I stand testimony to the Mumbai Magicians.

For the last many years I have constantly been preoccupied with this thought. Time and again, It has come to me, and every time I have relished it, every moment of it. But GWALIOR was perhaps the pinnacle point, and I couldn’t resist myself, In fact I have been compelled to pen this down.

Neither Cricket nor Celluloid, are as old as I am. Both have existed in their modern form right from the turn of the 20^th century, and many greats and legends have ruled the roost over the years, but we have been testimony to two of the greatest, Cricket and Celluloid has ever seen. Born to a generation of parents who would often recount the good old days of Indian Cinema and Indian Cricket to us. I guess, what we can recount in the decades to come would perhaps , not perhaps in fact certainly surpass their experience. I often imagine myself reclining on a old arm chair, playing the role of a raconteur to my grand children ( If I and my progenies are able to overcome the hazards of electromagnetic web around us and the myriads of destiny to procreate, at ease…..And given the fact that Indian’s excel at it……I bet, we will). The day shall come when I can proudly tell that… Yes, I have. I have seen the Mumbai Magicians at their very best, I have seen Amitabh Bacchan and Sachin Tendulkar do, what they did best, one filling every micron of the 70 mm screen, the other stamping his authority over the 22 yards and much beyond that , all over the road that leads to our heart, these milestones were really special. The Uttar Pradesh lad had seen many highs and lows, survived crashes and bashes to give us wonderful gifts like Sholay and Deewar.

But in a sense the Marathi boy outscores him, for even BigB needs to do different things differently every Friday , to live up to his pedestal of Fame. But this man does the same thing without Difference and yet is lauded the world over. Given that I was yet to be born when Sholay happened, but 15^th of November 1989 was a day when I woke up under the same sun and breathed in the same air, that blessed him. Indian cricket saw the entry of the 187^th man on their roll, in a Test match against their arch rivals Pakistan, but the 15 runs scored was hardly a reflection of his true prowess. As years rolled by, the magician started revealing his tricks, and by the time I had reached my teens, he was the in the process of becoming the greatest in the making. Donald Bradman had endorsed this boy’s skills, for he could ruminate over his hey days watching this little over 5’ Homo sapien. He wallowed in the nostalgia of the willow and pronounced this boy to be someone alike. Indeed, Sir Don did not survive to see his magnum opus, but had seen sufficient of him to have entertained himself during the last years of his life, at his Bowrel home near Adelaide. Over the years, Sunil Gavaskar’s records faded in the hallow of this man’s achievements , until a time came when people(especially over prudent analysts of Indian Crciket were ready to write his Epitaph and write him off as an injury prone cricketer, past his prime.) But the gentleman wasn’t ready to hit back at them with sharp words but he did so with his sharp cuts and drove them from Extra Cover to somewhere in the obscurity of the boundaries. He was peaking again, this time it wasn’t Desert Strom, it was the Inter-continental Tsunami that was his playing ground. From the bouncy Wacca to the dust bowl in Colombo, from Mirpur and Dhaka to Nagpur and Eden, it was shining bright. And just when I was getting a bit anxious, came Gwalior. Arguably the greatest moment in the history of world cricket unfolded in front of this central Indian city , as he hit and punched those weary muscles that were cramping, he was at 199, and I; like any other Indian fan was expecting the inevitable, but just then I felt, we as a nation have always been wanting for the last 22 years from one man. A billion people wanting just one man to deliver. But it’s not without reason people call him the God of the Game… And without an aide to do the sprinting , he pushed the bowl and ran the yards. And that was it, the evening of 24^th February, 2010 was embossed in golden letters in the history of the game. Sachin Tendulkar was the first man in the history of 40 years of ODIs to score a double ton in this version of the game. Having had watched him, its been a true pleasure and a true honour. Here’s wishing him luck and all my good will for his century of centuries and his Test Triple Ton, and yes the a World Cup in his kitty by the end of 2011.

In fact Amitabh Bacchan has also mersmerised us in the same way, crafted his acts to pierce and percolate through our senses and sensibilities , giving rise to emotions and feeling that were truly priceless. I as an Indian born in the 1980s and having grown up watching these legends , feel Blessed. Hoping to see more from the Mumbai Magicians.

MBBS - The Morality Factor?

Hello everyone, I just want to explain the happenings in our college in a case format. Hope you guys enjoy it . The Case History Follows

Personal Details

Name : Mr. NRR

Age : 18 yrs

Sex : Male

Religion : Universal

Marital Status : Bachelor

Occupation : Student

Bed : Room No. X in the Boys' Hostel

C/C : Ambition to become a doctor since childhood

HOPI :An 18 year old male patient by name Mr NRR, presented in the college OPD with chief complaints of an ambition to become a doctor since childhood. He was apparently asymptomatic (except for minor episodes of testosterone overdrive) before the thought, and the presenting complaint was sudden in onset after seeing, gradual in progression, with an ever increasing severity since the past 2 years and was stimulating in character, aggravated by seeing the successful doctors, and relieved after enjoying with the non medical friends.

