The Celebrations in Words!!

The amazing stuff that has been written about Team India!!

Anhoni ko honi karde, honi ko anhoni;

Ek jagah jab jama ho teeno, Ghajni, Rajni aur Dhoni…

-          Singing in the streets last night

Rajnikant has watched India win in his dream last night, Today, he’s just watching the highlights!

-          Anonymous tweet

All the politicians @ Wankhede please note, that’s what a leader looks like # Dhoni.

-          Anonymous tweet

Saturday belongs to Lord Hanuman, and this clearly is his emphatic victory over Lanka.

-          Swapnil Parab, Lalbaug, Mumbai

After Sehwag and Sachin’s wicket fell:

No more fall of wickets, Rajnikant paddling up!

-          Anonymous guy in the crowd

Before the India- Pakistan encounter:

Dear Pakistan, we come from the land of KAMASUTRA, and have 277 ways to fuck, so just wait and watch!!

-          SMS courtesy Vishal Thakkar

Semi Final Teams:

Group A- Pakistan, Australia and Sri Lanka.

Group B- India

Jhundh mein toh kutte aate hain, Sher akela aata hai!

-          SMS courtesy Sandeep Rathi.

Pehle maari goron ki,

Phir haram khoro ki,

Phir baari aayi sita ke choro ki!

Bolo Jai Shri Ram!!

-          Anonymous SMS

A 23-year old drought that began in 1987 and kept ending fruitlessly every four years, finally gave India- a country of 1.21 billion people- its moment of glory. It all happened at the historic Wankhede Stadium here.

-          TOI

Asked for revenge for Dada's pain..and you gave it..

Asked for revenge for the nightmare of the burning Eden and you gave it..

Asked for a lifetime desire to see the World Cup in the hands of the person, who has been playing since the day I was born...and you gave it..

Asked for the chance to turn back and say: "Yes, Dhoni & Co"..for every "Yes, Kapil & Co" that I heard...and you gave it..

THANK YOU TEAM INDIA!!

-          Facebook status, Pramit Pratim Ghosh

For the last 21 years, he has shouldered the burden of the team. It is time we carried him on our shoulders.

-          Virat Kohli, Member of the ICC World Cup 2011 winning team

Sorry to disappoint you all. This is not for my girlfriend. It is for Sachin Tendulkar.

-          Yuvraj Singh, Member of the ICC World Cup 2011 winning team.

Emotions were running high. As soon as I hit the six, I was almost half way down the pitch and I thought I would grab the stumps at the non-striker’s end as souvenirs. But then I saw Yuvraj standing there and I was afraid he will grab that stump. I then told myself, forget hugging Yuvraj, let me grab a stump first. That confusion made me stand still in the middle of the pitch.

-          M S Dhoni, Captain, Indian Cricket Team, World Champions 2011.

As a kid, I always wanted to lift that World Cup trophy. All my cricket has been for that. On the way, several things have happened, several records and some achievements that have given me happiness. But this is the ultimate. The most proud moment of my career This world cup is for the entire nation. I am happy I could bring a smile to a billion people.

-          Sachin Tendulkar.

“Are there tears, in your eyes?” Tendulkar’s former Mumbai teammate Sanjay Majrekar, now a commentator, asked him. Tendulkar almost shied away, laughing. “I want to thank the team that made it possible. The support staff and particularly Mike Horn,” he said.

Dhoni, Zaheer, Yuvraj, Harbhajan, Virat – they all lined up next to him pointing fingers at Tendulkar to tell who they got inspired to win it for. Tendulkar just smiled.

-          At the post match celebrations, Wankhede stadium, Mumbai, 2nd April 2011.

The Hero

Tomorrow, the ICC Cricket World Cup comes to a close. It’s a fairly limited sport in terms of the number of nations that play test cricket. Barely any following if compared to football. But in those 10 nations and for the several followers across the world, there is one man, who has been there and done that. One man, in front of whom time stands still. 20 years and more, his peak never seems high enough.

He has several records to his name. There may be very few things he has not achieved as a batsman. 200 runs in a one day international match. His technique is simply flawless. Old school cricket lovers love him for his discipline and technical perfection. Those born in the era of ODIs and T20s love him for his shots and timing and plain brilliance on the field. Till he is there on the pitch, no opposing team can rest their guard down. His mere presence simply takes the pressure of the other 10 players of the Indian cricket team!

