Thank You GOD... Thanks for everything!

I have never watched a cricket match LIVE in a stadium till date.

And I did not want to miss this one for ANYTHING....!

Frantic calls to friends and fellow Sachin fans over the last couple of weeks... staying up till 3 AM - courtesy some desperate attempts online on a depressingly crashed website.... and a lot more ensued.

Miraculously, the tickets were arranged, and I was supposed to go and watch him @ the Wankhede on Sunday (the only possible day for me)....

But God had other plans.

I was praying, and praying hard over the last few days..... for the match to last atleast 4 days, so that I could go and watch him on Sunday....

But the way the match progressed, it became increasingly clear that the match would end much sooner.

Even today morning, I was praying for a miracle, for West Indies to last the entire day today, and take atleast a slender lead, so that tomorrow, India (read Sachin) could finish the formalities in style, with me getting to watch the same.

But the Windies wickets just kept tumbling today... and the end came a bit too quickly. The hopes to see God tomorrow just came crashing down.....

I was at office, and was mentally cribbing that I wasn't even privileged to watch the historic moments and the presentation on TV....

And then, as I entered my director's cabin for some work, the TV was ON, and God was in the midst of his farewell speech....

I just stood there, and watched him speak, and as he spoke.... tears started streaming down my eyes......

Heard the immortal speech.... Watched him take the lap around the ground.... And then the finale - God walking across to the pitch one last time, and touching it as a mark of respect.... and walking away in tears......

My tears just didn't stop flowing... and the lump in the throat was painful....

... and all this, right in front of my Director, in his cabin.....

Neither of us said a word to each other.... just kept watching.....

At the end of it, I just thanked my director, and left. The lump in the throat, and the tears, continued for a long while after.

Truly blessed to have been part of the SACHINCREDIBLE experience all these years.

Miss You terribly God...! There will never be another like you! Thanks for being the wonderful human being that you have always been....!

I doubt I would ever visit a stadium to watch a match in my life... It didn't happen all these years; and now, the desire no longer exists....

The game of cricket will sure go on, and new stars and newer records will emerge.

But for me, it will always, ALWAYS be..... Sachiiiiinnnn.... SACHIN.....!!!

Thanks, for everything!

Ganesh Visarjan - 2011

Today happens to be the 11th and Final day of this year's Ganpati Festival. It is also known as 'Anant Chaturdashi' - the day on which the majority of the Ganesh idols are taken on a farewell procession, and finally, immersed into water bodies (depending on the size of the idol, and/or convenience of the people taking the idol for immersion, the immersion venue could range from small wells, tanks, ponds and lakes to bigger water bodies such as the rivers and seas.)

Another important point to note would be, that not all people/Mandals house the lord for a period of 11 days. It is normally the custom to keep Ganpati for odd-numbered days. It could range from 1.5 (One and half) days, to 3, 5, 7, 9 or 11 days.

My family was earlier based in place called Chhedanagar, in Chembur (North-East Mumbai). And the society in which we resided, celebrated the Ganpati festival with great devotion, pomp and splendour year after year. It was the most-awaited event of the year, and youngsters and elderly, irrespective of their roots, backgrounds, religion etc. wholeheartedly joined in the celebrations.

The preparations would start approximately a month before the Ganesh Chaturthi day, when the youngsters would go door-to-door to collect money from the residents, to build funds for the festival. The idol would be booked at our regular idol-maker's place. Then, just days before the D-Day, all the materials required for the decoration would be purchased.

But the actual work, would begin only on the night on the eve of the D-day. We all youngsters would assemble after dinner, and start work. Everyone would tirelessly and sincerely work through the night, and by the wee hours of the morning, the whole place would be totally revamped, all-set to receive the King - our dear Lord Ganesha.

The traditional Aarti would be conducted twice a day - once in the morning, and later again in the evening. The evening session would be a longer one, with loads of members joining in, for a couple of hours long Bhajan session. (Again, people irrespective of their religion or background join in with total devotion.... something really special and touching). The morning and evening Prasad (special delicacies offered to Ganpati and later shared by everyone present as a token of his blessings) would be made by people from different flats on each of the days.

The celebrations would be for a period of 5 days. On the 5th day evening, the Ganpati would be taken in a lorry/tempo to Shivaji Park Beach (near Dadar, Central Mumbai) for Visarjan (immersion). Earlier, the people joining in for the immersion trip were quite a handful in number, and a big Lorry used to be hired for the journey from Chembur to Shivaji Park. There were a couple of occasions when the youngsters had even arranged for a live band to play upto a certain distance (initial leg) of the procession for them to dance along. But over the years, with the number of people reducing considerably (due to work schedules and other constraints), the lorry has made way for a tempo, that comfortably houses the reduced number of people who escort Lord Ganpati for his farewell journey to his immersion.