History of Past Illness : No similar complaints in the past. He is not a known ratta master and slogger. There were no similar complaints from the other members of the family. On general examination, he was conscious, coherent, co operative, well oriented to time, space and person, but is little disturbed. Higher functions - normal. Attitude - ambitious. No abnormality was detected on clinical examination. He was admitted, for observation to relieve his complaint, and was subjected to a battery of investigations spanning over a 5 and a half years, involving all the senior members of the college.

At first he was reluctant to get treated (ragging), the facilities have albeit deteriorated over the years due to strict and stringent rules laid out by MCI and the Supreme Court, but he was gradually cooperative. He was put under tremendous pressure in the later part of the first year. Complained of palpitations and nausea the day before the exam. Was not prescribed anything. He ultimately cleared the first year exam. This phenomenon continued till the third year, and a good response was noted as his chief complaint started to show some sort of improvement. All of his engineering friends were well settled. He was aging. He was feeling insecure. Somehow, by god's grace, he was able to clear the final mbbs exam. BUT, that journey-- was filled with a lot of pressure, tension, insercurity, etc. He became tired of the investigations and even questioned his mind during the announcement of results. He did not have any previous experience of doing this. Ultimately he did it.

Allergic History : Allergic to chutia's (Chatur Mahalingam types) but sensitized during his medical college days due to overexposure.

Dietary and Personal History:

Smoking : Heavily

Drinking :Regularly

Girlithology(Science of Girl Watching ): Adequate

Masturbal History(Equivalent of Menstrual History)

Ejaculate : Adequate

Jerks: In rolling motion (exaggerated)

Drug History :

1. Gold Flake 69mm(small size) - 10 sticks at 1 hourly interval for 2-3 weeks during episodes of severe stress

2. Blender's Pride 40ml(neat) x 3 - OD (oral) during episodes of unbearable stress

Nothing else suggestive

General Examination

->Decubitus : Loves to sleep

->Pallor : Severe

->Anemia: Severe

->Icterus : Not present now, but he had an episode during last winters following overdose of the 2nd prescribed drug

->Cyanosis : Gradually developing (Probable Lung Cause - Due to overdose of the 1st Prescribed Drug)

->Neck Veins and Glands : Not engorged neither palpable

Nothing Else Suggestive

Most Probable Diagnosis :

Today he doubts, he doubts of his intellectual curiosity, whether he really needed this. He is even more confused than before about his ambition. He wants to achieve and prove it to the world that he is something in the world. He realises that the journey which he faced is just a preview of the future. Digging his own road, he found himself landed nowhere. Now he wants to go back to that very time, and then change everything, but then he is confused again as what to change. The treatment and investigations the college gave were too much for him. And suddenly he realises one thing. ... it is this journey which makes him unique. it is this very journey that makes a man out of you, that gives you all the stress needed in the world, and top of all the individuality which is also a by-product of this arduous journey. He did a bit of soul searching and realised that this is the way life here is and hence his complaint grew in terms of severity. He realised that every person who joins medicine and is ambitious in finishing the journey is a successful person. Every doctor represents a success story. There is nothing like an unsuccessful or a successful practitioner. A physician is always a physician. This chap now realises that he was just grinded mentally and physically ,,,, and finally he became a doctor, without realising.

FOLLOW UP ADVICE :

MORAL - MBBS TEACHES YOU A LOT OF THINGS, SOME OF WHICH LIKE EXAM FEAR GET THE HELL OUT OF YOU. ENJOY THE JOURNEY AND FORGET ABOUT STRESS. RESULT WILL BE A BY PRODUCT OF YOUR UNFORGETTABLE JOURNEY. TILL THEN ENJOY THE FUN ON THE RUN ....

Give me some SUNSHINE...Give me some RAIN

After defeating inertia in a long battle of two weeks, comes this post. Give me some sunshine....It was a typical winter afternoon of 30th December in Silchar,when we chose that afternoon to be that blessed hour of the day when there was no work to do and a trip to the local cinema hall could be easily planned. I had read FPS during my earliest days in college. And could very well and very easily realty to the characters in there. Thought not exactly but there were analogous components , like the ones in FPS, in my batch as well. Some silly, some nerdy, some unfairly competitive and most of all the typical middle class backdrop , its dreams and doubts, realities and certainties, desires and dilemmas , i could empathise with these emotions or ways of life very well, for mine was not much different either. Born int o a family of doctors from the paternal side and engineers and teachers from the maternal side, I grew up in an environment where getting anything less than an admission into an engineering college was sort of looked down upon. And though not forced by parents but somehow and somewhere the idea percolated into my mind that becoming an engineer or a doctor was like climbing the summit of one's life. But today almost at the end of my graduation days in Medical School , I realise that those weren't notions but illusions from which the generation suffered.

