Thursday, March 31, 2011

India Pakistan Cricket Semifinals 2011 - Comments on Facebook

This conversation on Facebook re the India-Pakistan World Cup Semifinals says it all. Names aren't disclosed but the sentiment is plainly there for all to see.


Person A:
The tension is palpable....for a change our noisy, bustling college is silent. Our Director has got a screen erected on the podium....students and faculty all sitting together with a silent prayer on their lips. All classes cancelled….. No taxis, no autos are plying on the Vile Parle roads……all hearts beating together….India…India !
13 hours ago

so-and-so and 5 others like this.

o
Person B
its not out again...cheers..!!!!!!!!!
13 hours ago ·
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Person C
Very thoughtful to have screens showing the live action, you do work at the right kind of place.
10 hours ago ·
o
Person A
Some companies have given a chutti (day off) to all employees ! Its India Pak...the mother of all matches, this side of the world !
9 hours ago ·
o
Person C
It's a big match anywhere. A lot of Indians and Pakistanis I know are either sick or working from home today :)
9 hours ago · 4 people like this
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Person A
Yuvi...go baby go ! Yoohoo !!
8 hours ago ·
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Person D
And we won it in style....what a match!!!!!!
5 hours ago ·
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Person A
India...India !!!
5 hours ago · 2 people like this.
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Person A
I'm beaming so wide that I could eat a banana sideways !!
5 hours ago · U1 person likes this.
o
Person D
ha ha ha....great!!!! way 2 go.....awesome win!!


Poster outside a mall

I think Harbhajan Singh got it spot on when he said when India and Pakistan play, it is like the finals, not semifinals. I really enjoyed the bonhomie between the Indian and Pakistani players.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Why did I do Science when ART is what I love

I guess I can sum it up in two or three words. Peer pressure and Pѐre pressure.

My dad loved the arts too. But his ambition to see at least one of his children an engineer, lawyer or doctor overrode his judgment about where our futures lay. Don't get me wrong. He was a concerned, loving and fun parent. But like every Indian parent I knew as a child, slightly misguided in that he believed there was little else of value; that if his children couldn't get into any of these lines, competition being fierce, then there were other careers (lesser ones) to consider. Perhaps today's Indian parents are lucky in that they know there are many more choices their kids can make.

Now that I've discovered writing, there is little else I want to do. Everything people say is true - that you could do something you love all day, everyday and never feel tired; that sometimes you don't know where the day goes, so lost are you doing what you love; that each and everyone of us is different and we just need to find our niche, whatever it may be and work at it.

Chetan Bhagat said exactly that in his first book, Five Point Someone. I really did enjoy that story - his first.

I remember when we went visiting family in Moscow, the husbands decided they would look after the kids while we wives went out for a fun afternoon. We went to the "Tetrakov Gallery" to view paintings and sculptures. What a lovely afternoon.

Have you ever walked the streets of Rome? The sculptures, the cobbled streets, the plants in peoples' balconies! It is like stepping back in time on the one hand and a modern airy and light atmosphere on the other. To blend the old and new like that - pure art. Then there is this group I belong to - "ARTWORKS by Air India Cabin Crew" on Facebook. Wish I could draw and paint like them. What a daily feast for our eyes.

And I have to mention Krish Sahoo, who painted the three girls in my book. I did not want a portrait of anyone in particular, just three Indian girls, a Parsi, a Christian and a Hindu, having fun together. After much discussion we settled for "vectors" If you visit his blog http://krishlogs.blogspot.com you will see from his many portraits why I wanted him to do my girls.

Another form of art I love - plays. I've mentioned "The Guru of Chai" on this blog. Here's their link - http://www.indianink.co.nz. This is just one of so many I've enjoyed in cities all over the world - New York, London, Mumbai, Auckland & Wellington to name a few. Yes, that's definitely a most powerful form of art.

And I wouldn't want to forget singing, dancing and comedy. To end this post here's a rendition of "The Long Day Closes" by the Auckland Youth Choir - a song that makes me feel emotional, especially the words which I've posted as well.

There's so many art forms. I had to do my bachelor's degree in science, no doubt. I know now that I enjoyed discovering science - just not studying it. For better or worse, in sickness or health, it is ART for me.