You are my words…

Some loose thoughts, some awkward lines, That is all that comes and goes, In the desperation of finding my words, I searched in vain till I reached you.

Through the rough seas that you call life, My words were spent, in ignorance. And now that I see the shore, I need them back and I find you.

In the journey to find myself, I am battered, I am bruised. Yet I yearn to find those words; The words that make me, the words that define.

And now I realize, through all that I have searched, The words that make me start with you. You are my origin and ends of my universe, The beginning and end of my time. So today I have ended my search, As all my words are you.

The Changing Perspectives …

“It takes about 10 min on one of those shared auto-rickshaws of (which rules the roads of Kolkata in a falsification that they were F1 tracks!) to take Neo from his PG to University gate number four. It is almost 10 minutes to 10...if he makes a mad dash now, he may make it in time for the 10 am lecture and save himself the reprimand… however the whole thought is constrained to one factor, if he manages to secure a transport, in the office hour madness of the city of joy…certainty of which is mathematically nil… and Neo knows that… not getting a place in the auto-rickshaw, eventually has two outcomes, take a rickshaw, which will demand Rs. 6/-  that will be Rs. 3/- more than a his first choice of transport... (that’s double the money!) OR dare the heat and humidity of Kolkata and embark on the journey on foot…  both of this will however, eventually meet one result… he will be late for his class (a little more… or a little less)… hence the choices for Neo now leads to one logical outcome… taking a deep sigh… and tugging is backpack… Neo lauches himself on the road… somehow satisfied, some money saved for the day…”

“Sir would you like to have anything else”; Neo’s escapade into his past is broken by the waiter. It was a beautiful Saturday evening in Bangalore, and he was sitting in one of these up-market coffee-shops near his house, and like most of the time lost in his thoughts. He thanked the waiter, and asked for the bill, which was soon brought to him. It read Rs. 150, Rs. 150 for a cup of coffee! Considering everything that had been thinking, that certainly puts his life into perspectives. Life has changed, from that rebel hearted skinny boy of Kolkata to the man who’s life goes in and out of the corporate culture here in Bangalore. Yes, if one freezes the frame in the present, success is all around him. A coveted institute, a coveted degree and now a top quartile job. However, for Neo, it’s the journey and not the destination that matters. The perspectives to life have changed all around him. But, his inner self knows where he has come from and how has been this journey.

Recalls those days, where the a normal local call from a mobile would cost Rs. 4 per minute and once Neo leaves the city to go back to his hometown (during those agonizing days which the university authorities named as “vacation”), the only way to reach to his “darling” would be to make some pretext, run to the nearest STD booth, to make a phone call, always keeping an ardent eye of on the ticking fare meter and bench-marking it against the currency notes in his pocket. Now…a call from the other side of the planet is made without any hesitation and more than once a day during his business tours. Life has changed indeed!! Neo smiles to himself and to the perspectives of everyone around, it’s been rewarding.

Rewarding, may not exactly be the word Neo would like to describe it. Penetrating through the glitz and glamour, his rebel self still questions him. It this, what he is destined to or is there something else. Neo knows the answer, beyond the alluring neons of this materialistically satisfying life which to the world around, is the life to lead, a greater goal waits. A time will beckon, when he needs to elevate himself and set his rebel free. Perspectives will change again, for the world around him. However and importantly the biggest change will be his owns perspective towards himself.

It,s not just a game..

They say it’s just a game..they say ..there would always be somebody on the losing side ...how can it just a game when a billion hearts reverberates and echoes along with its rhythm…how can defeat be an option when it grips the emotions of a billion people...and influences the destiny of some..defeat was never an option...not for the wonderful 11 that play the game for India ..and also not for Neo...Not until a fateful evening in the spring of 2003, across the Arabian sea, changed everything..


The blue boys…lead by a “warrior prince” from Bengal..had overcome the odds and seen through the dark ages of India cricket..to rampage on the pace filled tracks of South Africa..dominating every opponent that came their way. Their journey to the finale went hand in hand with Neo’s effort to see through a phase of life that would decide a future that he dreamt of. It was going well...the finale was setup for the boys, in Wanderer’s and for Neo, on the very next day, final hurdle..a last exam..on something which he considered to be his strength..on something which he planned to set the course of his life on…the 11 walked out with a billion prayers with them..they were young..they were restless..and things didn’t go there way..the world fell apart…a billion disappointed people..and the impact on Neo: the world as he knew it..or rather thought of it to be came to an end…he crashed on his home turf...quantitatively speaking...securing the least on his on the subject that he was supposed be a “guru”…atleast his friends said so!…his dream foundation was destroyed before he could set course…at the crossroads of life, destiny compelled him to take a road he never thought of taking..ever..what followed was a bitter stretch of disappoints...the warrior prince and his boys had to start over again..Neo had to start over again…but it was not easy..not for the boys ..not for Neo…the next three years..the journey was tough..taking one step at a time along a path very little known...trying to rebuild everything that was lost…brick by brick…proving everybody all over again…that the boys were good...that Neo was good. The year of 2006 brought with it more turmoil...the 11 found themselves stifled by a self-proclaimed expert with complicated theories..and for Neo..it was a time to change fronts..from the political madness of Kolkata to a reputed frontier for students in the north..which brought along with it complications...the struggle continued…amidst these…the prince was forced to leave his crown..a change which was unwanted. The broken team went to the Caribbean…to have another tryst with destiny..another shot at the coveted cup…but it was not to be ..every thing fell apart before it could start...Neo knew that the boys were not ready yet..he knew he was not ready yet..there was more to prove…more work needed to be done…slow the ascent to the top may be…but it was firm… the spring of 2008..brought with it a major reconstruction of something which the boys and Neo so desperately needed…self belief…same 11 that was brought up by the prince..were now lead by a young ticket collector from Ranchi…(who fascinated the cricketing world by his tactical skills and innovative shot making)…took on the world champions in their own backyard and emerged victorious...in a months time…Neo came out on the top of the list in a coveted nationwide examination…the tide was turning…India was dreaming again and so did Neo…it was time to get ready for the big one…the phoenix that arose from the agony of March 2003, had spread its wings. It was time for the perseverance to payoff. The following couple years were to be spent in establishment of the dream…being the best and sustenance of the best…it was carried out in surgical perfection…by the 11 in the field and the “one” in life…however not without a heavy price and neither without crossing numerous obstacles. Cometh the March of 2011, the “Men in Blue” was ready to take on the world and Neo had reached phase of certainty…it was now or never…ardent prayers of a billion souls followed the 11 as they conquered each hurdle...finally at 10:45 pm on the 2nd of April in Mumbai, as the perfectly timed shot from India’s captain cool MSD (read “Midas” Singh Dhoni) went over the boundary ropes...it was over…the wait of 7 years was over ..the struggle was over…Neo..the metaphor born from the pains of 2003 took one final breath...shed the final tears along with the 11 in the Wankhede...he had lived his life…his journey was over…for its time to go up in flames again…to be reborn again ..not from ashes of agony and defeat but from the dreams and happiness of a billion Indians…its time to start a new journey…


They say it’s just a game…Neo says...it is a way of his life…it is the way of his passion for his country…it is the way to live…and win...And I say the same…