Sunday, March 22, 2015

ORKUTTING


ORKUTTING

Somehow, going back to Orkut makes me go back to college...makes me younger looking, younger by thoughts and young at heart...all those scraps, typed with no second thoughts... all those testimonials... words, that truly cemented friendships...all those photos...where time has stood still..once and for all...
All the communities...where like-minded people all over the world gathered and exchanged views and where you felt like an important brick in the giant pyramid...also creating new communities and adding people to them was a huge thing...of course wat happened to them after a couple of weeks is another story.. wink emoticon
All those school friends...lost to transfers and school change...whose addresses and landline phone numbers were lost.... the sheer joy of 'DiscoverinG' them...finding out how much they have changed... moushtaches, beards grown... innocent smiles giving way to pretty faces...making you say... "Abe... ye kaisi thi..aaj kaisi ho gai hai..." Finding friends from your neighbourhood...with whom you learnt to play cricket, cycle together and who just got lost without even a bye!!!...AAAAHHHHH...
Trolling that school/college favorite... repeatedly checking hislher profile...for newer scrapes,photos...Searching for some special,specific name and finding it out of a maze of similar names was such a thrill...hesitating to send a friend request to him/her after so long...O GOD... acceptance of the same, made our day while,, the reverse broke our hearts... Some new friends made through casual friend requests...developing into good and sometimes not so good encounters... Yet, the idea of meeting new people somehow was very liberating...!!!
"You know SHE...she sent me a request...but I did not accept yet.", "You know he sent me a request...but I turned it down..." were common boasting points to show once worth..hahahahaha...!!!
One common thing that resonated across all homes in India, in all official languages and various dialects..."Jab dekho Orkut pe lage rehte ho...ye Orkut band karva dunga/dungi...Internet connection katvaa dunga/dungi...(All the Time you are on Orkut...will get you off it now... will cut the internet connection..)... As time passed though...many children created Orkut accounts for their parents and helped them find their friends... For the first time...both. child and parent found a common hobby and that for me was the advent of an urban social change in parental attitude towards children using computers and laptops i.e. Technology...Yet things were not turning rosier by the day...
By now, Facebook was beginning to find more space on the address bar and poor Orkut, lived on..hoping that its friends wouldnt leave him...But my friend..as we were growing up, you too should ve added to your repertoire...shouldve walked with us along... why did you stagnate...??? This question will remain forever... not for today though for discussion..
Soon, Orkut would become history, finding passing mention in Marketing books as an example of Rise and Fall...making for an interesting read...but for me the impact of Orkut goes beyond mere highs and lows of marketing...after all...how can you gauge the social impact of such a mass usage forum???
Because for a good few years...being on Orkut meant you were trendy, in with the times, and part of a social revolution...and not being on Orkut was just a shade less than being a crime and was absolutely down-market stuff... And.... the one question that we always asked all friends..old/new...strangers becoming friends on long distance trains...new people becoming friendly at a family party... "ORKUT PE HO NAA??? Scrap karta hun.."("Are you there on Orkut???Will send a scrap you soon...")
To sum it up...Orkut, once again, made kids out of growing teens and tweens...giving them something to discover on their own,... at a time when the burden of books made you feel like a Coolie...Orkut was your ticket to freedom into your world...all you had to do was..type the username and password... remember that feeling while it was loading...??????? Just like a Gift being unwrapped...and we hardly got any gifts like we did during childhood on birthdays!!!
Can Facebook come close to that feeling..??? Not for all money in the world...!!!
Orkut...Forever Friend...Never Before...Never Again!!!

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Sachin Tendulkar... The Uncomparable..

What can someone write about sachin which is not written, discussed or imagined already, by a billion souls?

1) His burden of carrying the expection of a nation with a billion plus population.
2) Delivering more often than not.
3) 20 years of nonstop action at the helm of cricket.
4) Answering his critics in his own style.
5) Inducing self doubt among the world’s best bowlers.
6) Continuing to be the nemesis of all opposition captains even after 20 years of international cricket...

and such a list will grow endlessly, and we would have read every bit of it one hundred times already. So, to write something new and refreshing about the master has become difficult.

Today, I am dedicating this article to those pundits who feel and speak the following thing; sachin is no way near his best, the sweet old days are over, his reflexes has slowed down, he is not a force anymore.

It was here in New Zeal Land, Sachin was first asked to open the innings. I still consider that knock to be the most brutal knock ever played in One Day cricket. In a slow and difficult pitch while chasing a tricky target of 142, the scoreboard read 117/1 out of which 3 were extras and sachin scored 82 of 48 balls with 15 fours and 2 sixes. It has been 15 years since and I have not seen such a knock, Jayasurya, Afridi and Gilchrist have scored quickly but no one as quickly on such a track. The beauty of that knock was all the shots were orthodox cricketing shots. The cover and extra cover fielders were sent on a leather hunt. The bad part was he threw away his wicket needlessly. He was a hurricane then, unstoppable but he quite often brought his own demise.

