Posts

Showing posts from 2021

A Few Steps from Home, A Lifetime of Faith

Image
Some bonds are formed not in conversation, but in quiet trust. Some companions never speak — they just walk beside you, through every chapter of life. Hanuman Temple As you grow older, simple things begin to hold deeper meanings. When I was a kid, I would visit the Hanuman temple near the Malleswaram Railway Station almost every day. I’d do my pradakshanams — the quiet circumambulations — and whisper to Lord Hanuman to help me do the right thing. Over time, the visits became less of a request and more of a rhythm — part of the everyday music of life. Just a short walk from home, the temple stood like a familiar friend. And yet, it became more than a place — it became a witness. Every important moment in my life was somehow tied to that small shrine. Before paying my exam fee, I would stop there. Before collecting my hall ticket for the tenth and twelfth board exams — it went straight to Hanuman’s feet first. Before campus placements. Befor...

Gabba 2001

Some iconic moments in Indian cricket post 2000 are etched forever— Kolkata 2001, Headingley 2002, Adelaide 2003, Perth 2008 and Melbourne 2018. Now, Brisbane/Gabba 2021 joins the pantheon as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, of all time. There is a raw emotion when it comes to sport. Just like the   way you can’t fake humor, you can’t fake emotion in sport. What you see is what you get? At the end of the day, when the team that you support achieves the desired result, the overlapping of emotions between the players and the fans is something that can only be experienced by people who play or follow live sport. The oohs and the aahs of near misses transform from instant grief to a lifelong obsession of  what ifs  visualizing alternate endings. Chennai 1999 was one for the ages and the trauma of that result has had long term repercussions in my thought process. That game shattered my confidence and did not allow me to take anything for granted in life. The 2020–2021...