The Unsung Heroes !!!!!

TEAM INDIA No.1 in TESTS 

(for now!!!!)

It is really heartening to see that India finally managed to achieve their so-called 18 month goal of becoming the number 1 test team in the world. at least till January, they will be number 1, a time more than what they managed in the one-day arena!! 

According to me, it was not an 18-month dream, but on the contrary, an 18-20 year dream to be the best team in the world. During the process, many have come and gone. Many have made a great deal of difference to this Team India. One person, who I would like to give special credit is Mr. John wright, our first foreign coach. It was he who formed "Team India". Though he did not get the team to be the best in the world, under him, India almost won the World Cup for the second time. But most importantly, he taught the players that cricket is a team game and not an individual's and that any match can be won if and only if they play as a team, enjoying each others success. I am sure this change in mental attitude has played a major part in the team becoming the number 1 test side.

The famous batting quartet and the match-winner, Anil Kumble...

What is so disheartening to see is the fact that though the players enjoy the success, the media just hates to give the credit to all those who deserve. If we see in the last decade, when India rose from being a competitive side to being world-beaters, there are a few players, who played a major major part. Some of them include players like Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly, VVS Lakshman and Anil Kumble. And of course, who can leave out Sachin Tendulkar. I have nothing against the iconic player, but in the last decade, the others in the team have played a more significant part in India winning, especially abroad, than Mr. Sachin (no offense meant Sir !!). Take for example, the victories in Adelaide, in 2003 or the one in Trent Bridge, in 2002. In these matches, if Rahul Dravid had not played the way he did, then India for sure would not have emerged victorious. Then, there was this innings of Ganguly in Brisbane in the same series in 2003, where if he had not made the century, then India would have lost the match. Then, there are so many instances, where VVS has played some really very very special knocks, especially rallying around with the tail-enders and bailed India out of trouble.

Then, who can forget the contribution of Mr. Consistent, Mr. Anil Kumble ??? How often has he come up and delivered the goods for the country, be it with a rotary cuff problem, or even a broken jaw (in reference to the match against West Indies in 2002). He has contributed the most to the team than anyone else, according to me, in the last 17 years. To get 600 wickets, to be the 3rd most successful bowler in the history of the game, and then, not considered among the likes of Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan, is a shame for the people who talk about the game. 

Just visit the links below to get a glimpse of what people like Dravid, Laxman, Ganguly and Kumble have achieved in International cricket, and compare that with Sachin Tendulkar. 

Rahul : http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/28114.html

Anil : http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/30176.html

Laxman : http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/30750.html

Saurav : http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/28779.html

Sachin : http://www.cricinfo.com/india/content/player/35320.html


All information courtesy www. cricinfo.com.

Am sure, if you look at the numbers, then , you will say that Sachin has a much better record than the others. But what is not evident here is the number of matches the other s have won for India, when compared to Sachin. Rahul Dravid has scored more runs outside India than within, which shows how good a batsman he is. 

But all said and done, neither of these four (leaving Sachin) has got the credit he is due. These four are definitely the unsung heroes of the team. They also give their 200 % to the team's cause (who can forget the fact that Dravid decided to keep wickets in the world cup, just to accomodate Mohammed Kaif in the batting order!!!!). But when Sachin does something as trivial as just diving on the field to stop a ball, his efforts are commended long and hard !!!! Thats is sad to see. 

So, on this day, when everybody is giving all the accolades to MS Dhoni and his young brigade, I wish to salute the 4 stalwarts of the game, who, in the last decade, changed the course of Indian Cricket and laid a strong foundation for the young brigade to make the team number 1. I bow down to the UNSUNG HEROES of the INDIAN CRICKET TEAM !!!

Malaysian Grand Prix, An Extravaganza of sound !!!!!!!