When I was staying in Chembur, I had accompanied the group for Visarjan on quite a few occasions. But ever since we shifted to another area (Ghatkopar) in 2008, I had never got to join them for Visarjan. Yes, me and my family still visit the Ganpati in our old society on atleast one of the 5 days every year. We are too attached to the place, the people, and of course, the Ganpati celebrations over there, to miss out on paying a visit. But this time, after a gap of 3 years, I again got the privilege of joining the Visarjan trip. It was quite a dramatic turn of events, which I would do better to recount in a seperate post, as this one has got pretty long now! :)

~ Ganpati Bappa Moraya ~

O Maai Fraaand Ganeshaa!

Ganpati Bappa Moraya!!! Mangala Moorti Moraya!!! :-)

My blog, has yet again, been dormant for too long. As always, there were umpteen occasions when I was tempted to document my thoughts here. But somehow, thanks to my busy schedules, those remained mere thoughts. Were never put into words.

There are lots to write about. A wonderful trip to God's Own Country - Kerala, with my friends last month, is on the top of my list to write about. Lot of wonderful memories.... some fantastic moments, some great music, a close friend's grand wedding, meeting wonderful people..... not to forget many hilarious moments as well..... they all need to be put up here, so that we can read them again later and re-live those moments in the future.

But before I start on the trip to God's Own Country, I thought I'll first write about God himself.

The Ganpati Festival season is on in Mumbai right now. Today is the 6th day of the Festival (normally it is a 11 day festival). Earlier, the festival was not celebrated in such a large scale, in public. The public celebration (Sarvajanik Utsav) was the brainchild of the great Indian freedom fighter - Shri Bal Gangadhar Tilak (popularly known as Lokmanya Tilak). He, during the pre-independence era, came up with this masterstroke of an idea, to organise public gatherings, under the garb of 'Sarvajanik Ganpati Mandals'.

The British, back then, were vary of public meetings, and used to disallow any such gatherings from taking place in the country, as it was obvious that the only thing that would be discussed in the meetings, would be regarding the Freedom Movement. Shri Lokmanya Tilak came up with this idea, to organise the Ganpati festival in Maharashtra on a public scale, where in they could have public Mandals housing Ganpati, for a period of 10 days, and people in large numbers could come to pay their respects daily. And the freedom fighters / leaders could use this stage to present their ideas to the public, and motivate them to join the freedom struggle, and create a cascading movement across the state, and in turn, the country.

Thus, in the year 1894, Shri Lokmanya Tilak established a Sarvajanik Ganesh Mandal in Pune (Maharashtra), and since then, the festival has grown in leaps and bounds in the country and even abroad. The manner in which people passionately pour their hearts out, in giving their dear Ganpati Bappa a grand welcome, arranging for his royal stay, and later give him a farewell befitting a King, is to be seen to be believed. This festival is undoubtedly the pride of Maharashtra, and the elephant-headed Lord Ganesha, is undoubtedly our most-loved visitor.

The popular saying in Sanskrit is "Athithi Devo Bhava" - which means 'Your Guest, is equivalent to God'.

But this is one festival in India, where the roles are reversed. We get to experience "Deva Athitho Bhava" - where our God himself visits us as our honoured guest, and we get to play host to him...! :-)

Glossary for Pilgrimogue - Part 1

Minor Glossary regarding my earlier post (Pilgrimogue - Part 1)



Kettunira: (ritual where a coconut is filled with ghee, and other items such as Rice, Kaanikkai, items for Abhishekam etc. are filled into the Irumudi)


Irumudi: A special cloth bag with two portions, which is filled during the Kettunira, and knotted at the centre, in such a way, that the knot seperates the two portions of the cloth bag in the midde. The Irumudi is to be carried by the Ayyappa pilgrim on his head in such a way, that one portion of the Irumudi falls towards the front of his head, and the other towards the back of his head. The front portion is called 'Mun-Mudi' (literally translated as "Front-Knot" or the portion at the front of the knot) and the back portion is called 'Pin-Mudi' (the "Back-Knot" or the portion on the backside of the knot)



Kaanikkai: Token amount to be put in the Hundi (Boxes installed for Money collection) during the First Darshanam of the Lord, during the trip.



Abhishekam: Bathing of the Lord's idol using various special items such as Nei (Ghee), Vibhuti (Holy Ash), Kumkumam (Vermillion), Chandanam/Kalabham (Sandalwood paste), Rose Water etc. Note, that the Ghee in this case is filled into the coconut and sealed, while the other items are filled in packets or small boxes and packed into the Irumudi, along with the Ghee-filled coconut.

Shabarimala Pilgrimogue (Pilgrim's Travelogue) - Part 1

Aum Namah Shivaayah!

