Thoughts in general

Decision making is probably one of the most crucial aspects that a kid or a youth needs to learn. Prior to making my way to the US for my bachelors, I don't remember having to take many decisions.  My parents always assisted or took decisions for me.  However, I believe decision making is an art that needs to be inculcated in kids from an early age even letting them take decisions on even trivial things like deciding between 2 candies, 2 dresses he/she may like.   When I left home for higher studies, this is one aspect that I hated as I had to take every single decision myself and stand by it.  I must say that it was especially difficult in the beginning as I was solely responsible for the consequences of my decisions.  Decisions need to taken in every sphere of life: I am not earning or earning enough.  Do I spend my hard earned savings on something I don't need even though I may look cooler with those shades or perfume or a new top or whatever. My be...

As a kid, when you pick up the bat and hit your first ball, it feels heavenly.  There won't be many kids who don't like batting.  However, when the kid starts growing up and starts playing well, expectations start growing from within the house & from coaches to perform.  Once this happens, I personally feel the joy of bat hitting the ball or just having fun playing the wonderful game somehow starts dimming.   Disclaimer:  I am not a psychologist or a certified professional cricket coach.  All the tips below are from my experience of overcoming challenges during my life and almost all of them relate to how you face or react to a particular situation. Here are my tips to approach batting: 1. Just enjoy the game 2. When you prepare to face the first ball, take a few deep breaths and release it slowly 3. You need to hear just dead air and your eyes focused towards the bowler 4. If you get beaten, repeat #2 and get ready again. If you do this, I guarant...

The Steve Smith incident that happened couple days ago got me thinking about "Win at all cost" attitude that is instilled in the kids nowadays at an early age. Unfortunately, both coaches and parents are culprits here. Generally, kids go to play & learn cricket because they found it to be fun, either watching it or while playing it in the gullies. My cricket coach always wanted me to perfect the fundamentals of the game, before he would even put me in the nets. He would no t accept any shortcuts. However, he always insisted that process of becoming a better bowler or a batsman was more important than a win or a loss. This doesn't mean one need not work hard for a win. Swami Vivekananda has a famous quote where he says that "The means to an end is more important than the end itself". In this case, Steve Smith wanted to get an advantage by scruffing up the ball and get it replaced to get more reverse swing going or damage the ball so that the umpires...

I am going to specifically direct this blog post to Narendra Modi & Amit Shah.  Being a huge fan of both, I would like to point out a sense of disillusionment creeping in in the Aam janta.  There are various perceptions amongst people, some true and some untrue.  Let me highlight a few of those: Narendra Modi is only moving in foreign lands, giving speeches to NRIs and ignoring the Indians in India Narendra Modi is saying that we have achieved almost zero corruption in government offices, that things in India are already awesome in the first 18 months etc Congress is going to town saying that this government is more for corporates than for the Aam Aadmi and I know of many BJP supporters who are actually believing it Narendra Modi promised to bring back black money but I don't see any results on the ground Frustration amongst BJP supporters that opposition propaganda is not being countered effectively No people have gone to jail for corruption which was the ma...

I was 16 yrs of age, having just graduated from 12th, when I first visited the US. Memory is fuzzy about the events more than 20 years back. However, re-living past memories is sometimes fun and this is the primary reason for starting this multi-part series of my experiences in the US. Let me set up some of the events that happened prior to the start of the long trip to the US from India. I underwent hernia operation, got my 12th results and went through a visa interview.  Between advices given by well wishers about what to expect and what to do in the US, I was a confused lot. I am shy by nature (or at least I was at the time) and hence, a bit apprehensive about how I would be received by my relatives there.  I supposedly had met briefly in India, but didn't recollect much. Having studied in Porbandar and having gone through my school primarily talking in Hindi, I was a little embarrassed by my command over English.  In hindsight, I think my doubts over my command o...