My sister, Sugandhi and I, and because of the two of us, even our father, are ardent viewers of Formula 1. We are great fans (not die-hard though!) of Michael Schumacher and Ferrari. We still support ferrari, but since Michael is not racing, our interest is in the team more than on the drivers. Well, as we all know, Michael bid good-bye in 2006 and because we had expected this, me and my sister decided to go for the Malaysian Grand Prix at any cost as it was the last chance for us to see him live. We were checking with some travel agents to get us our arrangements done for the trip. During this time, my sister accidentally recieved an e-mail from one Mr. Shankar Vishwanath, of the Desimators. They, along with Travel tours Pvt.Ltd had a package tour to Malaysia for a 2-night 3-day stay along with ticket arrangements for the race. I went and met him and came to know all the details. They were offering a seat in one of the cheapest seats available and we were not so happy about that. Come on yaar, you spend so much to go and watch the race and if you cannot see them up close, whats the big deal!! So, what did we do? Well, for starters, started playing the race on the computer. Why was that? To know which was the best stand available. So, I was driving the car and she was noting all the possible stands worth considering. Finally, we decided on the grand stand. We asked for different tickets for the race, if we paid the corresponding charges and also for a separate half-day tour of KL for us as it clashed with the timings of the qualifier. It was agreed upon by the organisers of the package tour and a separate car was arranged for the two of us! This person was simply astonished to see us work out so much for the trip. I guess even he himself would not have done so much. But for the amount we were spending, We Wanted the BEST!! So, with all arrangements made, with me finishing my second sem M.Sc seminar also in a jiffy, just for this, we headed to KL. Let me tell you that it was my first flight and the first experience of flying is definetly unforgettable. Our trip started on the 17th March 2006, when we took off from Bangalore. The qualifier was on the 18th and the race, the 19th. The flight was smooth, with good quantity of drinks on board. The worst part in the flight was the music being played and of all things, they were playing some dumb tamil movie. Well, you cannot have everything the way you want right? Anyway, we landed in KL International Airport in the wee-hours of the 18th. Boy! is it an airport or a City by itself? Just imagine, we had to go by an Air-Rail from one terminal to another!! Unfortunately, I could not get any snaps of the Airport. But it is simply amazing. After the immigration clearance, we headed for the exit. There, we were met by some Malays who were appointed by the local authority to pick us up, as arranged by Travel Tours. The Cab drivers, sorry cannot call them Limo drivers as the cars were not actually Limousines.. :), took us to the hotel, where we were to stay. It was a more-than an hour's drive.

We reached the hotel very close to the famous twin-towers, at about 5.45 am!! We entered the hotel and showed them the reservation of rooms and they said the booking is confirmed but the rooms will be available only at 12pm!! What a beginning! 6am to 12pm, no freshening up also. You can imagine our fate, and that too about 30 of us. We tried reaching our travel agent and also the person in Malaysia co-ordinating this. Both were not available!
Finally, 2-3 of them went in search of our guy and we started calling the Malaysian. Finally, we reached both. After much negotiations, the malaysian came down and slowly started getting rooms arranged for us. My sis and I were lucky because we told him that we had booked a car for a separate city tour. So, he gave us a room faster, and we got freshened up and came down for breakfast. The sandwich was good but the noodles was................., well, have no words to describe its taste and I would LOVE :( to eat that again!!!!

After breakfast, we started for the half-a-day city tour of KL leaving all the others blank-faced.. The tour was good,and because we were the only ones, the driver took us in a leisurely mode, starting from the king's palace. It is a good building. We covered so many places that I do not remember all but a few noteworthy ones are the Old Railway Station, The Butterfly Park, supposed to be the largest in Asia, The Centenary Club, The National Park, where the Heroes of War are celebrating, etc.. Our time deadline was 1pm because then we had to travel all the way to Sepang International Circuit for the qualifier that was at 2.30pm. It was a long drive,which my sis and I spent most of the time sleeping. Finally reached the place, got down and entered the circuit through the main entrance as we had Grand Stand Tickets.. The experience was simply out of this world!!!!!

The entire Sepang Circuit is turned into a City of Carnival for these 3 days! People just are happily going around all the Kiosks, stalls. There is loud music on al lthrough the day and the crowd just keeps pouring in.. We decided to postpone our window shopping for sunday as we knew we had the whole of that day at our disposal. So, we managed to locate our entry gate and went to our stand. The sight of the race track just made our hairs stand up!! It was just mind - blowing. And our happiness was doubled when we saw that we were very close to Mr. Fantastic's (Michael Schumacher) Pit. Just then, he came out, waved at us, our day was made!!

Then was the real thing.. The QUALIFIER. Our first experience of a race car live! The sound is simply unbearable... You can tolerate the sound of a jet aircraft but not a race car, according to my experience.. 

The ear-plug can reduce the sound, but WHAT OF THE PAIN CAUSED DUE TO WEARING THAT????? Well, no answer to that. Anyway, Quals were fun, especially when Ralf Schumacher's Toyota engine exploded, in the characteristic way, in front of us!!. After it, we waited for Michael to come out for the Press Conference, and of course, Wave at us!

