Set, Game, Championship: Agassi

The summer of '92, the stage was set for the finals of Wimbledon. Match between Agassi and Ivanesevic. Being the young teen-to-be, I was totally taken in with the long haired, earring sporting, rebel Agassi. Sitting next to my grandmother on her bed, the rest of the day passed in a blur of intense praying, google-eyed look and unabashedly rooting for the person who singlehandedly managed to inculcate in me the love of tennis. I should perhaps confess here that I was more interested in the bad -boy look of Agassi, than in the poetry of his motion and the grace of his shots. Times change and so do hormones and things I had overlooked before came into sight like the way he returned a serve or the way he hit his shots. I didn't get inspired to play tennis, I was lousy in sports and still am. But that did not stop me from gaining inspiration from a bunch of men grunting and hitting a ball around. Agassi's comeback was amazing. He went from an obscure could have been to a legend in a span of five years. It is amazing to see the transformation in him. For a man who refused to play in Wimbledon because of its white rules, he waited to make it his comeback vehicle. In a lot of ways he awoke a rebel in me. Someone who wanted to wear pants all day and hang upside down on bars. I believe every person has this rebel streak in them. People are like fruits or maybe onions, they have a skin which they torture, get hurt, bruised, pinched experiment with and ultimately the skin is removed , revealing a much more stronger person which is the real version. The skin was just a show perhaps, a tough shell with which they would experiment with life till they realize they were searching for someone who was inside them all along.
Whoo.. NOTE TO SELF: Concentrate on topic at hand. Anyway, And so my love story with the legend grew. I had dreams about him and dreams about a dream team who would be so invincible that they would beat any mixed doubles. The greatest day of my life was perhaps when Agassi married Steffi Graf. Oh God, I couldn't stop grinning. I went around town singing. I was acting as if I had got married. I shall talk about my idol worshipping in another blog. But the point is, m dream team had arrived. I realise now that they technically haven't played any game together, but I often visualize them playing against each other, or maybe toget in a mixed doubles. Ooohlala. Agassi just announced his retirement. He will be hitting his last serve in the US open. Man will I miss him.

ATTENTION!! Straight Line..MARCH

This is my take on this: http://treadsoftlyupon.blogspot.com/2006/06/matchmaking-and-more.html

I am not for or against any type of marriage having seen the ups and downs of both sides. I guess the debate has more to do with the procedure of modern marriages than the actual life after. I say modern because what we see today is now what it was intended to become. Just the way writing horoscopes, not letting pregnant women go out in the evening or children play outside after six has taken on modern versions, so has he whole matchmaking scheme. Marriages in India are at fault not becuase they go through this whole charade of girl examination or boy examination but because they have truned a really respectable and necessary procedure in a dreaded ceremony.
In the olden days when communication was not good and the only source of information going around was through word of mouth, it was necessary for parents to consult people, relatives, friends on a prospectives boy's habits, actions and income. Caste was seen so as to enable their daughter to have the same level of omfort in her husbands house as she had in her father's something that was relevant to that age because caste was mainly based on the person's income. gothra's and nakshatra's seen because there is a strong Hindu belief that people of the same Gothra descend from a common ancestor, so intermarrying to result in genetic disformity. The writing of Horoscopes technically is done only when the girl/boy reaches puberty where in a learned man comes in assess their behaviour till date, sees their living habits, family, culture, education, money and predicts generally what the person might be like and what kind of life the person might have.
The procedure of seeing a girl before marriage came about becuase the girl being generally secluded and not having a chance to see the boy who is usually away on trips to earn a living or learn, gives them an oppurtunity to see each other, and since it was considered rude to directly stare at a boy, the girl typically gives him something to eat or drink so she could get a chance to glance at the boy slighly. The singing was typically to woo the boy, not impress him with her talent or show him she has a voice. It was also a tradition for the girl's parents to question the boy about his work, income and such. Infact girls actually had more power and authority to refuse a boy on grounds she needn't necessarily revel and had the power to choose the boy. They were even given the freedom to go around the town and choose their own boy, especially if the parents of the bride were well off.
Cinema, Serials and general misinformation and magnification of incidents which were menat more as a convenience than a norm have resulted in these traditions of today. It is the people who have abused the culture. I am not against love marriages or for arranged marriages. These are people who are grown enough to get a job, go abroad, and make a life out of nothing, and they can definelty be given the chance to choose a boy for themselves. And a lot of people are these days open to the idea of their kids choosing their own partners. But what sucks is the fact that due to a few people who go to the extremes a rich culture is going to dust. I do not approve of Horoscopes or twiddling around waiting for the right match to come along. If the parents want it, well then set a time limit, if no go ahead and ind your own boy, much like it was done in those days. Arranged marriage is not a business, it is just a chance for the parents to get involved in a singular most important event in their kids life, even though it is the kid who is going to live the life. Unfortunately or fortunately, we come from a country where the immediate and extended family is privy to every little detail that goes on. It is tough luck. Marriage is much more complicated. Just because people fall in love and get married or get married and then fall in love dosen't make it simple or sane. When one falls in love and gets married, there are already certain things that one knows about their respective partner, and whatever things that come later might take you aback or not and both of you will still have to compromise, work around the rest. In an arranged marriage, the compromise starts a little early. Arraged marriages are not demeaning and have never been, it just has been made that way. The person who is getting married has the ultimate power, they can stand up for themselves and tell that they don't want to be put through this thing and they will find someone for themsleves. Parents sure are not very open minded, but then how will they know if we keep wuite and go through whatever is being offered. I didn't want horoscopes to be seen and stars to be connected for my wedding and I said so, I fell in love with this person and I waned to marry him and they were alright with it. I am not defending arrnaged marriages of today or am not agianst love marriages either. If not for two people falling in love and standing up for their love, I wouldn't be here. What I am against is the corruption of a beautiful culture and little knowledge making respected norms into cattle shows. These convoluted forms of advertising our culture is what makes us look wierd and people talk about India as if it were a wierd place with people floating in air and talking to snakes. I know this blog seems to be like all over the place, but then so were my thoughts and what is a blog for if not throwing down all my thoughts as fast as I can type.

