20 super years of Cricket!

He hasn’t just survived, he’s left his imprint on every situation,” Harsha Bhogle, the doyen of Indian cricket commentators, said. “It is a colossal achievement. On his first tour of England he batted against Eddie Hemmings, who had made his first-class debut seven years before Tendulkar was born. He now shares a dressing room with kids who were having their umbilical cord cut when he was scoring his first century.”

"Commit all your sins when Sachin is batting. They will go unnoticed because even GOD will be watching then!"

The little champion! The master blaster! SACHIN TENDULKAR!

I was a crazy cricket fan during my school days. I watched every match, both ODIs and test matches. Then Sidney Sheldon & Agatha Christie came into my life. Aah the novel days! I still watched every world cup like a faithful Indian. I got to watch the man make his 200* in ODI on my friend's comp yesterday. Goosebumps? Thrill? I didn't know. But when I got back home and watched the highlights - I was overwhelmed. During the presentation Sachin mentioned that the people of India were with him throughout his good times and his bad times. That's the kind of national support one gets for what they are!

There is only one A.R.Rahman, only one Amitabh Bachan, and only one Sachin Tendulkar!

letter to the folks

February 12, 2010.
Dear Amma & Daddy,

There’s exactly a month left – a month left for me to come back home. One month to be close with family, one month to be with you all whenever I want to. One month left for me to unpack finally. I’m looking forward to wake up and see your faces. I’m looking forward to ignore the word ‘roommates.’ I’m looking forward to living out of a cupboard and not a suitcase. I’m looking forward to eating meals with family.

I remember crying the day you dropped me off for the first time in my classroom in Nazareth. Daddy wasn’t there. He was in London. I remember holding Amma’s saree and pleading for you not to leave me. I could never understand how you could do that to me. That was the first time I left home. That was the first boarding school I went to. I knew I would be allowed to go back home after a month. I made up my mind to cry a lot and win my case and never come back to boarding school again. I failed my own plan. That was the first/last time I cried about being home sick. Now I have a month left to come back to you and I find it funny to say – I’m already homesick.

I remember leaving from Coimbatore to Hyderabad to join Google and start my career. Again, daddy wasn’t there. I had built a lot of dreams in me. I was waiting for the taste of the independent life with a job. I started off with work. Made friends, easily. It comes to me naturally my peers say. I think so too. It has been 2.8 yrs now. I started earning, I was happy & proud. I felt settled and safe. I was comfortable where I was.

When I started off in Hyderabad, I told myself – ‘Pragi, do not fall in love with this place.’ I tried hard not to. But I did. Like how I did with Ooty, Kallar & Chennai. I fell in love with everything about Hyderabad. I felt my friends from college were going far away initially. But as they all got married one by one, I learnt to let go. Like how I did with friends from every school I grew up in. It’s beautifully disturbing that this place has also found a place in my heart. I know, haha!

Over these years, I have had great memories. Memories to learn from, memories to laugh at and memories to cherish. Coming to Hyderabad broke the protected shell I was in so long. No nannies around, no wardens and no one you knew at all here. I faced this place alone – right from the time I landed here for the first time and called out for the driver holding a placard with my named on it. If I have to say what I learnt here – I would say money, people and cooking.

I learnt money alright! Initially, I didn’t know how to spend it. When I did, I learnt how to save it. I don’t know how much I have saved so far – but I know that every Diwali you wore what I bought for you. It made me happy in a way. I learnt people. We all learn people every day. I did too. And last, I cooked. I cooked for all this time. That makes the whole family proud I’m sure.

Of these years, my happiest moment was seeing Sai go off to college. That was the day I began feeling what you both would have felt when you sent me and Sai to boarding school. It was like sending a child to the army – or even worse. I knew he was capable of managing himself – but I didn’t want to agree with that. I wanted to fuss over him like we all do always. I’m happy for him now. It’s overwhelming to see him face the world in his own way.

I step out of this career path and step into family. I’m not scared. Or maybe, I’m. Whatever, I feel I know you will be there to make it easier for me. I haven’t learnt the subject family much before – I’m going to from now. I hope it’s as tough as so many years have been, or my ride won’t be bumpy enough for me to enjoy it.

I only look forward to waking up and walking Sudoku, cleaning the car, overhearing gossip over tea, hiding vegetables over lunch, running up and down stairs for nothing, fixing internet connections, calling Vodafone customer care for every silly reason, getting Granma’s glasses to watch tv, waiting till midnight to lock the gates and being a member in the house once again.

If you are wondering where I got my letter-writing skills from – remember the day you taught me to write our home address before I left to boarding school? I never stopped writing after that. I won’t ever. Looking forward to a hot summery start all over
again.