Then, we drove back to the Hotel, "Sleeping" as usual.... Then, had bath, had some more sleep and got ready for the COCKTAIL PARTY at 7.30pm.. We were taken in the Bus and there, We met Mr. Karamjit Singh, Supposed to be India's best Rally driver, Ironically, staying in Malaysia!!!!. There was a felicitation for him and his co-driver.. And who did it?? YOURS TRULY.... why? I was the "kid" of the group. Came back and roamed around KL, doing window shopping, went to Times Square.. Finally hit the bed as we had a long HOT day ahead of us..

19th March, 2006, The D-Day!! Boarded the bus after breakfast at 7.30 as we had to be in the circuit at 9am....

Reached there safely.. The environ was even more of an extravaganza... We went to the F1 Museum, had a nice stroll there... We were pitying the others of the group as they missed all this due to their ignorance..

Anyway, after the museum, we had something to eat, bought some water to drink and occupied our seats much before the race began as we did not want to miss anything.


And when it began, well, none of us was on his/her seat. Imagine, if one car makes a sound of a jet plane and 22 such jets taking off at the same time.. Well, cannot just describe it.. It was, in all ways possible, a ROAR of the engines. Not even the ear-plug helped, though we did not use it for the start as we wanted to feel the intensity of the sound :) It was UNBEARABLE and we had short - time deafness.. And here people watch the race not sitting on the chair but standing on it, for an hour and a half!!!!!! Madness to the core.. and we followed suit. For you to listen the effect of these engines, just visit the link.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7cAc5Ir-G0

The race was quite interesting right from the first lap, when Kimi (Raikkonen) crashed, of which we could only see the dust after the crash. The rest was as usual, as some people say, "cars just zooming past you and what fun is it??" well, for us, it itself was great fun, with the cars zooming past us at breakneck speeds. Then, we saw the meticulous ferrari crew live in action in the pits and also the great drive by Michael Schumacher that took him from 14th on the grid to 5th.

It was a good race. So what if we did not see HIM win, we did hear the Italian National Anthem for the winning driver, Giancarlo Fisichella of Renault. That was enough for us and as icing on the cake, we saw Michael in close quarters, coming out of his Pit to speak to the Press after the race. Well, after the race, it was a race for us to head back to the bus to come back to the hotel. Well, as usual, we dozed off!!!! :)

Then, in the evening, since we were free, we just roamed around to see the Barjaya Times Square, with all the F1 grandeur still there. We saw a Sauber F1 car kept there. Then, we had an early dinner, since we had to catch a flight back to India at 7am.

We also had some good dessert, Ice cream of course, during which, we saw a Renault F1 car being pushed across the road along the footpath as if it was some ordinary car!!!. Unfortunately, we were too late to realise that and so, could not manage to get into it ;)

Then, came back to the room, dozed off, but got up at 3.00 and were ready by 4am to head to the airport. There, the flight from KL to Chennai was good, but the one from Chennai to Bangalore was a horrifying experience, with an old, junked aircraft, which apparently had all the windows below the two wings and we apparently insisted on having a window seat on the right side of the plane, behind the right wing!!  he he HOW WONDERFUL!!!

But all in all, it surely was an EXTRAVAGANZA of sound of the highest level !! and I just cannot wait to repeat it. Probably Spa Francorchamps.. he he he he he

Our Bengalooru weather !!!

I have been in Bangalore since my birth, and let me tell you, it is one hell of a city. I have seen it develop into a major metro since the turn of the century.

The best part of the city was its amazing climate ! ! ! The temperatures never used to cross 25 degrees even in the peak of summer, and the winters too were not too cold. It used to be around 10-12 degrees, not colder than that. Hence, there was a lot of infiltration into the city of people not only from differnet parts of the country, but from different parts of the world. The beauty of the city and its weather made sure that those who came did not leave !!!

This is a major change that the city has witnessed, over the past decade. The climate of the city has changed dramatically. The summers are much much hotter, with the temperatures soaring to as high as 37 degrees. Even during the winters, we perspire in the day and wear sweater during the night !!!

I can tell you that in spite of all these, the city is rocking and still drawing hoards of people here because of one major thing, the beauty of the city for sure, despite all the traffic, and also, the great unpredictability of the climate here. Though bangalore has seen a drastic change, the climate for most part of the year is still a very pleasant one. The soothing warmth of the winter or the cool breeze at times in the summer are a breather to one and all.

Come monsoon, the rains lash the city and wash off all the dirt and dust and also bring the temperatures down drastically. The atmosphere of the city during the monsoon is one to savor and experience. You do not mind getting drenched in the rains as very seldom is there a deluge here, It is generally a faint drizzle, with a short cloud outburst. And the best part is that during the summer too, as the temperatures reach 37 and stay there for 2-3 days, out of the blue, out of nowhere, you get a shower that will bring down the temperatures so that there is no prolonged heat wave. 

Though, of late there has been unseasonal rains and the climate does not follow the "norms" per se, it is this unpredictability that the city has to offer that makes it one amazing city to live in am sure people will agree that it can be one of the cities that everyone dreams to live in, in spite of all the traffic hassles and the increased cost of living that the city has in store for most of us....

Emotions - The spice of your life ! ! ! !

If you look up for the meaning of the word Emotion in the dictionary, it will tell you that it is "any strong agitation of the feelings actuated by experiencing love, hate, fear, etc., and usually accompanied by certain physiological changes, as increased heartbeat or respiration, and often overt manifestation, as crying or shaking."

When you are a kid, there are mainly only two emotions that you express. One where you are smiling away to glory to show happiness, achievement, success, love, sheer innocence and what not. The other is where you are crying, or even wailing, whether it is due to grief, fear, or just because you got a "no" as an answer.

But as you grow older, you gain experience from various instances and incidences in life and you tend to be more expressive. The number of emotions you express are unimaginable. You have different levels of happiness, from just a mere smile to jumping away and shouting away to glory when you know that you have achieved something significant.

The simple fact is that if you are happy, you tend to mingle with people much more and you come across as a person full of energy. These vibes do percolate into others as well and the environ is much more enjoyable.

But most often than not, it is not the case. There will always be some niggles here and there and always there will be some negative energy flowing around you all the time. These not only make you disheartened but also bring out a series of emotions in you that you generally wish never existed in your system. You mainly express these when you are sad, or lets say, when life teaches you that truth is always bitter. It seldom is sweet. When you come across such incidences in your day-to day routine, you tend to be more subdued, silent, sometimes sarcastic, not wanting to involve yourself in any discussions, and mentally keep recalling these incidences that made you express all these feelings.

The most important thing here is to keep your cool and be composed. You should learn to get through these situations without much damage done. But that again is easier said than done. In most instances, when such incidences occur, you tend to hate the person who caused it and hatred generally turns to anger. And when this happens, it becomes dangerous. It becomes even more imperative that you control your emotions during such phases, especially if the person is your colleague or a beloved one, with whom you are bound to interact day in and day out.

The other emotions we express include one of sarcasm, sadism, fear, love, kindness, gratitude,  etc. And each one of us do express all these feelings at one point in our life or the other. We show different emotions depending on what we learn through life. The best thing is that when you need to convey THE message to your beloved, you tend to express a series of emotions. You are happy, yet scared, nervous, with a lot of adrenaline surging through your entire body and this is I feel is a sensation that all of us have to experience in our life. It is the best experience one can have in his life.

But the best I like, or you may call my "personal favorite" is the art of being silent. Silence is really golden. You do not need to be silent when you are happy, or when you want to share your achievements with someone. But silence comes in handy when you are angry at something or someone or when you are sad. Different people vent their anger differently. Some shout directly at a person, some go to an open area and shout. Some have the habit of drinking water to vent their anger. But I feel the best way to handle the situation is to be silent, listen to some good music, concentrate on your work and divert your mind to things other than that which resulted in your being angry. Sometimes, silence is really a boon. As one of my best friends wrote in her blog, titled "saying it silently...", you can express a lot of feelings just by mere silence. You can ruin a relationship or even mend it by silence.

You do not have to express your feelings all the time to convey the message. By not conversing also, a lot can be conveyed. Thats the power of silence. Sometimes, it will be your staple food, with the rest of the emotions adding spice to it.

All said and done, it is important to realise that each person is different from the other in terms of his/her expressions and emotions and it is important for each one of us to respect the feeling of the other person as this is extremely important in any relationship, whethere it is professional or personal. So, learn to respect the emotions of your loved ones as thats the only way you can really spice up your life !!!!

