A season for celebrations

Much water has flowed under the bridge since my last post… amongst other things, we won the world cup! YAY!!!!!!!!!!! Though it has been a month already, I want to blog about it here for posterity – to help me remember that wonderful day when I became a part of the generation that witnessed history in the making! Even as I was complaining in my last post that the team’s performance isn’t living up to all the hype &  hoopla and that I’m becoming disinterested, believe me – it only took one match for me to get back on track 😀 The quarterfinal match against the Aussies and the way we won it was brilliant and then there was the biggie – the semifinal against Pakistan. That was a cracker too and before we knew it, we were in the finals and our opponents would be the mighty Sri Lankans, who can never be taken for granted! All I could remember then was the 1996 fiasco at the Eden Gardens – the image of Kambli crying in the middle as people threw stones and bottles onto the ground is etched in my memory. Several members in the team too were carrying ghosts from the past – the loss in the 2003 finals and the dismal performance in the 2007 world cup, to be scuttled out in the initial rounds after their loss to Bangladesh. Many had a point to prove and it was Sachin’s last shot at being part of a world cup winning team.

And boy! Did we do it in style?! To be frank, my heart sank when we lost Sachin and Sehwag quickly; the way they were going all guns blazing, I was sure we’d win if they’d just continued to play like that till about mid-way. Just then, they fell one after the other and I didn’t fancy our chances, even though Yuvraj was in good form. But then the skipper chose to rise to the occasion and he did it with such panache! He was brilliantly supported by Gautam Gambhir at the other end (who was plain stupid to have missed out on his ton! aarrgh!) and then Suresh Raina. If you ask me, the key to our turn-around in this world cup has been Suresh Raina, the moment he came back in the middle order, the team looked totally different, he played crucial knocks in all the important matches and built brilliant partnerships just when the hour demanded it.

Finally, that look on Dhoni’s face as he scored the winning runs off a six said it all and that’s gonna remain in my memory for a long long time. That and several other scenes of jubilation – Yuvraj sobbing, the glow of pure bliss on Sachin’s face, Kohli’s words about carrying Sachin on his shoulders – ‘he’s carried the dreams of a billion people for 21 odd years, it’s high time that we take the weight of his shoulders’ or something to that effect… stuff that only dreams are made of.

When I talk of dreams, it’s also been a year since I wrote this mushy post (hmm…I wonder now, must’ve been them, the harmones! :P) – so it means it’s time to hi-five! Five years of being married, phew! On the day, we spent some time trying to recollect how we’d spent the day on each of the past years – or rather I bullied the husband into recollecting. Or it would be more apt to say that I recollected while he hmm-ed and haa-ed… what is it with men and their memories eh? I detailed out all of them, except the second anniversary which I for some unknown reason can’t recollect a minute-of and the husband insists it was when I bought my favourite necklace at CKC (trust him to remember such things eh? ;-)) This year of married life has been special, with the little munchkin entering our lives and seeking out all our attention and love. So much so, that there is no moment or event that can be recollected as being complete without him being a part of it 🙂

Speaking of him, he’s as mischievous and as sprightly as ever – racing across the floor in a flash, sometimes with such gusto and so many squeals that I get scared he’ll hurt himself! He pulls himself up into a standing pose at every given opportunity and wants to walk. He’s already negotiating the steps of the staircase with such ease and glee that it’s an absolute delight to watch him – I’m tempted to stand back and look on, even as I should be behind him protecting him from a possible fall. He’s babbling various sounds – started off with attha and akka… and now says baa baa, taa taa, maa maa and many more in his lovely baby tongue that is pure music to my ears 🙂 He’s also become a lot more clingy in terms of wanting me to carry him all the time when I’m around – he’s fine playing by himself, but the moment he sees me, he has to come to me.

Sometimes as he plays with his toys/ cups and is sitting on his knees with his feet tucked behind him and his back to me, I look down and watch the little head bobbing from side to side with his silky hair spread across the smooth nape and the cute little shoulders supporting the even cuter antics of his baby hands and am filled with such an ache that I wanna just grab him and hold him tight and smother him with hugs and kisses… doesn’t make sense, does it? Well, you gotta make allowances for a mother’s gushing… 🙂

March-ing ahead…

So what’s up folks?!

The world cup is on… but sadly I feel that the accompanying fever is missing… even though it is being held in the sub-continent and India are touted to be the hot favourites to bring home the cup after 28 years… even though our team is one of the best (on paper, that is)… even though Sachin is playing in what will probably be his last World Cup before retirement and is all fired up to add that one elusive feather to his cap… I still feel that the fever is missing… I am somehow not convinced that we will go on to win the cup… and my initial gut feeling has only been fortified looking at our performances so far – it has been insipid! After making 300+ scores batting first, we have allowed opponent teams to make huge scores chasing – including Bangladesh (which incidentally got skittled out for 58 against the WI!!) – or making small totals seem like mountains while chasing against the minnows – case in point: Ireland, Netherlands.

As an aside, wasn’t the England-Ireland tie a cracker of a match?! Absolutely wonderful achievement for the Irish – just imagine, in all the years of World cup history, they now have these records in their names – the fastest ever 100 scored in a WC match and the highest ever run chase! Just imagine! this distinction does not belong to any of the elite cricket super-powers like Australia or SA or India, it will be etched in sands of time as belonging to the Irish!! Amazing achievement!!

