more addicted to it...it was funny how the guys would hold back on betting each time one of us, girls, bet aggressively...apparently girls are known to be conservative gamblers...and hence whenever they bet aggressively, it’s supposed to indicate they have really, really good cards in hand...talk about
stereotyping:-)!! Folks better be prepared for a fair share of surprises from us girls, on the poker table, in the months to come...

What else...watched "My Name is Khan"...movie totally sucked...Karan Johar should definitely stop trying to be different...and inspite of all my love for SRK, I was left totally disappointed...I had somehow managed to garner enough support to lure folks to the theatre for “Kurbaan”...most of my friends hated the movie...folks were lured in for ‘MNIK’ again, fortunately I was not the initiator of the plan this time...and folks hated ‘MNIK’ more than ‘Kurbaan’...this means I surely have to come up with some innovative bait to lure people to the theatre for the next Hindi flick I want to watch...so called four/five star reviews by Times of India and Rediff will definitely not do the trick next time around :-)

Some gloomy news as well...talks of more friends moving out of the area, taking cue from some dear friends who already moved out last year to make new beginnings in new places...that’s always depressing...it’s so difficult to find people with whom wavelengths match...and when you do find some, you really don’t want to let go...but then that’s what life is about, I guess...it’s never stagnant...people move on...you make new beginnings and life goes on, as one continues strengthening bonds and making memories with old friends and new...

The good news is that my brother is moving to New York City in a couple of weeks...so am really excited about that...I really have missed having family nearby...

So that’s about it really...no life changing events in the past month...just some memorable, snowy times...yes times and memories that make me sit back and smile, whenever life is not too full of ‘care’ and I have the time to stand and stare...