From variety to monotony.....

I am sure that most of us have grown up listening to radio and also watching television. When we were kids, radio had only vividh bharathi and TV had only Dooradarshan. Both the media have come a long way in terms of sophistication and advancement of technology and now, the government stations, Vividh Bharathi and Dooradarshan, have taken a back seat and it is the FM stations, the Radio citys, Radio Mirchis and the Fevers in Radio and the innumerable channels in television that are the dominating forces. But all of them have the same motive... To render entertainment to one and all, to all ages and all walks of life.

Nowadays there are so many daily soaps and reality shows on television and radio runs 24 hours with the same set of songs in each and every station that it is getting too monotonous to get entertained. Things were a lot different when we were kids...

In the early 90's, there was a lot of diversity in the kind of programmes aired by both dooradarshan and Vividh Bharathi or even the regional stations. We used to desperately wait for the programmes to start whereas nowadays, we are desperate for them to end !!!!!!!

There were so many serials like Bharath Ek Khoj, Mahabharath, Legend of Tippu Sultan, which gave us insight into the history of the country, whereas there were also series like Nukkad, Circus, Byomkesh Bakshi,Yeh jo hain Zindagi and all which were for pure entertainment. Then, there was Chitrahaar on Friday nights, followed by some nice movies over the weekends. In Radio, we had a number of nice serials, single episodes, mainly, some nice informative programmes, etc, which were also listened to with great interest.

I miss them these days. Nowadays, its only daily soaps with the same storyline, where they concentrate on issues like extra marital affairs, revenge of one over the other, the same kind of stuff with different names. There is no diversity what-so-ever. Come to reality shows, you have someone singing or dancing, whether it is an adult or a kid, all the time, competing against a few of them to win the trophy as the best of that show. Each and every channel, whether Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, has the same schedule.

Radio has also become a monotony. You have so many different FM stations that people (and I am included in that) keep shuffling one after the other to listen to the same set of songs. Most of the stations in Bangalore air only Kannada songs, except Radio Indigo, which airs some nice English songs.

What this has done is that even the channels like Dooradarshan and Vividh Bharathi have been forced to follow the rest and come out with similar shows. This is the saddening part. But if we observe carefully, in spite of being forced into it, these channels do have some nice and informative programmes being aired once in a while.
But people do not realise this. They crib and cry about it day in and day out but still do not want to miss the same old sentimental stuff.

Another drawback of these shows is that it attracts the younger generation so much that they are so glued to it that they do not go out and play. Of course, the computer is another culprit, which makes the younger generation addicted to it, making their life so sedentary that instead of playing outside in the open, they sit in front of it and play. Not that they should not, but there is no physical exercise and this is leading to many complications to many of them at a very young age.

So, what I feel is that there is a complete overhaul needed if these stations have to survive in the days to come. Because all said and done, people are going to stop watching the same old stuff. When such a thing happens, the industry is going to be hit badly.

What I think is a need for more quality than quantity. We should have more serials like Nukkad, Surabhi, and the kind as it gives good entertainment and also some good education.

The radio jockeys have to really improve their intonations and speech. They try to imitate those of the west a lot. That's not what is needed. They should be their normal self and attract people with their natural ability than trying to imitate someone else. They are all capable of doing a much better job than what they are doing. And they should try to increase their collection of songs, give a more variety to the programmes, like how radio city was when it started, with a variety of shows, and a nice collection of songs. There were theme based shows as well.

All these changes have to be brought about as we watch television or listen to the radio once in a while as a means of relaxation after a tiring day's work or a busy schedule. Here, what people want is some good, pure entertainment and not what happens in their daily life being repeated again on screen or over the radio.

Am sure if these alterations are brought about, people will not be as stressed out in life as they are right now as they will get some relaxation daily as it is important to have some relaxation to prevent a breakdown !!!!

As they say, "People want a change", and this is the time for a change and let us all raise a voice and get it done !!!!

Sudi.

Roger, the Victor and Andy, the Vanquished !!!!!!!!!!

Advantage Federer, at 15-14, final set. And a nice forehand return from him to Andy Roddick’s backhand. Andy’s backhand goes haywire, and…… GAME SET AND MATCH ROGER FEDERER. 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 16-14. The new Wimbledon champion, Roger Federer!!!!

