Pieces of the Wall

I’ve never had the courage to write about Rahul Dravid. Like actually sit down and write a piece he deserves, like I’d want to. Maybe someday I will, but till then I am more than happy to read some wonderful pieces of writing on him that pop up now and then. Since I find myself going back to some of them quite often, I thought I’d make a list of some of the (in my opinion) really brilliant ones. I’m going to keep updating this list as and when I find other articles on him. I’m pretty sure there are some other great ones out there that I might have missed, so if any of you have any recommendations then do let me know so I can add them!

(in no particular order)

  1. Arun Sagar – “On being a fan”
  2. Sidvee – “When Dravid was there”
  3. Sidarth Monga – “Hiding behind the wall”
  4. Kunal Pradhan – “Dravid, who never changes”
  5. Rohit Brijnath – “The beauty of waiting in Test cricket”
  6. Sidvee – “Dravid and the mastery of struggle”
  7. Sidvee – “Degrees of fandom”
  8. Vikramjit Singh – “The Curious Case of Rahul Dravid’s Rebellion” (contributed by Supreeth)
  9. Alan Tyers – “The Secret Diary of Rahul Dravid, Aged 29792 Balls”
  10. Sriram Dayanand – “The Beacon”

Adele, Writing and Test Cricket

I know that I really need to be writing more often, but I suppose this is what happens if writing is a major part of your day job! Also, this is what happens when you get used to restricting yourself to 140 characters *glares at a certain micro-blogging site*

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Heroes

Today was a day for heroes.

First, there was Rahul Sharad Dravid and his magnificent 104 against New Zealand. I didn’t watch any part of his innings, but kept a close eye on the score. I can’t help but admire this man, I don’t know how exactly it started, but he’s been one of the few people/things I *believe* in and no I am not saying that in a fanatical-SQUEEEE-fangirl kind of way (okay, maybe just a little bit).

Then, there was Darcy.

I sat down to watch Pride & Prejudice (2005) for probably the fifth time, and this movie never fails to remind me why I love Darcy so. For a long, long time my idea of the perfect romance stemmed from the relationship between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr.Darcy. The witty banter in the beginning, then the quiet looks, filled with longing coupled with awkwardness. No fanfare, but fierce all the same. So now, I will go back and read the novel (again) and fall back into Darcy-land.

Glee/RCB

Today, I sit here and tell myself I will write. About what I don’t know, but you’re here already reading this so I might as well say something.

I’ve been watching Glee lately, and I love it. It seems plastic and superficial at first, you know high-school-drama (sigh) and cool kids and not-so-cool kids and teacher crushes and same-age-boy crushes. But then all these characters sing amazingly, fantastically, mind-blowingly well AND none of them are clear cut black and white (I kind of have a weakness for those kinds).

Also this week, I re-discovered my love for a certain RCB batsman. Well not re-discovered, it had just kind of subsided into a little corner that I visited occasionally when I saw his name in the papers or on television. But then I got to watch him play live against KKR at Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday, and there he was in the flesh – running, smiling, hitting gorgeous 4′s and 6′s. There is beauty in the world again.

I start my advertising internship tomorrow. Let’s see how that goes.

C : Commentary

The art of telling the viewers what they can already see, but doing it loudly, and with disorienting persistence, whilst mentioning as many sponsors as scientifically possible using a human voice-box. Aimed to assault rather than inform, to overwhelm rather than illuminate. In the old days of televised Test cricket, an entire 20 overs could pass without any commentator saying anything (in fact, during some lulls in play, the only discernible sign that the BBC commentary box was still populated was the gentle snoring of Tom Graveney). In the IPL, two seconds of dead air will result in multiple sackings.

(From Andy’s A to Z at Cricinfo)

It’s “live”, alright!

As I sit here and (to put it mildly) admire a certain Royal Challengers captain, I notice that the commentators are talking to the wicketkeeper of the Mumbai Indians as the game is going on.

Pardon me if I’m wrong, but wouldn’t this distract him? The poor thing would have to firstly strain to actually hear what the commentators are asking him/ saying through the noisy crowd, and then secondly he’d have to answer while keeping his eyes on the game. Wicket-keeping requires a decent amount of concentration, doesn’t it? It might be an interesting concept ( actual “live” interaction) but at what cost?

Then again, this is 20-20 cricket – anything is possible!

I heart my team.

We won.

Against Australia.

Let me repeat that..

Against Australia.

As in they lost and we won. As in we beat them. As in we are going into the final, and they are going home. As in we were better than them this match. AS in we were amazing. As in we were fantastic.

Ok I think I made my point :)

Also..

Well played, Yuvraj!

yuvraj

Phase 1 Down.. 2 to go!

So I finished my first set of exams on Friday. The next set will be in January and then my finals in *gulp* March.

I dislike commenting on how my papers went, since my answer will invariably be held against me either at that time, or later! However, I did figure out that one of the secrets to writing an ISC exam is to actually write everything you know about a particular topic, regardless of if you have actually finished answering the question.

(Does that make sense?)

Oh I expect I should say something about this.
Well I don’t really know what to say. Disappointment? Sure. But then I guess he is one of those people who cannot function at all without without being comfortable with his situation himself. So if this is what makes him happy, then I’m sure it was the right decision to make.

Oh and on Friday, I gave in to temptation and bought one of those smiley-faced yellow stress balls :

u501-63s.jpg

But I know, deep down, it’s only a matter of time before my dog discovers its existence no matter how well I hide it in the desk drawer.

Sigh. Life is harsh.

:)

Well, the end of an aggressive Test there which India won deservedly. Particular credit must go to Zaheer Khan, for his nine wickets, who is the Man of the Match, while Sachin Tendulkar made 91. So, India take a 1-0 lead and there are plenty of celebrations on the balcony and on the pitch. Ganguly raises his bat as he walks off, and the India team come down the steps now to shake hands with England. After the draw at Lord’s – where they had a let-off as England were closing in on the win – India now take a 1-0 lead into the third and final Test at The Oval.

- Cricinfo