Life without Wife

Just a rare occasion that my mom being away for 2 days has created such a mess at home. It makes me wonder how dependent we all are on her. More so my dad. Life without his wife has truly become miserable for him.

My mom is visiting Shirdi with her office colleagues. Usually, when our parents are away, my granny comes to stay at our place to look after us. This time, we all decided that we wont call her as we have grown up now and we can take care of ourselves! My dad was proud of this. Quite certainly, things haven't happened as we had planned. Much worse is the incident which happened some time back.

Things were going fine in the morning. Me and my sis had our breakfast and we started doing the household chores. Noon was approaching, and we started feeling the heat. It does look simple when mom does it, perhaps because we have always seen her doing those things. But, it's only when you put your feet in someone else's shoes that you realize the other side.

In the evening, dad had to pack some stuff. By the time he finished with it, he had a lot of waste paper to dump. Most of the times, it is my mom who does it. I wish she would have done it, atleast today. On second thought, if she had done it today, this hilarious incident would not have happened. So, what my dad does is he just forgets that his cell phone is also somewhere close to the waste. He dumps the waste papers along with his cell phone!

It was late in the night when my dad realizes that his cell phone is missing. We look around the entire house for it. We did found out certain things which had been missing since a few days, but could just not find the cell. He was worried. We asked him to remember the last call he received or made. It took him some time to realize what he had done. I had emptied the dust bin just a few minutes back in the garbage dumping in our backyard. Me and my dad went to find out the cell. It took us around half an hour to go through a lot of garbage before finally getting it back. I had never been so dirty all my life, thanks to my dad.

I am missing my mom. Back home it is very smooth when she's around. She makes our lives easier. It's a pity that we don't always realize or appreciate it. I hope this incident shall change a few things, atleast for me. I think it is also necessary to learn all of this. It's good to be in safe hands but just in case we face a similar situation again, atleast we would be somewhat prepared to face it! I dont say this often, but, mom I love you. Dad, you are hilarious at times. You did not realize but I just could not stop laughing for quite some time. I am waiting for mom to come back and I am gonna narrate this whole thing to her. Hahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaa

Is Cricket really a Batsman friendly game??

If you are a cricket lover I am sure you must have heard commentators and analysts saying "Cricket is a batsman game!" many times. Many of these commentators have been players at the highest level of the game. Most of the analysts, on the other hand, go through a lot of data crunching to come up with their trivia and statistics. I therefore wonder how can they say such a thing without realizing that it is the exact opposite. Yes, Cricket is a bowler friendly game. I am sure it must be hard to believe, especially when the big boys say otherwise. Well, I do have facts to support this view.

First of all, a batsman has to face all the bowlers bowling to him in a match. He is all geared up, with pads, gloves and helmet to keep his body safe. He has to adjust his batting for pace, swing and spin. While scoring, he has to run, not just for himself but for his partner as well. The bowler, however, has 10 other men to help him get wickets. The fielders take catches; the wicket, however, is credited to the bowler. At times, a bowler makes life difficult for a batsman, which makes him vulnerable and he can give away his wicket to some other bowler. At times, the batsman is run-out. There are times when the ball edges on to the stumps. There are times when a non-striker batsman is given run-out because the ball has hit the stumps with the batsman out of crease, thanks to the bowler who could touch the ball before hitting the stumps, luckily. A bowler gets so many chances and such good support from the team to take wicket while a batsman needs to make sure he does not give any chance of taking his wicket.

In terms of statistics as well, it turns out that the bowlers have always had an advantage in the game.

Let us look at the top 2 batsman in Tests, ODI's and T-20's with their top 5 scores. It does take a lot of time and deliveries to face for even the top class batsman to score meaningful amount of runs. Even in T-20, the fastest half century took 12 deliveries. However, for the bowlers, things are easier. In a test match, a bowler needs to bowl a maximum of 20 good deliveries to take wickets, while 10 in ODI's and T-20's. All bowlers need not produce all of those deliveries; they can produce a few individually as well plus the fielders are there to take catches and make run-outs, while the batsman can also play on to the stumps.

