Vintage Federer

Like any Federer fan I dislike juxtaposing these two words... and it’s an irony that I write this when the swiss professional has just bagged his first Paris Open. But like any sport, the champion cannot stay on the top of the game for eternity.  Federer has surely had his dream run for five years from 2003 to 2008 and it was Wimbledon 2011 when it first hit me…. watching him play so well against Djokovic during the semis for the initial two sets and then switching off completely for the rest of the match… and all due credit to Novak who was two sets down to come out will all guns blaring and make Roger concede victory .. Is age getting to the tennis champion?? Coz apart from that I fail to see any other reason … I doubt any tennis follower would like to question the skill supremacy of him…

Having said that the player was truly in sublime form during the Paris open… His match against Berdych was nothing short of brilliance… He got off to a brilliant start, breaking Berdych's serve as he opened a 2-0 lead. Dictating play with dipping cross-court shots, he kept the Czech at bay. Moreover there were only a couple of unforced errors, which is very uncharacteristic of Federer. Many writers have applauded his performance as a comeback but I guess it is more of a swan song. 

I cant help but compare the swiss favourite with the so called reigning champions. If I were asked, I do not particularly enjoy watching Nadal against Djokovic, with the high lofted returns well above the net….waiting for the other guy to make an error…and not to mention the series of injuries these two players have been facing keeping them from playing these three setter ATP tours. But maybe I am prejudiced….

learning to let go...

Its just two simple words..the ones that get taught on the first day of elementary school..the ones that u learn, when u start to make two and three lettered words from alphabets… But its only when you get all grown up and put these  words together that u understand the weight of these two babies…“LET GO”….

I am sure each one of us has had their share of these two "big" letters..be it letting go of bad habit..or an object u cherish the most…or a fight with an old pal…or a person that you wished was close by. But once you do, the feeling is all too liberating..like a gush of fresh air…like guitar strings playing all crazy.. and something that makes u feel all light n calm… Somewhere I read said …” needless attachment is the root cause to all pains” and very much agree to the essence of it… its just that many of us fail to see what lies on the other side..we remain trapped in our own created cobwebs

Well its not my intention to put up something  really profound here...just that sometimes when we loose perspective of things... it helps if we look at things from a different angle...maybe after reading from someone else's blog :)

His master's voice...

Well am sorry i admit it...though after a long hiatus.... food isn't the only thing that plays centerstage in my life...there are other things as well like music for example (plus a couple of ppl tht shud get due mention here!). Music is like food for the soul...a treat for the ears...something that stays with me right from booting up in the morning to entering sleep mode in the night... at times like a humming background noise throughout the day..

Listening to a good performance is what gives me vicarious pleasures.. not being 'particularly' gifted in the vocal or instrument playing department i have to make good with that..but this is definitely one of the check boxes i need to tick before i wind up... need to learn to play a guitar or maybe even a tabla...

Its hard to narrow down on a particular genre of music as my favourite....my tastes have shifted quite dramatically over the years...from back street boys, bryan adams and MLTR to bollywood and sufi now...Downloading music now, which is like taking a bite of a well made cheese cake was a was far less simpler affair not too long ago... I remember that i used to purchase audio cassettes for 150 bugs each (esp for the phoren albums) and with a paltry pocket money allocation of i guess Rs 50 a month the wait for a quarter felt like eternity.

Speaking of music i cant forget to make mention of a late night prayer at a temple next to my house. The delivery is in a language that i do not follow (mayb that's wat add to the charm)..but it has a very beautiful  mellody..such that its made me( off all the ppl) a regular to the temple..that too at 10 in the nite..after 8 hours of number crunching and 3 hours of burning rubber on the road 


I would like to think my myself as a discerning music lover...but who am i trying to fool here..Nonetheless i have this thing for certain excerpts in songs like the flute playing in the end of the song 'Dreams of fire' of slumdog millionaire (very soulful this bit..i must say) or the medley of guitar,santoor and tabla in the middle song 'yehi hota pyaar' from Namaste London..


Now that we are on this toplic lemme give u a little trivia... HMV or his master's voice (for those uninformed) was named after a dog called Nipper who took particular interest in the voice recordings of his late masters voice, and it was after this that the music label company was name..wallah...see quite a story aint it....

Love Handles...

If someone were to ask three things that play center stage in my life it would be food , food and yes you guessed it right food. I wonder how it managed to escape, even a fleeting mention in my first blog. But as wise old men, and women(see I am not a sexist) say “der aaye durust aaye”

My affinity for this life sustainer is definitely more than normal and explains my love handles to some extent. I like to think of myself as a person with a multi-cultural tooth…have not stayed within the realms of having a sweet tooth only.. “me” has diversified into other areas as well.. I have a Chinese tooth for sure…and also a Thai and Mexican one… and this list could go on and on…

After recently being anointed as a vegetarian, I fear I have shut my doors to about half (if not more!) of the things, this fine world has to offer. But then, I am ready to contend with the greener half, in lieu of the positive feeling I get after becoming a convert

The idea of fine dining holds special appeal to me..so does trying out local delicacies when I travel to new places. In fact, part of the blame for me being such a foodie, would go to my family. I remember that in our trip to leh, like in most of our trips, me and my sis were busy planning out our itinerary for lunches and dinner 24X7..always rearranging and rescheduling… like those travel  trips u book from cheap and not so recommended travel agents…

I would trade Vir Sanghvi’s job for anything… Imagine what this guys get paid for… for eating and sleeping in 5 stars and then writing of it… Well, I have been contemplating on a job change for long now, guess  I should be aiming for the bull’s eye this time around….TV shows in the genre that go recommended by me are MasterChef Australia and Highway on my plate. Enough of this writing… I guess..its time for me to shake a leg and try to gid rid of my love handles..  

PaPeR Planes

We all have had childhood dreams....those fragments of situations, pictures and even smell, etched deep down in our memory. A recent discussion in my work cab made me exhume those old memories like the ghost of Christmas past and i was taken in a journey back in time...of all the things i recall, I can very categorically say i had a very happy childhood...Those games with friends..flying paper planes in class...and some as ridiculous as chasing dogs on bicycles. I wish i had never put this down in black and white but then what the hell..this game was so much a part of my so called "growing up". 

I fondly claim to have a very photographic memory..If i were to name one childhood article that i remember the most it would be my water sipper... As naive and crazy as it may sound i still remember the colour, smell, feel of my beloved thirst quencher...

Life seems to have come such a long way now...from riding bicycles to driving cars...from the Rs 2.0 cardamom flavoured sweet and starchy kisme bar to the more sophisticated nugget filled toblerone now... and so on. But sometimes i wonder wasn't life simpler then... it took only a extra five bugs of pocket money to make me throw my chunk of calcium.. but maybe one cant fly paper planes always...life is about change and one needs to move on with it... maybe looking back at life as in a rear view mirror.. and guiding your future course accordingly....