Game Set Match !

This has been a great year for Tennis fans around the world. Particularly me.
It was my first complete tennis year in Mumbai after a long time and this meant that thanks to the wonder of Indian Standard Time – I watched every single final comfortably at home.
With beer and friends, in the Gym and with cold milk and crunchy cereal for company in the dead of the night like this past week.
It was also a great year for Federer fans around the world. Particularly me. 
When I saw the Australian Open Final loss – It made me sooo mad. I just couldn’t believe it. Ofcourse Nadal played like a champ. But I really really wanted the Fed win.
But the Federer who broke down at the Rod Laver arena and the Federer who walked into Roland Garros few months later – seemed very different.
It was one of the best moment s of 2009 for me when he won the elusive title and raised the Coupe des Mousquetaires … high!
I had wanted him to win the French Open for so long – I won’t be forgetting that in a hurry 
The Wimbledon final was match of the year for me– especially with the 30 game final set thanks to the lack of a tie breaker.
I felt for Roddick but – come on: It was awesome that Fed won – wasn’t it!

US Open. Let’s not talk about it. I’m still in shock. Potro is a star!
But I think Fed is going to come back stronger than ever in 2010.
And what I am hoping for is that Nadal recovers from his injuries, Potro does not get any more infected toenails that keep him out of play and sparks fly on the court in 2010. And that Federer takes them all down.
What else can make a Tennis fan like me super happy?
Love maybe… but then again….
Remember that in Tennis ... The scoring only starts there. Love means nothing.

So here is to the year that was:

Australian Open
Fed versus Rafa
Rafa 7-5 3-6 7-6 3-6 6-2
I cant get over Fed breaking down and saying "God - Its killing me".
What a match ! And Rafa walking upto Fed and putting his arm around him.
Two of the greatest athletes - sharing that moment.

French Open
Fed versus Soderling
Fed 6-1 7-6 6-4
The tennis Gods were surely in Paris as Fed won his historic French Open title !
It was almost apocalyptic... Federer sank to his knees and clouds and thunder roared overhead. Even the Gods were clapping in joy!


Wimbledon
Fed versus Roddick
Fed 4-6, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 16-14
A 30 game last set.
Seriously ? I mean .. Seriously? And in the magician;s own words in his post match interview: (This is why I love Federer)
“I think the Becker/Edberg final. I don’t remember which year because they played a few times. Sitting at home in the living room, watching them play, thinking hopefully one day I can be like them, you know.That’s I guess where idols and inspirations are good. They push you forward. Then along the way you joke around and say it’s coming closer. You know, when you win a practice match, you know, you just fake like you’ve just won Wimbledon, you know. All of a sudden it’s really happening, you know.
But it’s so surreal to think that far ahead, that it’s amazing coming through in the end like this today.”
And note that Fed was wearing a T shirt that said “There is no finish line – Far from done” and when asked about his becoming a legend he said “I don’t know if you are a legend while you are still playing the sport”



US Open
Fed versus Potro
Potro 3-6 7-6 4-6 7-6 6-2
Said Potro while receiving his trophy for his first career grand slam “I had two dreams last week. One was to win the US Open and the other was to be like Roger. One is done, but I need to improve a lot to be like you”.
A terrific win by a terrific athlete who beat both Nadal and Fed in one weeks time who is only 20 years old.
In the post match interview Federer – ever graceful as always called Potro “The better man” and said that in the past few years .. he and Nadal had this thing going and now manybe Potro was going to join that.


And I for one can’t wait to see what happens in 2010!
Good Bye 2009 !

Aaaj Din..

Welcome - Song of 2009.
Rahat Fateh Ali Khan has done it for me yet again.

Link: Song 5
http://www.bollyadda.com/2009/06/love-aaj-kal-songs-listen-online-free.html

I heard it on the radio on the way to work and I couldnt tell the difference between the tears in my eyes and the raindrops outside. And I smiled - in the utter satisfaction that comes when someone finds the words that have much eluded you.

"Aaj Din Chadeya" from Love Aaj Kal.
Brilliant. Poignant. Simple. Utterly Beautiful.

A simple wish for someone who you love to love you back.
And the frustration and anticipation that only unrequited love can bring to your doorstep.
In the most uncluttered clear words ever.