Love you both!
Pragi

Save The Tiger!

There are many ways to make a direct difference. While individal opportunities vary, there is much you can do.

We live in a global villiage, and its time that we start talking like its one! We can learn and engage each other to find opportunities to make the greatest difference.

Save The Tiger!

destination unknown

I read this on a friend's Gtalk status recently.

A person has three choices in life. You can swim against the tide and get exhausted, or you can tread water and let the tide sweep you away, or you can swim with the tide, and let it take you where it wants you to go


I smiled and thought - maybe I should go tell someone what I think about that and so here I'm. Who has a choice in life? Do you get to swim across life if you want to face it like that? What happens if life was a piece of cake - would you still wade into it just cause you want to swim against the tide?

1) you swim against the tide
2) you let the tide take you where it wants
3) you swim with the tide - (which whether you do or not you are going to be taken with the tide)

One doesn't get three choices - There is one way - and the end result is all the same - destination unknown.

My GOD

I would run if I were asked to have a conversation with someone about my religious views. I would run, really. I've had them before, they didn't taste good. They are always controversial, and they freak me out.

I think I'm agnostic. I believe in destiny. Things don't necessarily happen for a reason. Every second is born. Nothing is planned. I believe there is something that started somewhere and doesn't know where to stop. That's the something that started mankind and mankind has gone on and on. That's the something that starts the wind out of no where. And this something can get pissed when it wants to. Maybe that's what's controlling everything.

I pray. When I pray I say - If I fail this exam, dad should not be at home when the report card reaches home. And mostly, it never works. I pray saying 'I should have the will power not to spend this money, so I can buy my brother something when I go home'. My prayer totally depends on me - I undo my prayers when I know they won't work. It keeps me happy and I call myself Practical. I don't wait for anything when I know its not going to come. Well, after all that if it does come - then I thank what went right there.

Many of my friends ask me why I go to temples - I believe in being a part of my people's beliefs. If a friend of mine believes in something I don't disturb it. And if my going to a temple I'm help my family be happy and keep the tradition strong - I do go. I pray my prayers - and I never hope they are heard. It takes me a lot to want something. And when I say it out loud or even think too much - I make it a part of my prayers.

Every time I go home after a long time, I see my God in the smiles of my family. I see my God when someone I love somewhere remembers see something I like and call me just to say they saw it. The love that binds my people with me is my God. And if you'd want to call me anything - call me as religious as hell! Cause when I love, I love loads!

EIGHT - 8 - in & around

No fever or cold can stop me from replying to Hamsi's comments or posts. This one's for you Hamsi!

8 TV shows/News Channels I like to watch:
1) F.R.I.E.N.D.S.
2) How I Met Your Mother
3) Sex & The City
4) Anthony Bourdain - No Reservations
5) Kylie Kwong - Simply Magic (Except she calls it something else now!)
6) Dinner time losers drama - Splitsvilla/Roadies
7) Beach Getaways - Travel & Living
8) Anything Cooking Anywhere!

8 Places to eat and dine:

1) Sangeetha, Chennai
2) Anganan Kadai, Coimbatore
3) Aromas Of China, Hyderabad
4) Mainland China, Chennai
5) Gallopin Gooseberries, Chennai
6) Little Italy, Chennai
7) Wanton, Chennai
8) Chinese Room, Hyderabad

8 Things I Look Forward To:

1) Any phone call from a long lost friend..
2) Getting married and settling in my very own house
3) Starting a play-school with no text book syllabus
4) Opening a KFC/MC Donalds franchisee in Tirupur (sigh)
5) My brother's wedding - (i dunno why!)
6) A get together with all my Chennai friends with their spouses
7) Starting a home for physically challenged children
8) Building a Temple


8 Things That Happened Yesterday:

1) I spent the whole day working from home
2) Skype was on the whole time. Padhu and I were talking the whole day.
3) I called Sus out of the blue and had a nice conversation with her
4) I missed my bride's maids (Hari Saran, Naveen Murugesan)
5) I missed a movie - Avatar on 3D
6) I ate potato poriyal after ages!
7) I sang out loud and worked thinking my throat would get better
8) I realized I remember lyrics of very old Tamil songs and felt proud!


8 Things I love about Winter:

1) I love to cuddle in my blankets without the fan
2) I get to lie on my bed for as long as I want
3) Sudoku loves to be chased more during winters (dunno y!)
4) Mummy give me hot chocolate first thing in the morning
5) Most friends abroad ignore the outside and prefer the internet - so we get to catch up!
6) A little bit of sun is to soak in
7) Clothes dry slow, so I don't have to wash everyday! :D
8) Sleep comes easily.


