ACTOBER

The World who has not heard the name of BASEBALL, may find it difficult to digest the word, "Actober" instead of "October". However, for baseball fans, There is just one fall classic, there is just one Post-Season, There is just one "Actober".

Disputes are settled now in American League of baseball. Stage is set. That one "October" is going to begin from tomorrow. Red Sox hung on for this time and won the American League EAST after 14 years. When this season was HOT in the month of May, I had a visitor at my apartment, a Comcast Engineer ( an African American) Yankee Fan. Although he was kind of hopeful that Yankee may bounce back, I predicted that this time, Red Sox will hang on to the lead.

There are many classical examples when Bronx Zoo has kind of took over in the month of September from Red Sox, but 2007 wasnt the year. Red Sox and Yankees, both were prolific run machine offensive teams who are known for thier big plays. However, the difference between this Red Sox unit with the past units, is that This team actually has a very good pitching staff.

Diasuke Matsuzaka era is just the beginning. Josh beckett is one of the best pitcher in the league. (I think, Sabathia from Cleveland Indians is going to win the Cy Young Award). Curt Schilling has 2 World Series Winning Experience with him. Tim Wakefield, Tavarez, Lefty Lester are good follow up pitchers. Bull Pen is strong with Gagne, Okhijama and Papelbon. It is going to be awesome October for Red Sox fans and like Dane Cooks says "2004 was then and 2007 is now".

I dont think so that, Angels would be easy to go over with However, I would be kind of hoping that, Yankees would defeat Indians and Red Sox will meet them in the Finale. Would that happen or not, Only "Actober" can tell.

National League was kind of messed up going on to last day of season. It still amazes me, that Baseball players play 180 games in the season, yet, on the very last day, there are 4 teams still fighting for the spot in the Post Season. This shows that what difference does 1 Win makes. Amazing.

Although, my person fav. would be Chicago Cubs but Boy o Boy, Phillies are in terrific form. I dont think so any team from West would make such a impact but Why do we watch baseball in October, because it is Actober..which is another name of "Surprises".

Actober is also the month which gives America the most beautyful weather. One of the example would be the pic shown above. FALL Colors makes it classical to drive, Makes it classical for any outing. The most romantic windy, little chilly weather.

Oh Yes, And Actober also carries, "My Birthday" !!!

World Cup Victory - an Epic Encounter

Any Sports Final, has its own importance. When It is Cricket Final, it gains more momentum. When the Final involves your own country team, It achieves Ultimatum. When the Final has two of the most thrilling countries and arch rivals, It becomes Millenium Match. When That Cricket Final involes "INDIA" and "PAKISTAN", it becomes Life Time Achievement.

I am thrilled to announced that I was the Witness of that game and saw each and every ball LIVE, just 100 centimeters away from eyes. I wanted to write this the moment the game finished. But I was in the different mood when the game got over. I was furious, I was unhappy that few people who are Indian Citizens were not watching this game. I even had one of my friend talking with me next day, about India winning the World Cup, and I couldnt help noticing myself, that person got the news from someone else.

I understand, there are not all the people who could get the opportunity to see this game but not even following the score on cricinfo or not even knowing there is this Epic Encounter is taking place is just shows that "Money has taken the joy out of their lives".

Well, India is a grown up country now. To Build any nation, you need some kind of uniqueness to survive. During 1900' to 1947, People got united to fight against English People because, they wanted "Freedom". After achieving that freedom though, India is better known in the world for "Unity in their Diversity". If you look closely and try to find few answers, there is nothing which is common in between this people.

So , I ask myself a Question, What is their which gets the Tricolor flying high. Languages are different, Movies made are different, Music is different, Culture is different, Food is different, Religion is different, Each and every states problems are different. One State has too many water the other one lacks the Water. One State has IT growing , the other has Manufactring Factories growing. It still amazes me, How India stays United???

The moment Sreesanth took that catch, Pandits from Kashmir, Tamilians from Rameshwar, Bhaiyya's from Bihar, Aasamese from Shilong, Gujju Kaka from Kadiavaad, Reddy's from Andhra or Marwari's from Rajasthan, They all must have up on their Feet. They all must have rised, They must have forgotten their own worries for that one cherishable moment. The moment which will go down in the Records Book, The moment which will be said in thousand different ways. The moment that will be descibed for the younger generations to come.

In 1983, When Kapil Dev lift the World Cup, Ever since that day, From the village to the Raw city of Mumbai or crowded city of Calcutta, Ever person used to lift the ball and say, "I wanted to be Kapil Dev", or " I want to Win World Cup". That moment came true for Zharkhand Bike Boy, "Mahendra Singh Dhoni".

Entire game was a experience of a life time. This Experience could be best described like Winning an OSCAR for a young Director, or Touching the Land of Moon for an Astronaut or for some village worker to be a Prime Minister of a nation. This is not ordinary experience. Not every person can dream of this and not every person achieves this dream. It is one in billion who gets the chance. But Millions of people get the chance to watch this game, and I could just feel sorry for the people who just missed that chance or didnt wanted to take that chance.

