first 12 years of me.. somethings to remember.. somethings to forget

March 15, 1983 was a nice and pleasant day or was it ? somewhere in a remote village of Andra Pradesh my parents had their first baby and fortunately or unfortunately that was me, named Nagashankar, some call Nag(a), most of them call Shankar and a handful like to say Shan with Love. It has been an amazing journey this 26 years, it is not the end or not even half of what it would end up, however I felt I should recap these years before all the memories are burried deep down which cannot be digged out later on. Not much I can remember of the first 4-5 years but from all that my relatives and parents told me, being the first kid of my family I was always taken good care as a child having more than all the luxuries that a lower-middle class family child can have. Happenings from around the Age of 5 are the ones that I can remember nice and clear. I loved to play cricket like most of the kids of India, I was around 5 when I had a fight with a group of kids may be 2 or 3 years elder to me because they would not include me in the team, so I went to the play area and told them nice and clear "If you are not going to let me play, I can do the same" and stood in the middle of the field stubborn and one of the kid from the group takes a stone and throws right on my face which just misses the head and hits just below the left eye as I fell unconscious there on the ground and was rushed to a hospital and had a few stiches on the face. My mother says I might have lost about a litre of blood that day. This is something I always want to forget but the Scar on my face that I see everyday in the mirror never lets me forget. As a Kid I was never troublesome, I always used to do my homework on time and I always stood 1st in my class right from lower KG ( LKG) till I completed by Secondary School except in two instances after I moved to bangalore later on. I was was never demanding but the problem was I was never at home, running around the streets was one of my favourite hobbies, even as a Kid I used to get back home hours after the sun-set and get beaten up for that as I used to be on the play ground all the time be it a week-day, sunday or a public holiday. I was 7 when I stood first in the entire school and my Head-master gave a double promotion and promoted me to 3rd Std from 1st as a recognition for my efforts. My teachers asked me to read 3rd Std syllabus but then I had this strange feeling that I have missed out on something by not reading 2nd Std syllabus, I used to borrow books from my previous friends in the leisure time of school to read and catch up just out of interest. A year later upon my head-master's suggestion, my parents shifted me to a different school which was well known and even in the year 1992 the strength of the school was around few thousands and each class had like 6 sections ( 4th std sec A, B C and so on ). Going to this school was a life time experience for me. The school was not next door to my house as the previous one was, I had to change two buses to get to the school and it was around 10 kms, it was a serious challenge as there were now 100's of kid;s in each year competing. I became a bit more tough during the course of my studies in this school both mentally and physically. Days when school ends by afternoon I used to get lift from two-wheelers at times and walk some odd days, literally 10 kms walk just because I knew I could. One of the best things to happen during this time was I met two kids Chalapathi and Sridhar who went on to become two of my best friends during school time. But sadly enough I dont know them anymore. I seriously wish I knew all this websites like orkut / facebook at that time so that I would never loose contact with them. By 9 I was enjoying the time away from school and places away from home a bit more and knew that I need more money to buy things and to be able to roam around a bit more other than just the school and home, so along with my friends we used to bunk classes and submit fake leave letters to my teachers and spend time playing cricket and roaming around places in hyderabad. I used to ocassionaly steal some money from my dad's pockets and sometimes from my mom's purse. I know of one situation when I was caught and beaten up. Back home I had a friend in Nandini, right from the time I return from school till the time I get to bed I used to play with her all the time, jumping hoping studying, eating, all in all everything with her and at times we used to do some really naughty things which I laugh at today. There were some ongoing problems in my family and eventually in 1993, my dad had to shift to Bangalore for the purpose of work. It was January and a very odd time to move places as it would affect the schooling to a great extent but my parents could not help but move on. Luckily for me I got admission to a school in bangalore in Feb, It was a small and normal convent school but the challenge was to complete the entire syllabus of Fifth Standard in 2 months time and to be ready for the exams in April. My parents and I knew I can somehow manage all the subjects expect for one "KANNADA". Until this point in time I never knew that there is one such language called kannada that even existed. Though the script used was not very different from Telugu, I hardly understood the language and more over time pressure. Then came an angel in disguise of a teacher, she was called Sumathi and my class teacher, she gave me all special attention that I needed to understand this new language. I used to go to classes in the morning, go the tutions in the evening and then most of the night taking notes of the past 8-9 months by borrowing books from kids who were kind enough to lend books to me, esp one called Purushotham and the other Manjunath, luckily I still talk to them and meet up with them even today. A Month and a bit more somewhere in April 1st week, I had enough confidence to go for the exams. All the efforts were now put to test and believe me I came out with flying colors and got 77% overall and some 60% in Kannada. For the first time I did not stand 1st in the class but it did not matter as that was one of the toughest two month I have had in life so far and I was so happy to get through. I cried in dis-belief, cried in happiness, cried for the relief that I got, my parents and teachers just didn't;t know what to say, they were just happy and mom and dad cried and told proudly "I knew you could do it my boy and we are really sorry to put you through this". Those words are still in my ears and I think of it time and time and feel really happy about it. After the results, the next year onwards I stood first in my class replacing my best enemy in my school - Manimekala, she was one popular girl known for her for walking style and beating up boys all the time. I had real pleasure in edging her out in the academics throughout until the Final exams in 10th. By now I was already very famous in school especially due to the strong academics. Life was really really cool especially because of the attention I used to get in school and back home but among my friends at home, I was just another kid and I used to like that equally well. That is the recap of the first 10-12 years.... watch this space for the next part of this series. ;-) Thanks for reading..

