Give thy shots, no tongue.

Raj looked at the scoreboard and smiled to himself.

SCORECARD

1st Innings

Stylish Sloggers:- 223/8 (17 overs)

Raj 93*(49)
Somnath 0* (8)

'Peter'wallahs:-

Bowler:O M R W
Chablu 4 0 42 0

Cheenu3 0 56 4
Udyog 4 0 39 1
Kiran 3 0 48 3
Farhat 3 0 38 0

It was the last thing Chandru wanted to see. The Sloggers had lived up to their name, he thought. Anger started overshadowing his performance as he 'butterfinger'ed the balls and dropped Raj for the second time in his innings. No...He couldn't let Raj get to his century. Already Chandru was short of Raj in the terminal tests by 3 marks and he was pretty sure that he should stay even by picking his wickets.

It was then the last over of the T20 tournament final organised by the K Jah Radio Station, to encourage teen cricket. Stylish sloggers, captained by Raj were thrashing the 'Peter'wallahs (Sorry about the name, but what to do? Thanks to Chandrus brain) left and right till they could bear it no longer. Wickets kept falling at regular intervals which was quite not enough to stop the Sloggers.

The first innings ended to perfection with the Peterwallahs needing a mommoth 244 to brag the 'K Jah' Cup. Chandru started padding up, sweat dripping on his wrist. He fastened the 'LiveSTRONG'band on his arm, when he felt Ravi's hand.

"Try finding the sweet spot Chandru, so that you don't lose embarassingly, mate. Try bending your head a little to revere the ball dude, atleast once OK? I'll get you this time."

"Leave it da. He isn't worth it. Lets focus on our game.", said Uday, who was Chandru's best mate and the other opener for the team.

People started stuffing their mouth with Lays', Bingo and other foodstuffs as they occupied their seats in the school ground's Pavilion. Uday was desperate to prove his talent to his mother, who wasn't convinced that Uday should postpone his preps to play the final match. Both Chandru and Uday were really good but it was the fear factor hat weighed them down this time. Both looked to the heavens, strapped their gloves and stretched, to enter the field.

Chandru started taking guard when he caught Raj sneering at him from mid on. Ignoring him, he looked at the umpire and took guard. Jhuraj was the opening bowler, well known for his facial expressions than his deliveries. He started his run-up and advanced to the wicket, with his eyes popping out of their sockets and nose, flaring out like an umbrella, with the tongue, almost half a dozen centimetres out of the lips.

Chandru got startled and fumbled with the first delivery. There was a loud BOO coming from the crowd and he missed. The rest of the over passed quite uneventfully, with Chandru and Uday taking singles from the every other ball. The powerplays were being gobbled up by singles and doubles, often sandwiched by boundaries.

After 6 overs, it was 49/0.

The wickets were fine of course, but their run rate was nowhere near to bringing a frown to Raj's face.Raj had the same rude sneer frozen on his face till then.

Then it was Uday who found it first. The sweet spot in the meat of the bat started to obey his shots without resistance, and every stylish flick from Uday's wrist whipped the ball to the bounday. Raj's sneer turned from nasty to bad and Chandru's lip opened in awe on seeing his partner.Soon Uday completed his half-century and waved his bat to his mum to prove himself to her. All was smooth till then.

Chandru at the meantime couldn't find out what was wrong with him. His hand desperately took in all the shocks offered by his bat on account of finding its bottom. Chandru was scoring almost a run-a-ball. But that rate, in T20, was like playing like Rahul Dravid. Chandru was on 27 while Uday was on 63. In the 11th over,Chandru punched a half-volley toward the extracover as he scampered for the first run and returned back to the second run halfway, only to find Uday turning his back to Chandru.

"UDAY. Come on!!!"

"No Chandru! Stay!"

Chandru was stranded midway. Only Uday, his best friend, could have understood Chandru's deepest fears of going unnoticed. Uday left his crease to allow Chandru to step in. He was ran out, and left the field without a fuss.

