CONTRADICTIONS

Sometimes I try to keep everything simple,

But somewhere deep inside, I know it has become too complicated.

Sometimes I want to write a lot,

But I do not find words.

Sometimes I want to scream,

But I choke when I try.

Sometimes I feel chaos inside,

But I find it empty when I dive.

Sometimes I decide not to care about what others say,

But it is not so easy to implement.

Sometimes I want to be left alone,

But at the same time I need people around me for support.

Sometimes I want to be happy for no reason,

Because I run out of reasons to be happy.

Sometimes I think hope is overrated,

But then I realize it is the only thing I'm carrying.

Sometimes I get so high on emotions,

That I eventually become numb.

I completed one quarter of my life few days back,

And all I have learnt is, life is full of contradictions at every stage.

Thus, here, I rest my case.

You Will Rise

To all those superheroes who are facing hurdles & busy fighting troubles in their lives...

If you are a Hulk,

Then you will learn to manage your rage.

If you are an Iron Man,

Then you will learn to sustain.

If you are a Man of Steel,

Then you will overcome your vulnerability.

If you are a Captain America,

Then you will learn to deal with memories.

If you are a Spider Man,

Then you will gain powers to meet your responsibilities.

If you are a Thor,

Then you will be worthy.

And

If you are a Dark Knight.

Then you will Rise.

The Voice Within

Dear Myself,
It's been a while since we've talked. How are you ? I know the things are not good these days, and you are going through a rough patch currently. Facing failures while waiting for something you desire, really kills you from inside.
I've come to know that you are being a part of people's sarcasm, relatives' taunts, listening lectures on how to become successful from the people who were born with a silver spoon in their mouth, and what not.
Well, actually, I do not have fancy words that inspire you and make you feel good amidst all these. I have written this letter to convey just two words, Hold on.
It is very obvious that people will have an opinion on you. No one wants to see from your point of view because people already have their own, and that is fair enough. Life is too shot to make them see from your point of view, to make them realize what you are going through.
Only if people would have spent their time trying to become more successful, rather than giving lectures to those whose success is a procrastinator. Many times people fail to realize that one needs help and not lectures.
You may have heard "You are not trying enough" many times. Let me tell you, it is not that you are not trying it "enough". It is just that you are not trying the ways which people around you know.
One more thing, it is not that you will get something exactly what you desire just because you are waiting for it since a very long. You will have to compromise, yes. But, compromise with the situations only when you find it worthy. Not when people around you ask you to.
You shouldn't be bother about such bad mouths. Remember that this chaos and all the "worries" about you are there till you remain unsuccessful. Just a one beacon of success and people will behave as if you do not exist at all. You are the guy who listens to people's "nice" words just because they didn't get a single chance to say them to anyone else before.
Rather you talk more to the people who are always there to support, no matter what. You are really blessed with some people in your life who have stood by you, before you have asked them to.
Hope and faith are good things, my friend. "If failure leads to success, I'm on the right track then." - these are your own words, remember ? And I do not need to remind a Batmaniac why do we fall. I do not need to remind a Batmaniac that the night is darkest just before the dawn. I do not need to remind that happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, to someone who has seen Professor Dumbledore saying this so many times.
Just hold on buddy, stay strong.
Take care.

Regards,

The voice within.

Thank You Sachin Tendulkar

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for so many memories over the years.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for making our childhood memorable.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for making us a part of your journey.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for making us smile & cry at the same time.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for carrying billions hopes on your shoulders & still walking tall.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for making us believe that no dream, no milestone is big enough to achieve.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for giving us a story to tell our grandchildren.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for making 50 years old behave like 5 years old.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for making toothless grandmothers do a jig.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for being the glue India needed.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for giving us a feel like "Yes, we did it".

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for making each one of us feel like century maker.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for giving us sore throats.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for Desert Storm, for those two gem of innings, Sharjah '98.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for that century at Bristol, right after your father's funeral, WC '99.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for that sixer to Shaoib Akhtar, 98 at centurion, WC '03.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for all those glorious innings at Sydney.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for the memories of CB series '08.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for the memories of Chennai.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for the first ever double hundred of ODI cricket.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for 175 against Aussies at Hyderabad, '09.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for Wankhede '11.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for 74 against WI in your last game.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for those wickets you took for the team, for the country.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for those wonderful partnerships with Sourav Ganguly in one day internationals & giving us a feel like two army colonels are smocking the battlefield.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for those marathon stands with Rahul Dravid to make test cricket look like a beautiful poetry.

 Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for every single inning for yours that I watched.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for all the cover drives, upper cuts & straight drives.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for teaching various aspects of life.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for showing what "Being Strong" really means.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for being my inspiration, my idol, my hero.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for showing what is humility.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for showing us how to be successful and yet to stay grounded.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for showing us how to handle adversities.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for receiving criticism from every where and yet keeping yourself so composed.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for believing in your bat, letting it talk and silencing those brash mouths.

Thank you Sachin Sachin Tendulkar for making me bunk my school, college and tuition classes.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for making me fall in love with the game of cricket.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for your "Main Khelega" decision.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for playing cricket.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for being born an Indian.

I owe my happiness, my joy, my smile to you Sachin Tendulkar.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for everything.

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar, Good Bye Sachin Tendulkar, Long Live Sachin Tendulkar.

SACH IS LIFE ! Then, Now & Forever.

New Era of Indian Cricket

Latest news of Indian Cricket which everyone is aware about, India is the winner of Champions Trophy 2013. Oh boy, what a victory it was, it is. You saw that celebration ? I guess, only few people would have missed it. I don't wanna ask who did not feel goosebumps at that time.

Well, actually I don't have any idea why I am writing this but even after 3 days, the joy of a cricket fan is still the same whose team is the current champion in cricket world. I am writing nothing new, it may be a complete chaos of my mind but it has to come out by any way.

I personally believe in feeling than expressing but after trying hard, couldn't help myself from writing this. Let me express my emotions. Afterall, I am not MS Dhoni. I can't even be. Not everyone can. Oh boy, what a calmness, what coolness, what awareness. Have seen only few players who don't show emotions much on the field. Dravid, Tendulkar and now MSD. Never seen Dhoni expressing much on the field irrespective of any major tournament. Few Jumping Japang steps he did after the last ball of the game, were very obvious.

Very proud of & in love with this new era of Indian Cricket. You saw that celebration after the presentation party ? They express, they dance, we are new, new Team India. This victory is some what similar to the victory of first ever T20 world cup held in SA. New team, less big name, less experienced players and then new team of champions.

Full credit goes to MSD. It is way exceptional how he led the team in whole tournament. We remained unbeaten. When was the last time we were this dominant at abroad ? Initial T20 WC at South Africa ? or CB series 2008 at Australia ? We lost one match against New Zealand in T20 WC '07 and 3 games in CB series. But not this time. Not even a single game. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, only captain to win everything in cricket.

Before the tournament, after the selection, Team India was said the worst side in the last 20 years. There were no big names. Fans backed their favorite players who were not in the team. But in the end, we are the winners. Yes, there were no big names. Sachin, Dravid, Ganguly, Sehwag, Zaheer, Yuvraj, Gambhir, can add few players more in the list as well. But hey, you can't always stuck with the past. You have to accept the present and live with it. I remember the scenario of the movie Dark Knight where Harvy Dent says that your Hero can't be there all the time, even if he want to. Someone new will have to take the responsibilities. Even your hero don't want to do these all the time. Don't remember the actual words but the message was like this only. Same thing happened with Indian Cricket.

We should be happy & feel proud, they did the things which our former players, senior players always eyed of. New team gave the best reward to the fans and to the Indian cricket what the legends of the game always wanted to see, and reward of the service of the big players to the Indian Cricket. Because in the end, to see India at the top of the game was the only & ultimate goal of each & every player, each & every cricket fan as well. The contribution has been paid of in a great manner.

Few fans should realize that there is not even a little loss to the obsession towards their favorite player in appreciating the right thing at the right time, believe in other players too, supporting them and yes to be a fan of them as well. It is not that I suddenly became a fan of this team or the captain cool, nothing like that. I always was. But the victory & joy, goosebumps & love towards the team convinced me to write this.

Still, a lot to achieve in test cricket, specially overseas. But as MSD said, one tournament at a time. So yeah, let me say this, we are the current world champions in the game of cricket.

Well, in the end, the whole post will sound like completely chaos, but I think the joy shouldn't be measured. So this one came out here.

Eventually, What matters the most to me is...
I am a cricket fanatic
I am an Indian
MS Dhoni is my countryman & I'm feeling proud about the fact that I am living in his era.
And my Team India is ruling the world of cricket.