A Farewell bid to the Legend Anil Kumble

ANIL KUMBLE unlike most of the cricketers was never in any sort of controversies. He is calm on the field, answering with a smile to the irritating questions that reporters ask but at the same time aggressive when u give him the ball, it always amazed me how Kumble turned to a Leg spinner from a Fast Bowler, infact even now he just deceives everyone as a Spin bowler, he is the only spinner I can remember who can bowl over 100Km/Hr Speed and who says a Tail-ender cannot bat, he has made a century and also some very important contribution over the last 18 years.

Kumble may not turn the ball as much Warne, Murali, Bajji and other very well known spin bowlers but he is the 3rd Highest Wicket taker in the world and the Most by an Indian. How can we forget the test match against west indies when he came out to bowl with bandage over his head and the jaw, he did take a few wickets including the rock solid Brian Lara making match more interesting more than all that it is his fighting spirit that he is known for.

What a joy it was when kumble took all 10 wickets against pakistan in Feroz-shah kotla, I can never forget Javagal srinath bowling away from the batsman so that only Kumble can get the last wicket, the Bangalore match when Javagal / Kumble together won the QuaterFinals against Pakistan as they scored some 30 odd vital run for the last Wicket.

He is one of the most respected if not the the only among his peers, he is quiet but he can truely support his team-mates when need be, remember the Test Match Controversies in Australia, he backed the indian Team.

He accepted Captiancy of Indian Team when the team was left orphaned after Dravid stepped down and Sachin did not want the role ( with all due respect to Sachin, he is much better as a player than a Captian).

A Bow to the legend and a Farewell Bid to the Most Calm Gaint of the Spin bowling.

Felipe Massa just misses and Hamilton gets to his First world Championship.

It was a Sunday and I didn't want to go anywhere today but had to go to Argos to return creative speakers that I had got. Soon after that I hurried home to watch the last of the Formula One Races of 2008 and the decisive one for the 2008 championship, boy it lived up-to the expectations of the decisive race. Start of the race and into a few corners David Couthard, the Man who has driven most races in the history of formula1 retired because of Nico Rosberg who hit him on the side, then it was under the safety car for a few laps.

It was a quiet race for Felipe Massa leading from the front, the title too far away from him now as Hamilton was always 4/5 on the track which would fetch with world championship anyway.