Something swept over Chandru, that changed his perspective of the deliveries. Rajeev was the next batsman in, who was the best batsman of the tourney so far.So he had no trouble scoring. Chandru was facing Raj's first over in the thirteenth over. Raj's face came flashing in his mind, and then Uday's. He took all the rage of his life, put it in a bullet and shot the bullet towards the midwicket for a six.

And that made all the difference.

Chandru's "Kookaburra" bat's middle fell in love with the ball. The bat stated smooching the ball every now and then, which sent the ball on a lighting-fast errand to the boundary. He covered the whole ground with his shots, once, twice and many times over. He reached his fifty in no time. The love affair between the bat and the ball from the 13th over, turned Chandru's frown upside down.

Chandru and Rajeev started to slam the balls left, right, centre,square and fine. The Peterwallahs were coming in sight of their victory. Then Latoo, the leg-spinner did the damage.
Three balls - 2 wickets and a runout. It was a team hatrick to put the Sloggrs in top gear. They needed 13 from the last over, with 6 wickets in hand.

People were awaiting for Latoo to finish things up, when came Raj to bowl the last over. Latoo was furious and went red on the face to scuttle off to the fine leg boundary. The field was 5-4, with 4 people only inside the circle. Raj got Chablu, the lower order batsman, trapped in front in the first ball, and conceeded a six and the four in the next two balls.

It was now three from three.

Raj bowled two beauties in the two balls out of the three that took Udyog, the other batsman by surprise.

It had all come down to three from one.

It was then Raj bowled a no ball, to conceed a freehit.

Two runs from one ball....

Raj came running to attack Chablus defences, but chablu closed his eyes and ficked the ball. Fielders were closed in on Chablu to prevent the single. But Chablu bisected the Square Leg and the Short Fine Leg to find the boundary.

Peterwallahs had won!!!

The usual ceremonies followed, where Rajeev was given the man of the series.Chandru was called to recieve the man of the match for his 96 from 52 balls. When he was going, Uday patted his back to tell him that he was with Chandru and wasn't angry about the Run Out.

Raj, the losing captain was asked to talk about the match. He had a transformed face with calm in it, and shame written on it. When the commentator asked him on losing after posting such a huge total, All Raj replied was :

"Even I didn't expect our team to lose. The mistake I did was talking and bragging about my shots when there was another hero, waiting to be noticed in the other team. All i can say is that 'Give thy shots no tongue, lest they be outshined by others'. Kudos to you Chandru!!!"

Saying this, He smiled at Chandru and went.

Chandru went Red, Pink,Violet and all the other colours he could possibly dream of, due to overwhelming guilt and shame for having wronged such a just guy like Raj. He then made a silent note to apologise to Raj and entered the dressing room to flood himself with congratulations. After all 'Peter'wallahs had 'Peter'ed themselves to victory, didn't they?

Gunshot on a birthday

Ravi revved the engine of his Tata Sumo, and maneuvered it out to the ramp, out of the kerb and into the lane. He had nodded his head only for the half-a-million bucks it offered him per annum. He worked in a Solar Cell panel factory, which assembles cells made up of special grade silicon and joins them with silver. Ruthless usage of Fossil fuels hiked the demand for the cells, which prompted Ravi to apply the post of assembling engineer in the office.

The factory was situated a good 15 km from his house and that prompted Ravi to leave his bed even before the Sun did, and travel the ever-active highway, NH 7, for about an hour or so, to reach his workplace. Ravi was a happily married man, with a cute little daughter, Neetu. It was her birthday today. He had to get her something that would remind her of Papa. Ravi enjoyed his ride home as far as he got till the toll gate, where the city limits started.

Overaged buses plewed smoke driven by nasty drivers who honked the horns mercilessly, caring nothing for the oldies living nearby. It was a daily hullabaloo Ravi went through as he waded his way through the incessant traffic, unevenly placed, hardly leaving any gap between. He pulled to a stop in a shop nearby,and got out. A beggarwoman asked for alms. Dismissing her contemptuously, Ravi entered the shop.