After 4 hours and 16 mins of intense battle, the Swiss ace came up trumps on a hot and sunny afternoon against a rejuvenated gladiator in Andy Roddick to claim his 6th Wimbledon crown and more importantly, surpass Pete Sampras as the greatest tennis player in men’s history with 15 grand slam crowns to his name. More importantly, he achieved what Pete never could, which is to win the French Open too, co-incidentally equalling Pete’s record with that win in Rolland Garros in 2009. So, there was a new human being accepting the crown as the greatest tennis player ever in the history of the game.

But spare a thought for Andy Roddick. He played the match of his life. He initially was not serving great and in a crucial tie-breaker in the second set, where he was 6-2 up, he committed hara-kiri to lose 6 points in a row in 3 minutes, which eventually may be termed as the turning point of the match. It was there that one felt that Roger Federer was destined to win this Wimbledon crown. But Roddick was outstanding not only in the finals, but throughout the tournament. His serve was as impeccable as ever, but what was heartening to see was his approach to the game. It had changed drastically from what I had seen of him earlier.

Roddick always depends a lot on his big booming serves. But in this edition of the Championships, he was not only serving big but his returns and placement of his shots were simply mind boggling. He made all his opponents, including the King, run around the court in search of the tennis ball, who, most often than not, missed it. Roddick’s attitude also had completely changed from the usual aggressive one. He was more prepared to play the waiting game and when he got the chance, cash in on it. Well, till the finals that is.

Federer, on the other hand, was his usual demolishing self, stamping one after the other of his opponents with ease. The fact that he dropped a set was in itself a mojor news in the newspapers. Such was his dominance over the rest of the pack till the finals.

Sunday, the 5th of July, 2009. At 12:00 pm, London time, both Roddick and Federer came out to the cheers of a packed house in the Centre Court to face each other in one of the most anticipated finals in sometime, with people expecting Roger Federer to make history on the day. Legends like Rod Laver, Bjon Borg, Pete Sampras and even the Manchester United Manager, Sir Alex Ferguson did not want to miss history in the making. Most people expected it to be a good match but one where Federer would dominate over Roddick as their head-to-head was completely in favour of Federer. Also people thought that he had to take revenge to what happened last year on the same court where Rafael Nadal defeated him in an epic 5-setter to be the new king of grass. People were also under the impression that the fact that Nadal was not on the other side of the court made Federer’s life that much easier. Boy, were they proved wrong !!!!!!

The first set was going to serve till Roddick broke Federer’s serve to take it 7-5. It was a great beginning for him and not a good one for Roger. But the most important fact here was that Federer was serving much better than Roddick at this point but made a few more unforced errors than him too. Federer also had only one chance to break Roddick’s serve, which he sprayed.

Come the second set, the games went on serve to both the players. It was 6-6 and the Tie break began. Roddick raced away to a 6-2 lead and Federer was serving to stay in touch, facing 4 break points. But the King of grass was as calm and composed as ever. He came up with some great servesand returns to take the second set 7-6 (8-6). He had won 6 points on the row to snatch the set from the hands of Roddick. The weak link here was Roddick’s serve. Though fast, at more than 200 kph, it was easily picked by Roger.

The third set also went into a tie break and here, federer did not give any scope for any dramas like the one in the second set and got the crucial points to win the set 7-6 (7-5) to go 2-1 up. Most of the people thought that now Federer will take complete advantage of the situation and win the match easily from here on.

Start of the 4th set. Initially, the games went on serve but Roddick had appreciably picked up his game. He was serving much better, more on the body of Roger, which was difficult to pick for the champ. But the ground strokes that Andy started to display were simple astounding !!. He was making Roger run all around the court and used not only power-packed shots but some intelligent lobs as well as deft touch shots near the net, which were simply impossible for Roger to pick. Crucially, Andy broke Roger’s serve twice to run away with the set 6-3.

So, it was 2 set all and at 2 hrs 41 mins, there was no indication as to who was dominating this match, though Andy was playing much better tennis than Roger. Roger was not getting his forehand strokes in court and was committing more unforced errors, interspersed with some breath-taking strokes at some point to get some good winners.