Best of the game was, The night before the game I was just thinking what a game I am going to witness and both the teams didnt disappointed me for a bit. I knew, If India wins the toss, they are going to bat first and thats what happened. I was guessing Sehwag and Agarkar would not be in the playing XI and thats what happened. I knew either Gambhir or Uthapa would rise to the occassion and Gambhir did. I knew Yuvraj or Dhoni (but not both) would struggle to get the runs and thats what happened.

What I did not thought was the Opening Combination and surprise entry for, Yusuf Pathan. I admit the moment I saw his coming with Gambhir, Tall Giant Figure, I thought this is our reply to Shahid Afridi. From the very first ball, the missed runout chance, set up the game brilliantly. It was just to show the High Time Drama has began.

Gambhir was phenomenon. He was striking the ball with the proper shots. After the First Move of having different person of the top of the order and getting the key 30 runs in less than 4 overs went to India, Pakistan bounced back strongly. Second Key Move of the game was when Yuvraj came to bat, Shoiab Malik introduced, Two spinners. Afridi and Hafeez, Having those two spinners bowl to Yuvraj, was a brilliant move. It took Indians by surprise and after that It took them lot of time to bounce back.

In 20-20, you dont have time to think and attach back. You have to reply to those moves quickly with your moves. Fortunately Gambhir kept going and little partnerships with everyone made sure that India would not collapse, but it was surely looking like a very small target to get and not close to 180 as everyone thought.

But, Full Marks to Man of Mumbai, Rohit Sharma. That kid showed tremendous amount of improvement with the experience of just 2 tours. His knock kept India in the game.

However the Total was not so large enough to defend. Pakistan had a good line up and I thought and so is Dhoni, that key to Victory would be the Wickets. This shows, no matter how much you cut short the game, and no matter how many people say it is a BATSMAN;s game. It is always the number of Wickets which is key. In any game, the moment you bowl 3, or 5 wicket taking balls, pressure would add up and the side would crumble.

Two moves that defined the second half. One was Pakistan thought Afridi would be the key and India thought Harbhajan would be the key. At the end of 12 overs, the game not won by either of the side. It went on to India's favor when Afridi got out cheaply and Pathan bowled the spell of the game. However, it quickly went to Pakistan;s favor when Harbhajan was hit for 3 sixes in an over.

I think, this 20-20 game, relies a lot on the number of sixes you hit. Not the number of boundaries but the number of sixes. 3 sixes in one over, If you have 3 overs like that in the game, Done Deal.

Last Over, Key Over, What a decision to make. If that shot from Misbal, would have cleared Sreesanth, the whole world who is praising Dhoni rightnow, would be cursing him. Captainship is not an easy task, It is a task, where you just rely on Luck and hope that the moves you make really work. Every captain and coach tries from their end to write a successful script, but very few achieves them and those who do, Goes in the Record Books.

I am just happy to put a check mark in the Microsoft Excel of my life, that I was happy to witness this epic encounter.

End of Summer, 2007

We are into the Last week of September and although the prediction of weather says, we got one more week of summer..It is kind of End of Summer in America.

We missed few trips this summer, like Six Flags or Niagara or Virginia but it was not a bad summer afterall. With one eye on money saving plans, I still played Golf, Stuck with no cricket, went to beach, went to small national park, started summer with few walks of the huge ground and had a trip to Pocono mountains/Washintong D.C. Hopefully, this Fall/Winter plans of travelling does not mess up and we can continue our plan to travel to Chicago / New Hampshire and possibly Hawai in the Chrismas. (just a thought nothing concrete yet.)

Another Wonderful Sports Weekend. Bulldogs pull off a great victory against Alabama in college Football. Tony Romo crushed Chicago bears and Pats/Colts/Steelers/Packers kept winning. Red Sox became the first team to qualify for "ACTOBER". Beckett became the First 20 winning pitcher of the year. Manchester United won against 1o men Chelsea.

We saw Political Thriller "Shooter", one hell of a movie, I mean bad movie. After Watching , Partner, Heyy Babyy and Dhamaal (3 comedy in last 2 months), we decided to drop the plan to watch DHOL. As there is one more Priyadarshan movie coming, "Bhul Bhalayya" in the next month of so and from the promo Dhol looked somewhat similar to last year's "Golmaal".

Got a disappointing news that, Amit Paul, one of the best singer from Indian Idol, got defeated by Prashant. This is second time in a row, Last year, Amey Date and Karunya were two most prolific singers and they both didnt became the Indian Idol. It is not the loss of Amit, who I am sure will get lot of success but it is defeat of Indian Idol show itself. If they continue to do that in the 4 th season as well, I might not watch that show again. Even from Saregama pa, the barbie doll, Sumedha was voted out. This reality shows are becoming more and more politically corrupt. Gotto keep an Eye on Prison Break and Heroes from tomorrow onwards.