But there is more to him than that. Much more. The reasons as to why he is the national Hero of India are innumerable and countless. More than anything else, he is a role model. He is the person, mothers want their sons to grow up to be. Everyone simply RESPECTS him. Even when match fixing scandal rocked the cricket world, there was no blot on him. When he says that the Harbhajan did not say something derogatory, ICC and the world took him for his word. His standards of ethics are a benchmark. 

He carries the hope of more than a billion people. He has been doing that for consistently more than 20 years. He is the reflection of the emerging economy that india is. Strong, resilient and confident. He doesn’t live a flamboyant lifestyle. He is the Great Indian Middle Class Dream. Humble roots and great achievements. That is the reason why people love him. Because he is one single man, who embodies all of this and who is still there.

And this is his last world cup. We know he wants to win it. His emotions may not show that, but we know it. The World Cup is the biggest and the missing trophy on his mantelpiece. His several team mates have grown up watching his game. They want to win it for him. More than a billion prayers will be there for him. And maybe it was destined that he wins it in his home. Mumbai will explode when its favorite son will give this nation the joy. The 100^th century is nothing in comparison to winning it and winning it at home. Please team India, Lets Do it this time. The guy deserves this. Ohh wait… We refer to him as ‘God’. But he is best known as…

Sachin Tendulkar.

The Real World

Another post that comes bang in the middle of exams and well on a related subject.

Finally people around me realized that 'mugging up' every 5 weeks to vomit it out in the exam isn't the way a management course should teach you something..

Which got me thinking.. Every exams.. I while away time watching TV series and movies and keeping up with sports and other updates in the world, every soul around me is drenched in mugging up.But what will i remember after say 5 years??

I was on UEFA's site today checking out last night's scores. And i realized, I don't remember any exam that I gave 2 or even 3 years back.. But what i do remember are the legendary matches that happened 5 years ago. Who can forget how Liverpool came back to defeat AC Milan at Istanbul in 2005.. And i still remember how my heart broke when Arsenal's unbeaten run in UEFA was killed when it lost to Barcelona in Paris in 2006. I still remember Sachin Tendulkar bashing Shoaib Akhtar in the 2003 World Cup at the Centurion, right after his father's funeral. It bought the whole nation to tears.

I remember the pride we had, when Ratan Tata introduced the world to Nano. I remember the joy when Chandrayaan landed on the moon. I cherish the fact that we had a president who is a brilliant scientist and an ideal for the nation. The pride when Indira Nooyi became the CEO of Pepsico. The shock when Lehmann brothers fell.  And even though Lagaan released in 2001, a movie that put India's name on the Oscars (ofc which had cricket in it too!), I still watch it every time it comes on TV. For that matter, one of the most loved TV series in the world F.R.I.E.N.D.S. is a favorite with all kinds of ages, and even 7 years after the series is complete, people still watch it again and again!

The real world is much more interesting, fascinating and stimulating than the 'laboratory' of a classroom. Indian students need the outside perspective much more. That is the hard fact. Not for nothing did corporates use movies like 'Chak De India' as a team building tool! 

I am pretty damn sure i will laugh at these exams 2 years down the line. I just feel like we could be laughing at them today too.. They are meant to test memorizing skills and not your understanding of the subject matter. Wish more people would subscribe to that view. Until then, Gotta clear all exams!

Highlight of the day: Today after a nightmare of a subject, my friend Pujal says, "I don't know if I will score marks or not.. But i know one thing for sure.. i know Strategy...." Made me smile... :)

The True FAN

Mumbai just lost the IPL season 3 finals. I am disappointed. I rooted for them all throughout the 3 years. So i do feel bad for them. Anyone who follows IPL knows that the 1 team that was consistent throughout the tournament was MUMBAI.
So what does a fan do now? when the team has just failed to clear the last hurdle? do we leave it? start following the team that wins all the  time??!! now that is what a true fan will never do.
Lets look at England... Fans there root for their football club since their birth. cuz thats where they belong. your local club is YOUR club. You cheer the players, cuz they're from one of your neighboring families. they are your kids. and you feel protective about them... like a mother does... that is what i feel a true fan is...

Like a mother to the team...giving strength in time of weakness...cheering on when the storm is against them...raving about them to others like they're the best in the world...fighting with others if they say something against their baby...NEVER leaving them when they are down and out...celebrating their victories with them... and mourning their losses with them...a true fan always sticks to his team...no matter how the situation changes...his heart beats for them...

Hope everyone out there finds their teams too... I love you Mumbai... I love you Mumbai Indians... I love you Arsenal... I love you Rog Fed...I'll be there for you, ALWAYS.. Thats the promise of a true fan :)