Sports and Me

The spirit of competition is quite intense in the human beings, and it comes naturally (survival of the fittest model of nature's design). In sports, as in other spheres of life, lots of competition is there. But that is not what amuses me. The amusing element is that even simple games can become challenging once you play against some good players.
Two things I learnt from my experience of trying out various outdoor sports. First is, one can get hurt in any outdoor sports, even a game like badminton. Second is, there's a concept of a 'smash' shot, which can be clearly seen in games like table tennis, badminton, volley-ball etc. It basically means using a lot of energy in one shot so that it becomes faster and more difficult to break or return.

The first game that I had played was Badminton. Simple enough, I thought... a light cork which can be conveniently made to reach the other side of the net. When I played against significantly better players than me I found the complexities in the game, the tricks and techniques that could be and are usually used.

Cricket was the second game that I had played. A bat, a ball, three wickets, some protection kit, fielders etc., phew! quite a complex one. Add to this, long list of rules and various fielding positions etc. I did find cricket as a complex sport. And since I was (am) really afraid of facing the ball, I prefer(red) the bowling part rather than batting part!

Table Tennis was the third one, a complete disaster I must say... didn't learn it seriously though had plenty of time to do so and my father was willing and had lots of free time to teach me. I found this sport a little tricky, not complex though! The ping pong ball moves quite fast but smoothly, which I really like(d).

I found volleyball second in number, in terms of simplicity, i.e., just after badminton, among the sports I've played. Initially I found it a bit difficult to make the ball reach the other side of the net, but with some practice I found that the game was quite simple. The only problem part I thought was the 'smash' shot, but later after breaking those shots and making the ball reach the other side of the net, I grew more confident about the game. Later, looking at some real good players playing Volleyball I realized that the game might look simple but the tendency of people to get better and introduce some challenge induces some innovation and raises the level of expertise that can be achieved.

The more one plays, the more one learns is something I realized after I started playing basketball. I played for a few weeks in my first semester, but when I realized I wasn't picking up the game, I left playing it. I started again in my 6th semester and was more into the game this time, so I learned a few things.

A couple of months ago, I decided to go for P.T. so that I also get into the habit of waking up early. After P.T. everyone played hockey, so I also joined them. I found hockey interesting, especially after watching the 'chak de' movie. The interesting parts I found were the rotation of hockey-stick so that ball is hit by only the front part of the stick, and that the ball shouldn't touch any of the body part, and that the ball shouldn't be lifted in air and should be kept on ground.
Hockey is my latest attempt towards learning at least one outdoor sports in life! All the previous sports I just mentioned were not the ones I know well, just that I played them sometimes. I feel a threshold has to be reached, a threshold in performance, crossing which a person plays reasonably well and can say that he/she knows the sport. It might take longer for people like me, but for people with better experience in sports would take lesser time but the threshold can be crossed.

I hope to cross that threshold soon.

One Winter Morning

While going for my coaching classes, a half an hour drive from my home, at 6:30 am one winter morning, made me think of these lines:

Well, wonders will never cease,
in the cold biting breeze,
foggy-foggy weather ahead.
Chilling-chilling down the spine,
just moving on the road destined,
and wish to be on the cosy-cosy bed.
But you see, the world won't let me,
be a lazy pig!
Whatever you wish to have,
you have to work for it!

Drowsing on Independence Day!

Happy Independence Day to all the Indians. I feel bad that I could not attend the Independence Day celebration in my college as I woke up quite late in the morning... missed the sweets distribution... speeches are boring... flag hoisting, accompanied by singing of the national anthem is the best part, people standing in attention, no movement, leaving all the other work they're doing, for the respect of the National Anthem. It is a moment of national unity... I am not much of a patriotic myself but people singing National Anthem (or for that matter "saare jahaan se accha") triggers my patriotic instincts!
Alas, today was one of the most uneventful days of my life. To start with, today I slept at 4 am, after watching Hellboy II - the Golden Army and reading all about the Hellboy in general. After occasionally waking up for a few seconds every few hours, I finally woke up and looked at my wristwatch - '11:20 am' and started counting the no. of hours I had been drowsing. This happens almost every morning. Worse happened when I slept after having lunch. I sat in front of my laptop to read news articles and ... I woke up in front of my laptop, didn't even come to know when I had dozed off.
Next time I was woken up by one of my friends living in Noida. We used to be neighbors when we lived in Bhopal some 8 years ago. He had given me a call on gtalk. The ringing sound made me raise my head from my crossed arms on which it rested. I was surprised but I accepted the call. After initial bunch of confusing and mixed up sound from an electric guitar, I heard a familiar music, ah yes it reminded me of morning school assembly... it was the National Anthem. It sounded so wonderful on an electric guitar, with the usual effects of rock music.
Rest of the day also I kept on sleeping on the chair in front of the laptop. Finally I woke up at 6:40 pm (precisely!) and went to wash my face. I promised myself, yet once again, that I will make it a habit to wake up by 7:30 every morning.
For now, no more sleeping for the day!

Please don't curse anyone.

Today at the dinner table in OBH-GF mess, one of my friends asked me a favor. He asked me to get him "kheer" in a glass. I might have got that for him, but for some reason I thought that he could have got the kheer for himself. Little did I know the implication of my action.
He took it to heart (i.e., he took it seriously) and cursed me. :(
Now a curse is as bad as your belief in it. A curse might be dismissed as a form of superstition by many so called "educated" or "progressive" people, but I believe in the power of curse. And personally I have witnessed the menace of curse.
I don't know how bad will my friend's curse affect me. The power of curse depends on how strongly the person feels about the curse, while cursing. Since we are a part of cosmos, we also have a small part of its energy and we also have the power to influence things around us. Blessing and cursing are some of the unseen forces that can affect the recipient's life manifoldly. All this might sound kiddish and absurd, but trust me, it happens. Most of the time we don't notice it and dismiss the bad happening as a part of life. But sometimes its not just the part of life, it's an aftermath of a curse, a silent curse perhaps.
Curse is like an e-mail, once you have pressed the "send" button, the e-mail can't be prevented from reaching the other person's mail account. (disconnecting the internet is not applicable in this case :P)
So, please don't curse anyone. Use your wisdom. Sometimes, why should a small mistake pay a heavy price of devastating curse!