The commentators and analysts definitely need to ponder over this.

Repeat No Repeat

Just as I was about to feel that he has finally learnt how to do it the little guy asks me, again, "What to do now? I forgot!" Nishi, the little guy, is 4 years old and I am his best friend. He's my neighbour, and sometimes I feel that my family loves him more than me! The amount of attention he gets, the way my mom takes special care of making sure he gets some delicious cookies, my dad takes him on a ride - all these make me jealous and I wonder if the same was done for me. Maybe, I don't know, I was too small to figure it out. Anyways, that's not the point here.

Nishi's mom got him a remote controlled car with a set of tracks. As in case with any of his toys, he brought it for me to see. This one was cool, very interesting. Without wasting any time, we started playing with it. The tracks had to be made up from all the pieces given so the car could be rolled over it. It was simple, I made it up for him the 1st time. The 2nd time, I showed him how to do it. Almost every other day this guy comes back and says, "What to do now? I forgot!" I looked into the cute eyes of this dumb kid and showed him how to do it. However, once when this happened again, I snapped at him! I don't know why. I was like, "Why doesn't this guy understand?" That kid just froze for some time and went home soon, as his mom was yelling out for him.

I never realized how much frustration had built up in my mind regarding this thing. I felt sorry for the lil' guy and I thought I would make up with him by getting some chocolates. No one was home, so I made some tea. While having it, I was pondering over the incident, trying to realize what happened. Somehow, I was relating it to a lot of things which had happened in my life, some of them which are happening even now.

There are times when you do a mistake, that's fine. We are always told to learn from our mistakes, and particularly, not to repeat those. Doesn't it happen that we do repeat some, if not all, of our mistakes? Honestly, it does, in my case. I've done a lot of mistakes, some big, many small. I haven't always learnt from them and have repeated some of them more than once. It is important to accept a mistake. However, it is far more important to learn from it and even more to realize never to repeat it. It doesn't happen though, thats a different story. After digging deeper into this I realized the reason for it - a conscious effort had always been missing. More often, the arrogance gets over us when we accept our mistakes. Something like, "OK dude, I accept it. It's my mistake, I am Sorry!" We do one part of the whole thing, and forget the other, more important one!

Just once, think about this with a different view. The person being affected in this case must be so frustrated with you. He/She expects you to learn from it and there you go again. A worst case scenario would be that the person would be so frustrated that he/she would loose all hope. When this happens, you have pushed away someone so far from you that it is highly impossible to get him/her back.

The tea is too strong, just the way I like it. Am I over reacting, over thinking? Maybe. I am thinking too wierd, too extreme. Maybe not! You need to be humble to accept your mistake, and particular enough to remember it, always! It does need a conscious effort and I feel, now, that it's worth it.

Later that evening, I went to Nishi's house, called him home with that car and track. He came, and was so happy to see the chocolates waiting for him. He munched up all of them, and it was fun to watch him do that. Again, I showed him how to make up the track. This time, I was observing, he was vigilant than ever. We kept on playing till the time my mom came back from office.

I fondly remember, a few days later, Nishi coming to meet me. He had the pieces of tracks with him. This time, he built it over, all by himself! :)

Impact of the unexpected

It has been a long time (about 3-4 months) since I've read a book. Finally, thanks to my sis, I am reading a book 'The Black Swan' written by Nassim Taleb. It talks about the impact of highly improbable events that happen in our lives. The whole idea is very interesting, especially when I relate it to the last 10 years of my life.

If I list down the things which I deliberately wanted to do 10 years back v/s the list of things that happened unplanned, it's like a see-saw titled to 1 side. No prizes for guessing which list would run into more pages! Here I would be talking about those events which have really had a huge impact in my life.

