Captan key funday

Captain's influence on the team's performance is much like the electric-assist on the bicycles. You need to put in the initial couple of pedals for the motor to kick in and then your subsequent pedals are eased off with the electric assist. Failing to pedal at any point will only slow down the bicycle putting extra pressure on legs. So a bad motor read non-performing-captain will not only slow down the bike but also make the manual pedaling tougher so is the converse true. 

While the nation awaits for the one last show at 2012 IPL championship, its time for some retrospection from the captain's perspective for the future. During this course of 70 odd games for over 6 weeks of INDIAN summer we have noticed some stunning individual performances. Some crucial moves and some lame team selections and some brain freezes from the captains. Some players have stepped up and have answered a few if and but questions, some continued to be a flash in the pan and some have proved that they are still mediocre and will continue to be as is. There would be time in every cricketer's life i-wish-i-captained-a-team moment. Some earned it, some were entrusted upon.  

DJ Hussey, Gambhir have been the stand out electric-assists who have made use of the resources and turned them into gold. Nobody had given Kings Punjab a chance pre and post Gilchrist limp, but DJ inspired his troops with some tactical and logical moves. Probably only DJ figured out that Praveen Kumar is worth gold only when used 4 overs upfront. If only Punjab had consistent foreign players the out come of the games would have been different. 

Gambhir realized that he is the best opener in the hut and KKR's fortune took a giant leap. He brought back the left armers charm back in to cricket making a mockery of the commentary's theory of can't-play-2-left armers-in-a-team. Eden has proved to be a slow track and he chose his bowlers based on that. He has proved that playing your best bowler in a game is the key, even if it means playing all 3 spinner. In a era where off-spinners-can't-be-attaching Gambhir used Sunil Narine as an attacking bowler which made him even more deadly. No wonder batsman chanted Narayan Narayan.  

Sehwag's captaincy began to yield much like his batting on green conditions. He inspired DD with his attacking bowling options and murderous batting. 3 bowlers bowling at 90 Mph is a Neighbors-envy-owner's-pride moment, bundle it with 2 good left armers is beyond decent attack. Suddenly lack of logic or baseless instincts got the better of him. Nobody can decipher why Taylor was batting so low down the order, or why Morkel was expelled at Russel's exp or why Venugopal played so many less games. Who and why was Sunny Gupta bowling his first over of IPL on a crucial game? Frankly all these have one word answer Sehwagology. Your guess is a good as mine, yup see-the-ball-hit-the-ball. 

Harbhajan believed in the theory that every bottle needs new opener each time. The fact that who opens with Sachin was decided with a role of dice on the roulette table is pretty amazing. Only thing that was consistent in the team was Malinga's boot yorkers. Not playing Pragyan Ojha meant he didn't enjoy too many variations and options, just like his bowling his captaincy was guiless, flat and straight. And no-of-balls Pollard bowled out numbered the balls he was allowed to face only meant, Bhajji was promoting INDIAN batsman. Assuming that a bowler will bowl with the same accuracy in two different spells is like assuming a first innings centurion to score another in the 2nd innings. There is something called rhythm and condition which the bowler was in, breaking it is a sin and was evident in Dhawal's bowling. After bowling 2 good overs decision to give a 3rd over is the tipping point for a team in this IPL. Of-course cricketing logic doesn't prevail when malinga is bowling.  

  

Ganguly with his limited T20 abilities could only take a team so far; inspiration, motivation and strategy can only be productive when there are legs to execute it. Pune was low cost motor with weak legged cyclist who had a huge heart. It would be an under-statement to say they over-achieved with the talent they had. They had second string players from each team and who lacked big game abilities. Nothing much needs to be spoken about Ganguly's captaincy it's all proved and up for display.

Kohli couldn't in fact use Spin-King-Murli a suffocating-bowler than a bullet-in-the-head bowler was the reason why RCB were in the situation which they didn't want to be in. Lack of competency from the locals/Virat meant Vetori had to step down to play Murli. And Gayle-can-chase-anything led to the defensive bowling. Also Gayle-de-Villiers heroics and Vinay-n-co's anti-heroics made captains role inconsequential overshadowing any role a captain could play. 