MahaaShivraatri ke Paavan Avsar par sabko meri Haardik Shubhkaamnaayein! :-)


Well, its a good day today, and I thought of restarting the blog. I hope this 'auspicious' restart ensures more regular postings from me here. I hope its not just the customary post for the year... :P

Which reminds me - A Very Happy 2011 to one and all...! (March isn't too late to wish, is it?)


I have had a very weird start to the year this time. As has been the case for the past 3 years, I was on Vratham (religious vow) for a period of two months, since Mid-November 2010, to undertake the pilgrimage to Shabarimala, where THE MOST popular among the major shrines dedicated to Lord Ayyappa is located. (The others shrines being Kulathupuzha, Achankoil, Aaryankaavu, Erumeli, Ponnambalamedu)

I was supposed to embark on the pilgrimage on the 6th of Jan, 2011, after the completion of the Kettunira, along with my other group members. But a couple of days before that, one of our official clients based in the Middle East, suddenly decided to pay a visit to our office, to conduct interviews. BANG! My boss called me and told me in no uncertain terms, that there was no way I could leave on the 6th, as the client was arriving on the 5th, and the interviews were scheduled at our office on the 6th itself...!

I tried my best to reason with my bosses, that it was incredibly difficult for me to change the itinerary at such a last minute. All the more, since this isn't one of the regular, casual trips; but instead is a pilgrimage, that too, one bound by lots of rules, regulations, rituals and the likes. I couldn't miss my Kettunira on the 6th, as all the group members were leaving that day, and I cannot get mine conducted the next day, since no senior Guruswamy would be available to conduct the same.

My pleadings continued till the 5th, but totally in vain. Finally, I resigned myself to the circumstances, and called up one of my group members, who comforted me saying that they could conduct my Kettunira at one of the Ayyappa temples in Kerala, and I need not worry regarding that. Finally, after making arrangements for the same, and also having a word with my family members, I went to talk to my boss, asking for permission to leave on 6th afternoon, as there was a cheap flight ticket available for Calicut (Kozhikode) for the 6th evening.

There were certain specific reasons why I preferred the 6th evening flight, rather than others available for the 7th of Jan. Those details, and the details regarding the rest of the pilgrimage and events that took place later, will be posted in the coming parts of the 'Pilgrimogue'.... This 'Part 1' has gotten quite long, and I've been smart and shameless enough to be typing out all of this, sitting at office. I shall type out the remaining parts later, now I better get back to work...!


Paramashivan Putrane Sharanam Ayyappaa!


Ellaavarkkum Sadaa Sarva Mangala Pradaayakane Sharanam Ayyappaa! :-)

Got a warning from Blogspot :-|

Its been 3 long years, and I haven't scribbled any of my thoughts here; But well, I haven't scribbled onto any diaries either, so atleast I've kept my latter part of the promise that I made here - that of 'Saving Diary space' :P

Honestly, there were umpteen occasions when I got good topics or ideas to write on, and even made elaborate plans to re-start the dormant blog. But my tight schedules, and a bit of laziness, ensured that those plans never saw the light of the day.

Now coming to the important point, of what really provoked me to make this sudden, emergency post, that too, when I'm sitting busy @ office - 

I got a mail just now, from some support.blogspot.com, who also claimed some connection with some ForIt.org Foundation. They have mailed me saying that my blog isn't receiving clicks outside the content area, which means that my blog is 'under-utilised', which also translates to 'under-monetized'.....

And I can get only one blog (only 1) with monetization, without cost. ** Limited time availability. ** Non-transferrable.

Therefore, I need to update my blog, or else......

[Please note, that I have absolutely no clue, what all that means.... I'm not even sure whether it was some Spam mail. But the email did arrive from some id @support.blogspot.com. And I would not want to lose this blog of mine, however insincere I may have been in maintaining it. Period. :D]

So, all thanks to that mail, this blog finally underwent some revival, and probably got some hope for survival.

I hope I don't fool my blog with this one-off revival post now. Time to pull up my socks, and do some better justice out here!  :-)

National Voluntary Blood Donation Day!!!

Hi....

Well, its been quite some time since I updated my blog. Had been busy with too many things of late, busy with exams, lost my wallet (sad story, shall update sometime later....), Ganeshotsav, and quite many other things!!! :)

Well, to mark my return to blogging after a short break, I would like to share some important information with you all :)

Today, the 1st of October, is the National Voluntary Blood Donation Day. As you all are pretty well aware, our country is in need of a lot of Blood, as the HUGE non-stop demand for blood & platelets from patients, is not being met by the short supply from donors & blood banks. There are umpteen instances of people running from pillar to post, to get Blood of a particular group, and further umpteen instances of patients dying due to non-availability of Blood.

On this special day, I would like to appeal to all of you, to become voluntary donors, and possibly even register yourself with local hospitals and the State Blood Transfusion Council, by which they can contact you in times of need. Remember, each time you donate a unit of blood, you are saving Three lives! Enjoy the pleasure that comes with this feeling of doing such a noble deed!

