Gully Cricket

I have been down with a viral attack this week. Saturday didn't have anything interesting to offer.A routine visit to the doc, some very tasty glaxo pills to chew and tons of bread to eat were some of the things lined up. Naturally I was sulking and looked out of the balcony in hope.

Pushpavanam colony ( read as: Garden/Forest of flowers) , is the name of our neighbourhood in Chennai. BTW, I am yet to spot any of those flowers in the last 6 months :-) .The colony is a narrow by-lane with some 20 odd families living on both sides. Today morning the by lane turned into a cricket field with some interesting talent. Here is a profile of the players involved:
1. Kid1 - 12 yrs old , right hand bat and bowl,big hitter
2, Kid2: 10 yrs old - quite thin, right hand bat ,wristy stroke maker
3. Man : 35 yrs old - Left hand bat and chinaman , needless to say big hitter,dressed in banyan and nice Zari veshti/dhoti

The match was action packed. Kid2 started the proceedings when i reached the balcony;Man was bowling. The first few balls were gentle leg breaks that the kid flicked on the leg side. Kid2's shots made me think why Indian turn out to be good wristy players (Likes of Laxman, Azhar) . I think most kids start batting with heavy bats and find it hard to extend the arm and drive the ball straight. Coupled with the fact that the ball was turning, made it all the more compelling for Kid2 to just un-cock those wrists and send the ball to square leg.

All this while Man was getting support from the pavilion ( his under 10 daughter watching from the balcony above) . So guess what happens next, the last ball of his over is a zooter. A fast yorker bowled with a wrist spinners action, cleaned up Kid 2. Man was jumping in joy and his daughter came running down to congratulate her dad. Kid 2 was digusted and shook his head and muttered somethin like "Damn !! that was unfair you were supposed to be a spinner". I was reminded of my school days when my dad used the exact same trick to spoil my budding innings during gully cricket matches. The only difference was that i was twice the size of Kid2 and that dad was quite calm after he got me out. He would only bowl when your truly was at the crease and walk out of the match once I was cleaned up . Dad's are so much Fun!
Now it was the turn of Man to take guard . As mentioned earlier he was a lefty and had a loose grip on the handle. It was easy to guess that he was in a hurry to score. Kid 1 took the ball and started with a couple of loosners. Man defended the first one and the second one was driven to mid on. The next ball was fullish and faster and man unleased a powerful drive that sent the ball to the boundary. Ball four was send over the ropes quite easily. Man was super elated and was signalling to his wifey and waving the bat in joy. Ball five was also powerfully driven and Kid 1 was looking at the sky. By now, Man was giving some advice to the kids on finer aspects of seam bowling et. al. Kid 1 went back to his run up and signaled that this was the final delivery coming. Man took guard and before I relaized what happened, Kid 1 send a super fast zooter and cleaned up Man. hahhahahahahaha, i burst out laughing , what a super reply by Kid 1. Man quickly returned the bat to Kid 2 and left for the comfort of his balcony.

I came back beaming and started to blog. I am always suprised by how life gives us such pleasures (if i may use that word) during seemingly hopeless circumstances. If only we spotted such opportunities and took away the joy. Saturday looks quite promising now !!

Jerry Man

Home sweet home

Our rented place in Alwarpet is quite nice. I have most of things that I love at stone thowing distance. The music sabhas, coffee world , gym et.al . The Fitness one centre near my house draws a lot of celebrities . It is nice to see Sanjay subramanyam and Sudha raghunathan frequent the health club.I guess it does not hurt to keep those lungs healthy if you are a Carnatic vocalist.

The wedding was a pretty fun affair especially the cocktails arranged by Missus' folks. Some of my close high school friends and grad school colleagues attended the function to make it memorable. The coimbatore reception was well attended too.My high school principal, hindi teacher, neighbours from chidhoood were there to wish us. That's when it struck me that a well attended wedding is like a potrait that stays in your memory forever.

Missus has been having a hectic time at work. Even my workload has gone up quite a bit after the wedding. I have started driving regularly in Chennai. Needless to stay scratched the car once already trying to park in our narrow parking lot. Damn why don't we have more space in cities , driving in the US used to be so easy. And Yes the biriyani at the Park hotel is simply superr!!

Merry Christmas and Good bye bachelorhood

As yet another year draws to an end, things are changing in my life. Feb 15'th and 16'th are the dates for my wedding. When i came out of B-school i was hoping to learn a lot on the professional front. Like everything else in life there was a surprise , I took more decisions on the personal front and learnt a lot. I am happy that the families finally agreed .I must thank my better half for being so understanding and keeping the calm in the midst of chaos.

Now its time to get in shape to look dapper on the D-day.The Golds gym in Temecula has motivated me to run at higher speeds. The pulls ups count has gone up too . Yesterday i went to attend the Christmas mass at the local methodist church. I really enjoyed the choir and the words of wisdom advice from pastor . He rattled off some scary stats on the rate of foreclosures in the US ( one every 10 secs) .
I am flying back to India in a couple of days. I can't wait to get into the wedding frenzy and enjoy my last few days of bachelorhood with family and friends.
Here is wishing merry christmas and a happy new yr to all!!
Jerry Man

Sigh

I am back in chennai after a 5 month break. This is the first time i am starting to feel the pinch of this double digit inflation. I realize that my pay hike has been nullified by the rising prices. Hovewer there is a bigger challenge at hand now. I need to shed close to 8 kgs that i gained during the US trip ; My cooking is not all that bad . I started running again but the effects of the weight gain are showing . I struggle to cross the 6k mark damn!!
There were a few weddings( those of close school and high school friends) that i never wanted to miss . Made it to 2 of those, had to miss Natchi's thanks to the Detroit trip in April. Still can't believe that the bunch of us who rode bicycles and played together have graduated in life . I keep thinking of those great times and wish each of them the great life ahead.
This weekend i am planning to do my annual Sabarimala trip. The Chennai music season is coming up , I hope i can attend a good number of concerts this year too. I also need to find a new guru.

Math Tuitions 9'th Std

Just finished watching Al Pacino in 'Scent of a Woman' . The final speech on integrity by Col. Frank W Slade reminds me of people who stood up for me in life. Not an exact analogy , but Mr .Ananthakrisnan my Math tuition master in Saibaba Colony Coimbatore fits the bill. He for one believed that I could pass in Math .Through his unique style of coaching rather than instructing ,made me believe in my abilities. Somehow everytime i pass his house in Coimbatore my eyes search for that nameboard. Its not there anymore , I dunoo where he is or even if master is still alive. I still remember you Sir!
Have to get a strong Starbucks cappuchino ,the LA heat is a barrier to the walk.I 'll do it for the double tall cappuchino:-)

Los Angeles and Detroit

Have done some crazy travelling in the month of April. I like Lufthansa more than Singapore air. Saw a lot of potholes in the roads at Detroit;that was a surprise! As i sit staring at the San Bernadino valley from my 16'th floor seat in LA ,i am reminded of one such lazy friday afternoon a few yrs back when this blog got created. I was in downtown Sacramento then. I think coming back to the US was a never an option for me,when i left this country in 2006. Makes me think a lot.

I also visited my office in Coimbatore before i flew out to LA. The office is located at a very quiet spot in the backdrop of the western ghats. Its a nice place for a picnic . Oh yeah i saw Harold and Kumar -part 2 - not as good as the first one. I liked the bit when the FBI guys interrogate the parents , that was a laugh riot. Iron Man was super cool.

Walking through the woods

I have been in Coimbatore for the most of March. I decided to take a walk instead of my routine run today. Somehow i found my way into the Forest College campus . Every step i took reminded me of those bicycle rides Sundar, Hari ,Shibu ,Ganesh and I took to school through the dense greenery on the campus. Somehow everytime I think of childhood i wonder and exclaim "wow! i wish i could just relive those moments" .
The cricket ground is stil there , I sat there to watch a few overs of a game. Every path in the campus reminded me of some day or some incident from my school days. I missed the company of my high school buddies. It left me with a great feeling . Sometimes I feel all that we take forward in life are memories. Heck, lemme me get a shower!