The World Cup responsibilities..

I don't remember watching any cricket until the 1996 world cup. Specifically until the India-Pakistan Quarter-final. There was so much hype around it that it had all my attention and curiosity. You get easily influenced as a kid. I remember my neighbours being Pakistan fans. Thank God it didn't influence me. It confused me. In all my innocence of an eight year old kid, I asked my dad - 'why do Indians support Pakistan?' He dismissed their appalling logic in a simple answer - 'they're idiots. We are Indians and no matter what, we support India'. It stayed with me ever since.

The first match I remember watching was this one. I remember the Aamir Sohail incident. I remember being ecstatic after the win, and equally heart broken after the Semi-final. Even at 120 for 8 chasing 251, I thought India could win it. 'Why are people such Idiots?' I thought. Why would you stop a match which India was going to win anyway. Kumble would give company and Kambli would finish it in style. It would never happen, but I wasn't learned enough. But even when I learnt a thing or two about cricket, I have always been hopeful. And superstitious.

When I watch a match and India wins, I make it a point to watch the next match, because if I don't, India loses. And when India loses even after I watch, I stop watching, and guess what? India wins. This is how India won the 2011 World Cup. When it started, I was in 'you watch and India loses' zone, so I avoided watching any of the group stage games until things had to turn around after India lost to South Africa. I knew that was the cue. I had to watch the remaining matches and I made sure I did. The rest is history my dear friends. And all this while you thought Dhoni or Yuvraj or whoever took India to world cup glory. Hah.

I'll be honest here though - I'm not always the hero. On the contrary, I am a villain sometimes. I had to watch the 2014 World T20 final against Sri Lanka, I had to watch it for India to win! India was bowling decent until I decided I'd go buy something from a super-market real quick. I went. I got stuck in traffic. And by the time I reached, India had lost. I still haven't forgiven myself for that disaster.

With the 2015 World Cup about to start, I am very excited. Not that India has a great chance but I firmly believe I can take them through. The ultimate strategies are being played in my mind. And what better a match to start with than an India-Pakistan clash again. I am formulating a brilliant strategy to help India win. This time I am in the 'watch or India loses' zone. Thank God the match is on a Sunday, I won't have to fake one more of those sick leaves or come up with a reason to work from home. I'm going to wake up early, warm up a little bit and sit in front of the TV and watch the proceedings. However, if by any chance India loses, remember this, I would have done something stupid and I will take full responsibility.

PS: I like to believe that I am a reasonable gentleman, but Cricket definitely brings out the kid in me.

'Do the thing you fear most and death of fear is certain'

I’ve been on a few bike trips lately. I wasn’t too fond of riding, the liking towards which I developed when I went on the Manali-Leh trip in June 2013. It had been more than a year since I rode a bike by then and never did I ride on a highway except for the 100 KM stretch from Hyderabad to my hometown, as a pillion with my brother some 8 years ago. My mom recalls that I slept that afternoon like I rode a thousand miles, hence never tried anything with motorcycles after that.

A few months before we set out, I remember when Srinivas mentioned about the Manali-Leh tour, I gave my consent without a second thought. I was always fascinated about riding a bullet, which I never did until I was in Manali. When we left for the tour, I was nervous, I was scared and nowhere close to being confident. My bet was that I wouldn’t ride for more than a couple of days and was only happier about the fact that there will be a mini-truck accompanying us, so when any one of us are tired or hurt, we can put our bikes inside and rest. That was my plan A. Plan B was to ride. Surprisingly as it turned out, I took the truck break once, when I felt I just couldn’t ride that evening (and I regret to date having taken that break). But I rode the remaining 9 days. As much as 8 hours a day at least, and the last day I felt like I could have easily done a few more. I was sadder that day than I was when I flunked terribly in my first attempt at CA final.

There were other rides as well, the one me and Abhijith took. Having worked almost 60 hours that week in the midst of the busy season, one fine Saturday evening, two of us, frustrated, wanted to just ride into oblivion. We decided on riding to Chirala, 350-360 kilometers as per Google, turned out to be around 450. We had decided on a simple plan. Leave by 10 that night, reach Chirala in 6-7 hours, chill at the beach, ride back and reach Hyderabad by Sunday night, and well, back to work Monday morning. It sounded fairly simple. But by the time I reached home from office, I realized what a stupid plan that was. No practicality at all. I went to the loo twice (I do that when I get tensed). When Abhijith called at around 10 to ask me if the plan is on, I said I’ve never been more ready. I had given my word, and I wouldn’t back out. I was feeling low, out of energy, scared. But then we went. We rode. We started at around 11 and we rode through the night. Reached at 9 in the morning, slept, got up at 4, went to the beach, got bored, decided we’ll ride back, started at around 6 PM, back to Hyderabad at 3 AM, and well, back to work Monday morning. A little over 900 kilometers in less than 30 hours. Like a boss.

The recent one I went on was with Srinivas. He was so excited about it that he had come all the way from Bangalore to go to Machilipatnam and back over a three day period. I said I’m in. But then I was hoping he won’t come. I was thinking of all the things I can do to avoid this trip. I was scared. I was tired. I had so many reasons on not going. But I went. And when we took our first stop after a hundred kilometers, I was as fresh as I could be. We rode till 3 in the night and I was still fresh when I reached the hotel. We did 750 kilometers in around 36 hours this time. And I would not have been more confident when I was coming back.

The thing I could not help but notice after this ride is that I love riding, I enjoy it to the fullest, but not before I am scared of it, EVERY TIME! I can connect so well to those lame dar ke aage jeet hai advertisements. But the more I think about it, the more sense it makes. Lalli had told me once – fear is a comfort zone that most people live in. It feels good to be there because you have nothing to lose, but when you get out of it, you’ll know exactly what you were missing. Fear kills you, but it is the only thing that can keep you alive.

There are other things as well, like when I am scared of studying a subject, I enjoy it more when I start studying (only because there’s no other way out). I was scarred for life when I got 006 in a useless subject in my first attempt to pass CA Final. YES, IT IS ZERO ZERO SIX OUT OF ONE FULL HUNDRED! I thought I’d never become a CA because I’d never pass that subject. But I studied it every day. And I started enjoying it. Though I passed it with a border mark of 40, in the third attempt (if you’re curious – 26 in the second), I did not fear it. For if I did, I’d have failed even before I gave the paper. The inspiration, however, was a quote by Mark Twain, which I tell myself even today when I’m scared of something – “Do the thing you fear most and death of fear is certain”.