The amalgam of anxiety and excitement is always developed when you fly to India. I was looking forward to my trip2Home after almost 3 years. I have liked flying with Air India for several reasons: 1. They have couple channels to hear Hindi Songs and most of them are old melodies. 2. It's a good preparation to acquaint yourself with seeing tons of desis before meeting millions of us :-) 3. The flight service has been pretty good compared to Indian standards and it's just a good feeling to see polite desi hosts and hostesses (a rare sight few years back). 4. The constant noise of little cranky desi kids, some arguments with air-hostess, typical discussions on Indian politics and infrastructure with co-passengers and so on tunes you mentally and physically for what’s gonna come next. 5. This has helped me greatly in terms of being patient and considerate the moment I land, and trust me, it keeps your “attitude” in check, which helps in the trip immensely. 6. For the Long Islanders and folks from Queens, make sure to visit Jackson Heights or Edison before your journey to India.
As always, the world is small and it was a pleasure to meet a UICTite in the same flight, sitting in front of me. I didn't knew how to react when one of his initial questions were "were you a hostelite or a localite?" The question was innocent, but it was good enough to keep me busy for another hour reminiscing on all the sweet/not so sweet memories of my engineering days. I was surprised to see the hostelite/localite thing so much prevalent even now at UICT. The question sounded like are you a Hindu or a Muslim. Dude, I am an Indian and for him an UICTite:-) The first leg to London was very comfortable and I was not too happy with the feeling. This ain't possible! Something's got to go wrong! It has to happen. My doubts got their assertion. There was a long walk of 25 mins from one terminal to another in London, with no shuttle service. The desi Air India herd started the march with all the cribs and curses. The flight was delayed by about 90 mins, and I was relieved, I am in the right flight and that the world is normal :-) No sooner did we land in Mumbai, we heard "Nagpur, Calcutta, Aurangabad ke liye yaha chalo...". Trust me, you would not hear this on any airport in the world. And I said, "Dude the fun has begun!"
After a quick immigration, I thought of taking a leak and organizing myself before I meet my family. I am not sure why everyone is in such a hurry in India or it's just that “I don't give a damn about you, let me get my job done”. When I was washing my hands, at least 2 other guys took a quick shot at the tap water!! I mean, dude hold it for at least 30 secs, I am cleaning my pee-hand. How awesome is that. :) Some people call bribing, a "service available", however you take it, I could not help smiling to myself when I heard "Sir, 50 Rs. I will get you out of customs quick". Where I spent 2 hrs at baggage I was not keen on cutting another 20 mins at customs. I politely declined the otherwise tempting offer. The last stop at the airport was the Pandu collecting the immigration slip. Shamelessly he was asking too!! Pity or otherwise, how different was that from Hazi Ali beggars? "Saab, kharcha pani?" I was like, sorry I am not carrying Indian cash. "Saab, dollar bhi chalega". :-)
Getting out of the airport after a long wait at baggage and customs was very refreshing. You feel like a VIP with tons of people waiting outside for their dear ones. I would bet the ratio is about 1:6 (6 family members to receive one passenger). Look at the contrast, when you land in Chicago or NY, you need to make sure thrice that your friend would be available to pick you up and may be wait about an hour on airport so he can show up after work! Then carry your entire luggage, put in car, carry it to your apartment and be your own maid/servant from there on. Here, there were 4 people waiting to get my entire luggage, before I realized what was going on, the luggage was all set in the car, I was offered mineral water, some traditional sweets and tons of hugs. It was a good feeling. The smile on my sister and bro-in-law's face and the sight of overwhelmed in-laws was soothing enough to forget the flying trauma, however small.
The longer you stay at a place, eventually you start liking it. It's more the people than the place itself that makes the difference. Why does everyone love their birth place? No matter how the town is - a quiet serene hamlet or a busy city with skyscrapers. People love the idea that their lives started from that piece of land, it's like a part of you, and it’s like a part of your family. Why do kids respect and love their Mom, it's precisely the concept.