When the final set started, it was 5 pm London Time. The sun was shining and the players were sweating it out in the middle. Neither one was ready to give even an inch to the other. Both were desperate for the crown. Start of the 5th set, remember no tie-breaks in the final set.
It started to take a nice shape when it reached 6-6 and people started to realize they were watching an epic here, if they had not yet realized it already. By then, Andy was playing some outstanding tennis and more and more people thought that he would spoil Roger’s party here today. The set then continued…. 7-7, 8-8, 9-9, 10-10…. Nobody was giving up at any stage. Each one was playing with such adrenaline that even on their serves, if the score became 0-30, with the other having a sniff of a break point, they would nullify it with 2-3 booming serves to go and hold on to the serve. Once, I guess when it was 11-11, with Roger serving, he was 30-40 down, with Andy having a break point. He served with such zeal that he got the score to deuce and won the game with 3 consecutive aces. 12-11. Roddick held serve, 12-12. We were all going crazy !!!!!

Imagine the emotions and the thought process of the players themselves. They not only had physical strain, but also mentally they would be drained. But nobody wanted to give up. 13-13…. 14-14. Roger to serve. He served well, with ace after ace, serving his 50th ace during the course of the game to hold serve in another nervy game to go up 15-14. It was already the longest 5th set and the match duration was 4hr 10 mins. Roddick to serve. With him serving so immaculately at the body of Federer throughout the final set, one expected him to win the game in a canter. 15-0… 30-0… then came a Federer magic, where he wrong footed Andy to force an error to make it 30-15. It soon became 30-30. Then, again Andy had the big serves coming to make it 40-30. Well, here goes another round !!!!!!! This is what most people expected.

Something happened out of the ordinary…. Federer got a winner to make it deuce. Then, Andy brought back sense into the game with a booming serve to get an advantage. Federer got it to deuce with a scorching winner. Then, luck favored Roger, with his mis-hit drop shot was smashed back by Roddick, but straight at Federer’s feet, which was put off with ease into the open court by Federer to get him only his second break point in the entire match !!!!!!!!!!!

Then, Roddick’s second serve was attended to with ease by Federer, returned back to him by Roddick. Federer then placed the ball deep to Roddick’s backhand. There was the defining moment. Roddick missed his backhand, which went long and thus, after 4hrs and 16 mins, Roger Federer had scripted an amazingly outstanding victory to make it his 15th Grand Slam victory and 6th at the All England Lawn Tennis Club !!!!!!!! The scenes after the match will be remembered for years to come.



If we had seen an outstanding Finals in 2008, this had no words to describe it. It will go down into the history books as one of the greatest matches of all time. Imagine, the final set itself went for 95 enthralling minutes. The stamina of both the athletes was simply spell-bounding, both able to serve at over 200 kph even after 4 hrs of grueling tennis in the hot July sun.

It really was an epic. But, amidst all these, just spare a thought for Andy Roddick. He must be kicking himself for not closing out the second set when he had the opportunity. He gave everything he had in his reserves. The comment he made after the match, where he apologized to Pete Sampras for not being able to hold off Federer speaks volumes of his attitude. HE WAS DSEPERATE TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIPS. But, Andy, this was just not your day!!!

All said and done, Roger is the Master after all. He now has achieved all but one, winning all 4 majors in the same year. Hope he does that. And I also hope that next year, it is Andy Roddick who wins the Wimbledon crown. Though I am a strong supporter of Roger Federer, I felt Andy Roddick deserved to win this year’s Wimbledon crown as he played a match much much superior to Federer. I hope most of Federer’s supporters agree to this.

I would also like to give my congratulations to the coverage of Wimbledon, especially that by Radio Wimbledon, whom I had to resort to during the final stages of the match, listening to them online. They spoke commendably, keeping us abreast to all the happening s on court and describing so effectively that we could picturize as to what was going on on the court. Hats off to them and the two gentlemen who made such a memorable tennis match happen.

Andy Roddick, take a bow !!!!!!!!!!!!

Sudi

Courtesy is disregarded !!!!!

Ralph Waldo Emerson, an American poet once said "Life is not so short but that there is always time for courtesy."

When I was a kid, my parents had taught me to be friendly, courteous to most people, but at the same time, be affirmative and never be submissive, especially once you reach a higher position. My father keeps advising me the same even today saying that I am a research scholar and so, I need to be a bit affirmative at times but at the same time, not be proud of my achievements and not be arrogant. I should still be courteous to people, especially those that are elder to me.