8 Things on my Wish-list:

1) A car for my brother's wedding
2) A Harley Davidson for Padhu
3) A super-duper 25 year Anniv celebration for mum and dad.
4) The perfect home with a room that's completely red - for my photo frames and collectibles :)
5) Starting a home for the physically challenged
6) Meeting AR Rahman (sigh)
7) Nikon D3000
8) -------------


8 Things I am Passionate about

1) Love
2) Writing
3) Photography
4) Singing
5) Gardening
6) ------
7) ------
8) ------


8 Words/Phrases I often use:

1) Duffer
2) Yeah, RIGHT!
3) what nonsense
4) Yayy!
5) So, what do you think?
6) Does this mean....
7) Illa Paa!
8) I don't care


8 Places I would like to go /Visit:


1) Ladakh/Leh
2) Dal Lake, Srinagar
3) The Taj Mahal, Agra
4) Darjeeling
5) Maldives
6) Coconut Lagoon, Kerala
7) New York
8) Australia


8 Things I currently need/want:

1) A working model charger for Hari's Nikon D70
2) A Nikon D3000
3) A book shelf for my room in Tirupur
4) -----
5) ----
6) ----
7) ----
8) ----



8 Blogging Buddies I want to Tag:

1) Hamsi (If i can, again)
2) Saranya Senguttuvan
3) Naveen Murugesan
4) Arunlekha Sengupta
5) Pradeep Subramaniam
6) Nagalakshmi
7) Arvind Dink
8) Upasna Nath

Waiting to see your completed versions friends!

potted daisies | cartoon strips | retirement | life

These characters made me laugh everyday. My mornings always started with them.

After I retired I took an oath. An oath to never oversleep. When I was working I always woke at 6am, had bath, plucked flowers from my garden and arranged them for the idols in the pooja room, prayed and then sit for breakfast and leave to work. My oath was to wake at 7am and do all of the above and not go to work. The first day after retirement was bliss. I was happy after the farewell they gave me in my office.

I was staring at the morning paper and smiling as I read through the cartoon section. These characters made me laugh everyday. My mornings always started with them. With little time every morning before leaving to work, I never paid much attention to these comic strips. Now I sit down with the paper after breakfast and read through them. Sometimes in the evenings when there is nothing to watch on TV, I read through them again and smile. Some of these comic strips make me laugh.

I was getting used to my schedule now. I would finish reading the paper and then I would water some potted plants on my balcony. Then I would finish lunch and take a long afternoon nap. I would wake and have tea and then walk my dog for 2 hours. Fudge liked these 2 hours. He would walk with me in style. I knew I was old. But my evening walks was my time to show off my track pants and sunglasses. My daughter in law got them for me when she went to Hawaii. Fudge wore his super strap collar with his name engraved on a silver dollar. He didn't walk like a normal dog after he left the house gates. His walk always changed to a little trot and a stylish one. Fudge was 5 years old.

I was done with my morning paper. I walked to my to get my hat. I used it to escape the sun while I watered the plants. I wore the hat and walked out with the bucket and mug. I usually cleaned the pots when they had old leaves in them. I threw away the old leaves and just when I was about to enter the house I heard a car horn. I turned to see a Grey Civic enter the lane. I stood to see who it could be. Our house was the only one in that lane. The nearby plots were all empty. Any visitor had to be our visitor. I watched as a man in a white dhothi and white shirt enter with his wife. They were both in their mid forties I assumed. They smiled and me and said Namaste. I smiled back and did the same by joining my two hands.

I assumed they were my son's friends so I called out for my daughter in law. Sathya came to the door and welcomed them inside. I walked back to the room to get rid of my hat. I loved it when we had visitors. I had people to talk to. After retirement I spoke to my son, my daughter in law and my grand kids. It was usual daily stuff. When we had visitors people asked me about my retired life and I liked the attention. I walked towards them and seated myself on the sofa. The two of them stood up as I sat and then seated themselves.

Meanwhile Sathya had inquired who they were. They had come to ask my grand daughter's hand in marriage to their son. I was overjoyed. I realized at that moment how old Preethi was and smiled to myself. The man introduced himself and his wife. He told me about their family business and what his son was doing. He handed over his son's horoscope. Matching horoscopes are an important part of South Indian marriages. Sathya asked me to accept it and then received it from my hands. They spoke to me for a long time. Sathya kept the horoscope in the pooja room and prayed and came back to the hall. She offered sintoor to the lady.

They told me how they had heard about Preethi and where they had seen her. After having tea and some snacks they left. I sat on the sofa thinking for a while. I then smiled to myself about how time had flown so quickly. It felt like yesterday when Sathya was carrying Preethi her first born and bringing her inside the house. I remember how I had blessed her as a baby with hundred rupees. Sathya came back to the hall after she sent them off. She spoke to me about their family and then said she would go to the astrologer with my son in two days. I prayed that very instant that Preethi have the best in her life.


