Ideology through Society, Culture, Family and Sports

                        If you want to know which Sport requires the quickest of reflexes, your google search would probably list Table Tennis as one of the top three. It's a fascinating game which requires all the top skills any sport demands - Hand-eye co-ordination, reflexes, body movement, footwork, anticipation, focus, power, placement, consistency, guile, variety and many more. I got introduced to this game by one of my very best friends, Vivek Prasanna . He taught me the basics, the need for regular practice, chop, top-spin and everything else. Unfortunately, I neither had the skill nor the patience to become a player that would have made him proud. This passage is on someone whom I feel is closest to Vivek, in terms of playing and teaching skills. Muralidharan Padmanaban , an unassuming character I have known for less than a year and a half, is a top class Table Tennis player and a great friend of mine. H...

(Posted initially in July 2017, had to copy it to this domain from a different one - Kindly ignore the timing of this post) Everyday I walk into the office, Mega is mostly the first one I will meet and wish. The smile he offers will almost always give you the message that he has been waiting for you to come! Even if I'm rushing to attend the stand-up meeting, Mega doesn't really care - he will find some reason to stop me and talk. I'm not sure how long I need to wait to witness these moments again, I sincerely from the bottom of my heart wish and pray - it should happen very soon!   Mega breathes Cricket. He doesn't know what deep square leg is, has no idea on where deep mid-wicket is. He refers to short mid-wicket as  power shot , God only can explain what that means. But give him the bat, he will deposit sixes at will over the top of all these fielders. He is as brutal a batsman as you can ever imagine - and with a terrific hit-rate as well. He terrorizes bowler...

Let's get this right - With Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal having to deal with a couple of grueling five-setters and both returning from long injury lay-offs, they might not be able to serve the classic the world is looking for. However, the very fact that these two are here in the finals competing for the big prize is a massive victory for the sport and the spirit of the game.  These two have played out some of the monstrous games anyone can imagine. Having been a fan of Rafa for 11 years, Wimbledon 2008 and Australian Open 2009 comes from the top of my mind. They were absolute humdingers, where neither were prepared to give an inch to the opponent - Rafael Nadal prevailed, but only just. With Nadal being totally dominant on Roger on clay, the Swiss had his fair share of success on Grass, beating the Spaniard twice in Wimbledon finals. My brother [a Federer worshiper] says the head to head grand slam record could have been better in Federer's favor, had they faced m...

On the first day I introduced myself to the team, I said, I'm someone who loves Cricket. I saw a beaming smile on Kamal's face and I heard he had just captained the side to a tournament victory. I immediately understood how much Cricket matters to Owler! As the team gears up for yet another tournament this week, I would want to make my contribution towards motivating them, by writing down some of the rand om rul es I set for myself whi le playing ! Always anticipate a fumble - it's important to run the first one hard. Every time the ball goes to long on, long off, we should be prepared for a two - no jogging. Make best use of the slightest fumble. "Never run for a misfield" is a thing of the past. With all due respect to our level of Cricket, only 1 out of 3 throws reach the top of the wicket. Worth a gamble. Do ensure you drag your bat from the earliest possible position - Recall how Michael Hussey ran all his life. As a non-striker, always give ...