Our dear friend, Orkut!

I opened www.orkut.com to see what happens next. To my surprise, the below appeared.

This was the place where we connected with our friends in 2005-2008 timeframe. Those were the times of my final year un engineering and a couple years in masters. 

We used to write testimonials as well. I regret that I do not have a copy of the testimonials some of my dear friends wrote in those days. It would have been nice to have them. We never realize how soon technology can change, social connect platforms can change. Best is to be prepared to lose the information on the social media platform and save as much as we can so that the memories can be cherished. 

Difficult paths - Take Home #686

I wonder sometimes, if the difficult paths are the right paths or is it that the difficult paths turn out to be the right paths due to the realizations that occur to people on the way! In any which case, difficult paths are often the right paths. 

We happen to be what we are - Take Home #685

We happen to be what we are a lot of times. Critical aspects of life are not in our control. No one succeeds alone or no one fails alone. We must do things together by appreciating the people walk into our lives, although that may not be is a perfect companion all the time. We happen to be what we are and so is that they happen to be what they are. Respect and move on! 

Reimagining - Take Home #684

Reimagining ourselves need guts to face the facts about ourselves, our weaknesses. Building a legacy needs us to reimagine ourselves time to time.

Celebrity worship must end.

A question was asked after Australia winning the cricket World Cup 2023 - Why was no one there to welcome the winning team as they returned home, along with that famous photo of Pat Cummins going almost unnoticed?

A question is being asked now, after the stampede in Bengaluru, outside the Chinnaswamy stadium - why so much craze for a club cricket team?

We must ask ourselves more questions...

Why so much craze for cricket, isn't it just another sport? 

Why so much craze for cricketers, aren't they similar to any other athlete who sweat it out?

Is an Olympic medal not worth celebrating as a cricket world cup trophy?

What's so much about celebrities, aren't they similar to us who battle everyday out?

Why do we invest ourselves in taking sides of our favorite celebrities, waste of a lot of time and we gain nothing positive out of it personally?

Why do we worship the players or actors or any other celebrities? How do they matter in our lives - we have a family to feed and we have our individual selves who need to be explored fully. 

I think it all starts with that basic human trait - Being curious about others while forgetting the essence of our individual selves.

Why do we exist? 

To worship somebody unknown or to know our individual selves in totality and live life to the fullest?

No doubt that we must get inspired from certain people, who display extraordinary qualities like tenacity, grit, consistency, discipline, being grounded, resilience, resolute etc. But we must keep it up to getting inspired, not worshipping anyone so much that we forget ourselves and our people.

Coming to the recent mishap for a while, what's more alarming than the stampede itself are a few facts...

The fact that the celebration inside the stadium continued despite the deaths occurred outside. 

The fact that the majority of the victims were under 20 years and they had not informed their parents before visiting the stadium.

The fact that there was no anticipation of the possibility of a huge crowd turning in for the celebration, despite the unending fireworks went around the city the night before!

The fact that the celebrities are back to normalcy, headed to their homes inside and outside India, and some people who worshiped those celebrities will never return home, leaving their parents in the deepest sorrow of their lives. 

The recent stampede is only a manifestation of why celebrity worship is ugly. It's not the time to divert ourselves by throwing it on the government or system or RCB management or players or bureaucrats or politicians. 

It's the time to ask ourselves the right questions, and sort out the priorities of our lives with utmost responsibility. 

So, can we totally change how things are? Can we change the craze for celebrity worship? 

Yes, we can start changing it by only starting to change our individual selves. 

The world appears to us not how it is, but how we perceive it is. Say no to celebrity worship; once we internalize this, the world starts showing us our responsibilities and the essence of our lives. Then it's up to us how we take things ahead and make our lives meaningful. 

Cricket is indeed an emotion, in India!

Cricket is indeed an emotion in India; a dear emotion that we embrace lovingly with a billion hearts.

Congratulations RCB for the fantastic win @TATA IPL2025 and PBKS for a tremendous display!

Few words, for few people...

Always standing behind the PBKS team in every thick and thin, encouraging them with a pure smile - Preeti Zinta, just take a bow lady!

Everything seemed over. The opponents started celebrating, crying. Team mates had no motivation to encourage. But one player stood alone, hit the boundary after the boundary, made 22 runs against the 29 needed in the last over. What a grit, what a player - Shashank Singh walked away in tears after the match, but did everything right to feel proud of himself.

Last season's winning captain was surprisingly let go by his franchise, and in the immediate next season, he led his new team to finals from a different franchise that bestowed confidence in him, he stood tall in major wins of the season for his team - Shreyas Iyer, something is very special about this player, the name to watch out more for. Kudos captain!

One of the best players the sport has produced, emotional and brilliant personality who needs no introduction, winning the 1st IPL title in the 18th attempt - Virat Kohli, the player who has been scripting history. Hearty congratulations champion!

Cricket is indeed an emotion in India; a dear emotion that we embrace lovingly with a billion hearts.

Famous people - ParenthoodDiaries #92

One day Bharat and Bhuvan came to me, after learning the meaning of the word 'famous'.

"Amma, we want to see who are famous people, show them on your phone"

I said - "Ok, i will show, but tell me what Amma is famous for.."

One of them said, "Umm...Amma is famous for cooking, playing with us and going to the office".

I then opened google and kids said over voice "famous musicians"... We started seeing the photos of famous people.

Then ..

"famous dancers"...

"famous doctors "...

"famous basketball players"...

"famous tennis players"...

"famous football players"...

Then came the turn of cricket. What kids said surprised me to the core!

They said... "Famous Virat Kohli"...

How deeply some players leave their mark on the sport they play! Amazing and inspiring.

I always tell kids that the sport is bigger than any player, I mean I tell them in a simple language that 7 year olds can understand. But they hear a lot from their friends in school and housing society that it's difficult to keep them away from idolizing any person. I will continue to try though.

June 1st - The global day of parents

During the COVID-19 lockdown, I read a real-life story about a single-mother of eight children, cooking stones in an utensil to make her hungry children believe that the food would be served soon. She thought that the children would eventually sleep while waiting for the food.

It's so heart wrenching even now, when I think about it after many years, that how helpless the mother would have felt when she couldn't feed her children. And the extent that she went to manage her hungry children. This is her story.

Likewise, every parent has a story, which is unique and should never be compared with any other's.

I wonder and admire all that the parents go through while raising the children, or should I say, what not that they go through!

Sometimes children realize what parents do for them, many times they would never know! All that children can do is, to give back. Love. Warmth. Time. Friendship. Care. Whatever and whichever that can be given back!

Some of us are parents but everyone of us is a child, who owes a lot to our parents. Towards our parents, we are responsible more than what we think we are; for them, we are bound to do more than what we do.

Work is at its place; it needs to be at its place. We must keep giving our parents the beautiful moments, that they deserve and we owe.