Looking for an apt gift for his Neetu, he rolled his eyes over the items in the shop. The racks, with varied items filled the shop. Enjoying the air condition of the shop, he had a variety of items to choose from. Barbie Dolls, Beyblades, Pokemon merchandise and how could he forget the Power Rangers? He spent half an hour in the shop, and came out finally, with a greeting card, that sung,"Happy Birthday To You."when it was opened. He chose a barbie with a cute tiara and a chessboard, to teach Neetu how to play chess.

As he turned the key in the lock of his car, he found the cellphone ringing.

"Hello?"

"Hello Papa, Neetu here..."

"Yes dear...Papa will be home in another Ten minutes right?"

"Papa something here is scaring me. Please do come here, I really.....", broke off Neetu as plain static filled the receiver.

He was bewildered. Ravi thought he heard a gunshot. Guessing the worst, Ravi shifted gears, pressed the throttle and whizzed past the traffic, slamming the brakes occasionally.

He had fear closing in on him, when his hand was about to knock the door.

"What would have happened to Neetu, and the others....are they safe? and how did the gunshot fit into place? Was Neetu hurt? Was she alive?"

Ravi's mind was working overtime and his blood was racing top speed.

He clicked the knob and entered.

"BLAST!", came a shot from the first floor.

Ravi raced the stairs, taking three at a time and entered the hall.

There was Neetu, in a cute White frock, with her make up beautifully done by her mother. A circle of happy friends surrounded her. Beside her, was a table laden with gifts.

"BLAST", a boy pricked a balloon and glitters drenched Neetu, followed by a clatter of claps.

Nothing but the joy of seeing Neetu safe and sound could have made him jump and run towards her. A silent crowd watched the union of the father and his daughter as Ravi handed the gift wrapped parcel to Neetu.

"Sorry Papa...There was a problem with the line."

"And Neetu, what for were you scared kiddo?"

"A BIG dog Papa...Really BIG. Sharma uncle brought him to our house today and he started barking at me!",saying this, Neetu started crying.

"No Neetu, no crying OK? and what was the gunshot???",asked Ravi tentatively.

"Gunshot Papa?", asked a confused Neetu

"It was the balloon uncle!!!!" shouted a kiddo with a toothy grin

People started laughing, as more joined in. Ravi didn't mind them . All he needed was Neetu to be hale and hearty.

Cursing his own stupidity, Ravi took Neetu in his arms and hugged her.

Anil's Armageddon

Rain patted on his backpacks as he trod on the gravel path leading to the university. It was something weird entering into a new world of impudent seniors and carefree teachers.Entrance slip in one hand, and the other hand fumbling the strings of his guitar, he was searching for his class. He wasn't confident enough to look at the peoples' eyes and talk with them, so his eyes captured the monotonous brown gravel terrain as a pair of black boots appeared amidst the gravel path.

Anil had messed it up big time. Too nervous to notice what was going on around him , he had splashed mud on the university bully's painting, (made for his girl) without uttering an apology. Anil slowly shifted his gaze from the boots to the hanging pockets of the cargos, matching the colour of the road. A formal shirt, let loose on a side and tucked in tight on the other, glared at him with a nasty shade of bright yellow, in contrast with his brown pants. It was the face of the bully that convinced Anil of the impending doom closing in upon him.

The rest of the scene was totally unchanged from a typical cinema phenomenon. Other similar bulky fellows with an equally unpleasant dress sense came surrounding Anil, as he was turning to catch a glimpse of any blessed teacher.Their eyes scanned Anil, as though they were stripping him. He timidly asked them, "W..What did i do....Sir?". "Sir?.....??....You called us 'SIR'? hahahahaa", came the usual syncronised laugh of the bullies, who were quickly planning to exploit Anil's weakness to the fullest.