Sometime on May 23rd, I received a call from Priti bhabhi regarding a get together for Mama and Mami on June 7th.  It was sudden but I was super excited to go.  It would be after a long time that I would be able to meet so many family members.  Kashyap was going to come from Pune and this was the 1st time in a while where we didn't have our families with us.  It felt like old days where we could hand out a little. I reached couple of days early on Friday.  As is always the case, Bharati mami had made all my favorite things - Rotli, bateta nu rasa vaadu shaak, cut mango etc.  I am always amazed as to how she always remembers all that I like.  I never have to ask...anything I desire is always there. I sat with Kanu mama for a while that day discussing politics, finance, environment & whole gamut of issues.  When I was young, I used to write postcards to Mama. It was partly to improve my English writing. I used to get the postcards back in...

You must be wondering why such a title for a blog post. Well, I feel that my son (now 8yrs) is slowly becoming a friend with whom I discuss sports, school etc with. Earlier, as his dad, I would tell him things to do, explain him why something is good or bad etc. When he was little (2-5 yrs), he would be play with his toys, as interested in music, dance and his small cycle + scooter. As a father, I was hoping he at least gets some interest in sports like cricket, football etc. Fortunately, I never pushed him to take interest in these sports. Something seemed to change after our visit to the US. He came back after having played baseball & football with his cousins. Suddenly, he now started watching cricket, football and any sport he could find on the TV. He expressed his desire to go for cricket coaching. From then on, Chhota Bheem, Doraemon etc have taken a backseat. The best part is that now he knows more players in all sports than I do. I can discuss the nuances of the game...

It has been seen that India fares poorly when they go outside subcontinent. Case in point is the last 4 tours in England, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand (EASN). If I were a selector, I would really start picking players who have a strong Ranji record and have done well in the India A tours abroad. India also needs to pick players who are mentally strong since many players like Raina, Vijay etc are easily dismissed over and over using their weakness against the short ball or ball that just deviates from the off stump. Rohit Sharma has been given innumerable opportunities and he really ought to be sent to the Ranji for 2 years. Players like Cheteshwar Pujara, Parthiv Patel, Gautam Gambhir etc who have played some test cricket but more importantly are mentally strong need to be in the side on overseas tours. Pujara really ought to be in the ODI side when India plays overseas as well. The more dire need is for India to find wicket taking bowlers in the mould of Bhajji, Kumb...

For the past few weeks, I have been itching to move out of Bangalore to may be a place like Ahmedabad. Bangalore has the most beautiful weather but it also has its mix of traffic, chaos and the like. Having lived away from Gujarat for so long (~25 years now), it seems like I want to go back and live there again. Those familiar sounds of the language of Gujarati coupled with sweet smell of fafda, jalebi, undhiu, khandvi and a chance to be close to my parents and my brother's family are probably are forcing me to think in this way. After being away from family for so long, in a way, I seem o be craving to live with them one more time. I don't know whether this desire is good or bad but it is there and I am just acknowledging it. I also long to be close to an ashram where I can go study Vedanta. "Who am I?" is a question I want to experience in this life time. Yes, I have jumped topics but then these are random thoughts. :)

Sing on the tune of "Hai preet yahan ki reet sadaa" from Purab aur Paschhim Jab sibal diya mere bharat ne Mere bharat ne, mere bharat ne Tab sab ko 2G samajh aayi Zero loss ki bhasha bharat mai Kapil ne pehle sikhlayi Deta na Sibal agar Bharat to Coalgate samajhna muskhkil thaa Adarsh aur CWG ki loss ka andaaza lagana mukhskil thaa

