JAMES, GOMES, ME and…RAGHU DIXIT!

“Bhai I don’t think we can have any fun at this place, let’s go back,” said Gomes with a face which certainly said the story. James followed him. I stood in a state of shock as to how convince them that Indian Habitat Centre, New Delhi was a different place.

“I guess it’s our bad luck today, else trust me almost every day they have a rock band performing here. Chalo koi nahi I have my digi cam so we can click some pix here,’. Now ‘being clicked ’ is something no one has an objection to. We all are ever ready to pose all the time, at all the places (don’t think of objectionable ones).

“Hmm Ok. That should be some fun,” said Gomes, with an expression as if our parents caught us with CD's of porn movies. We began our hunt for suitable locations.

So there we were. As I had promised James and Gomes we were on a weekend outing. They were adamant to visit Priya or Saket but I somehow convinced them that they should once visit Indian Habitat Centre(IHC), as it’s a place that has a lot of creative atmosphere. Adding spice to my conversation I also told them that every evening there is some or the other rock band performance as well plus the crowd is young and attractive. Just for the sake of a Rock Band and a young crowd, they were here and all we found was a photography exhibition (no matter how hard we tried we couldn't take a message from any of them) and screening of a soundless-expressionless documentary film (we didn’t die as it was not motionless).

"Hows this? Shift a little…no no to your left…or no, to your right…what the hell…left or right?...no no to your left and my right…ohho now don’t fight…waaaow! What a beautiful sight!!"~ Is a brief of the photo session.

The photo session continued and continued, 3 of us posed a trillion times in zillions poses and we gave up once we fell short of better poses. Now the situation was worse, we all were extremely tired and we kept walking just for the sake of it. These are the times when you think if you had a machine which could take you home in seconds. James and Gomes were still disappointed as they were here to enjoy music and the young crowd was much younger than they had expected. So my funda of a Youngistan failed.

“The pix are really nice,” I tried to divert them from ‘This-place-sucks!’ mode, to which they just nodded which meant I failed again.

The last time I visited Indian Habitat Centre with my college friends, it was an amazing experience. I personally liked the creative, lively atmosphere. We had a local rock band performing, and all of us had a gala time, and yes not to forget few hours could be easily spent praising the USP's of the young crowd. I felt bad for James and Gomes who didn’t complain as they knew that it was more of a bad day than a bad place. I cursed myself and thought I should have taken them to one of the PVR’s.

“Dheen chiiik!! Dheen Dhun Dhun! Thudd! Doom doom! Triiing tringgg!!,” was a sudden noise which mingled into our ears. Before both of them could realize what it was I said “Rushhhhhhhhhhhh guys! That’s a rock band!!” We ran and ran and ran and what we saw was something unpredictable. We had this band performing before us and their dress was Kurta and lungi! And and…the lead singer had a ghunghroo in his legs as well…was it a ‘normal’ band? We didn’t have time to think about this. The band began with its first song-Ambar. Within no time we were a part of the crowd jumping, clapping, singing.

“Waaaoww!!! Amaaziing!!! Who iss hee?,” now this was unexpected, almost hundreds of us were tuning ourselves to the tunes of this amazing singer. Everybody was flabbergasted, as most of us didn’t know him at all.

He sang a series of songs. The boring place suddenly turned out to be a pleasant sight. The crowd was electrified after witnessing brilliant performances one after another. Three men played the guitar, to give them company were a drummer and a violinist. Every performance was a master class! He finally introduced himself. He was Raghu Dixit. I won’t be writing much of him here but guys mark my words just TYPE-RAGHU DIXIT on YouTube and you can hear his songs which will take you to a different world of music.

I was extremely happy, as my amigo’s were tapping their feet’s and clapping and singing. The performance got over only when the hosts announced it was close to 10:30 pm. I looked at James and Gomes. ‘Bhai this was one of the most memorable days, ultimate maza aaya!,” they said. We hi fived each other. We went to the counter and purchased a CD of Raghu Dixit’s album. The man had made our day! All three of us continued singing his songs throughout our journey back home. James and Gomes were happy. Nothing gives me more pleasure than to see my friends happy. The ordinary looking day became one of the most memorable days of our lives.

खबर का असर ...

जबसे खबर आई है सरहद पार चली है गोली,

अभय की माँ की तबसे बंद है बोली।

वो बेसन के लड्डू जिस हाँथ से बनाए थे,

वो बेटे के वापस आने के जो ख्वाब सजाये थे,

वो सारे ख्वाब हकीकत में बदल न पाए,

हकीकत सुन घरवाले संभल ना पाए।

वो कल के बने लड्डू अब लगने लगे बासी,

कुछ इस कदर घर में छाई है उदासी।

गुड्डू ने खिलौने वाली बंदूकों से खेलना छोड़ दिया,

कुछ बंदूकों ने ही उसकी खुशियों का रूख मोड़ दिया।

इस वाक्ये ने सबकी आँखों को नम कर दिया,

गुड्डू ने अचानक अपनी फर्माहिशों को कम कर दिया।

कोमल के पल्लू का किनारा सूखने का नाम ही नहीं ले रहा,

गुड्डू का मासूम चेहरा उसे ठीक से रोने भी नहीं दे रहा,

हर तस्वीर उसे एक लम्हे की याद दिलाती है,

'पापा जल्द आएंगे' …कह वो गुड्डू को बहलाती है।

बेटा इस बार पूरे दो महीनो के लिए आने वाला था,

अपनी मौजूदगी से ही घर को मह्कानेवाला था।

अभय के बाबूजी की रौबीली आवाज़ भी शिथिल हो गयी है,

अभय की अनेक तस्वीरें अब धूमिल हो गयी हैं।

अब तो माँ ने सबसे बोलना छोड़ दिया है,

घरवालों ने जीते जी अपना दम तोड़ दिया है...

कई दिन हो गए किसी ने किसी से कुछ ना कहा,

घर में दीवारों और इंसानों में ज्यादा फर्क ना रहा...

अब तो आंसुओं ने भी बहने से मना कर दिया,

इक खबर ने यहाँ की खुशियों को फ़ना कर दिया।

HISTORY RE-WRITTEN BY A GENIUS ‘Such-In’ form~ Sachin Tendulkar!

24th February 2010, a day, when cricket history was re written. A Golden Day for cricket, not only for Indian fans, but for cricket fans all across the world.

Such was the impact of the occasion that offices had turned into playgrounds as even Bosses were no more Bosses as they came out of their cabins, joining the mob of employees, to have a look at the LCD with fingers crossed, awaiting that magical moment. It has been rightly said, he is the man who can stop time in India!

And there it was. Playing his heart out once again for his country, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar reached the magical landmark of 200 runs in ODI matches and one could hear people cheering even from their graveyards! It’s an achievement which was truly deserved by the Genius master! The crowd at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium went gaga, as they witnessed the historic moment!

The Face book walls were coloured with unlimited words of praise for the master blaster! The love and inspiring status messages were replaced with self-written quotes for Tendulkar. Not to forget the News Channels had come up with some ‘Great Tendulkar Stories’ which were much better than the self made sensational ones’.

May 21, 1997, (Chennai, India), playing against India, Saeed Anwar of Pakistan scored 194 runs off 146 balls, which had 22 boundaries and 5 sixes, breaking the record of 189 by Vivian Richards.

This remained a world record for 12 years.

16 Aug 2009, (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe), playing against Bangladesh, Charles Coventry of Zimbabwe equaled Anwar’s record when he scored 194* off 156 balls with 16 boundaries and 7 sixes.

24th Feb, 2010, (Gwalior, India), was a day when Tendulkar not only surpassed the highest score, but also became the first batsman ever to score a double century in ODI matches.

Scoring 200* runs off just 147 delivers which had 25 boundaries and 3 sixes, the master blaster entertained the crowd, and the spectators at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium were truly blessed , as they witnessed his innings LIVE. Tendulkar also became the world’s first batsman to have scored 25 boundaries in an innings in ODI matches.

He batted throughout the Indian innings, had a bit of cramp after he reached 150, yet he didn’t call for a runner. When India came to bowl, the master was up for fielding from the very first ball. What else should we say about his commitment towards the game?

Just a day before on 23rd February 1988, Tendulkar along with his mate Vinod Kambli had scored a famous school partnership record of 664 runs for their school Sharadashra. It has to be a special day for him. It is amazing to feel the way he handles the enormous pressure of millions of fans.

Ravi Shastri very rightly described him as “The Superman of India.” He is Sachin, who is ‘Such-in’ incredible form that the 100 century milestone seems to be even closer, with every match he is playing. We all bow to you master blaster! We all should consider ourselves to be truly blessed as we are born in the era of Sachin 'Almighty' Tendulkar!

वो शख्स

जो होना था वो एक एक कर होता चला गया
वो गुजरे हुए कल पर रोता चला गया...

कुछ अजनबी आते रहे, उसकी ज़िन्दगी में
वो सबको इक धागे में पिरोता चला गया...

हर इन्सान में दरिंदगी के कुछ धब्बे मौजूद थे
वो उन धब्बों को इत्तेफाक समझ धोता चला गया...

दोस्तों की एक पूरी फ़ौज खड़ी की थी उसने
वो एक एक करके उन सबको खोता चला गया...