After sometime Sathya called me for lunch. I sat at the table and waited for my son to come home. We all had lunch together. We spoke nothing. I had a feeling everyone at the table was thinking how quickly Preethi had grown up.


After my afternoon nap I walked to the hall to find no one. Sathya had left a note for me. It said that she and my son had left to the astrologer and there was tea on the stove. It also said she would pack dinner from outside for tonight. Sathya was always protective about me. I knew to make tea but she made it a point I go through no trouble every time she wasn't home by tea time. She was literally my daughter ever since she married my son.

I heated my tea and sat by the lawn and watched the setting sun. They came back at around 730pm. I waited near the door as he parked the car. Sathya came towards me and told me that the horoscopes had matched. I was overjoyed. I thanked God and walked to the pooja room. Sathya offered me some sweet.

The next three weeks were sheer celebration. There were ceremonies for the families to meet. There was a private dinner party in the house. Preethi had quit her job and was back home. The house was lit up always. It was a very happy month for everyone. Preethi had grown up so much in my eyes in that one month. She usually pressed my feet at the end of the day and spoke to me for an hour or so. Now she was with me throughout the day. We shared our morning paper. She would read the comic strip out and laugh with me. We watched TV together. She cooked different dishes from her cooking class and feed me. My usual answer was 'Amazing' not because it was but because it was her!

The day finally came. The whole family had left to the marriage hall to spend the night there. It was early morning muhurtham. I stayed back at home. Sathya had arranged for a driver for me and some other people who were staying over at home that night. I woke early for Preethi's big day. I woke at 330am. I had a quick shower. I prayed and waited for the others to get ready. I was wearing a new silk dhothi and shirt that Sathya, my son and Preethi picked out for me. I got into the car and we were on our way.

As we crossed the temple at the end of the road, I prayed for a moment. I thought of those days when Preethi was a little girl and we would walk to this temple every Friday. She would hold my hand and never let go. She would get the sintoor from the pujari without standing in line and bring for me as well. With her I never had to stand in line. I thought of the days when we both had sat on the steps of this very temple and had coconut prashad. I smiled at how quickly days had gone by and in a few minutes we were at the marriage hall.


I assumed Sathya was busy getting Preethi ready. The rest of the immediate family was at the reception. I joined them to welcome the guests. I heard Sathya's voice. I saw her talking to a few guests. I called out to her to tell her I had arrived. She walked towards me and told me to get some coffee before the muhurtham. I asked her if Preethi was ready. She said Preethi would be ready in a while. I walked to the dining hall where they served coffee. I spoke to a few guests and walked back to the reception. My friends from my work place had all just arrived. I was having a nice time with them. Family from different places had come clad in their best. They all spoke to me about my retirement. This day couldn't get any better.

It was almost time for the muhurtham. All of us from the reception walked inside the hall. I went straight to the first row to find myself a seat. I watched as the pujari and groom sat by the agni and chanted mantras. I heard a little hustle around and I saw everyone craning their necks towards the flight of stairs. I tried to catch a glimpse and I saw Preethi in her wedding attire accompanied by her friends. She was in a gorgeous red saree and clad with jewelry. She was looking prettier than ever. She had her head down and she walked towards the stage. As she sat near the groom I smiled at her and waved. Preethi looked and me and smiled a shy smile back. I remembered the very smile a few years back. She had worn a saree for the first time. She came walking to my room in an uncomfortable limp to show me what she was wearing. She was trying her mother's saree for her farewell in school.

I smiled to myself. I looked up to see she was smiling back. She had an impish look in her face. I called it her 'Preethi look.' When she knew she was up to something, she had that look. I grinned at her. After a lot of mantras, the pujari signaled for them to stand up. The complete hall stood up along with them and threw the flower petals as the groom tied the knot around Preethi's neck. I could see very little with all the photographers hiding the main stage.

In another five minutes the couple walked towards me and fell on my feet for blessings. I blessed them and hugged the two. Preethi hugged me back and pinched my cheeks the Preethi way. We shared a laughter. A laughter we shared every morning with the cartoon strip. A laughter we shared with every grandpa story of mine. A laughter we shared while the TV rambled. A laughter we shared at the table. A laughter we shared while trimming the lawn. A laughter we shared while she misspelled a word in scrabble. A laughter we shared on the temple steps while eating coconut. A laughter we shared while she taught me how to use the internet. A laughter we shared as we both grew as grand father and grand daughter.

I watched her walk to other guests to get their blessings. I smiled with pride at my grand daughter.