रात  के  प्रहार  मैं  लगता  है  अब  नींद  नहीं  आनेवाली तब  सोचता  हूँ  मैं , लिखू  कविता  नमो  वाली नमो  है  शख्स  वोह  जिसने  गुजरात  का  दिल  है  जीता मांग  रहा  हूँ  खुदा  से  अब  दिल्ली  का  ताज  सीधा CM  की  कुर्सी  से   किये  परिश्रम  ने  है  रंग  दिखलाया दस  वर्ष  में  बिजली , सड़क , पानी  का  हल  ढूंढ  निकाला मख्कन  सी  सडकों  पे  अब  चले  हैं  गाडी  हमारी लगता  है  हमे , कोई  बड़े  निर्माण  की  है  तैय्यारी पर  कुछ  लोगों  को  विकास  की  रोटी  रास  न  आई बारह  साल  से   तीस्ताओ ने  एक  ही  जूठी  रट  लगायी के  Guj के  CM ने  मुसलमानों  की  जान  न  बचायी जबकि  SIT ने  भी  उसकी  इस  बात  को  झूठी  बताई बोली  SIT की इन्होने  जूठ  की  फैक्ट्री  खूब  चलायी जब  पड़ोसियों  ने  मदद  से  किया  इंकार , 24 घंटे  में  मोदी  ने  आर्मी  बुलाई .. कहा  उसने  की  गुजरात   पुलिस   ने  भी  दंगायियो  पे  गोली  चलायी तो  फिर  तीस्ता  पहुंची  सुप्रीम  कोर्ट   देने  इन्साफ  की  दुहाई .. पर  अपना  NaMo है  कर्मयोगी  निराला , विकास  का  मंत्र है  घोल  के  उतारा निडर  हो  के  करे  हैं  सारे  काम , दुश्मनो...

Last time Abhinav took a wicket was in the practice nets.  Last weekend was his match and he succeeded in getting a wicket in a real match.  He was super excited and so was I.  As a father, there is never a better moment than seeing your son do well in a sport or any activity he participates in.  More than the wicket, the joy on his face was priceless and I will probably cherish it till I die. Other interesting thing that happened in the past 2 weeks was Abhinav losing his his first tooth. ..And then came all kinds of questions on why the tooth had to come out.  What are milk teeth? What happens when the permanent ones fall off?  and on and on and on.... For now, we were able to satisfy his curiosity but his next tooth is also on its way.  Fun times indeed.

To start off, I have to say I did not know what to expect in the movie.  I knew it is about a atheist man who sues God.  This story is based on a Gujarati play "Kanji v/s Kanji", which is insprired from an Australian movie called "A Man who sued God". This movie tells a story of a shopkeeper who is an atheist, where as his wife is a deeply religious person. Kanji is a shopkeeper who would sell statues of Gods by lying how old they may be or that they were dug up during excavation etc.  Anyhow, one day, earthquake hits Mumbai and only his shop gets destroyed.  People start blaming his non-belief in God for this destruction. Kanji had an insurance policy on the shop and was happy that he would not lose any money due to losing his shop.  However, the insurance policy has stated (and I am sure we are familiar) that it doesn't cover any "Acts of God".  Kanji decides to sue God and court accepts his case. More than the story of the movie itself, wha...

Last weekend, more precisely on Sunday October 14th, Abhinav took his first wicket ever.  He got some boy out leg before wicket.  I have heard the story about a million times about how he ran up real fast and how the batsman try to pull his ball and how the ball hit his back leg and the coach declared him out. It was pure joy and innocence on the face of Abhinav that I saw, something I wish I still retained.  Sometimes, I feel this is what sports are all about or rather should be.  His tiny 6 year old friends told him that they will inform everyone in their school bus that Abhinav took his 1st wicket.  I know many say that you should teach your kids to win at any cost, to make them winners.  I tend to disagree. I have always believed that means to an end are more important than the end itself.  I try to inculcate the same in Abhinav.  Play the sport the right way and respect all the players even when they may not be as good at the sport as yo...

This movie looked very promising from the promos.  It seemed like this movie would be an uplifting one and after watching the movie, I can safely say that it was. This is a story about a woman, a housewife, a mother (Sridevi) who is constantly chided by her husband and her daughter for not being able to speak English.  She felt as if she is unable to please her close ones with what she does.  She runs a small catering business from home. One day, she gets a call from her sister in the US to visit her as she needed Sridevi's help for her daughter's marriage.  Sridevi would have to go alone to a foreign land (her close ones would be coming late). She is dreading her visit to US alone since she does not know English. Once in the US, she is not able to communicate and gets a bit disheartened by it.  Once while visiting a place in New York, she saw an advertisement on a bus about learning English in 4 weeks.  She quietly decides to join these classes wi...

Continuing the theme of Abhinav's cricket camp, I am writing about the first ever cricket match that Abhinav participated in. It was held in a smallish ground on a matting wicket.  It was to start at 10.30am but rain played a spoilsport and they started almost 45 minutes late.  Abhinav was very excited about his first match and was a bit confused as to what to expect.  He had me do some catching practice as well as fielding practice with him, as his coach had asked him to do.  He wore his entire ensemble at home one to get used to it one more time. It reminded me of my 1st match in the camp.  I remember being very nervous, trying hard to not have sweaty hands and not to fumble.  I remember we batted first and while I don't remember how many runs I scored or  whether I muffed any balls while fielding, I do remember my heartbeat was pretty fast that day.  I am assuming I must have done ok since I don't remember being sent for 1 round of running...

Most people I know are very ambitious - about job, money, fame, big house etc.  There is absolutely nothing wrong.  I seem to be on the other side where I seem to enjoy spending time with family or doing absolutely nothing. One of my hobbies is to spend time with Abhinav.  The 2 hours I get once I am back home from work are the best 2 hours of my life.  Right from making him do his homework, which includes getting mad at him from time to time, to playing with him, teaching him nuances of cricket or football are probably the highlight of my life.  In all of this, I try to stay away from imposing my idea of how to do certain things and make sure that he enjoys the game for what it is - a game.   Beside cricket, Abhinav has developed interest in playing football as well.  I have played football at state level as a goalkeeper and those memories are still fresh in my mind. During those days (1987), I used to go for football practice at my school in...

I think there have been quite a few posts written on it but I seriously feel strongly about a need to drive some sense into the drivers.  Some things I would like to tell the drivers here: Making a right turn does not mean you come into the right lane (blocking oncoming traffic) to make a turn When it says “No Free Left turn”, it precisely means that.  When the light is red, you CANNOT make a left turn.  Please do not expect the guy in front of you to move if the light is red no matter how much you honk. When there is a traffic jam, no amount of honking will get you out of it Please be considerate to pedestrians and don’t stop you car 1 feet from the pedestrians feet, as if you are the king of the road If you pass a car/truck/bus etc on the left, once in a while please expect to get hit as well Just because the lane for oncoming traffic is empty does not mean you start driving in that lane When making a right turn at light, there is only one lane to turn right....

As a young kid, around age of 7 yrs, I used to attend a cricket coaching camp with the Saurashtra Ranji cricketers.  it was split in to 2 sessions - morning and evening. The morning sessions consisted of exercises, sprints, duck walks, frog jumps and some tennis ball practice.  It was strenuous but a lot of fun.  being 7, I seemed to have a lot of energy and loved to participate in this regimen with people who played at the highest domestic level and I used to be in awe of them. In the evening session, we practiced with the leather ball.  Before that, however, we used to master our defensive shots (forward and back foot) with the hanging ball.  The whole point of this article to is to describe all the emotions that I felt when Abhinav started practicing his defense with the hanging ball.   I think the teachers are not as strict nowadays as before and kids have an option to explore things a bit more.  The regimen is not as strenuous and the empha...

Just like any father, I feel proud when my 5 year old son does something that makes you go "damn...how does he get these ideas?". Recently, he wrote about our trip to my hometown of Porbandar in his daily notebook that he has to ready in school. He had gone to see Peacocks and saw a lot of them. Here is what he wrote about it and then drew a picture. Looking at the picture, the peacock on the right is standing with his feet firmly planted on the ground. However, the peacock on the left has bent his legs and is getting ready for take off. I was zapped since I didn't expect such thinking from him.