What particularly moved me was the imagery associated with the lyrics and the wonderful feelings they created.
"Phool sa khila ..aaj din" .. the day blooming like a flower...

"Mujho woh dila .. jisko dil hai maine de diya" - The strength and vulnerability that lies in admission.

And the simple request made proudly to a much bigger force.
Ayn Rand would have liked this way of asking for love. Rather than plea bargaining for it on scraped knees.

"Manga jo mera hai
Jata kya tera hai
Maine kaunsi ...tujhse Jannat Mang li"

Kaisa Khuda hai tu
Bas naam ka hai tu
Rabba jo teri - itni se bhi na chali"

The mother of all thoughts.
Whats one small wish for earth shattering soul numbing ground breaking love?
Its not like you've asked for immortality or the entire world. Just for one person - who there is just one of :)
to love you back..the way you love them.
And if God - cant influence such a small defacto thing .. in the grand scheme of all the grand things ..
what can he do for you ?
Followed by the sweet request for God to give you your life back for the sake of your heart. What a humbling thought.
"De de mujhe zindagi meri - tenu dil da vaasta"

I think this may be the simplest most honest song I have heard in a very long time.
Amazing lyrics. Great Guitaring. And Rahat's voice cutting through the fog in my head like a swtich blade.
And I just cant get it out of my Mind. My heart. My soul.
Thank you Rahat. Yet again, your voice rings in my ears day and night.

Cups of Tea

Its funny to have a cup of tea as a timekeeper in my life.
For the past several years - the first thing I do each morning is brew a cup of tea.
Sometimes, I shred little pieces of ginger, add some green pati chaha, elaichi or masala.
It takes approximately 5 minutes for the water to boil and for me to add tea leaves - orange pico at my parents home in Bombay, Lipton in otherwise.
And I look out of the window while the smell damp tea leaves diffuses through the early morning air and the silence is broken by the giggles of boiling water.
In Gainesville - I'd look at the tall green conifers and squirrels run amock
In Atlanta - I'd look into the valley leading to the Chatahoochee and listen to the river meander and gush in anticipation for the day
In Delhi - it would be an electric machine and the planes taking off over vasant kunj caryying loved ones near and away..
Back in Atlanta - it would be the sleep green lawns wet with early morning dew and the sleepy trains chugging their way across the railroad down the street
In Hyderabad - it was the SV1 lawns and the early am class goers scrambling to get their grip on the day
In Mumbai - it is watching the grey skies and a city coming to life as the newspaperwallas, doodhwallas, car cleaners and dabbawallas set the clock for the day early am.
The debate on the healing properties o tea versus the hazards of caffeine continue.
The verdict on that one is still under debate.
What I do know clearly is the importance of these few minutes in the balance of my life.
And how they help me come to terms with everything that has transpired and feel hopeful about what is yet to be.
About how I hold that cup of tea in my hands -the warmth that it spreads through my world and the feeling of being complete that it brings.
A decade worth of tea in a darn blessed life.
Aree Huzoor - Wah Taj Boliye !
Thank God I have enough.

Acquainted with the Night

Years ago, in a quiet leafy corner in Gainesville, in the best bookstore I have ever been in -Book Lovers cafe, I chanced
upon a book of poems.
It had many beautiful verses by the most prolific poets of all time - Keats, Wordsworth, Bronte.. I could go on.
There was one poem by Frost that caught my eye. It was called "Acquainted with the Night"
and like many things - it did not make sense to me at first reading. Or at second.
It is only these rainy days and nights, in the wane of 2009 that I am able to piece the meaning together and understand what he meant.
Life has never been faster and slower all at the same time.
I guess its fair to say that I am somewhat a loner these days.
The lonliness one can feel in a crowd full of people, the paradoxical feeling of time being neither wrong nor right,
Even the Terza Rima. Its crystal clear now.
Its funny to feel some of these things inside and actually do them physically as I have these past few crazy weeks at work.
Walk back home in the dark. with a rain cover, greet the watchman in my building and see the moon overhead.
And in my version of the poem, the interrupted cry is often a blinking sms or an infamous phone ring that I answer expectantly but ends up being from an over zealous credit card vendor.
I guess it is fair to say, that yes: I have been acquainted with the night.


Acquainted with the Night
Robert Frost

I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain -- and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.

I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,

But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
O luminary clock against the sky

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.