A birthday celebration that I’ll never forget…. Saturday, Apr 29 2006

April 27th 2006 is a day that will always remain close to my heart. Firstly, I had my project completion seminar scheduled at 2:30pm. Two other seminars were also scheduled for the day. Oh boy… Things were getting heated up. Just thinking about who is going to come for evaluation was driving me crazy…. And to the relief of all, the seminars went well. Hope all the seminars conclude without any hitches….

Anyway, coming back to the point, at around 8pm my roomiee Guru got a call from Sumit, who was in the lab. Guru was talking in hushed tones and when I asked him about the call from Sumit, he just mumbled something. I started getting suspicious. All I could think of was, "Oh God, I just hope I don't get b'day bums!!!!" That is the one thing I have always feared about b'days….. Anyway, Guru and I were in the room when he got another call from Sumit. This time I was pretty sure that something was cooking. Guru just mumbled, "Hey Subbu, we have to go to the lab", and he packed his digicam. Now I was completely sure that something was brewing up in the lab. We got ready and went to the lab.

Once we reached the lab, I found it evident that my classmates are preparing a small party for me. It really felt nice and special. To be frank and honest, I haven't cut any cakes for my b'day before coming to Surathkal!!! A nice cake was laid out in front of me by my friends.

All my friends circled around me and I cut the cake, amidst the chorus of "Happy B'day to you……". Well, it felt really special. My juniors were also present and they also wished me. I really want to thank everyone for their wishes…. Then came the party time… Everyone was stuffing cake into my mouth. I too put some cake in their mouths. Then the great Sumit smeared cake all over my face I really had a tough time washing that away. It was really nice and I am really happy to have such great friends.

Anyway, for me the cake cutting isn't important. What stood out is the wonderful gesture by my friends. That is what I loved the most. Now we are coming to the closing stages of our journey at NITK. The bonds of friendship that have grown amongst us should not die down once we leave college. They should be nurtured for a life time. We've spent some really precious moments together and we should be friends for life

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Clash of the titans Monday, Mar 27 2006

Yesterday, i.e. 26th March 2006, I played in one of the most tense, at the same time wonderful, game of cricket in my life. It was the finals of the Phoenix cricket tour't between PG and 1st year. It was a match between the senior most and the junior most sides, a match between the two best sides in NITK. We from the PG side had a perfectly harmonious relationship with all our juniors. We thought that the game will be played in the best of spirits, but that was not to be………. During the course of the match, things changed from good to bad to worse and it even got very nasty towards the end . There is no point in playing the blame game. Both the teams were equally responsible (or shall I say irresponsible?) for the bad turn of events. We have only ourselves to blame.

In fact, that's the nature of this game. We play to win, and that creates a very competitive environment. This competitive environment, mixed along with some ego, can turn friends into foes. It can change a friendly atmosphere into a hostile one, wherein a slight spark can trigger a raging fire.

Coming to the match, it was a great game of cricket and the best team won. I led the PG side and Shayak led the 1st years. The first years batted brilliantly and scored 162 in 20 overs. Sid batted very well. Our bowling was way below par and the fielding horrendous. It was such a frustrating situation, and this (fuelled by some unsportive comments by the 1st years in the pavillion) led to some nasty words being exchanged in the middle. I lost my cool and spoke crap. Though I apologised later, my actions and speech weren't justified. This was the turning point in the match. Harmony turned to cacophony. Tempers raised, words flew and a lot of crap happened……

The chase was brilliant. We started off perfectly. Raj and Ganesh played superbly and got us off  to a much needed flier. Then Gan and I had a wonderful partnership. We had a daunting task ahead of us. We needed to score at 10 runs an over. But we approached the situation in a very well planned manner. Some of my team mates in the PG side weren't happy and sure about what we were doing in the center. Though this hurt me a lot, I am not blaming them for the way they acted. We wanted to win and that was evident in the way the PG guys spurred us on…..