On a professional front these events happened - After H.S.C. I joined B. Sc (I.T.) in K. C. College, which was 1 of the most beneficial decisions. I was always interested in computers, very fascinated about them. B. Sc (I.T.) made me aware about I.T.and computers, was a cheaper alternative to Engg, plus I could enjoy my college life by being a part of a lot of activities like Dramatics, College Fests, etc. Pursuing M.B.A. from M.E.T. was again more of a last minute decision. To be honest, I was completely unaware about the specializations, also the job profiles after doing M.B.A. Joining Logicserve was a chance I took, as I had no choice. It may sound silly, but it was only after spending over 2 months that I realized that I am actually working in the field of Digital Marketing (please note, I have 'specialized' in Operations). All this doesn't really make up a good mix, isn't it? Well, here again, things are unexpectedly perfect. Digital Marketing is a good mix of technical and conceptual ideas and my qualifications only do justice to it. Add to that the huge potential this industry has, in India and abroad, I do have a good career to deal with.

On a personal front, I have seen a lot of friends come and go. A few of them have had a huge influence on me, and even fewer shall always be with me. I've been a part of a wonderful relationship and a disheartening break-up, and perhaps a good recovery from it. Fun-wise, I've played with some great gizmos like digi cam, laptop, ipod and high-end mobile phones.

So, all of these have been unexpected, yet am glad they happenned. Talking about future, I do have some things in mind but, guess what, I am going to allow these unexpected things to occur. These have been very good so far, and I hope, I really hope, that they continue in a much better manner!

Love you gizmos

Last week had been busy, busy in exploring, yet again. Bought me a new device, Nokia E72! Features booklet, websites for mobile applications, cool stuff from friends, all this going on for about a week just to make sure the device is fully loaded. Suddenly realized similar experience I've had with my Ipod Touch, with my Sony Cybershot, with my Sony Erricson K750i and all my gizmo's. When a new device comes, the earlier ones' loose attention. All these inanimate toys must be so very angry with me for sidelining them for a new gizmo!

When a new device joins my gizmo collection, it is my responsibility to make it feel comfortable, give it some more time, isn't it? Does it mean I don't need the earlier one's anymore? Or I don't enjoy the earlier one's?

Had these been living I am sure I would have had to answer these questions much before. Infact, there might have been protests, maybe a revolt against me! Thank god, these are inanimate. That is why they won't understand me ever. Still, I am expressing this for them just incase they could. After all, we should always try and do things which are under our control. The rest is for fate to look after!

My gizmos, my dear gizmos, I love you all. It may be hard to believe for you, but I do. As a human being, I exist in two worlds. One belongs to my family, friends, colleagues and all those living beings. The other belongs to you. Yes, you complete my materialistic world! I am so glad to possess you. There are many more to come, probably more exciting and cool than you all. Do remember, you all are special ;)

I wish I could say it to you

They say Silence is Golden. Not always, surely! I was silent today, as I have been a few times before, and it was devastating!

I am not feeling good today. I wish it would have blossomed to something better. It didn't, may be it was not supposed to. Still, things would have been different, hopefully better, had it been the opposite of what happened.

Someone feels I don't say things face to face, I hide them and say them over the phone or text. Yes, I do. May be I am not able to express myself the way I should when in person.

Something has ended today and somewhere I think it has ended for good. I am not at all feeling good about it. But what troubles me more is the fact that I can't say this to that person! I've hurt and troubled that person very much. Today, was perhaps the last day I did it again! I would be lying if I say that every time I did something bad to that person, I felt bad as well. But this time, it's different. I am not liking it. I wish I can call up and say this but I shall not. Don't wanna hurt no more. Don't wanna raise any more hopes.

I am sorry. It's not your fault. I really, really wish you to be happy, always.

love...