Now after 15 years, in the same country as a regular opener sachin has scored twice those runs. He scored 163 runs of 133 balls with 16 fours and 5 sixes. A cursory glance at that score sheet will tell everyone that he has repeated his heroics. People would assume this to be another reckless demolition act and brutal hitting. But, the truth is he did not even score 40 runs of 48 balls. He built his innings in such a way, that he never gave a remote chance to the bowlers. After many years, (when yuvi refused a single,) he actually dived to get back to his crease, such was the price he has put on his wicket this time. He took lot of singles, just milked the bowling. He counter attacked in a measured way. Paddled, guided balls to the third man, just two cover drives, mastered the dimensions of the ground, and used the dimensions of the ground and the wind to perfect use. At the end of the day, he almost reached a double ton if not for his injury of his abdomen. No other opener can give his team such a contribution.

If that Sachin was feared by the opposition captain, this sachin is admired and enjoyed (Read McCullums remarks).
If that Sachin was a Hurricane, this sachin is a pleasant breeze, no one realized, how, when and where he scored all his runs.
If that sachin was a dictator, this sachin is a magician.
If that sachin was a murderer, this sachin is an expert surgeon. That sachin killed the opposition attacks, whereas this sachin analyses and dissects the opposition.
If that sachin was an uncut diamond, this sachin is the Kohinoor of batting.

I loved him then as an 16 year old kid, I love him now as 26 year old dad. Times keep changing; even the greats bite the dust. Tyson got knocked out, Richards was troubled and could not score runs as he used to, and many greats lost their fight against time. But, Sachin, God that he is, took a friendly approach with time.

Instead of fighting against time and change, he became friends and took batsmanship to the next level. 43 hundreds and an endless list of awards, has not diminished his passion for this game, he still is a learner of the game. He has evolved, only those species that evolve can thrive in this world, but sachin has taken evolution to the next level. He is the epitome of modern batsmanship. This innings can be used as a tuturial for all aspiring batsman.

I have seen fanatics, hero worshippers, blind followers and mere stupids in everyday walk of life, in social communities, in forums and everywhere. But a sachin fan is different; there is reason, rationale and strong facts, for being a fan of Sachin. Like me, there are numerous Indians who have take inspiration from the Master and get the drive to succeed. I wish them all a very best and wish our master gets an ODI double ton soon.

P.S: I wish sachin and all sachin fans for some of the records that he broke today.

1. Sachin today has become the first man in this planet to score 10000 runs in a teams victory.
2. Second highest score in New Zeal Land
3. Highest ever for a player who got retired hurt
4. Highest score in New zeal land by an Indian
5. Highest score in Christchurch
6. First Indian to score three 150+ scores, he is now only behind jayasurya who has
4 (but sachin has the maximum number of 140+ scores)7. He increased the number of MOMs today to 58, twelve ahead of jayasurya.

P.P.S: A request to critics: Please find some other reason and point out a few stats and criticize sachin. We need more great knocks from him.

