Badrinath bats for India !

Finally !

I have waited to write this post for years !

I have ELP to review, PAEV to work on, term 5 and placements work all of which is easily measured by the ton. But I put all that aside to write about my friend who today has taught me what perseverance is all about.

They said only one boy from TN can make it into the squad. You need influence, and not just skill to get in, they said.When he was a youngster, he was too young. As he matured in stature, we feared whether they would say -"He's too old". Scrawny and thin, would he match the sledging of the Aussie, the build of the South African,the wiles of the English,the pace of the West Indian, the passion of the Pakistani ?

I remember him on the playfields of PSBB, as the batsman who never got out.The guy who sat in the last bench of my class and was always easy with his laugh. The boy who gave his all for the game, and finally, finally has been rewarded in turn.

Now,as he dons the baggy blue and shares a locker with Sachin,Dravid,Dhoni et al. my prayers go to him for his success. May he do well.

Finally, I've always shunned the game taking it to be a waste of time. I've always bet against India, because I still believe they are an all-star cast first and a team later. But now Badri, I'll cheer for India, and watch every ball when you step on the field. This is my tribute to your triumph.We'll all be watching out for you.

Chak de whatever !

Aparajita !

It all began at lunch. One president, two directors and an ex-GS employee at the table. A simple question to the president from yours truly.

"Why aren't you dressed in the section colors today ? "

" Thats because I have this women's club meeting you see, so i dont have time to change "

"ok, whats it about ?"

" we are having this person from M who is a HR head, she is coming to talk to us about Negotiation techniques for Women "

" Hey, but why only women.....? "

And so began my curious quest into the thinking of women. Why pray, would u have a club exclusively for women ? Do men have the men's club here? (Ans - Nyet.) Some thoughts behind this made sense, others tickled my thoughts, and got me thinking about the role of women today. When I started this blog, one of the first assertions I made was that if we as a society have to improve, we MUST empower our womenfolk.

Not some condescending talk, but driven by cold blooded experience that :
a. The average female is more aware, intelligent and sensitive than the average male (unfortunately for men)
b. Women think through problems in a multitude of ways, and if we have to shed some of the baggages of the past and move ahead, society needs all the radical thinking we can get.(truly).

And at the heart of all this lay my pet theory, that all women appear alike but are different and the converse is true about men.Think about it. Men for all their differences are primarily concerned with the following:
a. Power
b. Money
c. Sports
d. Women (note, sports came before )
e. Glug, Glug, Glug !

Not necessarily in this order, but I'm sure a vast majority of my tribe would agree. Switch to women. I dare not talk of 5 things which drive women, for each lady has completely different views of the world around her and what shapes her life. Thus while we may argue that women spend too much time on the phone in general, or swap mails about lady drivers, the truth is that each is an enigma unto herself. And thats what makes every girl special.

But, coming back to the point, I think that such inequality exists always, across nationalities, races, cultures and yes even the sexes. Yes, men would not like to cede control, but thats natural to any dominating group. But then, all such differences disappear when people are given opportunities equally for them to flourish in. That’s because insecurities best disappear when you face the fear. That’s when you become Aparajita !

Moral of the lecture: Next time, please ask the men too. We'd love to come, and no, we don’t eat girls for dinner.