Do we really mean what we say?

Ever since the surge in the development of technology, communication has increased leaps and bounds. Mobile phones have become a part of our life, an inseparable one that too. But throughout this advancement, one thing has remained as strong as a bastion. It is the way how we salute people after picking up our phone.

‘Hello’ we say as we pick up our phones. Have you ever wondered why we say ‘hello’?

If you think Graham bell had a girlfriend called Margaret Hello and as a token of remembrance used her second name, then you are wrong. It is one of the common misconceptions about the usage of this word. There was no person called Margaret Hello, let alone her being Graham Bell’s girlfriend.

What is more interesting is that ‘Hello’ was introduced by Thomas Edison and not by Graham Bell at all. He urged people to use ‘Hello’ instead of using ‘Ahoy-hoy’ which Graham Bell considered appropriate. Well then, the article is not to speculate about the usage of ‘hello’ but about how it is being used.

How many times have we lifted our receiver and blankly said ‘hello’? If the word ‘hello’ is a salutation, then should we not carry any emotion while we utter the word? It has become a habit, and almost forgotten aspect in the swirl of time that we no longer care for the emotion from the words we are spoken to.

In the same way, how many times have we said ‘Good morning’ or ‘Good night’ without actually meaning it? If we are wishing them a GOOD night or a GOOD morning, should we not mean it whole heartedly? All this is pretty similar to typing ‘lol’ with an absolutely stoic face.

The next time you wish somebody a good morning, try to sound as you really mean it. Rather than a cursory ‘Good morning’, ‘Good night’ or ‘Hello’, try giving some emotion to it. Mean the word whole heartedly before uttering it. It might not look different to you, but it would certainly sound different to the person you are speaking you. Have a GOOD DAY. 

She is the Pinnacle of Beauty

Behold the charm of my fair young lady,

Like an angel fallen from abode,

With an aura of suspense around.

Yes,she is the pinnacle of beauty.

Her black arched eyebrows,like a cupid's bow,

Expressions that make it move high and low.

With those eyes that speak on its own,

Beautiful it is,even when she wears a frown.

The forest of black,her long wavy tress,

Which suits her for almost every dress.

God,I accept is the master creator,

Gracing me with an angel of such demeanor.

Those fingers,as soft as fresh fur,

When caresses through her jet black hair,

Makes me lose track of this world,

And takes me around for a crazy swirl.

The sun shies away on seeing her face,

Measured,sculptured by Him with such grace.

A shiny star that she is in the night sky,

Unlike the moon,unwilling to come out-coy.

A colorful vivid butterfly she is,

Along my path of life,she flies,

Which I can only admire with glee,

But cannot want it to fly along with me.

Footwork

‘Bowled him’ hollers the commentator. Excluding a very small percentage, most of the ‘bowled’ dismissals are because of lack or improper footwork. Footwork plays as essential role in any batsman’s approach to batting. It is of vital importance in countries like England, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. These are places where the ball swings in the air or off the deck compared to the Indian sub continent or the Caribbean.

But in the Indian subcontinent or the Caribbean, if one needs to play the spinners, he does need footwork. Therefore, without proper footwork, it becomes almost very difficult to exhibit perfect technique. Excepting a very few extraordinary players like Virender Sehwag, a batsman just cannot survive in the long run without it.

All the outstanding batsmen of the game exhibit excellent footwork. Different shots require different footwork. In case of a straight drive, which Tendulkar is undisputedly a master of; it needs a high elbow and full face of the bat coming down with optimum power.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JSuZiUPnZM

The Square cut requires the batsman to go instantly to his back foot by judging the length of the ball. He has to meet the ball right under his eyes, just a tad away from his body and open the face of the bat as required to place it into the gap in the offside field. Dravid was well known for his square cuts.

Square Cut
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tntwyd4HPhM

Many play the Cover Drive well. It requires the batsman to lean forward and present the full face of the bat and place the ball through the offside field. The key here is not to get over balanced leaning into the shot, yet driving it through the gap between cover and extra cover. Here is a brilliant cover drive from Ian Bell.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2U-y2qvXp4

The Pull and the Hook are two shots which are often misconceived to be the same. During a Pull shot, the batsman pulls a ball from his bodyline to the leg side, targeting the fence around midwicket to square leg. Whereas, in a Hook, the batsman helps the ball to the boundary anywhere between square leg and fine leg. The Hook is usually played to a ball the keeps moving towards the leg side, short in length, rising above the chest level.

Ponting was a master of the pull and the hook shots. The batsman, as you can see in the following videos has to rock back onto the back foot in very quick time and then play the cross batted stroke. The Pull can also be played off the front foot, albeit greater difficulty.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d3Xf4jUSFQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBchw2gHjLM

One another classical shot is the Leg Glance. It is usually perceived that the sub continental players play the leg glance with style and elegance. The key to perfect execution of this shot is to meet the ball under the eyes, roll the wrists and not to over hit the ball, turning the face of the bat. The video tutorial is self explanatory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOlK_BOAnsA

In addition to this, there are the Late Cuts, Sweeps, Reverse Sweeps, Paddle Sweep (by Tendulkar), Switch hit for which more presence of mind, rather than footwork is needed. There are few unplayable deliveries. If you are a batsman, the best you can do except not facing the ball is to miss it. The ball pitched on leg, swinging away to hit the top of off is the most dreaded ball to face. Here is a couple from Dale Steyn, the most complete fast bowler of the modern era.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61ukudE_s04
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CnGABJrI8c

In the first video, the reaction from Dravid is an absolute classic. He just turns back and walks off. That is the respect, such a ball demands. Frankly, one cannot do much with such a ball.

