Brotherhood

You call me your friend, yet you befriend me not;
You say I am like you, but you don't treat me like one;
We didn't come through the same womb, but we share many a things
In between us, we are not very different
Our origin and start are one and the same;
Still you treat me different;
The blood in ours, though similar in color
Are world apart when it reaches our heads;
When a word reaches us, it assumes not the same meaning;
You look upon it with your biased eye;
Not listening to your origins, not heeding to your thoughts.
You act in haste and make me the culprit.
Weren't we the same? Supporting each other?
How easily you forget the days of past;
The space between us suddenly grows.
The world of ours becomes polluted and corrupt;
But you choose not to bother.
I plead my innocence,
Asking you to lend me your ears;
Though you hear, you act deaf;
Though you see, you seem blind;
All of past matters not to you;
What of our friendship? What of our brotherhood?
Didn't we speak to the wind in euphoric tones?
We did even the kiss the sand with the same prayers!
How easily you forget?
You hurt me, not by your deed
But by your indifference
The love and care, which you showed
You make it seem all cruel
Why break my heart brother
Rather kill me as such
Why this torment?
Need I survive to witness this?
Lo! This world is not pure
Of this I am sure
For if it can't safeguard the purity of two brothers
Nothing more can it do to save the others!

Valiant Fight

How do you feel when you miss out on something you so really wanted? When life denies you another chance to attain those epochal levels of happiness? That feeling of lowliness, that state of dullness… That's how I feel now. CSK just lost to DDD. Their third match this IPL. A nail biting match indeed; it started off dramatically with the most famed openers perishing in successive overs. The Sehwag-Gambhir pair, the best opening pair in present day cricket put up 0 runs between them. The first ball of the match sent Gambhir to the stands. A restless Sehwag soon followed. That's when you thought it was all going Chennai's way. But lo! That was not to be. First Dilshan smacks the ball all around the ground, keeping the run rate steadily at 9 an over. And when Raina took a brilliant catch to end his innings, one thought peace would prevail. Alas, that was not to be. A.B had some other plans. He started off slowly, cashing in on his quick running and converting all singles to doubles. And his innings should have ended at half his total but for the sitter that Morkel dropped. A straight ball into his hands at long on; All he had to do was clasp his hands around the ball. But well, things do happen and that could have well been the Citi moment of 'failure'. A.B went on to score his first IPL century, and the first for this season as well and with that he took the dare devil's to 189. Only Balaji came up good with the ball for CSK, giving away just 19 off his allotted 4 overs and picking up three wickets as well.

A target of 190, requiring you to chase at 9.5 an over was always huge. But with the explosive batting line up like that of Chennai, it was well within the realms of possibility. And the big man of Aussie just proved a point. Allowing his willow to thrash the leather all around the ground, he was looking every bit devastating. Bagging the orange cap again, he raced to his 3^rd IPL fifty in style. With a man like him, you don't worry about the runs. You just pray for him to be on song, the music doesn't matter. Sivamani was beating all he could, but nothing matched this man's thrashings. Patel gave him good support at the other end as well. Soon, the young Sangwan emerged to dismiss Patel. No problems still, for our run rate was far ahead of the asking rate, which was close to 8 now. By the time the strategic break came, we were cruising at 108. Needing only 82 in the next 10 with Mr. Big Man on the field, I for one thought we would easily make it. Perhaps even finish it an over ahead: D. But then cricket is not so predictable. Hayden was gone and in came Freddy. The big man did some good hitting but soon perished. In walked the Captain. He and Raina were doing a fair job. Still going smooth with the asking rate hovering around 8; but then the game soon took some twists. With Dhoni and Raina leaving, it was left to Morkel to finish. But alas, that Sangwan fella was doing a brilliant job today. And of course not to forget Vettori – who as usual displayed his class. What a reliable bowler is he? Keeps you deceived in flight and pace. He finished with amazing figures – 2 for 29 in his four overs; soon, the match which began with an asking rate of 9.5, and which had gone down to 8, climbed up to 10, then 11 and finally to 15 in the last over.

But wait, the penultimate over was where I thought we lost the match. Gony comes in smacks a six of his very first ball. This was the second last ball of the over. That was also the last over of Vettori. Badrinath had just perished trying to go over the top. The lad from Punjab showed his power by dismissing the ball to the stands with immaculate ease. And the last ball, he hits it to Sehwag at covers. A mix up between him and Morkel denied him a second or two which cost him his wicket and Vettori plucked the stumps off in style. This was a double blow; Denying Morkel the strike in the last over as well as not putting up a run on the board. In situations like this, every run matters.

