Calendar on my desk for this month reads - “Optimism: The hopeful sees success where others see failure; sunshine where others see shadow & storm”. If only I could see success, happiness and sunshine through the thick fog of confusion and uncertainty, always. I do not want capsules, doctrines, pep talk and other remedies prescribed by modern hippies for mental peace. Find your own way to reach there. But when do I finish my black book of ideals, principles and perspective and live by it? Why do I think I need it? Everyday, I think I am older and more mature than yesterday and I repent some of my yesterday’s actions as childish. When does one finish the process of growing up, see the world through the wise eyes, and be able to explain ones actions completely? Body reaches maturity one day and it stops to grow and only shrivels with age. But when do I see my mental maturity to reach its maximum growth? Sometimes I think I am becoming a cynic in life.

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I need to get some life outside office. I have worked the hardest for last two weeks. Everyday including Saturday and Sunday until 3 am. There was tension, chaos, uncertainty, but everything turned out fine in the end. I didn’t think about it much, but I enjoyed it a lot. I like working myself upto my limits. I used to play table tennis for hours continuously. Partners come and go, but I used to be there at one end of the table. At the end, sweat coming out of every pore, I would like to rest and then take a lazy walk. But I never used to get a partner. I lured many of my friends, taught them the game, made them play, but they eventually lost interest. Some good old times. Back to my work. I have completed one part of it. Second part is building up. I have gruelling weeks to come; if I don’t manage correctly, it could also blow up. About 3 weeks to go. From tomorrow, no moment to waste, with the fullest of energy, with the sharpest of mind.

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I am thrilled with the way cricket is going. Nowadays I read every article in the sports section of the newspaper (within ten minutes snatched away in the morning). There is big fight going on in office bulletin board about cricket. I guess corporates will have a huge loss in productivity due to this series. But cricket is bringing beautiful pieces of writing too. I liked some written by my colleagues. I am a fan of Harsha Bhogle. I loved one of his articles, Sign of the times. I pitched in couple of times to offer my piece of mind too. It is celebration times, but as always, I am skeptic of their continued success.

I don’t feel very strongly. I like to enjoy the game and leave it at that and don’t get too much into history, statistics and such and start arguing. At all times, keep in mind that it is just a game. Just for the fun of it, I replied to one of the posts in bulletin board:

This is a new phenomenon about Sachin bashing. These same elements would not have even wagged there collective tails when Sachin was bashing others with his bat. When he gets single digit scores in two matches, you scream at him to score. When he scores 140, you scream at him to score even more and ensure that the team wins. Then you demand personal commitment towards team’s victory, not teamwork where everybody contributes towards victory. When he scores 140 and still India won’t win, it is Sachin who failed, not this new fantasy “Team India”. Australia is a team where everybody has enough potential to contribute. Here we are afraid when this paper tower is going to collapse. We depended upon personal achievements to forward the team. Now when there are four youngsters who are worth something, it is team India.

There is nothing wrong in aiming something personally and get going to achieve it. If a person doesn’t know what he wants and how to get it, how can he get it done for others? Even the declaration wouldn’t have become a controversy if India declared at 650 instead of 675. If you can wait that far, there is nothing wrong in waiting for two more overs. If this happened due to a miscommunication between captain and player, it is fine, but if you say person does not matter only the team matters, what does it do to a person’s self-respect. Nobody likes to hear that you are dispensible at any point of time and that you as a person is insignificant.

Strong willed individuals who knows what they want can form a good team.

Don’t attach greatness and tell him that he is not great.
Don’t attach divinity then accuse him that he is not god.
Don't hail them as "Sultan of Multan" today and treat them like a pauper tomorrow.
Let them play for what they are worth.