As I had already told you, Virender Sehwag is one batsman who would ask you ’footwork? What is that?’ Because of his extra ordinary hand-eye co-ordination, he is able to play balls even though he has almost zero footwork. Batsmen tend to be very cold during the beginning of their innings without much footwork. Here is a video of Sehwag displaying zero footwork. No offense to the man, he is a brilliant player even without footwork.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq6UkJg3vDE

As you can see, the foot is rooted to the spot, no moving anywhere while attempting to make contact with the ball. While defending against the spinners, it is essential to go as low as possible, keeping the back leg well within the crease not to get stumped. 

Here is a classic example from the Master himself

Well, the next time some one gets bowled (not inside edged), just check out how they moved their foot. You might as well become the next commentator for Sky Sports. 

The Average Indian Tuition

THE AVERAGE INDIAN TUITION 

It was around 5 PM on a post-summer day in Chennai. The threatening grey sky walked the walk today and it began raining cats and dogs. This was almost a cue for the ever ready Electricity board to severe the power and soon, it became very dark. Without the computer or the internet to entertain me, I walked out to the common veranda  The children who come for tuition to my neighbor’s house were all crowding the stairs, 2 or 3 in each of the 4 staircases.

I fought my way through those little kids and reached the veranda where my neighbor was sitting on her plastic chair with a book and questioning one of those kids who seemed to live in another planet trying to recite a poem above the noise around. I made myself comfortable in one of the descending staircases. I became so intrigued about what those kids were doing. I pretended to listen to the songs with my mp3 player plugged into my ears.

There was one guy, with a lavender shirt and unkempt hair sitting on the 3^rd staircase, who was staring blankly at the ceiling up ahead. As if a perfect foil, there was another guy behind him who was looking down busily fidgeting with his pen. My neighbor’s kid suddenly tore up through the line of kids, running,   complaining about something. By the time he was silenced and sent back by my neighbor, the guy who was reciting his Hindi poem stumbled to a stop. He closed his eyes, looked up, turned around caught the railing banged it several times and still, he did not get those words back. His friend, another cute little fellow in navy blue completed the rest of the poem for him, though he had come for his English classes. The teacher looked at him and he said in Tamil, ‘Even I remember it because Rakesh was reciting it so many times sitting next to me maam’

Unceremoniously another guy from the 2^nd staircase got up and shouted, more than a plea ‘Maam, I want to drink water…’ My neighbor was already beginning to get tired and waved him off for his sip of water. This induced a nostalgic thought. I remembered how I used to buy hot samosas for my tuition maam during my middle school. Her house used to be dark and cozy and she used to ask me to buy samosas and come. I used to ride through the damp roads, park the cycle hidden from my flat since the shop used to be a couple of plots away from my apartment. My parents never liked to see me buying samosas instead of studying or for the fact, eating them from that particular shop.

I had a rude awakening and woke up from my reverie to see two guys in a fist fight. It took several seconds for me to comprehend what was happening out there. A few stern words, rather, stern growl from my neighbor settled the issue. The guy who had gone for his water break had returned only then and he had a bashing. He gave excuses saying he had to go to the restroom and only so, he was late.

The chap in the 3^rd staircase suddenly got up saying ‘Maam, I forgot to bring my Math book. I have a test tomorrow’. The rest was commotion. The teacher began her bashing in complete flow and the poor kid held his face down. He would have been better off without revealing the fact that he had an exam the next day. I began remembering my journeys back home in the middle of classes forgetting my books. I used to take the longest route possible cycling as slowly as possible.

The class became a little more silent and looked like it becoming settled. Just then, the teacher’s phone rang. She attended the call and it was very ostentatious to see her concentrating half on her call and half on the kids. Something had caused her to shift her concentration to the call, the kids began clattering and she became busy over the call. After about three to four minutes, she severed the call and turned around and suddenly the clatter stopped and there was pin drop silence except for the mildly falling rain. I used to have similar moments when we used to shout and scream, but when the teacher turns her attention on us we would act as innocent as lamb.

A few minutes passed and the kids got settled. Apart from the rain, there was no other sound. The kids got into a rhythm with their books and the fun I was having seemed to have stopped. As I was about to power my mp3 player on, joyous sounds erupted from the kids. I turned around to see the tube lights and the bulbs get switched on. Power was back and the kids began running inside.

My neighbor smiled and got up saying, in her broken Tamil ‘I’ll have to manage these kids again from the beginning’ and walked away, half pulling and half carrying the chair behind her. I went back into my house, smiled inwardly for a brief second and turned my computer on.