If the trend continues to grow among the middle class of this country then perhaps by the turn of the next century India will turn into a country of scientifically trained robots with a heart that can only beat and a mind that needs only oxygen to survive. A country that won't produce nay films, a country that won't produce any writer , poets, athletes, sportsman, painters, musicians or for that matter nothing like that. Every one would be busy only earning money and living his life in the most mechanized of ways and if he falters in the way in between, wither out like the Lily of May. A generation like ours have suffered the brunt of parents' unburnt desire and in the process many who have failed to cope up with the pressure cooker like situation the academic framework of the country provides, have been boiled and oven dried. and no ruler, no king, not even the government, but it is the brittle Bourgeoisie ( the middle class), who are to blame. If we stand up and stand against them for a face off, no power in this nation can deprive us of our rights and the rights of every young Indian. And every parent can wishfully and willfully let his or her son or daughter bloom in the orchard of life as they want to be. ..........................................................Till then we need some sunshine of hope , some rain of innovative ideas and a blizzard with winds of change reaping across this country. And i don't know about anyone else....I surely need them in abundance....

take care and love always

sunny

Resilience or Reluctance?

After 11th September 2001, I thought that this was the most adventurous attempt by terrorists at displaying their flexed muscles in a Metropolis, but 8 years down the line on the night of 26th November of 2008, the idea changed for ever. 9/11 was a moment of reality that will live down our memory lane for decades to come, as a moment of mindless mayhem. But 26/11 ...how do we categorize it? 10 men ,58 hours ,5 targets, and a nation of a billion people at ransom to their barrels. Even a year after that day it's difficult to assemble the puzzle. Because with their death some parts of the jig-saw were lost forever. Yet, most of us continue to live on with the same reluctance or perhaps the same resilience. And this "give-it-a-damn" attitude largely on display in the streets bewilders me. Every time I try ,I fail, to comprehend the reason for this. Guess we are a dunce learner as a nation. Who never took any lesson seriously and never botherd to memorize it by heart and in their hearts.

The police is following its old religious rites and rituals, bribes and bureaucracy are like hands shaking each other, and with this dilapidated infrastructure, the parliamentarians and ministers are busy stocking their swiss bank accounts and the country continues to live in a fear muted by harsh realities of life. We as a nation have shed enough tears , lit many candles, given long speeches and threw some tough question at our leaders. But despite all this the situation continues to be same. It seems quite odd to think that nation barely 62 years old has lost its national character to stand as a unit in protecting its sovereignty. But this is our reality, this is our story.

We are furious when a film like Slumdog Millionaire shows the poverty of India , the shadows of this nation to bag an Academy Award , but we all contribute to this shadow, that shimmers in the bright dazzle of the Indian sun. Mumbaikars continue to empty their pockets on party and luxury, the people in charge of this nation are no different and the men in KHAKI who protect us still carry on their shoulders Rifles that perhaps we had inherited from the last companies of British soldiers before partition. Barely able to recoil anymore. But our silence to all this is in deed golden.

Is it our resilience as a nation or reluctance or a lack of collective will and consciousness, is the question?

FUN ON THE RUN

The days and weeks before exams are like fun on th run type situation when last moment movers and packers like me set the balls rolling , barely eighteen days to go for final MBBS Part I to begin and the amount of course complete is barely fifty percent , with the guillotine of being barred from taking the exam due to low attendance looming large over my head, It was only after the test results were announced on the 6th of November that I picked up the book to go for the run, and when u have to run a million mile in one millionth of a time , its indeed a fun job, fun on the run , where to maximize output I use maximum resources in minimum time and every time (from my past experiences) I have come to realize, somehow I make the final cut with a thin line in between . Reading between the lines has been a old hobby from school days and being the last one to start preparations for the exams gives u a thrill and jitter that's priceless.....a lonely journey to a brighter tomorrow...and in the road in between its fun on the run ......so till the 23rd of December keep praying for me that I make the final cut.....

love always

sunny

Sunny side up is a funny ferment of a frivolous mind, an attempt to provide a breather to netizens from all the gibberish talk that's going on in cyberia. Funny , curious and serious in his own way , sunny side is an attempt to dig a small burrow in the void formed by the mighty sky scrappers of the virtual Blog York.....