One innings of murdering mediocre bowlers plus one-off-day-for-malinga neither makes Dhoni a good T20 batsmen nor his lackluster on-field captaincy and could inspire any one. Fact that all his misfire-ploys are treated as experiments by the critics is baffling. He is the only captain in the entire sporting history to manipulate his batting positions based on situations. Looking after teams-interest is one view not-exposing-weakness is other view, intelligent can take their pick.

It's a conundrum how people just up their game when playing for CSK, neither Morkel nor Bravo have played so consistently for any other team for such a long duration. The fact that Vijay n Ashwin step up when they play for CSK led us believe there is something magical about the team meetings.

So its not just CSK vs KKR this Sunday, but its a battle 2 future INDIAN ELECTRIC-ASSIST MOTOR banking on its strong foreign legs to cross the finish line.

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Episode 11: The fun begins

Episode 10 Click here

8 am on a beautiful sunny Monday morning Vijay stepped out of his apartment and headed towards his department which was a block away. At the same time the door at the opposite complex 100 feet away opened and Priya stepped out. Both had a quick look and their eye met; suddenly both shook their head away as if they never saw each other. Vijay then shifted his eyes towards his right to catch a glimpse of Priya and she was right there waiting for him to look. This increased his heart beat and he quickly turned away and began walking towards the department. As he walked towards the department Priya kept staring at him, he appeared smaller and smaller and finally he vanished into the crowd.

Priya was in a mixed state of emotions, this was for the first time she had caught a glimpse of Vijay after landing in US, and the moment didn't even last for a min. She felt extremely sad and angry at the same time with herself more than with Vijay. She couldn't believe her own reaction when she saw him, he was the same Vijay whom she had spent 20 hrs up in the air, laughing and talking. She felt something had changed, changed drastically. She was still figuring out the reason why she had shook away the first time and why her eyes kept staring at his path all the way till he actually got lost in the crowd. She neither had any answers to these questions, nor had anyone to discuss about it, she had only herself to figure out.

She probably began to feel something for him. She had the whole day to figure out as she headed towards the Univ Library, a place so silent enough to put you to sleep let alone attempting to read a book. She sat down in the corner read a big fat book when read Digital Signal Processing.

Marathe was looking at the scene below though the window; He had sensed something fishy about Vijay and his activities but never gave a deep thought to it. He was an idiot when it came to talking to women but had enough gray matter in his head to figure out that something indeed was cooking b/w them.

"Where can I take a print out from my email?” Vijay asked a simple question to the lib staff.
"You mean a public access computer connected to a local printer where you can check your personal email?” the lib staff replied back.

It sounded like a complex network routing algorithm to Vijay and it took him 5 secs and 6 blinks and couple of swear words to grasp and assimilate it. Vijay banged his palm on his head and walked towards the computer wondering why there people always like to complicate things. Selected the appropriate printer clicked print and began walking towards printer which was in the corner of the hall way. Sudden noise at the printer's broke the silence enough to draw Priya's attention. The noise spread to her ear drums like Sun rays hitting the ground cutting through the fog driving away darkness. She stood and began to look in the direction of the sound.

Vijay, humming his favorite Himesh Reshammiya chart number walked towards printer, suddenly caught a glimpse of Priya and in a split second quickly sat on the first available computer that hid him, like a batsman ducking at the Shane Bond's fast bouncer. Seeing nobody approach the printer Priya sat down and went back to her mark and continued processing the signals. Close, very close almost gloved the ball to the keeper Vijay mumbled and felt exactly like how a batsman felt when he survives the bouncer. Since he was in front of the PC he thought he might as well checkout cricinfo for the latest score. The game was getting interesting and so was the textual commentary, visualizing the shots Vijay got lost in the game.

Marathe who had to renew his Bio-chemistry book entered the library in his usual red Reebok shorts and white Nike shirt which made a statement yes that's right in blue. While he was at the counter renewing his book he caught Priya reading through the corner of his eye. The detective in him woke up; he was walking towards the hallway and suddenly saw Vijay in front of the PC in the adjacent row. He looked at Priya on his left and looked at Vijay on his right; three of them together formed an equilateral triangle. Looked at Priya on left, looked at Vijay on the right atleast 5 times as if he was watching Wimbledon from the first row perpendicular the net. Things became a bit clear now; he decided to approach Vijay and walked towards him.It was Monday anyways and his boss always came late to the lab, so had enough levy and reason to spy and loiter around.

“Bhimrao”, “could you please carry this book and meet me in the lab in 10 mins”, a familiar voice drew his attention; it was indeed his Boss who had played a spoil sport. “Yes Dr”, Marathe replied and he began walking away from Priya and Vijay turning an equilateral into a isosceles triangle and finally it was only a straight line that exist b/w Vijay and Priya

The geometry continues …

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Episode 9: Project Priya

Episode 8 Click here
Vijay and Priya stood face to face for the first time; even though he was with her in the airport he never had this interaction. The elevator door was about to close, Vijay outstretched his hand to keep it open, Priya entered the elevator and pressed ground button. Vijay was stunned at her reaction, rather lack of it. She neither looked at him, nor spoke a word; In-fact he felt like seeing her twin sister, identical in looks but serious and angry faced. Vijay had his eyes wide open, his heart was beating like Venkatesh Prasad's slower delivery, slower and slower. The sound of the elevator door opening got him out of temporary coma, priya stepped out towards the mail boxes. Vijay stood silent and still like a rock in shock. The elevator door closed.

Vijay rested his palm behind his head and looked at the ceiling lying on his bed, wondering what actually happened in the elevator.
Firstly was she his Priya indeed or was he seeing Priya ever where?
Secondly if she was Priya was she suffering from short term memory loss?
Finally was she actually Priya but avoiding him? This sounded more realistic and non filmy. 'Dude she is playing a game! mind game!', Vijay spoke to himself.

"Hero come here, see how Shane Warne is playing mind games with the batsman", Marathe yelled from the hall.
"Kevin Petersen vs Shane Warne can't get better than this", Patel added.
"Both were best pals once when they played for Hampshire, but now they are rivals!, arch rivals", Marathe replied.
Analogies and parallel screenplays are good in movies, especially the one in 'Rang De Basanti' not in real life Vijay realized that.

"Hero, wanna make international debut today?, I mean cooking lunch!" Patel asked.
"OK sure, but I don't have any Ranji experience.", Vijay replied.
"Sala! it is difficult to run this house with this U19", Marathe grumbled.
"23, I am 23" Vijay asserted.

Vijay took out his notebook which read "Cooking Notebook" opened page 1, it read 'Beans Sambar'. Lit the burner, pour oil onto the vessel and dropped in a spoon full of mustard seeds, a minute later mustard seeds began to jump around, he ran away towards his room for shelter. Marathe and Patel stared at each other with a raised eyebrows, they never spoke a word but the expression told every thing.
"This is what happens when you pick an U19 player to AUSTRALIA series", Marathe pointed his index finger at Patel as if he had a point to prove.
Vijay came back and read his book 'mustard seeds would jump, take shelter, lower the flame and continue'. He continued with his cooking.
"But this guy has potential, ability to bounce back", Patel corrected Marathe.
"Yes that is what Merve Huges told about Tendulkar in 1991 Sydney test", Marathe emphasized.

"Hero, we will taste your food today and decide whether you would be in playing 11 or 12th man", Marathe raised his voice.
i.e whether you would cook or just be a cleaner. Vijay stared at the charred pile of vessels and decided to focus on getting the Sambar right. When you know what you don't want in life, life is pretty simple. 20 minutes later and after a couple whistles the selection committee sat for lunch. Five minutes into lunch he knew he would be in the playing 11, why not, he had used his mother's Sambar powder and desi ghee as part of his ingredient and it was steaming hot. It's like Raju Hirani, a great script and Aamir Khan what possibly can go wrong.
"We have a slot for all-rounder in the team, someone who can neither bat nor can bowl", Marathe gave him a thumbs up. Vijay had a sigh of relief and smiled looking at the vessels as if ridiculing it.

When your stomach is full, blood drains out of brain towards stomach, that is when all the weird thoughts sink in.
'Focus on the how to solve the problem rather than thinking why the problem occurred', a quote that he had read some where struck his mind.

Project Priya ' Vijay wrote

'Priya knows that I know where she lives, she saw my surprised face when she ignored me' Vijay began jotting down.
'Now she would expect me to follow her or contact her directly or indirectly,
what if I play the bluff.

Step 1: Make sure she sees you through her window.
Step 2: Ignore Priya when she approaches.
Step 3: Know all the places she goes daily.
Step 4: Avoid all those places totally.
Step 5: You will be in her mind, she will definitely hunt you down.

Reason: 'There is nothing more irritating to a girl when someone she likes suddenly ignores her' jotted this random sentence his friend had once quoted and decided to put it to action.

will he succeed keep reading ...

Comments, Suggestions and Abuses are Welcome.

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Episode 8: The Chase Begins

Click here for Part 7

Vijay was surrounded by 9 Priyas each depicting 9 different emotions(rasas) from Śringāram to Kārunyam to Shāntam and Vijay was trying to convince and console each one of them as to why he had left her alone at the airport. Suddenly a big strong dude with a mase (gadha) on his shoulders entered the room driving all the Priyas away.
"Hero, stop snoring we are unable to hear the cricket commentary" Bhim Marathe knocked the door which woke Vijay up.
It was 9 am and scorching sun rays had already heated up the room, Vijay rubbed his eyes and walked towards the kitchen and drank a glass of water.
"Sale Naam Arjun Kharrate Kumbhakaran Jaisa" (u call yourself Arjuna and snore like Kumbhakaran ), Marathe yelled at him.

"Which match?", Vijay stared at the 50 inch white screen hung on the wall and a projector which had property Dept of Bio-Chemistry engraved onto it. They had surround speakers placed at all the 4 corners of the hall and the sound quality enough to pick even the faintest edge. Vijay stuck his tongue out as he saw the revolutions on the ball that left Shane Warne's hand and crashed into Andrew Strauss's leg stump. He was wondering whether to appreciate the ball or the technology that these idiots had at their apartment. It was more like a ESPN studio than a grad student apartment. "Ashes!" Vijay got goosebumps and thanked the lord for placing him in the Ayodhya of cricket, apt 309.

The glimpse of a girl raising the window blinds in the opposite apartment complex caught Vijay's attention, her face wasn't visible but his heart felt she was Priya.
"Hero, look at the replay, the ball pitched 2 and half feet outside the off-stump and crashed into the leg-stump" Marathe shouted looking at the screen.
`Replays and highlights can wait but not the lady in red`, Vijay mumbled in his mind and ran to his room, took out his pair of binoculars and focused on Priya's apartment. He could see girl with long hair but before he caught her face as she turned around the her window blinds closed. "Dam no replays", Vijay mumbled in his mind in utter disdain.

He decided to chase Priya the hard way the Engineer's way, he drew a matrix on a sheet of paper, rows representing floor level and columns representing apartment number. Most of the apartments had 3 bed rooms and a hall, all adjacent to each other. This meant every 3 sets of windows constituted one apartment; it wasn't all that easy, some apartments had two bedrooms. So he ran to the leasing office and got the floor layout. 1 2 3 4 he counted her window from the bottom. So 4th floor 'row = 4' he marked on the sheet of paper, and quickly saw the floor map. 4th floor had 2 bed room apt only in the corner and rest were 3 bed rooms. After couple of minutes of calculation he came up with col = 5. A(4,5) he wrote it on the sheet of paper,`Vijay this is it!, go for a sixer he patted his back`. 'A(4,5) is apartment 407, apt 407 baby' he shouted loudly apt 407,"Hahhahah", he laughed loudly.

"Dude this guy is from Rakshas family snores like Kumbhakarn and laughs like Ravan, hope he turns out Vibhishan in real life or else we are screwed" Dhamraj expressed his unhappiness.
"Leave him, focus on this new lad Kevin Petersen, dude I tell you he would be the next big thing in test cricket", Marathe diverted his attention.

Now Vijay had two options either directly drop into apartment 407 and face Priya or talk to her first and then take things from there. He decided to take the 2nd step, called up the leasing office and asked for the phone number of apartment 407.

"Sorry sir we are not supposed to reveal the phone numbers of our residents", the leasing office hung up the phone.
'Dam you privacy bull shit rule', Vijay thew the cordless on to the bed.

Suddenly a thought struck his mind, he ran towards her apartment complex and punched in the key associated with apt 407 at the buzzer at the main door. As soon as the buzzer began to ring Vijay's heart beat began approaching the speed of Shoab Akthar's ball 100 and when the call got connected his heart skipped for a sec.

"Hello" a sweet familiar voice that came out from the speaker reinstalled the heart beat.
"Fedex, I have a package for Miss Priya V", Vijay used his commentary skills and produced Tony Greg's voice.
"Please come in" Priya replied and pressed the # button on the phone to open the main door. Vijay entered the elevator and exited out at the 4th floor and headed towards apt 407 after taking a right.

As Vijay was approaching the apt 407 the door opened, a lady in blue jeans put her right foot out. Seeing this Vijay's entire face began red, he could feel his veins busting out and in anxiety he jumped into the elevator. Apartment 407 door was left ajar, the lady in jeans walked towards the elevator, Vijay could hear the tapping of the shoes approaching the elevator. He pressed the door close button quickly.

Before the elevator door closed the lady in jeans appeared right in front of Vijay.

to be continued ...

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Story Series 6: The Beginning

Click here for Part 5

The flight began its ascent, both the babes beside him were quite normal, completely contrast with Priya who was petrified. Vijay began to recollect how he had cooled down when flight first took off from Bangalore; how he had used Jai Kali Maa as an anxiety pill every time she was petrified. Priya was innocent at heart, and she appreciated his witty jokes and that had drawn him closer to her. She had responded sweetly to all his stupid and blatant jokes. He had done all the Ram Leela Nautankis and she had appreciated it like a devotee joining her hand. Sitting between the English Mam's he felt like performing drama behind the curtains. He realized that audience support is an integral part of any act. They say, 'if you are thinking about someone even after then have left, then you have a thing for that person'. Vijay had to figure out what that thing was, whether it was just an infatuation or a crush or whether he was in love with her. He had the whole 6 hrs to decipher that, provided he stayed focused and diverted his attention away from the two beauties.

"I am Claudia" the German miss introduced herself again after the flight had reached its designated height. "Vijay, I will be joining the CS dept at UIC for my Masters" he replied. "I am a Doctoral student at the dept of Psychology, UIC", she replied back as they both smiled. "Wow UIC, how long have you been in UIC", Vijay asked. "My third year now", she replied. 'Experienced psycho' he mumbled in his mind and had a sarcastic smile. "Psychologist not Psychiatrist, she asserted him, as if she had heard what he mumbled". 'Man she is a mind reader! I better be careful', 'Oh no she might have heard it as well', Vijay was very nervous.

Vijay was under the assumption that Psychologist were mind readers, initially he was in grief and was missing Priya but now he couldn't stop thinking about the German babe. Vijay had already been awed by the tall and fair GERMAN women at the Frankfurt Airport. He had seen a few tall GERMAN women volleyball players on TV, but in airport everyone seemed a national player. He was amongst the tallest in his class, but there he felt like a Lilliput amongst the Gulliver s. Germany and German women were taking his focus away from Priya. Attempting to focus on Priya and diverting away from the German babe seemed very hard. 'Focus Vijay focus, remember how Tendulkar focuses on the ball, concentrate, concentrate ', he told to himself as he fell asleep.

Up in the mid air somewhere close to Arctic Circle the air-hostess woke him up for meals. The Oberoi's meal no longer excited him; he had no one beside to listen to his stupid sarcastic jokes on food. Claudia was enjoying her cold sandwich, and that green thing called salad. “Healthy and tasty isn’t it” she asked him as she began enjoying her salad. Vijay stared at her tongue and wondered if people in this part of the world had something called taste buds. What was considered cook’s folly in INDIA, was tasty in this part of the world. ‘Strange he mumbled’ as he chewed his paneer cubes dipped in tomato sauce aka paneer butter masala. ‘Air India food gets bad to worse as we move from East to West’, this really is a smooth transition” he mumbled.

Finally flight landed at O'Hare at 4 pm, picked up his luggage and headed towards the gate. "See you later at the school he waved at Claudia". Was it the sleep or the Claudia effect, he had totally forgotten about Priya. He was greeted by a student from Indian Student Association holding a name tag VIJAY – U I C, Karan Agrawal he introduced. They reached the apartment and Karan picked up his phone and yelled “Marathe, your new roommate is here”. “No no his name is Bhimrao S M”, Vijay replied after conversation ended; “Yes Bhimrao Shivajirao Marathe” Karan asserted. “Dude, here we call people by their Surname or their state name”, he clarified. “What’s your Surname” he asked. “Arjun, but that’s my Dad’s name, please don’t call me that”, he replied in a low tone. “You don’t have a Surname, Where are you from?” he asked in a loud tone. “Karnataka”, Vijay replied. “Madrasi?”, “No no Kannadiga”, Vijay replied. “What’s the difference anyways?” Karan laughed. ‘Cauvery River’ Vijay wanted to say, by then a big dude swearing in marathi broke their conversation “KYA REY!, tumko match key beech mey aana tha, Ie Z*v*da”? “Anyways I am Marathe; he shook hands with Vijay, and picked his suitcase and then headed towards the apt”.

Keep reading … a new series coming up ... read the last paragraph carefully ...

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Story Series Part 3: Mid Air Crisis

Part 2

Flight AI 127 has reached 36000 feet, you can now turn on your wireless devices, out came the announcement. Vijay searched all his 6 pockets in his pant, 4 pockets in his denim jacket and 2 pockets in his shirt, then jumped up and started searching his bag-pack, sweating all over his body, he sat down in despair, "You are sweating is AC!!!" she said. "I can't find my mobile", he replied. "Why did you get a mobile while coming to US? We get mobiles free with the service you know", she questioned". "That's a very good question, but let me find my mobile first and then I will think of answering it!" replied in a furious tone. Got up and checked all his pockets again, then sat down dejected. With almost tears in his in his eyes he replied "that was my first purchase with my first paycheck, kind of first love you see". "Feeling nostalgia and getting goose bumps" she asked, "that ain't helping the cause!" he chirped. "Do you remember where you kept it?" she asked casually, "I have no idea why people ask that question! Anyways I don't remember" he replied with a red face. "OK, OK cool down, lets back track; let me put it in a nice way, when was the last time you saw it". "At 9 pm I saw it in my sister's hand and at 10 pm in her bag" he said. "OK ... after that?" she questioned.

Suddenly he began laughing loudly. "What happened, why are you laughing like RAVANA?" Priya asked. "Thumping his right palm against his forehead he replied "I didn't bring any mobile with me, I gifted it to my sister". "The fact that I was missing my mobile from my pocket for the first time in 5 years is a bit tough to digest", "That is why I got so scared", Vijay began laughing again. "TUBE LIGHT", she joked. "NO SUNLIGHT he replied", "tube-light takes only 8 secs, sun rays takes 8 minutes to reach the earth's surface", "see I exactly took 8 minutes to figure it out", pointed his right index finger at his left wrist. "Priya was suddenly silent", thinking about what lies ahead she starting staring at his non-existing wrist watch.

"Do you know the 3 Idiots funda ? Priya asked, 'What?' he questioned. "YES Idiots are of three types"; Some look like, Some think like and Some are actual; and you don't look like one, Vijay felt his lips Fevi-Quicked, he couldn't move his lips.

"Coffee or Tea Sir" the Air hostess interrupted, "Coffee definitely Coffee please" Priya replied, "Coffee for me too" Vijay replied, Priya was glad that the focus was shifted away from the wrist watch. Vijay poured in sugar and creamer and began stirring the coffee. The aroma of hot steaming coffee was enough to charge his batteries, let alone the caffeine entering his blood stream. He drank a sip, twisting his face he turned towards her, "Is this coffee?” he asked her. "Don't expect a 'V V Puram' coffee house coffee in Air India Vijay" she replied. "Hmm V V Puram coffee shop coffee", "Dark and strong filter coffee with froth enough to sink in your lips, " Vijay began imagining the coffee. Suddenly out of curiosity he said "V V Puram coffee shop!", "You know about V V Puram coffee shop?" wow he said. "So you live in and around V V Puram area?" now he began his Q & A. "Jayanagar 4 th block she said". "I used to go to V V Puram Coffee shop when I was studying in Engineering college there". "Oh that Eng College, I stayed close to it, actually across the street, Wow What a coincidence", he replied "Yes I have seen you many going to that Coffee shop, via our campus, eating bhelpuri and dosa on the way" she asserted. Vijay was stunned, doing a Micheal Jordan, sticking his tongue out, eye balls bulging out, wondering whom he was messing with.

"Here you are Mr Vijay" his friend Ravi broke the silence. "Hey Ravi what a pleasant surprise man" Vijay stood and shook hands with Ravi. Vijay could hear the crushing sound of his bones in his palm, Ravi was well built, dark and thick haired, fair dude who could give any women a knee jerk. "So still working in CHI KA GO?” Vijay asked. "Yea still in SHI KAA GO, I love the wind", he replied in a sarcastic tone. Suddenly Vijay felt an elbow hitting right his side, it was Priya who was hinting him to introduce her to Ravi, and little did Vijay have a clue about this. He continued his conversation with Ravi ignoring the elbow pierce, the elbow piercing became more powerful and frequent; suddenly elbowing stopped, pinching began. Vijay had no clue why she was torturing him this way, thought coffee had made her hyper; he continued his conversation; Ravi noticed Priya and her unsuccessful attempts to get introduced. So he broke the conversation, "So you have a friend along with you ?", he asked Vijay looking at gorgeously fair Priya with sharp black eyes, parrot nose, cute dimple and glittering set of teeth, will complimented with her aesthetic dress sense.

"I am Priya V, she introduced herself, nice to meet you" she shook hands with Ravi, and both stared at each other in silence. "She is going to the same University, but different branch" Vijay interrupted.

"How you doing?" Ravi asked casually, Priya started to blush

to be continued ...

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Story Series Part 1: Seat 15A

Vijay checked his wrist watch it read 10:10; he had a 3 am AI flight to the Chicago; accompanying him were his parents, sister, two uncles and their spouses and their kids to see him off. Red tilak was drawn on his forehead, followed by a flower garland and a small arthi, all wishing for his safe trip. Vijay felt like either a soldier on his way to KARGIL or a goat being offered as a Bali to goddess durgra. This was soon followed by moist eyes and dripping tears. Vijay was in a mixed and confused state of mind; was sad that he was leaving his parents but at the same time was happy that he was pursuing his Masters his parents dream.

  

He entered the airport dragging three 70 lbs suite cases, 30 lbs as his carryon; it looked like a bullock cart in motion. Walked towards the luggage check in counter where he met a fellow student who was incidentally traveling to the same school. That dude was carrying same amount of luggage along with his 10 lbs leather jacket and 3 enormous medical books. Checked in the luggage and cleared the security before heading towards the lounge where he met 5 more student/co-passengers. At 2 am there was an announcement for a delay of 2 hrs. For the next 2 hrs Vijay got acquainted with others and had a good time chatting and expressing their fears and excitement about their future in an unknown country. Vijay had an emotion of a brick, so neither had fears nor any excitement, which was the reason why he could maintain his cool and calm till then.   

Boarding began and Vijay walked towards his designated seat 15B middle seat, put his carryon luggage in the designated area and rested his arse and began staring at people moving in. Vijay always played this weird game of mapping people’s face and the seat numbers. He would guess their seat numbers looking at their facial expression as they approach their seats. A bearded gentleman walked towards his seat, Vijay was hoping that he wouldn’t be his neighbor even though his facial expression told the true story. He sat on the aisle beside Vijay 15C, trying to stay calm n compose was a bit difficult now. Such a narrow minded person some would say, but he was travelling in his first International flight.

The sight of a good looking lady in red top and blue jeans approaching his seat increased his heart beat to 100. He began his the facial expression mapping game with her, mapping it to 15A right next to his. He was sure that she would be 15A seatmate reading her facial expression; so he stood and made a gesture for helping her. She approached seat 15 and went past him, his heart beat went below 50 as he sat down in despair. He was about to pass out when he saw a stout elderly lady walk towards his seat, but she sat in 15D, the adjacent aisle.

‘Excuse me’, Vijay was woken by a soft sweet sound, he opened his eyes to see the same lady in red standing right next to the aisle, she indeed was 15A. After helping her placing her carryon in the designated area Vijay moved out allowing her to sit in her seat, Vijay sat down and smiled.  ‘I saw you with your family doing all that pooja and arti’, she broke the silence. ‘You are lucky to be born in such a religious family’, she continued. ‘YES’ Vijay spoke hesitantly. Vijay had this problem of speaking with pretty females in the first instant, let alone looking into her eyes.       

‘I am Priyadarshani Venkatasubramanian, she broke the silence again. ‘Vijay’ he replied.