"What's your name,Guitar-Romeo eh?", asked a guy in green and black.

"Anil."

"How old are you?"

"Am 21"

"You mommy has sent a feeding bottle with you to start sucking milk when chemistry classes are going on?"

"No thanks, I'm better off with the carton."

"And how long have you been playing this perforated piece of wood, kiddo?", asked they, signalling to Anil's guitar.

"Thats my life,my passion. I don't really think it will hurt you if I dont wish to say this to you"

There came the mistake. The guy took Anil's guitar out, and asked his sidekicks,

"I think its time to pay a visit to the musicals to get a new guitar, What say?". He pulled out a string of Anil's guitar and it cracked with a resounding sound.

That was the limit! Anil plunged on his senior, holding his throat with such vengeance that the latter found it hard to resist Anil alone. Anil knew very well that he couldnt have resisted five big bullies alone on his first day of university life, whose stomachs did overtime in the College canteens. But he could do anything, but stand unaffected, when a bunch of tasteless guys, damaged his life and soul, his guitar. Anil, therefore, uttering a silent prayer to the stars, to send a saviour, started resisting the bullies.

The rain started to slacken as the encounter intensified. A cloud of people gathered around the centre of attraction, trying to get a glance of the sympathetic first-year boy. Anil was being squeezed, mashed, and his black jeans with the white shirt tucked in was totally in tatters. His hair was the only minus point in Anil, other than which he was a moderately fair and a handsome fellow with a good build. At times it ws his hair, which made him look a lttle weird and bad.Now his hair became a double minus.It stuck to his head like fevicol and became as rough as a rope.The atrocious assault was stopped by an elderly man, past his prime, in his fourties, with a slightly balding head, resting on thin necks. He had an impressive face-set and an authoritative tone that made people look up to him when he passed by.

"Would you please unhand him Rahul?", asked the man polietly.

Rahul seemed not to have heard him.And that made matters all the more worse for him , apart from the fact that he was brutally torturing an innocent junior.

"WILL YOU PLEASE STOP TORMENTING YOU JUNIOR, OR SHALL I HAVE YOU ALL STRIPPED AND RUNNING THE CAMPUS HUNDRED TIMES?",shouted the man.

Rahul scowled and left the place. Anil started to get up from the mud, his wet shirt, sticking to his body, his hair all in ruins. He cursed himself for having spent an hour and a half in front of the mirror that day to set his hair, only to find himself thrashed and squeezed within the first few minutes in college.He then made a futile attempt to straighten his hair, as he pulled on his 'now-useless' guitar, and picked up the soiled admission form,bent his head downwards with a right-angled tilt and followed the man to the class, who turned out to be his physics professor.Anil thanked his lucky stars for getting such a sympathetic man to teach him his favourite subject, and cursed them for presenting him with such a 'nightamre'ish first day.

Talk about a fish out of water! A student out of school, into a university as a newbie is much more vulnerable than the fish out of water is. He keeps suffering for the entire year, groaning under the immense pressure of books and the ragging seniors, who vent out their anger on the juniors in order to relieve themselves of the humiliation they suffered when they were like Anil.

Oh my Riley...RIP

The crisp call of my best friend woke me up from the usually 10-hour sleep that i took on Sunday mornings...He knew I needed a walk a day, to keep the doc away. So, pulling my trainers on, I stepped out of my house into an air-conditioner... The chilly mist slammed at my face, driving sleep out of me, for the day. I was one of the lucky few, to have my houses away from the heart of the city, to enjoy the diminishing landscapes around me in my daily morning walks. I enumerated the trees, with uncut heads, as i jogged by, with my friend at my side. The trees were silhouetted against the Bluish-Orange sky, waiting to receive the Sun as a part of them.