10 more laps to go and with prediction of rain, few drivers changed to wet tyres and few laps later there was a bit of rain, so being cautios all drivers changed to wet except for a few one being Timo glock and then on lap 69 it was Toro Rosso new hero who overtook Hamilton for 5th place and put Hamilton out of contention for the World Chhampionship, just less than a lap to go now and Felipe Massa won the race and it was now certain that Felipe Massa would be the winner but just 2 more corners to go for Hamilton, Timo Glock could not keep in on track and then Hamilton crossed the chequered flag in 5th place handing him the World Championship, It was too near yet too far for Massa, my heart goes to Massa. I was just shouting and screaming when Vetel passed Massa but then Seeing Hamilton cross the flag in 5th, I was just in tears and so was Massa, boy what a end to a thrilling race.

Congratulations to Hamilton but nothing to be taken away from Felipe Massa... he drove absolutely superb races but the Lady luck wasn't just there for him.. Lewis being in this situation last year deserves to be victorious. and thoroughly deserves the Championship and Wish Felipe Massa best of Luck in the future races.

bangalore blast july 25

I got up bit late that day, hurried to office to finish off work, it was Friday, 10 minutes after I reach office I get a message on google from my friend informing me about a serial blasts in bangalore, my mind just stopped functioning for a few minutes and I read that statement 10 times and then opened some online newspapers before realising it was true. My heart started beating a bit more faster and more worried, I called my immediate family members and friends some 7000 kms away to ensure they were all safe.

http://www.deccanherald.com/DeccanHerald.com/Content/Jul262008/scroll2008072681032.asp?section=updatenews

http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080058856

http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080058674

Bangalore along with Mumbai and other major cities in India are always on the hitlist for terrorism as it seems trying to disrupt the normal life in the cities.

I can imagine what was going on in millions of minds back in bangalore and people who have their loved ones in bangalore, it was so disturbing.

I could not work for the next half of the day, but when speaking to one of my friend this is what he said

"I understand that it is sad but we should not worry a lot about these blasts and by worrying we will only support terrors which we should not"

It immediately stuck my brian that the whole intension behind this terrorism and these terrorists are that people should live in despair and thinking of terror everytime, but this statement that my friend made is a complete defeat to their intensions.

My heart goes to the poeple who are affected in these blasts but I have no doubt the people who are behind all these will pay for the wrong deeds in some form or the other.

But the thing is what I can do to stop these or even reduce it remains a question ?

Arranged marriages

I came across a blog where a girl trying to defend her arguments about advantages and disadvantages of arranged marriages.

My opinion, I may be stupid but I like to be that way.

One can't everytime think of advantages and disadvantages in everything that one does, most of the time just one thing can drive the entire objective.

When our parents gave us birth, they never thought of pros and con's.:-)

some points I would to mention in support of a arranged marriage are these

The thrill of knowing a new person is life is same as that of in Love marriage.

It is a a phenomena between two families and not just two individuls.

It is a surrender of your Ego(s) in a arranged marriage.

Expectation are too little and whatever you get is a bonus and that helps in building a long term relation.

Happy to listen more comments

Clouds and just clouds

I have fallen in love with the clouds of late.
I can sit there, watch them for hours together while they move slowly overseeing me from a distance, they are so different from other natural beauties, they are so beautiful and makes me happy with every new glance, they are so pure and mild, they have the magic to float in the sky. Some photos that I have taken when I was in London last week.
http://picasaweb.google.com/nagashankarp/London

Some interesting facts about clouds on wiz kids
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/cloud.htm

Growing confidence as season progresses...

More and more games I play more and more confidence I get in me as a bowler. I am enjoying week-in week-out playing for Long Ashton though it is the 2nd XI Team.

Few weeks back, I bowled some very tight line for 9 overs and got rewarded, 2 wickets of which one was the best one I have had so far, pitched outside the off curled in to the batsman at waist high, batsman nicks it and straight to the slip.. amazing feeling that as a bowler, I enjoyed every bit of it, Again this week it was same pitched on the middle right into the batsman's body , nicks it straight to the hands of slip fielder, second of the dismissal this week was one pitched on the good length, straight through the defences of the batsman and dislodge the bails and directly into the middle stump.

Wow.. isn't that a wonderful moment.