Vivacious, Imperious, Victorious

Sir Vivian Richards turned 55 today. The most destructive batsman the world has seen, the most fearsome batsman any bowler can bowl to, the man with the most powerful presence each day he walked on to the field - you exhaust all the superlatives when you talk about this individual. We all read eulogies - but those for this dynamo always stand out. They reach the highest level of reverence, and go further to infringe the territories of worship. For, there are cricketers. And then, there is Viv Richards.




I thought of writing something for him, but then, I am not too good at overcoming my emotions. I would update this with one essay I wrote about one leader I look upto which is not currently in Unicode now. I am also compiling a document on articles and news on the great man from various websites. Reading his autobiography opened a whole new perspective on his personality. No one relates the word discipline to Viv, but - beneath his masterly swagger and legendary arrogance - it meant the most to Viv.




I end with one advertising campaign that Reebok used to run on the King in his playing days. A giant billboard with a close-up shot just read - "Also avaialable for mortals." Here's wishing you the best life has to offer, may your mind flourish in the same spirit and your physique defy your age for countless sixers to come!

A year goes by - March 2

As mentioned in my last post, today is my brother's first wedding anniversary. (Quite coincidentally, it is my dear sister-in-law's anniversary too :D)

What rendered a grand celebration impossible was around 90 degrees of longitudes between us. They presently live in the UK, which means we had to distribute the joys and celebrations evenly in three cities - Newbury, Calcutta, Hyderabad. My brother is a grand foodie who prefers to go only for the interesting cuisines (read non-vegetarian) in enviable quantities. And since the beginning of time, he always does it in style. He gets all the more rampant and 'hollow' when Maa prepares the (out of this world) chicken and mutton dishes or when he eats out. Go out with him once to know what I am saying. With such a 'broad outlook' (the twisted pun is intended), it is only apt that his wife would show so much enthusiasm to prepare what he likes. My parents in Calcutta went for a few good dishes to celebrate the occasion, we went out (read previous post to know where) but they did it in real style. The menu for the night is - crispy duck, prawn curry, stuffed salmon, chicken tikka strips and ice cream :)

He's not just about food like me though. He's among the smartest, sharpest and broadest minds around with unbelievable resilience and confidence. He's the one I look up to - especially for the last two traits.

I love my sister-in-law, she's one of the sweetest persons you can ever come across. You see less of her sharpness and more of her warmth, and instantly feel at home. Like my brother, she has immense and unquestioned faith on my abilities and I don't think both of them believe that I cannot do or fail in something. Other than cooking for my brother, she loves listening to old songs, solve jigsaw puzzles and not to forget video-chatting in skype and playing pool in yahoo with me. :) This is rather a very weak account of her but this is all you get to know when you have not stayed more than a few hours with someone and have always chatted online. Even though she does not sing much, her voice and laugh sound like music. Talking of songs, reminds me about a unique talent that could take her to Ripley's - she sings while sleeping almost every other night! Imagine the plight of my brother in the middle of the night when she suddenly breaks into, say - 'Dekh le, aankhon mein aankhein daal...'

We'd be celebrating in grand style when they come to India in April. So holding on for a month till the ambience is all food, music and laughter. Here's wishing the best in this world and beyond to two of the best around. As I wished today - 'Happy First Anniversary, let's keep counting till we lose count.' :)

Adonis wants to die

I am sure all of us are familiar with pop-ups promising out-of-the-world gifts ABSOLUTELY FREE just because we were the site's 1000000th (may vary with more number of zeros). If you do not close the window right away, you are in for an impromptu test of your patience. Same with emails claiming you have won a fortune based on a draw of lots on email ids! I get excited calls and messages from my not-so-conversant friends on such pop-ups and emails quite regularly.

So when I saw this mail in the morning about winning the Best Couple Competition for Valentine's Day, I was on my usual 'select, send to trash' routine when I gave it a second look. This one looked original with no fancy images or formatting and had names of real people. Even the mail was addressed to two real people, who happened to go out for dinner on the mentioned date. Soon I could relate 'mlc' in the sender's email id to 'Mainland China' - indeed the place we dined at. The body of the mail read, yes in ALL CAPS, thus -

CONGRATULATION ! WE ARE PROUD TO INFORM YOU THAT YOU ARE THELUCKY WINNER OF BEST COUPLE OF VALENTINE DAY OF 2007.YOU HAVE WON A GIFTVOUCHER WORTH RS 500/- WHICH YOU CAN REDEEM AT ANY OUTLET OF SPECIALITYRESTAURANT PVT.LTD (THROUGH OUT THE COUNTRY) WITHIN 13TH MARCH,2007.

Why wait till 13 March when there is so much to celebrate today? (Incidentally, this day last year my brother got married.) The food, especially the starters, were great that day and we ate to our hearts' content. An encore is on the cards tonight and I am thrilled about it. :)

I am happy to say the least. But also quite flummoxed at this newest title. Why? Well, there are two equal parts in any couple. And where one half is yours truly (and truly ugly, you bet), such a title keeps taunting in the mind. However charming my far-better-half is. If I were not myself and someone told me this, I'd be rolling on the floor by now - which is exactly what my friends are going to do.

All I can do is to thank her for always being there with me, making me a better person and sharing the joys together, even the embarrassing and ridiculous ones like this. :)