We finally reached the beach an hour later. My mate started panting with the vigorous exercise and started protesting for a cool lay in the golden beach sand, I couldn't but agree with him. For half an hour, we lay there, taking in the separation of the Sun from the horizon. Finally it was time to go home and pick my newspaper and enjoy that one day of incessant freedom. I waited for my friend Riley, to return from the shore. It was quite a while before I went looking for him. And when I did, I had my heart ripped away from me.

He was dead. Dead and lying orphaned on the shore. Incomplete sentences filled my throat and tried to force their way through my mouth. I looked around desperately for help, trying to behold a sympathetic soul who had a cellphone in their hands, but in vain. Only the gravity of the situation could have left me immobile, and my thoughts, frozen. I touched his skin. The velvety touch of his skin and the wetness of his tongue, the feel of his paws and the rolling of his belly, all came to my mind, along with the crashing reality that he had departed from me. I was not able to wash my hand of his blood though the water had cleaned it again and again. I pleaded the sea, to bring him back to life, for it had taken my Riley away from me.

I collapsed on my knees and broke down completely, and put my head to his heart. The cold waves dappled my feet and soiled my hair. I was oblivious to the salinity of the sea water and the gathering cloud above me. It rained heavily. I was glad that the rain disguised my tears, tears of separation. I carried Riley on my arms. People were wondering why I was carrying a Pug in my arms. I reached home from my walk, alone, for the first time, and started digging the wet earth. With every dig, the spade went deeper into the earth and He went farther away from me. Finally I placed him in his newly dug grave, and caught a glimpse of his brown nose and the thin eyes, on the corners of which were wonderfully shaped ears.

I finished closing the grave of Riley and put a signboard on his grave, which contained deeply etched words on it, and my heart. It said,

'Here lies a dog, who was a part of me for a decade of my life. It is a part of me that I have buried in this grave today.'

I then, closed the door of my courtyard and went to the balcony to don a fresh pair of clothes and cleaning Riley's food tray.

Peer Pressure

This is one area where its too hot for me to stand. You try to get out of a frying pan full of ordinary folks, and jump into the fire of MORE ordinary folks.... Don't keep wondering how all this is related to the heading, but expecting a person to be at his best at all times at all places is quite something to ask for. There are few people who pat your back to push you into the race again to reach the top. I tried searching for those people by shuttling in and out of the frying pan, only to find them in extremely short supplies.Some may do it no doubt with the adept help of Lady Luck, who decides to shine on them without being partial.Its just a chance of probability, which people call, Luck.

I'm not criticising their talent or the ability to stay cool under pressure, but putting pressure must be reduced atleast fractionally. people can do a big favor by choosing not to exert pressure on their kids, or friends or anyone, for that matter. It just prompts the person to fall into a ditch intentionally with the pressure of standing upto the narrowminded people's whims and fancies. The end result- You get demotivated by failing in your zone of comfort and critisicing yourself for failing to be at par with your peers.

Sanity and Insanity

A good example of what will happen if u mess with people, who have their brains in the 'wrong' spot....

An unkempt man was dancing, standing on a sewer, shouting, "Voila! that's number 99!!! one more to go...". He kept on saying this. A guy passing by, couldn't keep a question in his head and blurted out, "Hey...What is so funny and interesting about that number 99???" That spelt doom for him. The madman called the passer-by to stand in that sewage and asked him,"Why, my friend, do you want to know why I'm shouting?". The curious bloke wasn't able to smell a bad fish and persisted on knowing the matter. The madman guided him to stand in the sewer, and once again asked him if he REALLY wanted to know why he was shouting. The latter was unwilling to budge. So the madman made the other to stand on the sewage slab and pulled it. The curious guy fell down with a scream and then a splash. "Now that's what i call number 100!",saying this he closed the slab, and began shouting, "Voila! Thats number 100!!!"....So be careful and think twice before involving yourself in a gossip or a fight that is relatively unrelated to you. This is food for thought isn't it?

Slumdog what???