The last man in was Joginder; and the bowler Nannes – the fiery Australian. First ball – wide off the stumps; Joginder stretches forth his bat. The ball stays in the air for a long time confusing all the viewers for a while. It just falls a few feet before the boundary ropes. Gambhir can't reach it but the ball doesn't pace towards the ropes as well. The batsmen run two. Bringing Joginder again on strike; 13 off 5 balls; this time he hits between mid wicket and mid on. Another two is the result; denying Morkel yet another chance. The third ball- Joginder hits it straight to the fielder but runs to get Morkel on strike. Obviously he is run out but more importantly brings Morkel to strike. 3 balls and 11 runs; Balaji comes in. Nannes to Morkel; bangs in but straight to the fielder. Could only result in a single so Morkel doesn't run but Balaji does and he is gone. 2 balls 11 runs. This time Morkel tries again to put it out of the ground but fails , takes a single. Last ball yields no run. End of Match;

After all the twists and turns, Chennai still stands fourth with two losses out of their three matches. But they did put up a fight today. I sure hope they'll bounce back and come back to grab the trophy.

Change- The only true constant

A couple of months back, I so vividly remember my manager calling me and a bunch of guys with a wide smile on his bright face. “Check this out guys, this is so really kool” That’s how he began. He had a screen from google in front of him which was asking the question “did u mean infosys hiring?” when you actually typed in “infosys firing” :P.

And with this post, you can very well guess why those memories came rushing back: D… Oh yeah, it’s real… The once proclaimed Government Company has started throwing away its most precious asset – its prized resources. It had to happen I guess; for how long can one remain insulated from the whole turmoil. And the current crisis being what is, it would only be a surprise if people were not thrown out. Reorganization and revamping, lots of stuff happening. And in these changing times, I am sure there would be no dearth of opportunities. It’s only in times of need that we stand the most to gain. As they say, necessity is what drives people the most towards their goals.

Now, I wouldn’t want to comment on any policy related things here; that’s beyond the scope of this blog. My purpose rather is to spell my annoyance at the way things are done.

To start with, there is a maddening haste into getting fresh new heads. Not the slightest of effort is taken to filter the entrants based on their interest or goals or even their software abilities. Frankly, I am baffled at the way talents were scouted at first. You can’t really blame these I.T companies in a way coz all they wanted were heads who sailed through a requisite years in educational institutions so as to leverage that to gain entry into the prized servicing sector of economies across the pacific. This was of course smart business. And the whole pricing model and the working style was simply amazing. Friedman was so bowled over by it, that he wrote an entire book on the flattening of the world. And by the way, that book I feel is a must read for anyone working in collaboration with the global economy. Now, if not for this entire crisis, nothing would have stopped the I.T bandwagon. They would have simply gone about recruiting like mad, getting more and more hands key in or stare endlessly into that ever ubiquitous machine. Only that between attending calls and fixing bugs, many lives gets destroyed.

Almost everybody enters this field for one reason; for want of employment but most importantly the irresistible allurement of the six figure sum getting wired into your account. I haven’t met many who have chosen this industry out of pure interest or absolute passion. It’s hard to, coz what you expect may never come your way here. It’s a complex maze out there. Confused people coming to you for solutions, a perplexed you offering him the solution, they coming back to you again for change in that, you going back to work a way out, they coming back again, you doing it over again – at times if feels as though the vicious cycle will never end.

Well, if I had to go on about the perils of the industry, I might just go on and on but how much can I blame about my bread provider. And I.T is, I believe the most optimal solution to many a problem. Let’s suffice to say that its high time people realized what they really want to do with life. Careers need to attain newer dimension. Education has to gain fresh meaning. Not a sixth standard kid running his ass over some coaching classes to finally make it into genetic engineering and then end up inserting bugs into codes written for unknown clients.

A wake up call – that’s how I feel the current situation is. For everybody; for employers and employees alike; hopefully this will get us up and thinking about our own selves.

Beauty

Emblem of peace,

Spark of joy,

Layers of warmth,

Cushions of milieu;

Signature of poise,

Surrounded by balm,

Of infinite charm,

And abundant grace;

As a bottomless well,

Filled with merry;

Like herds and flocks,

Obeying their masters;

Serene yet powerful,

Fragile but bold;

Heralding to the crowd,

In jubilant mould;

Sands and grains,

All dance in flurry;

Glimpses and trails,

Unattended and tethered;

Feathery cry,

In mellowed tones;

Oh, what sight,

Heavenly might,

To please and tease,

Countless eyes;

And mindless souls,

Relishing the treat,

Ravishing the feast;

All made possible,

With divine ordainment;

I bow my head,

To you in humility;

For the creator of such,

Demands that much!!!