Lets have a snapshot of his records~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. Highest Run scorer in the ODI
2. Most number of hundreds in the ODI
3. Most number of nineties in the ODI
4. Most number of man of the matches(56) in the ODI's
5. Most number of man of the series(14) in ODI's
6. Best average for man of the matches in ODI's
7. First Cricketer to pass 10000 run in the ODI
8. First Cricketer to pass 15000 run in the ODI
9. He is the highest run scorer in the world cup (1,796 at an average of 59.87 as on 20 March 2007)
10. Most number of the man of the matches in the world cup
11. Most number of runs 1996 world cup 523 runs in the 1996 Cricket World Cup at an average of 87.16
12. Most number of runs in the 2003 world cup 673 runs in 2003 Cricket World Cup, highest by any player in a single Cricket World Cup
13. He was Player of the World Cup Tournament in the 2003 Cricket World Cup.
14. Most number of Fifties in ODI's 87
15. Appeared in Most Number of ODI's 407
16. He is the only player to be in top 10 ICC ranking for 10 years.
17. Most number of 100's in test's 42.
18. He is one of the three batsmen to surpass 11,000 runs in Test cricket, and the first Indian to do so
19. In 2003, Wisden rated Tendulkar as No. 1 and Richards at No. 2 in all time Greatest ODI player
20. In 2002, Wisden rated him as the second greatest Test batsman after Sir Donald Bradman.
21. Tendulkar has scored 1894 runs in calendar year in ODIs, most by any batsman
22. He has the least percentage of the man of the matches awards won when team loses.
23. Tendulkar has most number of the man of match awards(10) against Australia
24. In November 2006, Time magazine named Tendulkar as one of the Asian Heroes.
25. In December 2006, he was named "Sports person of the Year
26. Tendulkar was the first batsman in history to score over 50 centuries in international cricket
27. Tendulkar was the first batsman in history to score over 75 centuries in international cricket:90 centuries
28. Has the most overall runs in cricket, (ODIs Tests Twenty20s).
29. Most number of runs in test cricket
30. Sachin Tendulkar with Sourav Ganguly hold the world record for the maximum number of runs scored by the opening partnership.
31. the only player ever to cross the 13,000-14,000 and 15,000 run marks IN ODI.
32. Highest individual score among Indian batsmen (186* against New Zealand at Hyderabad in 1999) and listed as the fifth highest score recorded in ODI matches
33. Tendulkar has scored over 1000 ODI runs against all major Cricketing nations.
34. Sachin was the fastest to reach 10,000 runs taking 259 innings and has the highest batting average among batsmen with over 10,000 ODI runs
35. Consecutive ODI Appearances: 187
36. On his debut, Sachin Tendulkar was the second youngest debutant in the world.
37. When Tendulkar scored his maiden century in 1990, he was the second youngest to score a century
38. Tendulkar's record of five test centuries before he turned 20 is a current world record
39. Sachin is the first batsman to be declared run out by third umpire in 1992 in South Africa.
40. Sachin was the first Overseas Cricketer to represent Yorkshire CCC in 1992.3.
41. He made his first class debut at the age of 15 and scored a century on debut.
42. He captained the Indian team at the age of 23.5.
43. He is the wealthiest Indian cricketer due to his contracts of millions of US dollars a year with MRF and Pepsi ,etc. Till 1997 he had 7.5 Million US Dollars . He had also signed a contract with Adidas products.
44. He scored a century in the first match as captain of Indian team.-
45. Tendulkar has five calendar years with 1000 or more runs - 2008, 2002 (1392 runs), 1999 (1088 runs), 2001 (1003 runs) and 1997 (1000 runs). Gavaskar is the only other Indian with four seasons of 1000+ runs. Only Matthew Hayden and Lara have five seasons with 1000+ runs in International cricket.
46. Tendulkar's record of five centuries before he turned 20 is a current world record.
47 Tendulkar has scored over 1000 runs in a calendar year inODI's 7 times
48. Tendulkar has scored 1894 runs in calendar year in ODI's mostby any batsman
49. Sachin Tendulkar with Sourav Ganguly hold the world recordfor the maximum number of runs scored by the opening partnership. Theyhave put together 6,271 runs in 128 matches.
50. The 20 century partnerships for opening pair with SouravGanguly is a world record
51. Most number of Stadium Appearances: 90 different Grounds-Consecutive ODI Appearances: 185
52. The most World records held by a Cricketer (72).
To have 2 Man Of The Series Record in World Cups.....1996 (India, Pak, Srilanka) World Cup and 2003 (South Africa) World Cups. Also highest no. of runs in World Cups, both in Single and Altogether....
53. Sachin is the only batsman to be dismissed most number of times because of bad decisions.
54. One of the two player to hit a Century on his b'day!!!Other was Kambli...M talking abt ODIs...
55. Tendulkar holds the current record (217 against NZ in 1999/00 Season) for the highest score in Test cricket by an Indian when captaining the side
56. Tendulkar has scored centuries against all test playing nations.[7] He was the third batman to achieve the distinction after Steve Waugh and Gary Kirsten.
57. Tendulkar has 4 seasons in test cricket with 1000 or more runs - 2002 (1392 runs), 1999 (1088 runs), 2001 (1003 runs) and 1997 (1000 runs).[6] Gavaskar is the only other Indian with four seasons of 1000+ runs
58. He is second most number of seasons with over 1000 runs in world.
59. On 3 January 2007 Sachin Tendulkar (5751) edged past Brian Lara's (5736) world record of runs scored in Tests away from home
60. Tendulkar and Brian Lara are the fastest to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket history. Both of them achieved this in 195 innings
61. Second Indian after Sunil Gavaskar to make over 10,000 runs in Test matches
62. Became the first Indian to surpass the 11,000 Test run mark and the third International player behind Allan Border and Brian Lara.
63. Tendulkar is fourth on the list of players with most Test caps. Steve Waugh (168 Tests), Allan Border (158 Tests), Shane Warne (145 Tests) have appeared in more games than Tendulkar
64. Tendulkar has played the most number of Test Matches(144) for India (Kapil Dev is second with 131 Test appearances).
65. First to 25,000 international runs
66. Tendulkar's 25,016 runs in international cricket include 14,537 runs in ODI's, 10,469 Tests runs and 10 runs in the lone Twenty20 that India has played.
67. On December 10, 2005, Tendulkar made his 35th century in Tests at Delhi against Sri Lanka. He surpassed Sunil Gavaskar's record of 34 centuries to become the man with the most number of hundreds in Test cricket.
68. Tendulkar is the only player who has 150 wkts and more than 15000 runs in ODI
69. Tendulkar is the only player who has 40 wkts and more than 11000 runs in Tests
70. Only batsman to have 100 hundreds in the first class cricket
71. Highest Run Scorer in TEST CRICKET.


Regards,
Amit...