I rave the fact that I was born and raised in a domestic environment that placed premium on values and life. Like most of our leaders and celebrities, I was born in a smaller centre :-) The size of the city really does not matter, what matters is how far did you go in life with available resources. All the successful scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs are not from IIT or IIM's (two most premier institutes of India) - you don't need to be from a metro city to achieve your goals in life. I spent a good 18-formative years in Akola, a district in Maharashtra with a population of about 1 million and counting (now). Last 12 years or so, I have been traveling to Akola - on and off. This little town has a special place in my heart.
I learnt the very basics of life, humanity, education and success here. Unlike today's kids, who spend most of their time in front of the idiot box or playing computer games, I was outdoors playing the most simple yet very athletic and inexpensive sports that are now only alive in memories. I wish I can someday maintain a detail log of these games that are getting oblivious in time. There was immense joy in sharing meals and banter with friends after long hours of playing Cricket, Gilli-Danda, Kanchas, Hide and Seek, Lock and Key, River or Mountain, Lagori, Kho Kho, Badminton :-). and so on... Roller Skating - 15 years back was considered to be the "in-thing" and I had the edge in every competition, since very few participated :-). The multitude of trophies in skating were not joy enough over losing a cricket game with another local team. Playing cricket was a second religion, first was watching it :-) Summer vacations were well spent with playing 2/3 hours of cricket in the morning, followed by various card and board games in the afternoon. The cool air from water coolers and the pleasant smell of "Khus" are still very fresh in mind and they beat hands-down the latest of air-conditioners. Evenings would compose of local games, playing Antaksharis (song contests), reading comic books - Chacha Chaudhary and Saboo, Twinkle, Raka etc. and eventually sleeping outside under the open sky and stars as the cool breeze would wrap you in its arms.
Years passed by and I remember when I took my first serious shot at studies, I was already in the 8th grade. Till then, I spent the bare minimum time with books - just enough to get myself into the next grade. Life was simple, no big ambitions, not much of a vision and no peer or sibling pressure. The farthest I dreamt was someday to be able to stand on a stage and speak fearlessly in front of my school mates. That was like "the dream". I love the fact that I was raised in an ambience where there were no unreasonable expectations; kids had time to pick fruits from the trees and enjoy dancing on the streets during the Ganpati festivals. I still feel very happy that I could spend most of my childhood doing the things I would have always loved to do. I did not even notice when life taught me the emotional quest, sportsmanship and never-give-up attitude. In today's world, it's agonizing to see the lackluster smile on a kid's face. They are torn between immense competition and trying to meet the supernatural expectations. So much so, that the years pass by and you would think - where did my childhood go?
Planning kills the curiosity of exploring a new place. I am so much for it. Well, that's like a motto for all the lazy bones :-) I hardly remember I have planned any trip in the US, big or a day-trip. Trust me even my honey-moon was impromptu, well the touring part of it ;-) Educating yourself too much about your next vacation destination blunts the beauty in uncertainty about the place. For the very reason, I would never like to have a GPS in my car. Expense is the next big reason :-) Of late, we been using just the traditional maps to travel, even google maps or mapquest steals the joy of finding the shortest distance that your navigator would constantly want to come up with. Our last trip to Toronto from NY and back was purely AAA map based. Another advantage is my wife is occupied for the most bit :-)
So far I may sound convincing, well trying to do one myself, this game plan back-fired last weekend. After playing Dandia for about 3 hours (I see it as calorie burning routine) on Friday night with legs in constant to-fro-zig motion and head and chest in fro-to-zag, it was ambitious to get up at 5 am. Well, finally we got up at 6 am and were in Madison by 8 am was in fact a courageous act in itself - on a Saturday morning! Even my weekday mornings start an hour late! Our friends who were planning to take "proper google maps" could not, Murphy's law had to set in - Internet was down. Trusting (and boasting) our past exploits with paper maps, we started our journey to Door County. It was not even half-a-mile that we realized it's not West but East we had to head. Thinking country road would be a scenic route by the lake, we confirmed how naive we were. Signals and more signals, detour, stink of cow-dung (Wisconsin is like Bihar of India) and single lane roads with dried grass and bald trees around, was certainly anything but scenic. We thanked our good deeds that we found a Taco-Bell (first snack place that we could comfortably recognize) in Sturgeon Bay. Pretty soon we realized that Door County is full of tourists - two reasons: Green Bay/Packers game on Sunday and Festival in Egg Harbor. The initial jitters of not finding a room to stay overnight soon turned into a reality. With time, intensity of searching the place to crash and clean beefed up. Three phones were constantly dialing each and every hotel in the County for almost 2 hours.