I missed few friends phone call again this weekend, Sorry Guys...If I am watching an interesting game over the TV, I aint going to walk up to 3 yards to pick up the phone, Such a Lazy Bone. I realized at the end of the summer that, I gotto think of loosing a bit of weight. Earlier, I promised myself that, I will keep eating the food, the likeable food, as long as my body does not complain. My Body has not complained yet, (Touch Wood), but I guess Mirrors have started complaining. Atleast gotto start become little active. I thought, I will start from 2008, but earlier the better.

Before the summer started, I was not such a big fan of 20-20 Cricket. Over the summer, ICL, kind of got the momentum going and after watching each and every game of 20-20, I kind of started liking it. It is a good solution to One Day game which was getting boring during 15-35 overs. Loosing Quality Spinners like, Shane Warne, Saqlain Mushtaq or Kumble, In One Dayers It is like how to save wickets and keep getting singles. There is not a great amount of thrill left in the One Dayers in between 15 to 35 overs.

What 20-20 has done, is Speed up the processing. Also 20-20, It would be very rare and difficult to score 100's or 50's, and people would be eyeing the team score more than the individial score, Something that likes of Tendulkar's does not enjoy who play to score centuries more than looking at the Team score. I still remember those days whenever Tendulkar used to come to 90's, he used to slow down and have definate shot selections. Atleast those wont happen in 20/20's. You would have to go for your shots, no matter you are playing 24 not out or 96 not out.

Business minded BCCI, earlier turned down the offer and idea of 20/20's as 60 less overs in a game means 120 less advertisements and loss of millions of rupees in one day. But Now, Since the game is getting more and more popular, they have opened the doors. This competition also got over in 2 weeks of time with more fun and about 200 Sixes. Critical Game and Thrilling game against Australia this weekend, It also showed that it is not just Batsmen's game because turning point of the game was Hayden's dismissal. So Good In Depth bowling would still hold the key to the victory. I would continue to say, Test Match is a real cricket, but if 20/20 helps to make the game of Cricket popular, I dont mind choosing that route.

Before the Tournament began, I was more into give the captainship back to the Ganguly, but I must say after the game against Australia and looking at the whole tournament, I would like to give credit to Dhoni's captainship. I agree, he is still not ready but he showed tremendous improvement. I had scene, Azhar who was when given the captainship for the entire one year kind of looked the person lost in the desert or island, but with Dhoni, he seems to be confident enough guy. Atleast He was not looking panic and that too in the Worldcup Semi Final, at the crucial junction, no senior player (Ganguly, Tendulkar. Dravid. Zaheer were not playing, Sehwag was in the dressing room and Agarkar was not selected in the team), All he had was Yuvraj Singh's statement or two. but Boy o Boy, what a decision to give Harbhajan the over and then R P Singh and even to bring back sreesanth at the right time. He got all his moves correct.


Cant wait for tomorrow's game. Big Decision would be, is Sehwag fit or not, else Karthik is the automatic choice and Does Dhoni back, Joginder Sharma or go for Agarkar ? Again, Personally, I dont think so Agarkar should be given any chance, We had enough of his giving away consistently 10 run per over. Agree Joginder gave away 20 runs but then Australia were chasing 190 runs, they had to pick up one bowler to hit out, Like we hit ouy Symonds, That does not make Symonds or Jogindar sharma the bad bowlers. It is just the situation and I think Joginder Sharma hold his nerve in the last over.

So, Tomorrow is a game which comes once in a life span, India Vs Pakistan in a World Cup Final, Never happened yet. May not happen again in our life span. India Vs Pakistan in any Finals is a crucial game, Last time it happened, it was 22 years back in Australia when Ravi Shashtri got his AUDI. One in a 20 year life span, If you are not watching this game because of your parents, think twice, next time you get this opporunity, they might not be alive. If you are not watching this game because of your kids, think twice, after 20 years, they must have left you for some reason. If you are not watching this game for Vitamin M, think twice, money is not the everything (ofcourse, there is Mastercard :) )

There is no reason good enough for not watching this game live....No Reason. If you have once in a life span said to someone that You are Indian, You gotto see this game, Live ....Live....Live ....Live...because, Cricket is not a game but a Religion....

NFL

A new season has started and time for some predictions. I wanted to write this blog before the season begins but just wanted to give couple of weeks to find out few new facts.

Patriots are looking brilliant again. I actually would be surprised if they can not win the Superbowl this year. It's just perfect team. They got most balanced team. They dont have Chicago Defence, but there defence can hold any team. I would be surprised if anyone can score 3 touchdown against pats in the regular season. They got best coach in the business and they got best Quarterback, Tom Brady. Now, that Offense also have Randy Moss, a star wide receiver. So, last season, Jets do looked little promising but I can safely secure, AFC East to New England Patriots. By judging the way, Miami dolphins or Buffalo Bills play, I doubt they can win more than 6 games in the season. Ny Jets can best hope for the Wild Card, and for that also they have to rely on other teams to play bad.


