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 ...

It's been over two months since I left Bangalore and moved to the place of my birth, Coimbatore. Off the many positive differences I could see here, environmental awareness is surely not one of those. Administrators in Bangalore have prohibited the usage of plastic bags to a maximum extent. Almost every individual is aware of the fact that you can never visit a grocery shop or a supermarket hands-waving, if you are serious about buying things. This applies to all levels - from the fruit and flower vendor on the streets to the apparels stores in a shopping mall ( or go for a paid recycled bag, which I don't have a great regard for) . The message sent was so powerful such that massive fines were imposed on vendors, who continued to use plastic bags. Not the case with us in Coimbatore. There have been countless articles , videos and posts about how detrimental plastic can be, how immortal plastic becomes when it comes into existence, what damage we are causing...

With Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer set to meet in the U.S. Open 2015 finals, it's time for me to finally shed the 'hatred' and start appreciating the unbound talent and capabilities these phenomenal Champions bring. For a long while, I had always wanted Roger not to win another major just because I wished Rafael Nadal wins his 18th title and stands atop. It does seem unlikely though that Rafa will win another (I dare not rule out the Spaniard from proving me wrong). That not being the only reason and more out of sheer respect, I wholeheartedly stand up and admire the remarkable rejuvenation of the best tennis player the world has seen, Roger Federer. Experts wrote him off long back even before he crossed the age of 30. The maestro just refused to believe he is done. He kept coming back year after year, slam after slam, continued fighting and here he is, as many have come to accept, is at the absolute top of his game. It's really hard to hate someone like No...

As I heard about the sudden demise of our own rocket scientist, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, the heaviness my heart went through, made me realize what a colossal loss it is for the country and for humanity as a whole. During one of my birthdays a couple of years ago, I was gifted the "Wings of Fire" book, written by Mr APJ. I read the book a bit here and a bit there, but my Mother, who was with me for a few weeks that time, deep dived into it. Her reading habit wasn't really great, but she spent a considerable amount of time with the book, memorizing quotes, writing them in a notepad and explaining the significance of those, in the evening. I could sense a real freshness in her voice during those conversations. As I write these, I'm not sure she would have learnt about the heartbreaking news, the time of the day it is now, would have made her sleep. Tomorrow morning when she hears it, she will be nothing short of being crestfallen. Such is her admiration towards this ma...