SACHIN - From my eyes

SACHIN RAMESH TENDULKAR - It is not just a name. Yes, not just a name. 21 letters, 3 words & 23 years of glory within, millions of hopes. Yes, not just a name.

Talking about Sachin Tendulkar, well he has never been just a player for me. An idol, An inspiration, A hero, A miracle, A legend, words will fail if I will start acknowledging him. I actually don't remember the phase when I started to like Sachin Tendulkar. But I still do remember when I was about 9  or 10 years old, playing with other kids of neighbors and heard one sentence from uncle saying: " Abhi Sachin hai na crease pe ?! Koi tension nahi, jeet jayenge." This memory has stuck in my mind since my childhood. Even I didn't knew at that time that I'm a die hard Sachin Fan in the making.

I believe that world of cricket had foreseen his greatness when a teen with curly hair & squeaky voice made his debut with most vicious on drive ever. There was like an awakening time for India when Sachin entered in world of cricket. Yes, time of 90's, time for India to hit back in every aspect, on a cricket pitch too. Like a barrier was about to be broken. It happened, India replied, on a cricket pitch too, so as Sachin Tendulkar. Finally, what we got ? A player who went after impossible, he went & reached the heights where no man had gone before. Failure was not an option for Sachin. Tendulkar was a prodigy who was always hungry for victory, who always eyed it.

There was something in Tendulkar that made people go crazy for him. Carrying heavy bat with billions of hopes, Tendulkar dominated the game in his own way. He entertained people, and when he started to entertained the people, they forgot their troubles, they jumped in a joy like they never jumped before. People prayed for him, bunked schools & colleges, skipped offices & the entire youth, entire generation saw a dream to become a cricketer, to become SACHIN TENDULKAR. It was amazing to see that even I caught myself being happy on his only one straight drive, one uppercut or one cover drive. Then there came a time when there was a belief that whenever Sachin walks out to bat, people switch on their TV sets & switch off their lives. While The Master Blaster was at the crease, there was always a hope.

Time passed, records were being broken and new records were being made. Desert storm happened. We lost to Sachin - Aussie skipper said once. With Sachin, Team India started doing something which was rare, they started winning abroad. Sachin became the highest run scorer. He became the first man to score a double century in ODI cricket history. He made 100 hundreds. People were going crazy, they made Tendulkar their god. Many of you know that I also feel the same: "Cricket is my religion & Tendulkar is my god !" But note that it was not just his cricket skills, talent or records that made him great. It was his humility & down to earth nature too that made him god of millions.

Through the years, Sachin made every impossible thing possible. He broke the records in the world of advertising too. He became cricket's first millionaire but he didn't let affect his game though. He remained grounded. As I said earlier, he always stayed humble & down to earth.

Coming back to me, as I said, Tendulkar has always been my inspiration at first place. I've cheered for him, I've bunked my school, college & tuitions for him, I've cried for his many marvelous innings, I've distributed sweets & chocolates when he had scored centuries. I've praised him, worshiped him. I've lived him. Many people blame that I can't see anyone except Tendulkar. They call me blind Tendulkar maniac. But then its their personal opinion. I don't give them any explanation that I'm a huge fan of Rahul Dravid, Chris Gayle & Dale Steyn too. Actually I am fan of each & every cricketer because I am cricket fanatic in the end. And note that, because cricket has produced My Sachin Tendulkar, I'll never stop watching cricket when Tendulkar will leave the game. It will be unfair to Tendulkar too.

Now after all those 23 years of glory, ages after an enthusiastic boy convinced his skipper to let him open the innings, India is among the top cricket sides in the world while that teen with curly hair & squeaky voice has become a legend. And after all these 23 years, my hero is struggling. Yes, even Tendulkar has said that he has not much cricket left in him. Only a Sachin fan knows how much it is painful to hear "Bowled him" again & again. But let me clear that some lame dismissals & fake criticism will never make any difference. It is acceptable fact that Tendulkar is in his last stage of his career. But let me not put a pressure on him. Let me not criticize him, let me not ask him to make me happy because he has been busy in making the whole country happy since last 23 years. Let me just support my hero selflessly, let me just cheer for him, let me just feel the Goosebumps when he walks in to bat, let me just enjoy his game while he is here. Because when he will leave, there will be a deep void.

Because even after all the 23 years

From Tendlya to The Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar

After all the 34000 international runs

After all the hundred hundreds

After all the Kapil Devs to Cheteshwar Pujaras,

Still, when he goes out to bat, India holds its breath.