My Wishlist of Gadgets

I would say that I realized my interest for gizmos pretty late in life. The realization came when I was looking for a new cellphone packed with all features. This was back in 2006 and I had bought Sony Ericsson K750i at that time after going through a lot of reviews on gsmarena.com, phonearena.com, cnet.com, etc. That was the time since when I have always had keen interest in knowing about gizmos, and also possessing them.

As of now, I have these and I would really like to extend this list further:

1) Lenovo R61 Thinkpad Laptop - Thanks to MET ;)

2) Sony Cybershot Digicam - Diwali shopping 2008

3) Apple Ipod Touch 8gb - Birthday gift 2009
4) Nokia E72 - Birthday gift 2010

Following is a non exhaustive list of gizmos I am looking to buy for myself, hopefully in near future:

1) DSLR camera - Good photography needs good equipment and I think I should have a DSLR as I enjoy photography. Infact, with a DSLR to play with, I might even join Photography courses! Nikon and Canon are supposed to be the best for DSLR. Can anyone let me know a good entry level DSLR model?

2) Camcorder - Still images do not always capture all emotions, but moving pictures do. Camcorder is surely something I would want to have. Sony is supposed to be the best for Camcorders. Let me know which entry level model to go for?

3) Apple Macbook - I am an Apple fan and really want to possess a Macbook. The look, the feel, the apparatus of Macbook is simply awesome. It's stylish, its unique. Not everyone has it, not even me, yet!

4) Apple Ipad - Another great product from Apple, the Ipad is sleek, stylish and a fun gadget. However, Samsung has also come up with a similar product called Galaxy Tab. It costs half as much has Ipad, has a 3.0 mega pixel camera with LED flash(absent in Ipad) and sd card slot to expand memory(again, absent in Ipad). Seems to be a good alternative, yet, Ipad is Ipad!

5) Bose music system and headphones - Perhaps the best in business, the music system of Bose is truly amazing. The headphones are absolutely classy. However, Sennheiser is also a good alternative to Bose when it comes to headphones. I have tried one of my friends Sennheiser and loved it, would like to try my one of my own now!

6) QWERTY device - I am a fan of candy bar style cellphones and I really want to have a QWERTY device soon. My options are Blackberry and Nokia E series. My expectations from the device is to have the ability of providing fun and work both. The device should have a good camera, good music output with universal 3.5 mm jack along with all essential things needed in a business oriented device. I am more prone to get myself a Nokia QWERTY device soon.

7) Sony PSP - A fun gaming device is cool to have with you, isn't it? Best part about PSP is that you can use it on the go while when at home can also attach it to your TV and use the device as a joystick and play games on the big screen, provided your TV has HDMI ports available. Still, its a fun device, great gaming tool, also good to carry your music, videos and other stuff.

8) Timex Digital Watch - I have always been a fan of digital watches because of their sport look. I had a Timex digital watch but I lost it sometime back. Really want to have one for me soon. I am not very aware about any other brands, apart from Timex, who are known for digital watches, so guys, please help!

9) Portable USB harddisk - My portable usb drive crashed some time back and am really worried about maintaining my movies, photos, music, documents in my laptop due to shortage of memory space. This time, I'll go for a 500 gb, mostly by Seagate/Free Agent or Western Digital. It's again a useful device at your hands.

10) Android based device - Android, according to me, is the next big thing in mobile devices. The vast list of amazing applications supporting Android is enticing enough for me to have a cellphone with Android OS. As of now, Sony Ericson Xperia series and Samsung Galaxy are very good Android devices.

11) Apple Ipod Classic - I know I already have a fun Ipod, and I also plan to buy a portable usb device soon. Still, I think, Ipod classic is a great device to have with you. Huge memory available to carry music, videos, other data. Plus, you can listen to music and watch videos whenever you feel like, not something you can do with portable usb drives!

I think I'll visit this post every 6 months and update the wishlist and also the list of gadgets I already have. For me, these gadgets are nothing but toys for elder boys!