Apart from that, Mumbai is going to get its FIRST Platelets Bank! Platelets are a component of the whole blood. Platelet donation involves a different process, known as "Apheresis", wherein the whole blood is taken from the donor, sent into a machine which seperates the platelets from the whole blood, and returns the rest of the blood (minus the platelets) to the donor's body. Its a comparatively longer procedure, in comparison to whole blood donation, but is more necessary, as there are a large number of patients in dire need of Platelets, and the sad part is, there aren't as many Platelet Donors! Worse case is that, not many people are aware of such a process in the first place, most are aware only about the regular Whole Blood Donation.

For further details, you can check out the following links:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Mumbai/City_soon_to_get_platelet_donors_club/rssarticleshow/2415134.cms

http://www.mahasbtc.com/

http://www.bloodgivers.com/

http://www.bloodgivers.com/intfacts.asp

You can also search the internet, or consult other regular donors, or local hospitals, for further details. Good Luck :)

Remember, each unit donated, is Three lives Saved!!! :)

"Unsporting" Sportsmanship!!!

Well, the second test of the India-England test series currently underway, has been in the news for many good as well as bad reasons. Good ones being the wonderful & spirited performances by the Indian bowlers & batsmen..... while the bad ones being poor umpiring decisions throughout the match, sledging by the English etc.

Now, the latest incident that happened on field a couple of days back, was the Zaheer Khan-Kevin Peitersen incident. Let me throw some light on it - Apparently what happened was that, when Zaheer came into bat during India's first innings, some English player started throwing Jellybeans (a confectionery eatable) on him. Zaheer would remove them from the pitch before facing a delivery, and next minute he would find yet another being thrown..... which undoubtedly enraged him. He had a couple of words with the English players & requested not to indulge in such things, & they started retaliating verbally. The umpires then came in (quite late, of course... were they BLIND when the English players were throwing Jellybeans on the batsmen and the pitch??? :O) Of course, the English players are shamelessly defending their stupid act by trying to make a joke of it, and also going on to say that it was "within the spirit of the game"..... UTTER CRAP!!!

Check these out for more details
(Sledgehammer - Mumbai Mirror)
(Zaheer reveals.... - Rediff.com)

Really disgusting to note that the English players are indulging in such cheap and unsporting tactics. Throwing jellybeans on a player, or on the pitch, with a deliberate intention to disturb his concentration....... Absolute Nonsense! And not just Zaheer, apparently they were targeting other Indian batsmen such as Sachin (calling him a "Captain's bunny"), Laxman (Sledging at him in Aussie lingo) & Sreesanth etc. (with his spectacles, he apparently looked like "Harry Potter" to them!!!), with verbal volleys and constant leg-pulling chatter. Really shameful to see such cheap behaviour from the English!

And the worst thing would be, that the ICC will fine ONLY Zaheer Khan at the end, for pointing his bat at Pietersen!! They are one shameless, Anti-Asian, & Anti-Indian body, who ALWAYS target & single out Indians and other Asian cricketers.

It is always been the case since time immemorial, that even if any of the white players (Aussie or English or any other) verbally or even physically abuse Indian players, they have always been let off, even without a warning or a fine! (Shocking, of course!!) But the Indians who tolerate their crazy behavior mutely, or max at times, stare back or retaliate mildly, have been fined or even banned for short periods. Surprising that the ICC thinks that the players at the receiving end are 'at fault' & should be 'punished', while the ones who do all the mistakes, and physically & verbally abuse in cheap manner, and behave in all unsporting ways possible, should be let off without even being questioned..... apparently they are doing a great service to the Gentleman's game by indulging in such behaviour, isn't it???

Examples galore, are there for the world to see (Michael Slater abusing Dravid; Dravid is fined..... Andre Nel abusing and gesturing to Sreesanth; Sreesanth is fined for the 'dance' etc....) Even earlier players like Sachin, Ganguly & many others, have been victims of ICC's double standards.

Really sad to see such unsporting and biased policies and the atrocities committed by the Global body that controls the sport (ICC). And also sad that the Indian board, inspite of being victimised time & again, hasn't retaliated or taken strong action against them. It just pays the fines, drops the concerned players & moves on.

I won't be surprised, if Zaheer Khan is handed over a BAN tomorrow, for a couple of matches for his 'behaviour' by the ICC. (As he's the in-form bowler, and ICC would love to save England from further damage in the series, by dropping him for the next test!!!) :D :P

BRAVO ICC!!! We are proud of you! :)

PS: Yes, heart of heart, I do desire, that in case of such an event happening, the Indian team must challenge the double standards of Cricket's Governing Body, and walk out of the series! Its time the ICC is hit back for its unsporting & biased acts, and the world realises the intensity of the situation!