Although It Started On Friday, But..

The topic of discussion on every table in the cafeteria was common; about India Vs Pakistan cricket match in the 20-20 World Cup. Everyone had an opinion about the best possible strategy as if the blue brigade had no captain.

A footballer to the core, I hate cricket from the bottom of my heart. But when it comes to India Vs Pakistan, a craziness grips me. For me, and for billion other Indians, perhaps it is the only way India can take revenge for all the wars and numerous terrorist attacks.

I asserted "Don't worry guys; India has never lost against Pakistan in World cup. Our players are going to rip their bowling apart".

But then a friend revealed the reason for his skepticism "Man! don't forget today is Friday, और जुम्मे के दिन तो पाकिस्तान को इंडिया सपने में भी नहीं हरा सकता".

That was a beamer, and it was enough to silent me. I have never heard or seen India defeating Pakistan on a Friday. And this jinx has always hounded the Indians.

On my way to home I bought 4 cans of beer, to drink the certain Indian defeat. India started batting. With first wicket of Gambhir, I opened my first can. The bad omen was working. With every wicket that went down, I went high.

Utthappa and Dhoni played some magnificent strokes, but for me there were just fillers before the inevitable. The Pakistan bowling attack winded up the blue boys for just 141 runs, a pathetic score by any standards in this shorter version of the game.

Now it was the turn of Indians to bowl. Pakistan lost a few early wickets. With time, the difference between the balls remaining and runs required increased. At one point, when 58 runs were required for just 32 deliveries, I felt as if India had a chance. But with the omen on their side and few great shots, the green brigade reached 141 with two balls to spare, that too of Sreesanth (needlessly agressive joker).

First one was a dot ball. Forget it! On a Friday Paki's can hit a 6 even on the last ball let alone just one run. Sreesanth now bowled the last one. This time the batsmen hit to the short cover. The fielder swiftly returned the ball and before I could figure out anything else it was a run out. Yes, It was a tie!

Unbelievable! Every Indian on the screen had gone mad. I was jumping and howling like crazy, but then I stopped fearing neighbors would come over. It was already late, 1'o'clock in the night. Wait a minute... What time? That means Friday was over, it was Saturday morning. The omen had passed. The Indians were there to win and they finally did it in style with a score of 3:0. You read that right! Its not a football or a hockey score, but a cricket score.।

Although the match started on Friday, but it ended on Saturday :-)

"Chak De India"

No to Fire Drills, Yes To Life!

There was an old lady in a village who used to live alone. She always had a fear of robbers. The villagers assured her that whenever she will call for help, they will immediately come over.

One day the villagers heard the lady shouting "चोर चोर". They quickly gathered outside her house to catch the thief. But to their surprise there was no one else other than the lady. She said "I was skeptical wheather you people will turn up for my help but now I am happy as you have put all my doubts to rest". The villagers were very disappointed.

One fine evening, the lady again raised the alarm "चोर चोर". This time no one turned up for help. Next morning villagers came to know that the robbers had looted all her valuables and had beaten her Black and Blue. That was the Fake Alarm Effect.

I was in a team meeting. There was an important discussion going on. Suddenly, we heard a sharp and shrill sound of the fire alarms installed in our office building.

I exclaimed: "Oh No! Not again".

Everyone had a disappointed look on their face. My manager was quick to react as he feared the worst, A Fire Drill.

Manager: "Puneet, can you please check if this is a false alarm for a fire drill."
Me: "Fine. if it's a false alarm I will come back to inform But if there is a real fire, then please don't expect me back"

Everyone in the conference room laughed as I went outside to check out the situation. People outside had a grim look on their face. The guard told me with full seriousness that it is a fire drill and everyone is required to leave everything as it is, and reach the lawns as fast as possible that too without using the lift.

It was actually disappointing as I, like everyone else, would be required to stand in the sun and learn the usage of fire extinguishers. This happened for the 6th time in my small career of 4 years.

I sincerely hope that in case of a real fire, the alarms will sound differently to convey the right message. Otherwise in all probability like that lady, I too will become the victim of Fake Alarm Effect :-)

Share your experience of fire drills :-)

Are you an Impotent like me

It was the Saturday evening of 25th August. I reached home around 10 min past 9'o'clock, to catch the elimination results of the Gala round of Indian Idol. My favorite show on Sony entertainment channel.

I switched on my Television only to find NDTV 24x7 running. There was a breaking news of twin explosions that rocked the city of Hyderabad in the evening and around 40 people were feared dead. I had no time for details as I had already missed 10 mins of action on Sony. Not sure of the channel number I started surfing with the remote. All the news channels that I encountered in between had the same story of blasts.

At last, I reached my show but got upset to find my favorite singers Amit Paul and Chang standing in the middle of the stage. They were voted to the bottom two and one of them had to leave the competition. Finally the name was announced and the person who had to leave the competition was Chang. Of course he was not as good as Amit Paul but definitely better than the others. There were tears in the eyes of many in the audience and must have been the case with many of those watching the show on TV. The show ended with a superb departing song from Chang.

I took a deep breath and started surfing the channels again. Another news channel "AAJ TAK" reminded me of the blasts that became oblivious to me during the show. Mutilated bodies of the dead lying in the pool of blood were shown. Many people were running around to find out weather their loved ones are among the unfortunates. There were 43 casualties and around 100 got injured.

I started feeling butterflies in my stomach and a sense of guilt dawned on me since I preferred to watch a singing competetion over the news of a terrorist attack on my country. Over the years, the terrorists, with the help of the Indian government, have done their job pretty well. With every attack they were not just able to murder many Indians but also kill their compassion and sensitivity towards human sufferings. They have turned India into an impotent nation where the simple rule of demand/supply does not apply just to the commodities but also to the human lives. With the supply of Indians being the highest in the world, their value is the lowest.

Now the terrorists should target countries like U.K. where the whole nation mourned when 35 people were killed in a tunnel blasts, where people refuse to accept terror as their destiny and demand to live with honor and pride.

As far as my guilt is concerned, I don't have to worry. A couple of more explosions and it will also fade away, forever.