Gather the Herd and make them Decide!

For heaven's sake people, talk to each other , really just sit and talk before you spurt your research findings.
Thank God I live my life without paying heed to scientists who research stuff. I 'd be bonkers by now if I did. To give you a rough idea of the things that have been brewing.
I have to drink coffee to protect my body. But I shouldn't drink it becuase of the Caffeeine. I shouls drink Tea because of the its antioxidants, but coffee is better than tea for heart disease. I mus t keep myself active when I age otherwise I will rot, now I work when I am old I risk heart attack, I have a walk roughly about 3000 steps on an average a day, but the pedometers are faulty. tomatoes are good for their lycopene, but are addictive given their relation to the tobacco family. Milk clogs arteries, but is required for calcium. fish if required for proteins but has mercury so be warned. grilling food is good for health, but the charcoal used to grill is carcinogenic. Chocolates are very very rich in antioxidants, but they are highly fattening. red wine causes to you to go woozy, but is an esential to prevent heart problems. I mean come on don't you guys have anything better to do.
I just give a call to my grandmother. I still believe she knows best, after all she realised turmeric is good for health and beauty long before these people rattled of the statistics.

Rocky Roads and Dark Forests...

Nah, it isn't about the icecreams, although it does sound tempting enough. Man just talking about it makes my eyes glaze. The sure fire way to catch my attention is to give me an icecream. I guess I am getting distracted here...
I was off camping for a few days. It is such an amazing feeling to be away from computers, TV's, phones, and generally normal life as I know it. I took a lazy hike, which ended up being a wee bit not so lazy when I had to climb a 60 deg angle of rocks to reach the top. But it was all worth it. The vast expanse of greenery and concrete as the sun is just coming up is stunning. I ws basically lazing around all day, chatting with near and dear who cared enough to tag along and to advertise that we were Football fans to a bunch of people who call it soccer we played some and showed them real football. There was also eating in the midst of all this, or should I say the rest of it was amidst all the eating. There were chips, goold ol' Haldirams, Corn freshly grilled on camp fire, bread Sandwiches, Pav bhaji, Crackers, cookies, lemonade-loads of it, and to top it all of some really awesome Ice-cream. We sat around chatted till the last rays of sunlight vanished at around 10.00 PM. The tent was pitched near a lake and the sun ray reflected of it beautifully, people paddled at night. There were sounds of laughter and happy chatter all around, the birds were saying their goodnights. I then went to bed to the happy sounds of a guitar strumming and laughter and songs from the neighbouring camp. Okay well I didn't really snore of into a blissful sleep. I should have probably mentioned this, but this camp is supposedly notorious for bears. I didn't spot one, but I made sure I made a lot of noise wherever I went. That option is however not available when I sleep, so I sat there on a chair outside with a lantern for a few minutes till creepy-crawlies started falling from the trees above. I probably must have proved to be a souce of entertainment when I went around hopping on one knee, dusting my back, wiggling my hips and bending over and rubbing my hands up and down the other leg. It is technically not possible, but then it is not all the time you have that eerie sensation that something has gone somewhere. So there I was staring at the starlit sky as it filtered through the nets in my tent, inhaling the smell of night and listening to the croaking of a frog and thought to myself whether bears came near restrooms!!!
The best part was the sudden halt in your life. It gives you time to catch your breath, laugh, laze around and sleep under a blanket of stars and think about the stories your grandfather used to tell. It was a break from routine, from life and from time. Turned out to be one beautiful break

Of Friends and Roads

One of the things that i enjoyed most about growing up was my ability to make friends real quick. One of the things that I hated the most about growing up was the number of times I had to make them. I moved around quite a bit when I was a kid, changing four different schools. It is probably not as much as compared to people who study all around India courtesy of the banks, but it was enough to lose track of friends. The oldest friend I have managed to keep in touch with so far is from '96. I actually lost touch with her for close to 5 years. We are kind of rekindling the flames to see if we still walk on similar paths. What amazes me is not the fact that we both have changed quite a bit. Life has taken has far enough from the ribbon plaited days of middle school, but the fact that deep down a lot of our attitudes and perspectives remain the same. Maybe I am just real lucky to have found someone who grew in the same direction as I did under very similar circumstances. There have been a number of people in my life who I would regret not knowing really well, or even failing to keep in touch with. Some of the best moments I had was with a few of my primary school friends and my greatest regret was having to leave that life behind. Things would have probably been different if I had lived that life, but then I wouldn't have met this person with whom I shared my growing years and another wonderful friend of mine with whom I see myself ages from now. I see myself as I am now, as I was then and how my life will be when I am with these people, and that perhaps is the true test of friendship, the ability to survive, thrive and grow. Here's to friends and the lives we live.