Thursday, February 23, 2012

'Oh Captain, My Captain'


There have been references, rumors and instances of retirement of senior cricket players of India for quite some time now. That the team and each of its members are brought under speculations every time they fail to perform and win a match is nothing new. The fact that they are the world cup winning champions also doesn't really matter.

A few years ago, we got to hear the same thing from the same cricketing board for a senior player and an Indian captain of great repute. Yes, I am referring to Saurav Ganguly. Don't read me wrong if you find me biased towards him or his cricketing career! (Exactly, the Bong connection) My idea here is simple. If he was told to decide whether he wanted an honourable exit from his career (both ODI and Test Cricket), other greats are also being informed (directly and indirectly) about the same. A poll that a national English Daily recently conducted found that about 57 percent of the Indians have favoured the 'honourable exit' of Sachin Tendulkar from playing ODIs and continue his test cricket career. This has come just after the announcement from Ricky Ponting that he's decided to continue with his Test career but hung the boots for the ODIs.

Sachin Tendulkar is yet to create the most awaited and fascinating record of cricketing world—scoring the coveted century to complete a century of centuries in his international career. If he manages to score a century in an ODI, I would personally feel delighted and if in a Test match, I would be equally happy. And I am sincerely hoping that he does achieve this target in an ODI and then think about retirement.

For Saurav Ganguly, there wasn't any such pressure. He was going good in his own way and scored runs accordingly. His retirement wasn't too much of a shock because the treatment that he received, it was quite expected. He was asked to make way for the youngsters who should get opportunities to play international matches in order to grow as a player.

I am not debating whether he should have stuck around and proved his caliber time and again or whether, like him, other senior players should also make way for the youngsters. Whatever is destined, will happen! Let's hope for the best.

PS: I voted saying "Can't decide"!

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Counting the Years Back!


Read this interesting piece of news. Indians will now have a clue to assess their longevity and their pace of ageing.

The test will be made available in the country from this year onwards and will measure Telomeres (protective caps at the end of chromosomes that are best indicators of biological age as against chronological age). Read here to learn more about the test. Various factors contribute towards reducing the length of the Telomeres and thus, decrease the life span of a person.



The idea of sharing this piece of news is to check about people's popular perception towards this. How will it help the normal human being if he gets to know through an actual medical test (and not the popular Facebook app that calculate your death date and year as well as its cause)? Will each one of us create our bucket list more seriously and try to fulfill them according to the time left? Will you work harder and earn more money if your only dream is a world tour (because that costs a hell lot of money) or will you simply try to lead a healthier life in an attempt to increase your lifespan by adding a few years?

I do not know if people would actually pay to check how many years are left to be in this world or prefer a FB app to learn that he or she may die in some 2050+ due to laughing out loud and choking to death or may be due to falling from the bed and breaking the neck.

But definitely cheers to this interesting piece of news!!

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Happiness: Just a matter of choice


Breast Cancer. Somebody in her office feared that she might have it. She got scared herself. And she realised that it is something that every woman should be aware of. 

Ekta Kapoor is her another magnum opus, "Baade Achche Lagte Hain" showed that her lead female protagonist is having a breast cancer scare and how the fear of losing life brings her close to her husband. A salute goes to Ms Kapoor for bringing out the cancer fear in public in the most modest and obvious way and making it clear (again) that media is the most powerful media to promote social causes. 

I must confess that I had stopped watching the programme the minute they showed that Priya might be having breast cancer and had come to a self-driven conclusion that the following episodes might be disheartening and sad. Everybody might be sharing the fear that she might die and so on. But the case, surprisingly, was not so. Having watched most of Ms Kapoor's serials before, this was obvious for many of her loyal audiences, I guess. But this time, she chose to portray the other side of the story. Priya had shared her list of weird wishes with her husband and he, willingly and lovingly, had fulfilled each of them assuming that he should live every moment with her and give her all that she deserves to be happy. They counted stars, went for long drives and watched sunset being at two places at the same time and Ram Kapoor, Priya's golu husband, learnt to dance salsa. At the end, Priya clears the medical tests and does not have a cancerous lump in her breasts but an outgrowth which can be removed with a minor surgery.

The seven day wait was blissful for the couple for they realized love for each other. Even though they feared death, they chose to live life and enjoy their moments together. Ms Kapoor's message was very clear and I appreciate her approach to the health disorder thoroughly.

But I wonder, do we need a life-threatening fear to realize that life is to be enjoyed and lived with a positive outlook? Can we not start enjoying life and doing things just to make it happier? Can we not say, "Sadness and unhappy moments will come uninvited but we can choose to be happy?"

I have no idea how to be happy all the time but choosing to be happy is totally on me. Believing in what you like and finishing every work with a smile and sense of achievement....may be this is the trick. Do let me know your funda of happiness.