Friday, March 16, 2012

When when became if and then became when

In my head, I have written and re-written this piece multiple times.  I cannot do any more editing.  What follows is exactly what I feel about Sachin Tendulkar's 100th 100.  If the thoughts are jumbled and disorganized it is because that's how they are in my head.

CricInfo's headline at the end of the Indian inning today was: Tendulkar's 100th century takes India to 289.  (Or something similar).  In my mind it actually was - Tendulkar's 100th century restricts India to 289.

Why, oh why, could he have not done this in the tour of West Indies, which he skipped?  Why, oh why?!!  For the want of a nail, a kingdom was lost.

For all his posturing about not caring about the milestone, it was blatantly obvious that he did.  If you believe him, then I own a statue of a lady in New York that I want to sell to you.

I woke up at 3am with a "premonition".  If India was batting, this was the day.  I am an unabashed admirer of VVS Laxman, but I am a fan of SRT when he bats like was born to bat.  For brief periods today, that SRT came to the fore.  When he did, I smiled.

I have a feeling we are going to see a couple more years of SRT.  No reason why he cannot continue playing.  He is still among the best batsmen in the world.  With no clauses.

Friday, March 02, 2012

Light and dark

How do artisits think the way they do? How do they come up with such beautiful expressions of their talent?

I can barely draw an X and they can create something so visually stunning it beggars belief. Here's an example of how to use shadows to create something magical. Awe-inspiring.

On a totally unrelated (and related) note - here's a very rare image, one that I am 100% confident will never be taken again - an artist working on the least-known skill of his.

The rest is silence

Thank heavens for small mercies.  By defeating Australia and qualifying for the finals, Sri Lanka did the Indian selectors a great favor.  Imagine how embarrassed they would have felt had India made it to the final and Virender Sehwag, who is nursing an injury so severe he cannot play a game two weeks away, would have had to struggle through that very-same injury to play the final.

He who watches out for Indian cricket (Mr. Srinivasan God) must be happy.  It gives his Chennai Super Kings Indian players a chance to rest before the very important IPL Asia Cup.