Towards the end of the chase, there were many twists in the tale. Finally 7 runs were needed of the last over. Sid bowled the last over. The first 3 balls yielded no runs. So 7 was needed of 3 balls. I came to strike. Then it became 6 from 2 balls. I heaved one over mid wicket. The ball landed near the boundary. This was the most sensitive point in the entire match….. The umpire initially declared it as a six. I couldn't believe it. We had won a fantastic match…. It was then that all the pent up emotions came out. Lot of bad things were said. Some of my team-mates lost their cool. Things turned bitter. Words flew and lot of crap was exchanged between the two sides….. If there was a match referee, he would've suspended both the teams I guess. There was nobody to control us. It was like a fish market…… Anyway, the umpires after careful examination changed the decision from 6 to 4. We had to get on with them game.

So 2 runs required of 1 ball. What a pressure cooker scenario!!!!! I was on strike. Sid bowled his fastish leggie. All I wanted to do was to make contact with the ball. I didn't want to play an expansive shot. I wanted to ensure that we had taken a single atleast. I played the ball to point and we took a single. The fielder wasn't in the game at all. Aided by his absence of common sense, we scampered for the 2nd run. And by the way, the last ball was a no-ball. We had won the match even without the 2nd run. We won!!! PG had retained the Phoenix cricket trophy……..

All in all, it was a great game of cricket. And it was marred by some unhappy episodes. There were some amazing moments, and some crappy moments. How I wish we had a filter, which could filter out the unwanted events and recreate the harmony of old???

Friendship and peace is more important than anything else. Hope both of us (PG and 1st years) realize that…………

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The way we revelled at Revel’s Cricket Cup 2006 Friday, Mar 24 2006

This year at Revels Cup, the NITK cricket team had a different kind of label put on them. It wasn't the geeks, or nerds, or boookworms, or anything like that. It was the tag of "defending champions". I still remember very vividly the way in which we had won the Revel's Cricket Cup 2005. Oh boy, we had played some fantastic cricket then……

Anyway, our beloved Assistant Physical Director or APD as we lovingly call him , had arranged for transportation for all the days of the tour't. That was a really refreshing change. I remember the last tour't, when we were herded into the express buses like cattle. And after that gruelling one hour journey, we had to start the match directly. That was demanding!!!

Our first match against Manipal Institute of Management (MIM) was the toughest one. We batted first and were bowled out for a paltry 104. During the changeover, most of the boys were down and out. It really took a lot of work to pump up the sleeping giants. But somehow we played out of our skins and got MIM for 100, and that too amidst controversies. Cricket is no longer a gentleman's game. Controversy has become an inherent part of the game. And amidst cheers and jeers, we won the first match against MIM.

The next match was the semi-finals and it was against Manipal Institute of Technology B (MIT-B). We expected a tough match, 'coz we were sure that MIT-B was a decent side. But we won the match by more thant 110 runs. It was a convincing victory. We truly were unbeatable.

Then came the finals and it was against W.G.S.H.A (Don't ask me the full form ) , the hotel management unit of Manipal Institutions. Rumours were amok of a super Surd in their team. A decent (decent-sized, but now decently behaved) crowd had gathered. We batted first again and scored 206 in the allotted 40 overs. The crowd was expecting the super Surd to win the match for WGSHA. But that was not to happen. 'Coz Surd or no, we have some super players too….. We got them for 150 or so and won the match convincingly. We truly played like champions….

 

 

 

 

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Save Bangalore Friday, Mar 24 2006

Bangalore, the once green city of India. Not so green anymore…. This great city was once a pensioner’s paradise, but not now. The real estate market has boomed, and the house rents have sky rocketted…… Bangalore was once a very safe place, but now it is increasingly dangerous to walk on it’s streets.

Anyway, this is the IT capital of India and has enabled many people to realize their dreams, especially those people working in the IT industry should be really grateful. So, all you Bangaloreans out there it is time to wake up. Let us all work together and keep our “bengaluru” nice, beautiful and safe.

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