Is India really an astronomical slum after all? And is it only now that people have realised it? People are out of the ignorance that anything made by a person foreign to us, will have the X Factor in it and will click instantly. They are very wrong as most of the films which are similar to this film didnt get enough exposure and promotion because it was made by an Indian director.The fact that Danny Boyle made the film made people poke their heads and peer into the film whether anyting new is potrayed about India. This was enough to give the film a boost. Apparently Danny Boyle has done what his countrymen did 60 years ago, revealing the true face of our country...

And as for A.R.Rahman, he is one composer, whose creativity could not be touched by any other man possible asccording to me as he has produced hundreds of immemorable songs from his pocket. But honestly this movie had a song composed by him which went on to win the Golden Globe Award, is it really better than a Vande Mataram, or is it more motivating than a Pray For Me Brother for instance? Thanks to Danny Boyle, Dev Patel a young star in the making has received a chance and an entry into the world of stardom. True that the film is really good and artistic....It potrays some of India's hidden but true faces,but I really do doubt if there would be as less as one-tenth of the stardom for this movie had it been made locally with the same script.....

22 yeared storehouse of athletisicm

Age is no bar for talent and Rafa proved it in the Aussie Open finals when he thrashed Federer in the final set...To think that a young man could be so agile in the court and not losing even a part of it for more than 4 hours, is surely impressive...Kudos to you Nadal, bring Spain many more laurels and prevent them from entering the Switz....!!!

To burst or not to burst

All of us will be busy spending our time either by bursting crackers or getting hooked on to the idiot box(television)... Whats Diwali without lights??? and whats lights without crackers and fancy items that zoom and glide above our heads and fill the navy blue sky.... The scenery created by these crackers are worth paying thousands of rupees... I agree we can buy such beautiful crackers with our so called POWERFUL CURRENCY... But do you people really think we can bridge the Ozone Layer hole with all our notes?

Bursting crackers for diwali is usual in a country like India as Diwali is a big occasion out here... But i seriously suggest the bursting of crackers only upto a certain age... When we start realising that we are putting our Mother Earth at such a dangerous position by creating a huge portion of Smoke Pollution, Its time to Quit bursting crackers... Even if we are not able to quit, atleast reducing the amount of crackers can also contribute in reducing the threat to Mother Earth... As I am writing this blog, am hearing blasts 0f crackers outside my house... I pity Mother Earth!!!

My Physics 'Bank'er

This is one person who affected the way in which i looked at Physics. Makes us think out of the box and also pores into the functioning of each and every thing he explains about. He made Physics sound extremely easy to understand and one of the most catchy subjects, though it may not be so, to everyone... He virtually makes impossible things possible and also explains the reality of some seemingly very easy things....Thanks to him that I am interested so much in this subject and am able to reason out things due to his teaching methods...

Optimism and Pessimism have just a strand of difference

"How would it be if I went to the Bermuda Triangle and returned alive? It would mean, Mother Earth would lose one of its unexplained mysteries and my name would be engraved in all the books of Records and I will also make the world know, how beautiful a place, The Bermuda Triangle is. The fear that the place has created would be vanquished by me...and it would another futuristic place to the already endless list of tourist places..."
-An Optimist

"How peaceful a death could I expect, other than going to the Bermuda Triangle and not return? All my problems would die with me and so would the problems of other people like me... when I reach the place, I would hope to send a signal, which would make other depressed people to follow my route and end their difficulties as i ended mine..."
-A Pessimist

Boards rock for Freaks

The way at which my life is being lead by me is completely opposite to an average life lead by an average person at my age... Of course it is tough to keep a cool head when all the load from board exams are exerting an enormous amount of pressure you. The amount of portions to mug up and the amount of time in hand right now are complete opposites to each other... The board must keep in mind, the students, who have other things on their plate rather than concentrating on the students who don't have time for anything other than studies in their mind... Even now, as I am writing this blog, 95% of students of my age might be studying their school subjects to score impressive marks in their Board Exams... Not everyone can be Raj, of course!!!