"Hi, Do you have any rooms available for today or tonight". Reply:"No, we are full" "Thank you"
I would have heard this almost 100 times, and we ran dry on luck. We decided to pass upon staying in Door County and started enjoying the festival, tid-bits, board walk and the groovy aerial view from the look-out tower in Fish Creek. Fall colors were at their best, trees were oozing rainbows all over amidst calm lake and birds were chirping, ambience was indeed relaxing. By the end of the evening, we were worn out, with just one thought, could someone let us stay here! Driving away from Door county for an hour, was still not good enough. All the hotels, motels and Inns were booked in Green Bay as well. Let's head back to Madison was the common call. We desperately hoped that Olive Garden would be open at 10:30 pm. It was a crime to even miss an exit, since we were crunch on time to make it to OG. An excellent dinner, followed next day by a poised walk on State Street by the lake side, some Jamba Juice, tour of Capitol, watching "Mariuana Activist" rally and unprecedented art of the road-side painter was far more refreshing. We sealed the Sunday evening with lots of exchange of banter, card-game and good home-cooked meal.
All in all, it was a very eventful, yet enlightening weekend. I enjoyed the uncertainty of it, as always and that's how I took it. For others, they are still holding my throat wishing had I booked things in advance!! I still very much want to go to Door County and stay there overnight. :-)
Din Dhala Raat Aayi, Aur phir Teri Yaad Aayi Dil Ne Mehsoos Kiya Us Pal Ko, Jo Churakar Tuje Mere Paas Layi Jab se Tujhe Dekha Hai, Aur Milne ki Chaah Jagi hai Is Veerane Dil Mein Bahaar Jagi hai Tere Dil Mein Sirf Meri Tasveer Ho, Aisii Umeed Karta Hun Har lamha Tujpe Kurbaan Karta Hun Kabr Mein Dafn Hun Aur Saasein Chal Rahi Hai Har Saas Teri Tasveer Banaa Rahi Hai Ek Baar Aake Choom Le Is Sang-E-Marmar Ko, Khuda Kasam... Har Aashiq Kafan Ki Dua Magega. -Pankya
"If they have no bread, then let them eat cake!" - Almost everyone of us who have done little reading, must have come across this quote from the French Queen. No wonder they say French are queer. :-) No matter how much you do or want to do for your country, you got to be physically there, you got to be one of them to really make the difference.
I love the US and I am not a strong proponent of "Migration" or "Brain-Drain" et al. To be frank, India has come up graciously out of most of our recent disasters - thanks to the NRIs. From Latur earthquake to Tsunami or Bhuj quake, tons of help in the form of money and substance has reached to the affected millions from the US, UK, Australia, Dubai and African countries. (Stay chill if I missed your country, must be insignificant :-) ) This would have been impossible, had we never allowed the go-getters to leave India.
Monetary help and sentimental condolences, can only help revive from the situation, it can never change the scenario. Problems with my country are deep rooted. They are abysmal - hard to fathom. These fundamental issues need to be purged from thoughts, philosophy and religion. These can't be solved by providing money. To make this real change, one has to be Indian first, one has to be among them.