These words of my parents has been helping me ever since I started interacting with people, whether in school, college or in the surroundings around me. Being polite, courteous and at the same time affirmative, I can say I have gained a lot of respect and friendship of a lot of people. Even to this day, if I go and visit my teachers in school or my lecturers in college, they talk to me in a very nicely and give me respect. Even when I go to get some stuff for my home from the nearby market, the shopkeepers speak to me nicely, wish me and give me respect, apart from the concession I get thanks to the way I interact with them.

I was able to imbibe this culture in myself because day in and day out, I used to see my parents practice what they preached. They were polite and courteous to most people but at the same time never were they submissive. When required, they were quite affirmative and used to get their opinion across with a strong voice. Also, they never had any negative attitude. They were never pessimistic. Their policy was : “All that happens is for the good”.

But nowadays, it is difficult to see many people following this culture. The present day culture, in majority, is one of people being rude, arrogant and with no sense of showing any courtesy. Take for example those who drive the public transport. Their behaviour is one of pure arrogance. They do not have the word polite in their dictionary. You ask them if they will take us to the destination of your wish, the response you get is either a rude nod of the head, saying “Oh Hell, who will come to drop you there!!!!” or they will ask you exhorbitant rates to take you there saying they have to come empty on the return. Effectively, you are paying for their return also!
Well, I had least expected the better educated people to exhibit such a behaviour. I thought atleast the learned folk will have some sense of courtesy and be more polite towards others. What I have experienced in the last few years is something complete opposite.

Nowadays, people expect YOU to be polite and courteous but YOU cannot expect the same from them. They can be as rude and impolite as possible. YOU are expected to show all the courtesy to them whenever possible. If not, they will raise an alarm saying you are being rude to them. But if YOU expect the same from them, then you are at fault as you are not supposed to be expecting.

There is another class of people, who have the feeling that if you are asking them something out of courtesy, then you are imposing things on them. They think you expect them to be with you always, just because you asked them out of pure courtesy !!! But if you fail to include them in your activities two to three times, they will complain that you are rude to them. So, I don’t know how to interact with them. If you do something, YOU are at fault and if you do not do, even then YOU only are a fault !! Ultimately, in their minds, whatever you do, you are a fault.

Then there is the third kind. These people are those who hardly practice what they preach. They advice people saying “you have to show courtesy towards others. When you are going for a cup of coffee or tea or say you are going out for lunch, then call others to find out if they want to join, out of courtesy”. But when they themselves are going out, then even if you are in their sight, then they just ignore you and carry on, as if you were a ghost or a spirit, who is not to be seen by them. I am not saying that we should go together always as a group. People can do whatever they want with whomever they want. But the fact is that when you are a part of a group, then when others of the group are doing something in your presence, then I feel at least out of courtesy, they should ask the rest of the group if they also would like to join. It is THIS COMMON SENSE that is lacking in the present generation.

These instances are increasing in our daily life day after day and it is sad to see that a sense of courtesy is diminishing by the day. It is sad to see how the younger generation is losing these values of life as I feel they are important in modelling anyone as a good person, a good human being. People make use of your friendship whenever they want and later, when not needed, you are completely forgotten. Your existence depends on their requirements. This attitude is on the rise in all walks of life and there is no trust between people. They just say that you are a good friend and one who can be trusted only from their mouths !! At the bottom of their heart, they will be thinking completely differently.

I sometimes feel that not being a part of any friends circle is a better way of living in the present scenario. I probably would not be writing this if I was living all by myself with no TRUSTWORTHY FRIENDS, some of whom, have really pierced me with a sharp knife at sometime or the other due to which I have lost all the respect I had towards them. There are so many cases where people whom I considered good friends have slapped me with curt comments, after which my interaction with them has changed for good.

Hence, my advice to all those who read this, if at all anyone does read this completely, is not to make any assumptions in haste. Interact with people for sometime before making any opinions about them. But even after that, be prepared to face the knife at any point in your life.
But remember one thing: Nothing is ever lost by courtesy. It is the cheapest of the pleasures costs nothing and conveys much. It pleases him who gives and him who receives, and thus, like mercy, it is twice blessed. And as Benjamin Franklin once famously said " To be humble to superiors is duty, to equals courtesy and to inferiors, nobleness" we need to be humble towards others and definitely not proud of what we are as there are always people much better than us, who will surely bring us back down to earth.

So, be polite and courteous towards others and try not to be curt to anyone as sometimes friendships are lost in a second due to some ugly comment you make, thinking it is funny, but not realising that the person receiving it might be hurt. !!

Regards,

Sudi