I hated Steelers coach and I always thoughts, Roethlisberger is a little over rated Quarterback. With new Coach and little more room to their Quarterback, they are looking good. My Guess would be, they would win the AFC North with about 12 Wins. Their Defence needs to hold to let them go further in the Post Season, but Steelers do look Post season reachable team. Baltimore Ravens would be the second team in the group, and they would give a good fight to Steelers but I think, They might have to settle for Wild Card. But, Ravens look good with their defence, In fact, there defence is way, better than Broncos and might be the best defence in AFC. Cleveland Browns would struggle to win more than 6 games while Cincinnati Bengals would atleast win 8 or 9 games and would be in the race of Wild Card but may loose out against Chargers/Broncos.

AFC South is like NFC East. Toughest group of AFC, but I would say, Colts are still going to win this group. I saw them struggling against, Vince Young's Titans and Texans but as long as Tony Dungy and Payton Manning is there, they would be still winning atleast 12 games and would qualify for the Post Season. I dont think so, they would be able to make it to the Super Bowl this year, as Pats are looking way better than Colts but we are long way away from season end. Jaguars got good defence. They are good enough team to hold the oppositions to 20 pointers but I dont know how many games they will win with their offence. Here comes Head Vs Heart Problem, I like Vince Young so I want Titans to play good, I think, Houston Texans are the best underdog team of the league. So, I would actually put, Jaguars last and would guess they might win not more than 9 games in the season. I assume, Titans and Texans would also win around 7 or 8 games. But none of the other team would qualify for the Wild Card from this group.

AFC West, initially looked 2 way battle. Chargers looked awesome last season and so is Broncos. I think Broncos are going to win this group but not with 12 wins, may be 11. Raiders are not looking horrible this season, like they looked last season. They would and should atleast win more than 6 games. Chiefs is the horrible team of the entire group and may be alongwith Bills they would come with the least number of wins at the end of the season. Whichever game Chiefs are going to win is because of Larry Johnson. They gotto remove their coach as soon as possible. I think, Chargers are struggling ever since they lost to Pats, but I guess LT would make them the post season team. As they have the new coach, they would go with that initial struggle, but they would be my Wild Card Team.

So, PATS and Colts would avoid to play with the Wild Card Team. Steelers will play Chargers and they should be able to hold on while, Ravens and Broncos would be some defensive game. My prediction says, We will have PATS Vs Steelers/Broncos in the AFC finals while PATS will go all the way to the Super Bowl.

NFC East is the toughest group of both the league. All 4 teams are playing tight games, and any one of them is capable of winning the group. Washington RedSkins is the best underdog team. I think, all the teams are going to win minimum of 7 wins. The battle of who winning NFC East would go to the last 2 weeks. It is hard to predict who would win the NFC East, but my personal favorite for this year would be Philadelphia Eagles. They got almost as good of defence as of Giants and they got the best /experienced Quarterback of the League, Donovan Mcnaab. Although Tony Romo from Cowboys is a revolution, but Since he became celebriety , he is going to struggle. Having New Coach is definately not going to help Cowboys, Plus they got their own problematic great wide receiver, Number 81, TO, the infamous, Terrel Owens. I must say this, Newyork Giants got very good defensive team. But Eli Manning has his own limitations, He is not as bad as Rex Grossman who is just Gross....but Eli struggles against good blitz, but he also has ability to pull up the fighting in the second quarter to make his team come backs. Do I think, there will be any chance of 2 teams coming from this group, well, the group is so tightly placed that, it is going to be a matter of 1 win to miss the bus of Wild Card. So, Eagles would win the group, Cowboys and Giants would be second and third team but hey Watch Out for Red Skins, they may surprised everyone, including me.

NFC North at this moment looks secure for Greenbay Packers. They dont have great team, but they are playing like a great team. They are playing for their Quarterback, Brett Favre. I think , over the coarse of long season, Favre;s body is going to struggle but I do think, they would win NFC North. Vikings is the most unpredictable team. You never know with them, they are crazy team, They have the ability to create those one of two big upset wins but I dont think so they are any threat overall. They would finish under 8 wins. Lions are looking good team but eventually they are also going to fumble and although they look above 10 winning team, but they wont win 10 games for sure. So, Question for this group would be, Can Chiago Bears, win the group against Packers, My Answer is, Not Until they have Rex Grossman as their Quarterback. I mean come on, that guy is horrible. He can just maximum become, Baseball Outfielder, He has good arm but that guy throws the Football like a 10 year old kid. They gotto remove him to have any chance to go further this season. Mind you, Chicago Bears got the best defense in the entire NFL and they got a good coach as well and they got special, "Special Team" with Hefner. So, Packers on number 1 and Bears on number 2. This could change, if bears change their Quarterback.