In the one important match that India played till now, our team frittered away all the good work done by the top order and folded up for much less than the expected score and then allowed England to get within clawing distance of a victory and settled for a tie and made that seem like an achievement – I’ve been more or less dusgusted with our performances so far. Maybe it’s just me! May be I am growing old… I don’t seem to be enjoying this world cup! May be it is extended post-baby blues 😀

Amongst other news, life’s become hectic – each day is one l-o-n-g affair with a list of chores to be done one after another – I hardly find any me-time – in fact I feel I can relax a bit only at office and never once at home – not even the weekends! 😦 I wonder how long it will be before I settle down to a comfortable routine which gives me enough time for everything? – probably never! 😦

On the brighter side, our little monkey is doing new stuff everyday and is a joy to behold. He’s learnt to crawl (the process of how he learnt it is amazing!) and now just bounds across the floor to get at anything that catches his fancy. He’s now already progressing onto climbing onto whatever is climb-able in his reach – easiest target being his appa when he’s blocking his way! 😀 He’s learnt to screech big time and does it all the time when he’s not pleased and sometimes even when he’s pleased, just to drive us nuts! He’s officially become amma’s boy – he wants me to carry him, put him to sleep, feed him, hold him – basically do everything and screams non-stop till I do it – appa is not amused and neither is amma! 😀 He has learnt to do taaramayya with his hands – but of course will not comply when his amma asks, it is done according to his whims and fancies! His toothless smile and the accompanying warbling grrr… (I wish I could reproduce the exact sound here – it is absolutely adorable!) is still the bestest, though I see signs of the first lower teeth appearing shortly! 🙂

His pranks, the naughty expressions in his eyes, his yelps and whoops of joy, his bath-time playfulness, the wonder with which he looks at his hands and turns them around, the intent seriousness with which he pursues his plaything by chasing it across the floor crawling, the way he suddenly looks up on his name/ gundumaama (which is my present favourite name for addressing him :D) being called and gives that gorgeous smile – each moment and action is priceless and makes me want to record it all for posterity. He’s already half a year old and at the rate in which the days are whizzing by, he’ll soon be bounding past other milestones!

Well, that’s the update from me… my posts seem to have become a monthly feature now! Gosh! In a way, I suppose that’s a good thing, considering that I am not finding time for anything else that I want to do otherwise!

Cricket crazy

We’ve been a cricket-loving family – I guess I’ve mentioned it before. I suppose that’s the primary reason why I am an ardent follower of cricket matches of all forms – be it tests, ODIs or the present flavour of the season– the IPL T20 – albeit with the former two, I cannot claim to follow all matches that are played. I am interested in those which involve India as playing side. I suppose this is true for most people unless they are true cricket aficionados.

Somehow this whole idea that a girl is interested in a sport and can be an avid follower is always met with raised eyebrows even today, I find. People act surprised when they get to know I understand and follow the rules of the game and can have a confident conversation about cricket with them. It’s hilarious when people who think they know me well enough discover that I love cricket. Like it happened recently when I posted a message along the lines of ‘RCB rocks!’ on FB, a couple of my school-mates replied saying – you didn’t look like the kind of person who would follow cricket! Well people, looks can be deceptive, is all I can say.

Now that I think back I don’t remember having too many cricket related conversations with my friends – none of them were as interested as I was and even if they were it was only in passing. I guess it’s because of my family that I’ve developed this interest – my grandpa, dad, uncles and cousin – we’d all get together and it would be one noisy bunch watching a cricket match at home. Each of us would have our own opinions and expert comments to air and it used to be a medley of wise-cracks and interesting conversations. I also want to acknowledge the fact that neither my dad nor anyone at home made fun of me when I was part of these discussions – thankfully nobody thought it to be a non-girly thing! Even now I enjoy such snippets of cricket talk – in fact I and my dad often discuss cricket on the phone during the daily calls like it’s an important event of the day – and in serious earnestness too! 😀

Luckily the hubby is also a cricket lover and I have company. While watching a match – 2 things are of paramount importance to me – one is the commentator – I cannot tolerate crappy commentary and everyone except Harsha Bhogle has indulged in it time and again. Sunny Gavaskar is ok most times and a couple others like Tony Greig, Geoff Boycott and Robin Jackman make it interesting. But the rest are crap. Harsha was and is the best commentator ever – his memory, the anecdotes he relates, his style, the sharp acumen and knowledge that he brings to the table is immaculate. Listening to him is a treat. The second important aspect is the audience – I need an audience to listen to my commentary! 😀 I love giving my thoughts on anything happening during the match – it could be about the players or the commentators or anything – I love having discussions. It’s no fun watching cricket alone!

I am a teeny-weeny bit proud that I like sports like cricket and tennis and can have a decent conversation about them. This is not to look down upon others who don’t but the fact that I do makes me happy. I loftily questioned the hubby one day – ‘Aren’t you glad that your wife isn’t like the typical girly-types who don’t follow sports? What would’ve you done if I’d hated cricket and wouldn’t have allowed you to watch it as well?’ He was quick to burst my ballooned ego with a – ‘ Nothing, I would’ve taken it in my stride and gotten on with life, like I’ve done with so many other things after marrying you!’ Grrrr!! Men!

With all the above cricket talk, it must be quite clear as to how my evenings are being spent the past month – watching IPL on TV. No prizes for guessing whom I support – the RCB team of course! But their inconsistent performances in recent matches have been a definite put-off 😦 The defeat to Deccan and Mumbai particularly rankled – not the fact that they lost, but the manner in which they lost. That and the sad occurrence of the venue shift, away from home support advantage has sort of dampened the spirits for today’s semi-final – though I will continue to root for RCB, I won’t be surprised if we stumble again.

Well the elders and the wise ones say that the activities one indulges in during these months of the pregnancy will influence the baby’s habits and interests. Well in those terms I am not investing my time very productively I know – but it’s not my fault that it is the IPL season, is it?? What’s worse – Indian Idol is gonna start airing soon as well! Gosh, I just hope it is my love for sports/ music that rubs off on the baby and not the continuous TV watching trait!! 😐