Give it back to the Aussies

It's getting out of hand now. Sledging and 'psychological disintegration' is one thing and being assholes is quite another. The Aussies have overdone it now. When Matthew Hayden called Bhajji an 'obnoxious weed' on Brisbane Radio he proved to the world that the Aussies indeed are a bunch of overweening jerks who do not play with any sense of values. Apparently to them, winning is everything and they are willing to sacrifice the spirit of the game on the altar of victory.

Even the occasional sledging that the Australians were accustomed to could have been overlooked and wished away as part of their twisted 'strategy' but the cheating and foulness that they have resorted to in this tour is simply unpardonable. They may be the best in cricket at the moment but they rank right at the bottom when it comes to sportsmanship. Perhaps Aussie behaviour is a good instance of atavism gone wild-after all most of them trace their origins back to hardened English criminals who were banished to run free down under.

The Indians have been given a raw deal on this tour. Far from being shown the requisite hospitality that we could have expected from our hosts as reciprocity for our own 'Atithi Devo Bhava' principles, we have been alienated and offended. So enough is enough. It's time to give it back to the kangaroos. The only recourse for the Indians in the finals of the Commonwealth Bank Series is to sledge when necessary and leave no gibe unanswered. The likes of Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting and Andrew Symonds who never seem to get tired of displaying their needless arrogance need to be brought down to earth and silenced with their own medicine.

India has some good young blood on the team. Uthappa, Ishant and Sreesanth should take it upon themselves to challenge the foul-mouthed Aussies and humble them on home soil. Give it back to them guys!

I believe.

It's the age old question. The question of faith. And when it comes to this, you're either on this side of the fence or that. You couldn't be sitting on it. You either believe or you don't. People do call it fashionable names. Atheism, Monotheism, Polytheism, Agnosticism, Mysticism... there are as many creeds as there are philosophers around every street corner. But if you were to have to break all these belief systems down to their most fundamental notions, you would have to hinge each one around a single pivotal macro-question: Do you believe? I would urge you to note here, that this question is very different from another omniscient query repeated across the many neatly printed philosophical volumes relegated for eternity to the antiquated shelves of obscure libraries: Is there a God? You may have reason to believe that the answer to the latter question is in the negative and yet choose to answer the former question in the affirmative. It's only a question of faith. And faith, does not draw its lifeblood from the drab morass of reality. It's something more sublime and pure of spirit. Faith is made of the same stuff that gives life to living.

On the question of faith, I always reflect back on the events that unfold in a certain movie that I watched some years back and have watched numerous times since- The Polar Express. It's a simple children's film-one of the many that are repeated on one of the 'English Movie' channels on Indian television every Christmas eve. The theme, again, is neither novel nor curious like some of the more recent Hollywood movies aimed at a school-going audience. But it raises and addresses a question that draws you in and forces you to stop munching on your jumbo pack of Act II popcorn. The question of faith. Over the course of the movie, a young boy's faith in Santa Claus is rattled by a series of events. He is on a train known as The Polar express, one that takes kids to the North Pole to visit Santa Claus. One of these kids will be the lucky one and will receive from Santa the first gift of Christmas. Right through the eventful journey, the boy is made to question his beliefs: Is this for real? Isn't it bizarre that a train should travel to the North Pole in the middle of the night to meet a guy called Santa Claus? Huh. What hogwash. Isn't this guy bogus anyway?
But that's not even the point. Even when the boy gets to learn of the answers to these myriad skeptical questions and reaches the North Pole to meet Santa Claus, he's faced with another crisis of faith. He discovers that he is unable to hear the bells of Christmas. Flustered and disappointed he watches on as all the other kids rejoice at the sounds of the jingling bells and the sight of Santa Claus and the elves.

Then it happens. He raises the bell to his ears and whispers.. almost in doubt, "I believe." Then louder again, " I believe!" And now he gives the bell a little jiggle and lo! He hears the most beautiful sound in the world. It is for the movie to narrate the rest of this most delightful story. What baffles me is how, through such a juvenile plot, a question of such immense import can be addressed. Do you believe? Well that's all that matters isn't it? It doesn't even matter what's true and rational and scientific and logical. What matters is what you think. The story in the movie is narrated by the same boy who has now grown up and is an old man. He ends the movie thus: "As years passed by, most of the kids around me stopped hearing that bell... because they stopped believing. My parents could never hear it. My sister stopped hearing it. But for me, and for those who truly believe, the first bell of Christmas still tolls.... "

Of lazy Sundays and quality time

I simply love Sundays. That's one day of the week when I get to do what I love most-be lazy. That's the only day in the week when I let time pass by unhindered without worrying about absolutely anything under the sun. Although some Sundays in the month do end up getting devoted to 'cleanliness', I see this as more of a necessity-part of my desperate attempts to keep myself and my surroundings civilized.

I never set any kind of pace for myself on Sundays. That's taboo. Things are left to happen by themselves. I just happen to be a casual participant in my life's events on Sundays. This is when free will and the stuff that fills endless management self-help books melt away into oblivion and what results is pure ecstasy. The sheer joy of having nothing to do and no compulsion to do anything seems blissful.

Last quizzing season of college

Been quizzing lately. I'm mid-way through my last quizzing season in college. It's been a lukewarm start. We won the regional round of the IMS Quiz at Patna. Since then it's been hard work and no rewards. We moved on to NIT Allahabad for their annual quiz fest Gnosiomania. We were in for a rude shock when we found ourselves up against corporate teams. What's more, these guys were behaving worse than school-kids in their desperation to win. Our team from BIT was by the far the best among the college teams. Our best result at Gnosiomania was a 2nd place in the Corporate quiz conducted by Biswabijoy Sen. Lost by narrow margins in some others.

After a week-long breather, it was on to Kshitij, IIT Kharagpur. We reached a day after the fest had begun, so we were made to run around for accommodation. You would think that IIT Kharagpur would be more amiable when it came to their neighbours from BIT Mesra but nothing of the sort. We weren't any good when it came to the Tech Quiz hosted by Avinash Mudaliar. Came in a close 4th in the Biz Quiz conducted by Arul Mani. Feeling kinda down. By this time of the year, Shoaib and I usually have our pockets nice and warm with a few thousand quizzing bucks. Well, looking forward to giving the eastern teams a good fight in the quarter finals of the IMS Quiz in Calcutta. Will be another good quizzing weekend.

Haven't spent a single weekend in the hostel this semester. Been traveling all over on quizzing trips. My expenses have gone through the roof. The prize money from NIT Allahabad would help to buffer it out for some time, but that doesn't seem to be coming in either. That's the big problem with college fests in India. The prize money never comes. They all make big promises. In this case, a certain Saket, the chief organizer promised us that we would receive our cheques in a jiffy. Never happened. Still waiting. I really hope the rest of the quizzing season is more productive materialistically.

Where does it all go after this? I don't know. I have no idea whether I'll find the time to quiz with the same fervor in the coming years. Been one helluva time quizzing in college. Great win record and even better memories. Some really fun trips to unlikely places with friends. It's not over yet. You can't take the quizzing out of the quizzer.