Priya: ‘Are you going to Chicago?’, Vijay: ‘Yes the Flight is heading Chicago’ 
Priya: "You know this is my first international flight", Vijay: ‘Mine too’ 
Priya: "First time I am leaving my parents you know", Vijay: ’So am I’ 
Priya: "What if our luggage gets lost?”, Vijay: ‘May be baggage claim’.
Priya: ‘Are we going via London or Germany?’ Vijay: ‘Via Mumbai and Frankfurt.
Priya:" Did u read about Mumbai rains?” Vijay: ‘yea dam match might get canceled due to wet outfield’ she had no clue what Vijay was talking about; it was evident in her tone.

She was irritating him and the bearded dude was scaring him, he felt like he was in a torture room. Plane began to gather speed, ‘I am getting scared’ she mumbled, ‘Close your eyes and chant “Jai Kali ma” it might help Vijay assured. Couple of mins later the flight began to take off, she got so scared that see stopped speaking for next hr and dozed off finally. The sorrow of leaving his parents and the fear of landing in an alien country was over shadowed by Ms 15A.

... to be continued ...

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Short story 2: Maula Mere Lele Meri Jaan

Last minute into the World Hockey Championship PAK leading IND 1 to 0. Kabir Khan was marching his team forward gets hit by the opponent player and topples over. Referee whistles & IND get penalty stroke. He held the hopes of entire country, his hockey stick & scooped the ball aiming over the goalie, but the misses he goalpost by a foot and IND lose the game 0 to 1. Kabir can’t believe that he missed such an easy shot, the shot which he had mastered over the years. As a fact of sportsmanship Kabir shakes hand with a PAK players and was captured by camera & is printed on the main page of the next day’s news paper. The issue blows out of proportion and Kabir is treated as a Traitor.

Vijay the last batsman walks with 3 runs needed of 3 balls for his team to qualify for the finals. His eyes lit up seeing the full delivery outside off stump; muscles it over the covers ball lands just behind the fielders & scampers for 2. Scores were level, out came the cry from the dugout, run for everything, non-striker take a start; he walked upto the non-striker and punched his fist against his and took a fresh guard. Instead of focusing on the bowler the memories of AUS-SAF WC 99 semi-final lingered in his mind. He swung blindly and missed the ball completely so did the keeper, the scene where Kabir Khan kneeling with head down and hockey stick in this hand was witnessed when Vijay rather than scampering for a single was found on his knees with head bowed down. He neither heard the cry from the non-striker nor abuses and swears from the angered dug-out as he was in a state of mental block ; He actually recreated AUS-SAF WC 99 semi-final.

7 years later Kabir Khan took the challenge of coaching the Women’s Hockey Team for the World Championship in-order to restore his lost pride. Scene shifts to the penalty shoot-out where INDIA lead AUS by 5-4. Australian striker attempts to lob the ball over the goalie but Vidya Sharma (Goalie) stood still between the ball & the post. There is sudden silence in the stadium, entire Aussie team was in tears but the victorious INDIA girls were jumping in joy. Emotional Kabir Khan is seen in tears, it was more than match to him; the scene where he watches the INDIAN flag shining high & “Maula Mere Lele Meri Jaan” playing in the background told the whole story. The tag of traitor was off his back.

Vijay is seen practicing his trademark straight-drive in the dug-out and was sunk in the memories of scoring a straight boundary over the bowler in the last over of the finals that he played a month ago in a different city & for a different team. Tension prevails in the dug-out; yelling and swearing continues, entire team was aware of Vijay’s heroics of scoring boundary in the last over and they were hoping for a Déjà vu. Last man Vijay walks in with the intention to take the monkey off his back; which was tagged onto him for a year now. The term “he did a Vijay” had become infamous. Two things were in his favor; bowler was bowling full and there was no long-off fielder. He just stood outside his crease and didn’t take guard this time and shut his mind off and focused on the bowler.

Bowler speared in a full length delivery and as a natural instinct his foot went to the pitch of the delivery and with high elbow swung through the line of the delivery. The meaty part of the bat struck the ball and he watched the ball pass the boundary with a couple of bounces. Out came the entire team in joy with captain literally lifting Vijay off the ground. He was their hero of the day.

Vijay was happy that the monkey of finals was off his back and felt exactly like what Kabir had felt when Vidya saved the goal for INDIA, he had tears in his eyes. And the background music “Maula Mere Lele Meri Jaan” kept playing in his mind.

Note: The character Vijay is purely fictional, and has no relevance to living or dead.

Short Story 1: Spring Break

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