Lyrics (Hindi): Jeene Do, 3 Idiots

Once in a while you hear a song that makes you nostalgic. Well this one does. Took me back to the inter hostel singing competitions. Don’t know where this song will be inserted in the movie. I would like it to be a stage performance by the college band.  Let me live, at least for a moment. This is to the society which takes the childhood away.

सारी उम्र हम,
मर मर के जी लिए,
एक पल तो अब हमें,
जीने दो…जीने दो – ३

Na Na Na Na
Na Na Na Na Na Na

Give Me Some Sunshine,
Give Me Some Rain,
Give Me Another Chance,
I Wanna Grow Up Once Again.  – 2

कन्धों को किताबों के बोझ ने झुकाया,
रिश्वत देना तो खुद पापा ने सिखाया,
99% Marks लाओगे तो घड़ी वरना छड़ी,

लिख लिख कर पड़ा हथेली पर,
Alpha, Beta, Gamma का छाला,
Concentrated H₂SO₄ ने पूरा,
पूरा बचपन जला डाला,

बचपन तो गया,
जवानी भी गयी,
एक पल तो अब हमें,
जीने दो जीने  दो – २

सारी उम्र हम,
मर मर के जी लिए,
एक पल तो अब हमें,
जीने दो…जीने दो,

Na Na Na Na
Na Na Na Na Na Na

Give Me Some Sunshine,
Give Me Some Rain,
Give Me Another Chance,
I Wanna Grow Up Once Again.  – 2

Na Na Na Na
Na Na Na Na Na Na

Cricket and my Grandpa

A: “Sachin plays for himself. I better, he stops playing”

B: “Hey! What are you saying? He is a great match winner”

A: “But don’t you think he is old enough to be pensioned?”

B: “He is still scoring tons. Isn’t he?”

A: “He is past his prime”

B: “Yeah with average of 50 during last year! I think your mind is sub-prime”

A:  “Go to hell”

B: “You go to hell”

…

…

A: “Coffee?”

B: “Ok.”

This is what a cricket discussion in India sounds like. A general discussion suddenly gets focused on Sachin and from no where rival gangs sprout up. Pro and anti Sachin sentiments start flaring. Swear words and curses are thrown all around. Then there is truce. This cycle repeats itself day after day.

My earliest encounters with cricket date back to my Grandfather. He was a great cricket enthusiast and even greater Sachin basher. I reckon he lost a bet or two coz of Sachin and he remained pissed off with him forever. “Out ho gaya. Yeh bhi nahin socha ki mausa ji ke paise lage hain”, I remember him mumbling when Sachin got out stumped while chasing against NZ. Above statement is a classical example of raw humor of the oldies. It relates the player who got out to my grandmothers family. So the loss is blamed squarely on the player and my poor old grandmother. I tell you, these oldies can be quite cruel sometimes. The trick lies in not being over smart with them.

He was not a fan of what we call the purest form, the Gavaskar style of cricket. He adored Windies team of 70-80’s. “Lala, kaalon ka aakhiri khiladi bhi aata tha toh chakka maarata hua aata tha” (Even their last player started off with a six). The only Indian player of old about whom I heard anything positive from him was Kris Srikkanth. “Jab who ballebaaji karta tha toh bazaar soone ho jaate the” (Streets got deserted when he came on to bat). For all those who say that oldies preferred Tests to ODIs here’s the last salvo. “Are yeh paanch din ka khel humse nahin dekha jaata. Ghanton baithe raho, ek bhi chowka chakka nahin lagta” (Not a single boundary is hit for hours).

From the current era Jayasurya and Afridi (Afriki for him) were his favorites. Indian team was the most unreliable team as far as he was concerned. “Are inka koi bharosa nahin. Lanka ke khilaaf 200 kuch banana the, saala aaya raam gaya raam shuru ho gaya, aur sab ke sab 78 run pe simat gaye. Mausaji ka nuksaan ho gaya”.

I think T20 would have been the best format for him. Sadly it was during his last years that T20 got popular. It would have been wonderful to watch IPL with him. However he took off even before season one.

Regardless of what people are saying nowadays, I can never lose interest in and ODI game. I have grown up with it. It’s like a ritual to me. And of course it has memories of my grandpa. I remember one of his favorite quotes. Whenever Azhar played well, he used to say, “Captaan hai koi naayi ka launda thode hi hai” (He is not a commoner, he is the captain after all). So it goes for the ODIs.

Changes and Phases

It’s been a long break from blogging. I haven’t been all that busy to tell you the truth. It’s just that the urge to put my thoughts together was missing of late. In fact I was afraid to.

We encounter various circumstances in life. Some of them were never even wished for. Things move and we suddenly find ourselves trying hard to row against the tide of this rapid change. Not everyone is apt enough to handle it. Initially we try and ignore things, up to the point that they are right into our faces. Whereby we experience an outburst followed by rescinding into a shell.

I am sure everyone has faced such times in their life. At least I have.  They used to be frequent during college when the process of learning about life probably started. Before was just a mad race to the top whence there was no time to stop and think. I have faced it again during my newly started professional life. However I find it a bit different this time. Specially in terms of rebound time.

College life, that too in an IIT, gives you full control over your public appearances. You can forego classes for some time before being missed. You need to write the exams though. One could easily lock himself up in the room, coming out when and where he wants to. This aids the recovery process. One needs some time alone to come to grasp with his own insecurities and internal emotional churnings.

What happens during the professional life is that one has to go to office daily, no choice there. He has to meet people daily. One couldn’t possibly get the long away time to reflect on oneself and hence the rebound takes longer.

Now after a few weeks I feel at peace with myself al over again. As per the reasons to the dull phase, when the initial excitement of a new city, a new job, dies down, the reality of accepting it as our own, a routine strikes us. We need some time to settle down. These are the common symptoms among the migrant workers such as me who are born in one place, study elsewhere and work some where else. Here I would like to mention the city of Mumbai. The accepting cosmopolitan nature of this city has helped me a lot in adjusting to the new surroundings. It grows on you slowly. Give it some time and you will fall in love with it. I feel me again, till the next bout of course.