दूसरों से उम्मीद रखना ही उसका सबसे बड़ा गुनाह था
वो इस उम्मीद के बोझ को ढोता चला गया

सब अपने में मगन थे, उसकी हालत से बेपरवाह
वो जाने कब ख़ामोशी में सोता चला गया...

जो होना था वो एक एक कर होता चला गया
वो गुजरे हुए कल पर रोता चला गया...

It’s not just a Book…

September 5, 2009 (2:17pm) - I received a message on Facebook from Aroosa Masroor 

“Hello Mr. Srivastava, this is Aroosa from Dawn.com Karachi (Pakistan). One of our colleagues and a Senior Journalist Asif Noorani wants your permission to use a comment on your blog - Instablogs - about Shahid Afridi. He is working on a book that is due to be published soon. Can you kindly contact him at (email id) at your earliest? Will appreciate your help in this regard. Thanks.” I read the mail again as my Facebook inbox wasn’t used to such meaningful mails. 

This one seemed to have too much info and I read it just after having lunch in my office. The drowsiness instantly disappeared as I read the mail again. Mr Srivastava, Aroosa, Dawn, Pakistan, Asif Noorani, Instablogs were the keywords I noticed. And I read the mail again! Senior Journalist Mr. Asif Noorani wants my PERMISSION to publish one of my articles in his book? Was someone kidding with me on Teachers Day? I immediately searched for Asif Noorani on Google and got a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asif_Noorani which made me realise about Mr. Noorani’s personality. 

Without wasting a minute, I mailed him asking for further details. He mailed me back saying he liked my article which was published on Instablogs (which I wrote for free) and was willing to use it in his soon-to-be-published book. Some of the other major contributors in the book would be legendary Pakistani cricketers Zaheer Abbas, Wasim Akram and some senior cricket writers. After seeking the permission of Instablogs' editor, Mr. Noorani was free to use my article in his book. 

Way back in 2010, it was nothing less than a dream for me. I was supposed to be published in a book - whose author was a renowned writer from Pakistan - who, out of the millions of articles available on the Internet, chose mine for his book. I told this to my parents, sister and they thought I was kidding (nobody takes me seriously as you all know). I then had to show them the emails I exchanged with Mr. Noorani. Mr Noorani had promised me that he would courier me a copy of the book from Pakistan (with his signature) and since then, each and every day, I would call my masi in Faridabad (her address was the one I had mentioned to Mr. Noorani). 

One day, when I was asleep in a cab on my way to the office, my cell phone rang as I saw those 3 golden words “Shanno Mausi Calling!” My body language changed within a second and the driver stared at me as if I jumped out on the DND flyover! “Hello Suyash,” she said. “Namaste Shanno Mausi,” was my reply. Now, I didn’t ask her this time if the book had arrived and I waited for her response. “How are you?” she asked. “I am good,” I responded. Short questions were followed by short answers and while I thought it was one of those regular calls, she said, “Ek courier aaya hai Pakistan sey..." Yesssssssssssssssss! Yessssssssssssss!! I knew it was THE gift from Pakistan! The way I screamed, woke up the passengers snoring on the back seats. They were soon asleep thinking I was a maniac. The poor driver could not decipher what was wrong with me. “It’s the book Shanno Mausi, the book from Mr. Noorani I told you?”, “Achha??? Wahi book hai kya?? Ruko dekhte hain,” she said as she unpacked it. “Arey beta 3rd page par he tumhara naam chhapa hai! Wasim Akram, Zaheer Abbas ka bhi naam hai. It’s a big achievement Suyash beta! Naam roshan kar diya tumne!” 

I rarely get speechless, but it had to be one of those rare beautiful moments. My hands were shivering when I held the book. It was no less than a Man of the Match award for me. I imagined how a batsman feels after receiving his first trophy. Due to the busy schedule in Delhi, I wasn’t able to play cricket, so I decided to write cricket-related articles, as, by doing so, I felt connected with the game. Even though those articles were published for free, the satisfaction I derived by reading them, can’t be achieved through money or described in words. 

I had never thought that a writer from Pakistan would someday award my love for the game in a memorable manner. That's the magic of blogging I think.

'Boom Boom Afridi' reminds me of all those days when I used to play gully cricket with my friends. It reminds me of all those days when I cried after India lost a match or got upset after Tendulkar got out in the nervous nineties. This achievement is dedicated to my parents, my sister - who have always encouraged my passion for the gentleman's game. I would thank all my buddies who have made cricket so special to me. Thanks to all those, who understand what cricket means to me. Last and not least, I will always be indebted to Mr. Nooraani, for giving an aspiring sports journalist's article, a memorable space in his wonderful book. ‘Boom- Boom Afridi’ is indeed very special for me. It doesn’t include just one of my articles, it has a journey, has my love for the game since my childhood days. It’s not just a book…