I am not a Gandhian, well I don't think Gandhian philosophy is today's cure. Like in the world of medicine and health, not all diseases could be treated by "Ayurveda", similarly you cannot apply same old philosophy to solve modern day's issues. When you have an Heart Attack - would you go to a Homeopathy doctor? Hell no! (Unless that's your landlord :-) ) This does not mean, Ayurveda or Homeopathy cannot cure the heart disease, it can, but not at that critical moment. Similarly, if the world lived Gandhian way, may be his philosophy to tackle current affairs would have worked. Fortunately or Unfortunately World chose to live the other way. Try sitting in front of the Terrorists, doing Satyagraha or letting them wipe you off this planet, or slap you on both the cheeks - some friggin day it may change their hearts. That may be after gazillion years, the solution at that moment won't even be relevant. Today we need immediate solution to spontaneous bloodshed. To check the nail growth you got to cut them, not go on fasting! Solution to Kashmir issue is not "Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram...", if we would not clean our house, who will? We have been sitting like ducks, begging it in the UN to see the obvious, praying the US intervention, holding peace talks, bi-lateral cultural and business meets, playing cricket for peace and what not. What good has it done, except losing more land and our innocent people to the rogues? They have entered as inside as Mumbai, what are we waiting for? While patience is a virtue, too much of it is cowardice.
Born in a country where the entire popluation plays "Cricket" (If you are thinking that I am talking about the insect - cricket you should hit the little "X" on the top right of browser - NOW! Ignorance for Cricket is not acceptable ;-)) Although cricket no longer shows on my resume under the pronounced "Hobbies" section [Wonder people still write resumes with such crap], a deliberate attempt to distinguish myself from the other 95%, there is no denial that this is the only sport that could keep me awake watching it entire night. Most of the desi junta, do know cricket and only that but there is this weird reluctance to admit it or so what I noticed.
How often have you seen Indians talking about cricket with their colleagues in US? I mean a loser from Nebraska or whatever who needs a de-education and then a re-education in English from some decent school in India, would talk about some friggin baseball team in some university in Kansas and you would bear him despite of the fact that you hardly know anything about the game. I don' t know man, baseball psyches the Jesus out of me. I nearly fell asleep the last time I saw Red Sox game at Fenway park in Boston.
Despite staying for some 8 years in the US now, still every time Team India in Blue plays for any trophy or coveted Indo-Pak series, there is intense desire to see them win. Love for country and her sport never fades, no matter where you are. I thoroughly enjoy playing Tennis, doing roller blading (haven't done this summer!) and swimming. However insanity strikes when it comes to cricket.
I reminisce and memories take me back to 3rd or 4th grade when India was playing Australia in Australia. I would be insomniac and the tiny mind in the dim night-light, when all the family members are sleeping, would draw a circle on a paper and plan how our fielding should be placed for next morning's game. I would jot down the 11 expected plays who would make it into the next game, their batting and bowling orders and what not. I would get up at 5 am, slowly and silently open the latch of the front door, to make sure I don;t wake up my Mom - (who and only who had the potential to stop me from not watching the game. ) and run to neighbor's house to watch the match.
Next incident was during Sharjah cup finals. Oh boy! Who in right minds would forget that - Pakistan needing 5 runs to win and 4 to equalize. Chetan Sharma was chosen for the last over had his inexperience displaying as nervousness - so vivid. Javed Miandad hypnotizing himself into hitting the big shot and Chetan Sharma bowling a full toss - unsuccessfully trying to york. Miandad hits the ball out the ground for a six and boy boy Chetan Sharma would have pee-ied in his pants. I remember crying so hard that evening and almost vouched never to watch India play cricket again. WTF, didn't last even till next game ;-)
With cricket being played so much these days that as much you enjoy seeing India win, the pain when they lose is hardly any. It's like a routine, like there is always a next time. Over past few years there has been numerous sleepless nights watching cricket and next day showing up with red eyes to work and low spirits as India would have inadvertently lost another sitter. Every time you think you will not repeat the silliness, it does not matter the next time. Passion for Indian cricket will always remain, in fact that keeps me going. Thank God Cricket is not like Pro-Basketball where players get traded and the atmosphere is so "professional". It loses the charm of supporting as a die-hard fan for one's nation, when players are from another.
My top 3 contemporary batsmen in descending order are:
