Connecting with thoughts - My thoughts and Me

The year 2001. Month March. The event - 2nd Test Match of the series being played between India and Australia. With a winning streak​ of 16 test matches, Australia was on roll. The all conquering​ Australian squad had demolished the strong Indian batting line up in their first innings. To keep the momentum going Steve Waugh, the Australian Captain, invited the Saurav Ganguly led Indian team to bat again or follow on, in cricketing parlance. He stood vindicated as the India lost 4 wickets into the innings  still short by 40-50 runs of Australia's first inning total. Till then everything seemed to be going Australia's way. But, VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid, the men at the crease had something else in mind. Well the rest, as they say is history. India went on to win the match and the series bringing a halt to Australia's unbeaten reign.  Steve Waugh went on to become only the third captain (and only the third match) in the history of test cricket to loose a ...

About a year ago, the garden where I go for my daily walk was renovated and the whole layout was revamped. When reopened it became a living example of before and after. And as is the common tendency among people to resist something new, the renovated and revamped garden immediately got its fair share of detractors. Soon the beauty of the old layout became the legend and the lore. Then, it was much better. Now, the less said the better. Fortunately or unfortunately, it was the only garden in the vicinity where people could take their daily stroll. So the people had no option, but to stop complaining and move on. As the days passed and people resumed their walks, though with discontent, the surroundings began to look familiar. What was of inconvenience became adjustable. What became adjustable brought along with a new way of looking at things, doing away with the old. Soon the familiarity became the norm. As if it had always been like this. Now was soon  on its way to become th...

The other day I saw Saurabh Tiwari walking out to bat for Mumbai Indians in the ongoing edition of the IPL 2017. Sometime later, at the fall of second wicket in the innings, in walked Ambati Rayudu to join him at the crease. They both played a key role in Mumbai Indians win over Rising Pune Supergiant.  While Saurabh Tiwari was playing his first match of the season for Mumbai Indians, Ambati Rayudu was playing only his second match of the season for the IPL franchise. In the opposition team of Rising Pune Supergiant was Manoj Tiwari, who was lucky enough to be regular in the playing eleven. The connect? All three of them were once in the reckoning for a berth in Indian Cricket team. Rather they were considered strong and rightful contenders for a place in the national team. They did make it to the team as well. But for some reasons, the stint was not long enough for Saurabh Tiwari, Manoi Tiwari missed the bus because of injuries, while Ambati Rayudu despite an enviable ...

There's a Sherlock Holmes joke that keeps doing rounds on social media about his camping experience with Dr. Watson. The joke goes as below Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson decide to go on a camping trip. After dinner and a bottle of wine, they lay down for the night, and go to sleep. Some hours later, Holmes awoke and nudged his faithful friend. "Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see." Watson replied, "I see millions of stars." "What does that tell you?" Watson pondered for a minute. "Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets." "Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo." "Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three." "Theologically, I can see that God is all powerful and that we are small and insignificant." "Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow....