If Life Was A Game Of Basketball

July 16, 2008 Leave a comment

  • You would get enough time before the game to practice your dribbles and hoops and free throws and three points.
  • The practice is important. But you would realize that all that practice still does not prepare you for the big day.
  • You would get enough time after the game to reflect upon the game you played and think about changes for the next one.
  • You would be able to call for time-outs- some 20 second, some full timeouts.
  • You would get a chance to regroup your thoughts, plan nw strategies, plan offense, defense and steals and fouls.
  • A flagrant foul may end up ejecting you from the game on a bad day.
  • A mistake of yours may end up penalizing the whole team in the form of a team foul, and the team would not take too kindly to it (unless they have planned for it together).
  • As you go through the first quarter, you would realize that there are three more quarters to go.
  • As you get tired, you would realize that you can call for substitutes.
  • As you hit the paint, you would realize that you have only 3 seconds to get the ball in your hands, or leave the paint.
  • You would know that there are 3 point games which are more difficult to get, but more exciting if you get them.
  • You would know that there is a lot of happiness in the 2 point games where you dribble and you alley-hoop and you slam a one handed jammer.
  • You would know that it’s not wise to keep playing for 3 pointers all your time.
  • You would know that its ok to get fouled because you are getting a chance to put free throws in.
  • You would know that you need to save some breath for the final quarter when the game really heats up.
  • You would know that you can commit a technical foul even when you are not playing the game.
  • You would know that life is not just one game, but a series of games, if you hope to win the championship. That its ok to lose every once in a while.
  • You would know that knowing all this doesn’t stop you from hurting when you lose the game.
  • You would know that even if you are Michael Jordan, you still need a team to win.
  • You would know that if you change your team, you would need to give yourself time to understand your team-mates, and mould yourself into the new team. Or, mould the team around you (if you are a Michael Jordan).
  • You would know that its OK to have bad days on the court.
  • You would know that if you are brought down, medical help is close by.
  • You would know that beyond the 15 odd playing team-members there are hundreds and thousands of spectators, who may seem like distractions at times, but they are also the reason why the game exists as THE game.
  • You would know that the playmaker is as important as the shooter is as important as the defense guy.
  • You would know that a triple double is rare. And its ok to have people who jus score, but don’t defend that well.

I can go on and on… but its late in the night. And the game must go on….

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An Eye for An Eye? I want worse!!

May 24, 2008 5 Comments

I prefer not to write when I am very very pissed off. But at times, I still end up writing.

Aarushi (Noida) and Elisabeth Fritzl (Austria) got the worst possible in)human treatment from none other than their own father. And here is another one. Which one is worse – murder of a 14 year old? or 24 years of rape? Neha Vish writes that there is nothing more to it – In sum, a fourteen year old kid is dead, she says. Do I agree? Yes and No! Yes, the conclusion of the moment is that someone suffered.

No, because there are deeper repercussions and realizations associated with these two incidents. Its a criminal idea that many will harbor from now on. People do such things because our law and order gives them hope that they will get away with it. Mahatma Gandhi said – an eye for an eye will make the whole world blind. I say, I don’t want an eye for an eye here. I want something worse, something more horrific. Its a precedent which should not be allowed to repeat itself. Its an attack on the first fundamental right of “living freely”, and the perpetrators of such heinous crime should not be given such simple punishments as a death sentence or life imprisonment. They should be made to go through tortures that scares the daylight out of any living being. These people should be made the toys of sadistic pleasure to be derived by all. The society should be allowed to suggest tortures to be administered on such jerks. They should not just be made aware of their crime and left alone to feel remorseful about it. They should be made to realize the horrors that made someone else live through.

And yes – I am enraged at the thought that people give themselves the liberty to think of such heinous crimes.

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Coming back to it.. gradually though

March 28, 2008 Leave a comment

Here is the reason I have been out for so long…

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and yeah.. give me some more time and I will be back! 🙂

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Changing redundancies…

October 20, 2007 2 Comments

We live in a world where redundancies are far too many and far too quick.

Last night, I was at the Mumbai airport, ready to catch a flight to New York, and I was reminded of my first trip to US back in 2004. Back then, I had taken a flight from Delhi. I did not have an iPOD then, I did have a cellphone which I used fairly sparingly. I  had borrowed a Discman from Moron with a few MP3 CDs adding to the weight of my bag.

Back then, people used to reach the airport 3 hours before the flight departure and there used to be chaos reigning everywhere. Now, even 2 hours gives you a 30-45 minute wait at the airport.

Anyway, back then, I had no idea how to kill my time, because Dad had ensured that I don’t have to go through the usual immigration queues. I was on the other side in about 15 minutes flat, and I was left with about 2 hours to kill.

Back then, I spent 2 hours just looking at people around me. I tried reading a book. I was a voracious reader back then. But my idea of enjoying a book is not sitting in a large hall where every minute someone is making an announcement about some flight leaving, and some boarding happening, and someone having lost his mobile phone. Back then, there weren’t too many people listening to pods or talking to girlfriends. In fact, those who hogged that solitary free phone (for local calls) talking to their girlfriends or their entire clan (yeah, the time required for both might actually be the same) invited hateful glances from those waiting in the queue. Back then, there were a lot of people like me. Looking around at faces. Eager to strike a conversation. Back then, there were laptops, but wi-fi was not the in-thing. Back then, Air India had television screens dropping from the plane ceiling showing movies that Indians and foreigners took turns at not being able to understand. People with nice CD players were given envious looks. People carried 2-3 books. And a whole lot of people looked bored. Dead bored.

Last night, I just noticed that things were different. People had cellphone, IPods, PSPs, and laptops with wi-fi connections keeping them busy. But these are gadgets that kept them busy while they were at the airport. Once you are inside the flight, the interactive TV takes over. There are 20-odd movies and several TV serials and music videos to choose from. Suddenly, the pod becomes redundant. The laptop is not needed unless you have some work that needs attention. Discman is history. Every seat has its own console. You can play some games too. These days, there are less people looking bored. Even on flights that keep you meaninglessly engaged for 16 hours at a go.  There are television screens with beaming newsreaders, several coffee and snack joints. There is free internet from Airtel for wifi enabled laptops. There aer sophisticated blackberries that people use to check their emails. There are English speaking Indians at the airport, a greater queue at the duty free, and a different kind of chaos. 80% of the young travelers have some variant of an iPod.

However, everything has a short-lived utility. Even relationships.

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