NFC South, would be more clear after next week with their number 1 and number 2 team playing with each other. Carolina Panthers are good all round team while Tampa Bay Buccs, got Jeff Garcia. I think Saints would struggle to win even 10 games this season and would struggle even to win the group or get the Wild Card. Falcons were going to struggle even with Miachael Vick, without him, season has ended for them before it can begin. My personal fav. would be Tampa Bay Buccs. Panthers and Saints have to fight for number 2 and 3.

NFC West, would once again go to Seattle Seahawks. They got good offense, good quarterback, good coach. I think they are looking very very good this year. Rams are going to struggle this year, 49ers would put up a fight but I doubt they can make to the Post Season this time. Cardinals are underrated team but they would not qualify for the post season as well.

So, Eagles/Packers/Buccaneers/Seahawks are going to win their groups while Panthers and Cowboys would be Wild Card teams. Bears can upset this with change of their Quarterback while Redskins would be underdog team.

HERO

Everyone in their lifespan, have many HEROes. Be It Amitabh Bachhan, Be It Sachin Tendulkar, Be It, Mohandas Gandhi, Be It Maharana Pratap and I can keep on saying the names. This Idolism or Heroism begin with the Like. When you like someone so much, you start admiring them. After certain stage of admiration, You start Loving them and then comes a stage where You call them your HERO.

This HERO of theirs keep changing with their life span. I like most of the people had my DAD as a HERO in the early life span. I wanted to be like him, I wanted to be in "COMMAND" of a situation like he always has been. Then I grew up and made friends. During the early stages of my school career, "Dhiru" was one of my idea of Hero. That guy has an amazing charisma. Whenever he was around, people used to follow him. If he says, lets go to movies, people go to movies. If he says, Lets Play Cards, People play cards. If he says, Lets play Cricket, People Played Cricket. I had hardly scene an occassion when people did something which he didnt liked.

Then I started following Movies...and Amitabh Bachhan became my Hero. I kept admiring him and saw most of his movies in the childhood. During the later half of 90's, Aamir Khan emerged. I saw my first video film as Qayamat se Qayamat Tak and ever since, it was die hard battle between who is superior in my mind, Aamir or Amitabh.

Then I took some keen interest in Sports. Boris Becker (Tennis), Roberto Baggio (Football) and Mohd. Azhar and Brian Lara (in Cricket) were my heroes.

Then, I grew up more and challenging people like, Bill Gates and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel were my heroes. During my short lived, Ruparel College Era, We all used to admire, Dhruv Kazi. My much hyped, Terna Time had Mikunj Joshi as Hero. During my Master's Degree Program, We had Manoj Kathrani as a hero. In my beginning of the (It has been 4 years now, I still call beginning) professional career, I see, Binesh Desai as one of my hero.

At Times, I wonder, What does it take to be a Hero? What does it take to be an inspritation to someone? Do I or Will I ever carry that magnetic personality to be a Hero?

Actually, If I take a deep breath, and go back to my memories, I was kind of a HERO, during my school days...I was the top notch character in getting the good grades, was good enough to be champion in extra curriculam activities. I was a leader of my group and been involved in many of, "Saila Ru, Saila Re" kind of fights. That Heroesm vanished miserably when I saw much more scholars in D.G. Ruparel College. Everyone was kind of smarter than me, Everyone was kind of intelligent than me, and the only route to be Popular or be Hero was to throw the money. Just to prove myself an Hero, I never used to sit down in the First Class Compartment, Used to keep myself out in the heavy rain. I did almost all the tricks in the book, just to keep the Heroesm going.

Well, That did not helped me to get good grades in the 12th but it certainly helped me to develop and build my tough characters. Something which Mumbai People call it as"Street Smart". That Heroes certainly growed, in the early life of my Engineering college. I was much into making groups, being a Leader, Putting up a fight, Not to follow the rules ...and all the things in the World which could make you Popular. One of the dumbest thing to do was, Keeping the Tuesdays as Silent Days, when I never used to Open the Mouth, not even for drinking Water. I am sure people would still remember me as that poor , stupid , idiot fellow.

There was a time, with that image of Hero in Terna, Carrying even a Book would be regarded as image breaking. To avoid that situation, I took the help from Vinaykar, who used to attend each and every lectures. I just used to keep my book with him, borrow the pen, in one (that would be lucky day) if I attend that one lecture.

That Smart Dude, Vinaykar, actually inspired me. One Day, I just wondered, what would be the life, If you are not the Hero. How does it feel when no one notices you what you wear? How does it feel, when half of the people in college does not know your name? I kind of took those thoughts very seriously and from that day onwards, I kind of made an effort not to be the Hero.

I really have to kill my inner instincts to calm my anger. I literally have to talk a loud with myself just to avoid a situation, where anyone even by mistake calls me and understands me as Hero. I want to live the life of a normal person. I actually want to enjoy those moments, where no one notices you. I really want to be a common man.

Actually, I want to get rid of all the thoughts of being a HERO. However, at times, when I get into many fights, or when I speak to my old friends, I get that Superior Feeling, I get that feeling that I have more heroesm and I am kind of "SOMETHING". God Knows, When I will be completely a normal common man, but there are certainly efforts. For a Strange Reason, there is also a conscious effort to avoid my old and good friends. Those Friends may blame Married Life is the reason of this change but it is certainly an effort from my side to avoid them. Be it Jatin/Himanshu/Manoj/Nikhil/Aniket and many more whose names I am afraid to take, but I am feeling scared to open the pages of those closed chapters.

I used to joke around, "If I knew, Programming and Bike, Yash Raj might have found the Shahrukh's Replacement" :) Now I certainly know the Programming but want to go miles away from being Shahrukh :)



From the School Time

Sizzling September Sundays !!!

There was a time, in my life, where MY SUNDAYS used to be the Super Sundays. It was about 10 years back, and I was living in Mumbai (borivali) and was a fresh Engineering Student.

During those times, American Corporate culture was not invaded India and Sundays used to be the only Holidays for many workers. We used to get up early in the morning , about 7 and Watch Beautyful Old Hindi Songs in the Program Called, RANGOLI. The days used to get start with Chaudwi ka Chand or Kabhi Kabhi Mere Dil Mein....What a Start of the Day !!!.

I used to get ready very fast, as friends were waiting outside to play the game of Cricket, which normally starts @ 8.00. Quick Breakfast with TEA and those MASALA news from Bombay Times and Gujarat Samachar.

Then It used be a time, where we all (group of about 15 people) go to St. Francis Cricket Ground to play Cricket. One hell of a ground it was. There used to be atleast 12 games played in the same ground. If you are bowling in the boundary line, You can never ever remember, which ball you caught:)

Every Sunday, a new fight, a new hurray used to begin to WIN the game. We normally used to play best of 3 game till 1.00 in the afternoon. After tiring effort (mostly winning effort), we used to go home and every Sunday Afternoon Lunch used to be a Fighting Lunch with Parents. Aha, How can you forget those Generation Gap Fights.

Once those are done, I used to get out of the house, (ofcouse with tummy full of Lunch and thousand piece of advice from parents) and head to our "ADDA" to play cards. Many Mumbaites, gather and play carrom/chess or other indoor games during the afternoons. We PATELS, love to gamble and used to play 21 CARDS RUMMY. If there is anything that I miss the most from Bombay is those 3 hours of PLAYING CARDS. That 21 cards Rummy is So much of an addictive and fascinating game that you never ever realize where the Time Went.

After winning the money ( I hardly recall, loosing the money), we used to spend those money in the Afternoon snacks or 6 to 9 Hindi Movie. It does not matter, whether the blacker charges us, 400 Rupees for Saudagar or 350 for Sarfarosh or 200 for Ghulam, We just have to watch that movie on Sunday Evening.

And then We used to end the day with Baba sehgal's SUPER HIT MUQABALA or DD news.

Wow, What a Sunday !!!, Music, Cricket, Awesome Lunch, Playing Cards, Fun with Friends, Best of Mumbai Food of the Street, Movie and then end the day with Television.

Now a days, Specially since last 2 Sundays, It is just Television for me. It is kind of Unfortunate but True that This September is the best month to go out and see places. At the same time, This September has some of the classical time to watch the Games on Television.

Last Sunday it was so difficult to decide, which Channel to watch. Roger Federar, Josh Beckett or Tiger Woods, all available at the same time. Today it was even more difficult.

Roger Clemens Vs Curt Schilling (Yankee Vs Red sox)and Tom Brady Vs LT(Patriots Vs Chargers)?? And Plus to add we have, Emmy Awards. Sometimes, my best of the friends calls me in the middle of the very interesting movie or a key moment of sports and I just can not lift their phone. I have been critisized million times for not attending their phone calls but It was my inability to perform various tasks at the same time. If I am watching 20-20 game of India Vs Pakistan, I simply can not take anyone's phone and tell them, I will talk to you later. I dont have that ability to say, "Sorry, I am busy!!!".

In the end, a happy week for cricket for me. We won against Pakistan and Rahul Dravid resigned as a captain. If someone asks me, Rahul dravid as a player or Captain, I would say, player. He is too good a player to put under the nuisance of Captainship and Politics and answering millions of questions from Press. He better be my WALL, and batting in the middle.
Although, Ganguly deserve to be the captain of the team, I recon, the "MUMBAI GANG" of PAWAR/VENGSARKAR would make Tendulkar the Captain. Worst part of that story is, we will see Ajit Agarkar for another 1 year, giving 60 runs in One Dayers(maximum of 10 overs possible) and 40 (maximum of 4 overs possible) in the 20-20 games.

SPORTS

Sometimes, I wonder what would be LIFE without something called, "SPORTS". I follow many of them. I love all of them. I admire most of them. Just felt, lets write How Many of them I still follow.

As an Indian, It is in my blood to follow Cricket. It is a religion to me. Infact, I am so damn Cricket Crazy, that I put Cricket over Country. May be That is the reason, I am out my country and still following Cricket everyday. May be that is the reason, over the years, I supported, WEST INDIES over India. Just love the way west indian play the game of Cricket. Specially, until Lara was playing. However, I no longer support them. I am supporting my own countrymen now.

I support and follow many other sports , almost all of them which involves, "BALL". To Name Few, I would say, Baseball, American Football, Basketball, Soccer (The real Football), Tennis, Golf, Pool (not swimming pool), Field Hockey ( When Dhanraj Pillay was playing and now after Chak De India movie), College Football.

I also (atleast used to when Michael Schumacher was playing) follow few of the F1 Racing games. I play, Table-Tennis, Carrom,playing cards, BOWLING and Chess too. Sometimes, I feel, it is very difficult to keep track of all the news surrounding all the games. However, I manage not to miss the most important of games and atleast once in a day, follow each of the news.

Since I lived in Boston, RED SOX became another passion and RED SOX Vs YANKEES encounter became must watch. Daisuke Matsuzaka and Manny Ramirez are my fav. players from Red Sox. Ichiro though this year is my MVP. Please I hate A Rod , so cant name him.

I follow College Football too and Rutgers and Ohio State are my fav team. I follow American Football too. Tom Brady is my Quarterback and I support Patriots and normally dont miss any of their games. From National League, I like, Greenbay Packers and Brett Favre.

Basketball, I normally watch it during the winter and Michael Jordan like everyone else was my hero. In Today's Players, I like Lebron James (though he is little over rated), Kobe Bryant is I feel the best player in the league but his another name is Controversy.

From Last couple of seasons, I am supporting, Phoenix SUNS. Steve Nash and Jason Kidd (Nj NETS) are phenomenon guards. By the Way, I hate SPURS like anything...specially the whole look of Tim Duncan, Can not stand him.

Well, This three games which I started following after coming to America are no where close to World's Best Game, the real FOOTBALL, Soccer. Italy used to be my fav team and Roberto Baggio was my hero. Ya, no Pele, no Maradona, It was Roberto Baggio for me all the way. 1994 Finals against Brazil, When Italy lost, I cried entire night, When Baggio missed the penalty kick, I threw my Remote Control towards the expensive Sony TV.

Finally last year, Italy won the World Cup, and I was so damn happy. Zidane is one of the player I hated the most , actually hate most of the French Footballers except, Thiery Henry. I can name countless Italian Players who were my fav, including Maldini. Since I am much into Italian Team and European Leagues, I never got the chance to support Brazil. But I agree, Brazilians are the best footballers. It takes a lot of effort to beat Brazil in the game of Football. For many years I supported, ARSENAL because of Dutchman, Dennis Bergcamp. Now a days, I love Liverpool. Again, Because of Rivary, Since I support Arsenal, I can not support Manchester United. What a Irony!!!, cant help.

When It comes to TENNIS, like Mercedez, I love, Steffy Graf and Boris Becker. After Becker , it was only Goran Ivanisevic and his final Wimbledon win, which kept me interested in the game. I hated Sampras, Courier, Edberg, Macenroe (most of the american tennis players, except Aggassi). I started following Tennis more closely since 1992, when Agassi and Ivanisevic, two youngstars came in the Wimbledon Final. Today, I support, Roger Federar, Actually, he whenever will be retired will go out as the Worlds best Tennis Player, but my heart will always support, Boris Becker and Ivanisevic.

I learned about GOLF from my best buddy, Alok Jani. When he said, You win in Golf, when you have Negative score, for a moment I couldnt believe it. I never liked Tiger Woods, I always liked Michelson and Vijay Singh.

I must admit, I still do not follow many other interesting SPORTS, like, NASCAR, ICE HOCKEY, BADMINGTON, Boxing, Horce Racing etc etc..But I am sure, I will get them sooner.

QUIT

Ek Pal Ehsaas Banke Aate Ho, Duje Pal Khwab Ban Ke Chale Jate Ho, Yeh Pata Hai Tanhai Se Darr Lagta Hai Humko, Phir Bhi Tanha Kar Chod Jate Ho....
(This one is Dedicated to Ganguly/Tendulkar for getting out on a wrong time, leaving team on a desparate situation).

I never doubted the ability of Tendulkar/Ganguly and never questioned their ability. However, It is a fact that, They are getting Old. It does not show up while they are driving the ball or pulling the ball, but you have to observe them carefully in the field. Drop catches or running slow or reaction time all this is telling the fact that they are not the same.

One of the key reason, Tendulkar was regarded as World's Best Batsman was his ability to WIN the matches. He was compared with Inzamam before 1995 and then Lara and Mark Waugh in the late 90's but why everyone was keeping him at number 1 was his ability to perform consistently and winning matches. Although he is still consistent but consistent in getting the start and scoring 90's. Ganguly also made his name, when from 1998 onwards, he took over from where Tendulkar left. During that 5 years (1998 to 2003), Ganguly was more match winner than Tendulkar. His ability to score big hundreds and putting India into Winning Condition was the key.

India , Traditionally is not the team, who win matches with their tailenders. It is important for India that whoever goes in the top of the order make a big score and pile up the runs. Since Quiet sometime I am observing that both this Gentlemen are trying their level best to give a good opening parternership. However, they QUIT, in the middle of the inning and get out.

I alongwith many believes, that Tendulkar would atleast hang his boot for One Dayers soon. However, I feel he is looking for his much needed 100 before going out. I am very sure, he will make that very soon. Tendulkar getting the cramps looks like a every day story now, Today even he couldnt go to Dressing Room after getting out. I am sure, He wants to retire after breaking the Brian Lara's Record of highest number of Test Match Runs. If He wants to prolong his career in the Test Matches, he surely has to cut down the number of One Dayers, if not Retire entirely.

Life is Beautyful and Death is Pieceful, It is the transition which is Painful. Quitting the Life or anything is not easy. It is a tough decision and I am sure, it will break many hearts when Sachin decides to call it a day.

When Azhar (my fav.) was thrown out, I for a small time believe, I would never be able to Watch Cricket anymore. I would never be able to appreciate the great fielding when Jonty Rhodes retired. I am still in the shock as I wont be able to see the Leg Spins of Shane Warne or Swing Bowling of Wasim Akram. But All Good things come to an end, so is the likes of Sachin and Lara. But Then We get the stars and performers like Kevin Pieterson and Rohit Sharma.

Today, I knew that Sachin would get the Man of the Match, all though Robin Uthapa should have got it. I was about to ask the question to David Gower, What if Gautam Gambhir would have made 91 and Tendulkar would have made 47, Would they have still given the Man of the Match to Gambhir instead of Uthapa? I dont understand the concept of Man of the Match. Is this award, for the person who outperformed everyone in the day or the person who was the difference between loosing the game and winning. If it was the Person Who Outperformed everyone, it has to be Owais Shah for scoring maximum runs and in a difficult circumstances. If it was for the difference between winning and loosing, it has to be Robin Uthapa. But I guess this award is like a Filmfare Award of Popular person and that is likes of Tendulkar's and Waugh's and Desilva would receive more awards.

Labor Day Weekend !!!

Friday started with the haunting question of whether to watch Ram Gopal Verma Ki aag or not. Finally, It was such a tiring week at job, I decided to skip the movie this weekend.

It was such a tiring week, that I was not mentally strong enough to travel for 6 or 7 hours, some place. Finally, We (me and my friend Rohan) decided to play GOLF.

Me and Aniket, keep an ongoing list of things to do in the life. Things like, Watching a Test Match @ LORDS, Watching Wimbledon, Going to Switzerland etc...One of that includes, Playing GOLF. Finally, I played Golf.

They say, the age of 30's is age of this sentense, "You are too old to play the game of Cricket and too young to play the game of Golf.". However, Tiger Woods and many young players have changed that statement and you can see many youngstars are taking the GOLF seriously. One of my all time Cricketer, Kapil Dev, once said, "Golf is better suited for players like him, because, you are relying on yourself".

Many of them consider, Golf as expensive game, but we found a cheap deal. 30 Bucks for good 3 hour outing, was awesome deal. We enjoyed every minute of it. Most of the Golf courses are beautyful. This one was a real beauty. Beautyful weather helped a lot for a good afternoon.

Initially, We both hit the ball on every corner of the ground, but after completion of 5th hole, We settled down. I guess in last ,2 holes, I was swinging like a pro. I couldnt belive myself, this is my First day @ GOLF. I swung couple of very very good, lofty 200 Yards Drive.

I quit Cricket This summer, actually last summer itself, because of one incident. I was fat, chubby guy since last 17 years, but never regarded in the Cricket Field as a Lousy Fielder. I was good enough fielder to catch the ball and reliable enough for good throws. When you grow older, Your hand eye co-ordination fails. You want to play the stroke, you want to run hard, You want to play tough, but your body does not respond. And Finally comes a moment, when you ask yourself, How long?? and then You say to yourself, "Buddy, Time to Retire". I am proud of not playing Cricket this entire year (First Time since last 18 years) and it was tough for me, but You can not be a reason to bring down your team mates.

I wish, Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly and many others look at their body, ask the above question to themselves and then look at their Bank Balance and say to themselves, "It is a moment We hang our boots".

To be Honest, Even a little walking that we did in the Golf, was good enough to tire my body. I couldnt convince myself to visit Virginia for a drive of around 6 hours on Sunday. Finally, We went to a beautyful place in Upstate Newyork, "Catskill Park".

I havent got the chance to download those pictures from my camera, but that was one of the most natural place you could ever be. We went to a small trail of Catskill Park, and Sound of Water Falling was so pure, that it can touch your heart.

One of the many reason, I believe that Computers has done enough to harm our life. This so called, Modern Life, has removed the piece in the life. If you go and visit these places and stay with yourself for about 15 minutes, you would come to know, Those 15 minutes were more awesome than 15 years you spend trying to earn your so called, much needed, $$$$$$