Saturday, November 16, 2013

Sachin and Me


My first memories of cricket are of a pesky game that meant that I didn’t get to watch those one hour of cartoons on Sunday that came on DD, because DD would show cricket if India was playing. And so I hated cricket for that.

But I remember the day that it all changed, 24 years ago. I was at the home of an acquaintance of my parents, and I was in their backyard with their son, who was 7-8 years older than me. It was dusk and there wasn’t any electricity and his son was explaining to me how cricket actually is a lot of fun. I wasn’t convinced, but then he mentioned this teenager who was just 16 and had started playing for India. For some reason, this drew my interest and I asked him more about this player. That was the first time I heard the words “Sachin Tendulkar”. Over the next few months, I still didn’t watch cricke, but I would find out how much this name that I had memorized made, and I began to notice a pattern of him consistently succeeding. To me at that time, the success of a boy a few years older than me, even in something I didn’t like, was fascinating and it started to draw me in. And further and further in. Within a year, I had become a cricket fan like everybody else around me and had even started playing street cricket. Thus it is with Sachin that my journey with cricket began.

Over the next twenty four years, cricket still meant Sachin for me. I was allowed certain number of hours of TV every week and if there were an Indian game that week, I would keep all my hours saved up to watch Sachin bat. By that time, my most earnest wish had become that Sachin come and play in my city and I go watch him live.  That finally happened on 7th April, 1998 when India played Australia in an ODI in Kanpur and I had been able to persuade my parents to let me go watch it. All I wanted was a Sachin hundred and this is what I got. A 89 ball 100 with 7 sixes in 1998 – it felt like Sachin played that innings for me.

There were many instances over the years where I went to seemingly unreasonable lengths to see Sachin’s milestones. For example, there was the time where I went and hid away from the boarding gate at an airport and found a TV that I didn’t leave till Tendulkar completed the first ODI 200. My name was repeatedly announced on the airport PA system and the airlines finally had to send a separate bus to get just me to the plane, but to me, it was totally worth it.

And finally, it has all ended. I am in India only for 5 days and I made sure that they are the 5 days of the Tendulkar test.  Cricket for me started with Sachin and I think this is where it ends as well. And I got to see Sachin one final time and I got to see that on-drive, that sweep and that push through the covers.

I couldn’t have asked for anything more.

Thank you, Sachin.






Saturday, July 30, 2011

A lot of people ask me why I read so much fantasy and science fiction. Here goes an off-the-cuff, rambling answer-

I believe that humans are designed to feed off, and essentially live off, vicarious pleasure. Most humans cannot be satiated by their own experiences, which is why they build associations - with family(especially children!), friends, city, country, whatever. As our bonds with these entities external to us becomes stronger, we extract a higher percentage of our own fulfillment from their experiences. And our brain does a pretty good job filling in the gaps by using our imagination when we try to live through another person. Therefore the pleasure we derive from things like the success of sports teams and in extreme cases, with celebrity obsession.

But human experience is by definition going to be infinitesimal. Our collective knowledge is restricted to vague remembrances of our past and guesses about the future about the infinitesimal portion of space we inhabit. I cannot put in words the frustration I suffer at our collective inability to ever perceive or even know of the wonders imminent in the expanse of time and space? Doesn't everyone else experience the excruciating curiosity of how the human race ends? How is that day? What are people thinking? And what do worlds look like when that happens. And what about the rest of the bloody freaking universe? What unforgettable stories are being written in the perhaps infinite other civilizations out there?

My life is based in the most interesting universe that can be. But I am destined to experience an insignificant portion of it and have absolutely no closure in the most interesting story I know. Therefore I turn to the other numerous universes I have at my disposal. Those of imaginary worlds, described in great detail, with nuanced characters who I can almost believe exist. And worlds which actually have closure, where I know how the story ends. Of course, there is a sense of emptiness once the story does end, there is the curiosity of what is happening in that world once the story is ended, but that pales in comparison to the dissatisfied curiosity about our own universe.And I believe that everyone who believes in religion does the same - they believe in the existence of a very detailed fantasy story with idealized protagonists. And they hold that imaginary protagonist up as a torch for their own identity and by living vicariously through this "perfect" person, they make up for their own imperfections. The only trick of religion is to superimpose this imaginary universe on our real one to give people an escape route since they cannot justify basing real life actions on an imagined universe.

I don't believe in any other universe or anything that ultimately requires a leap of faith. But I don't see why their absence of existence should inhibit my enjoyment of them. In fact, by actually not existing they free my mind in ways they couldn't have if they actually existed.



Monday, June 20, 2011

The Travails of a Tendulkar Fan...

I have come to realize that of all the players you could be a fan of, being a Tendulkar fan is the most unrewarding. And I request you to swallow those gasps of outrage for a minute, and let me explain.

To me, the most fulfilling part about being someone’s fan is arguing in his favor against his detractors.Every time he fails, his detractors pounce on you and hold you personally responsible for his failure, as if to say that you could have done something about it. And you, ever the loyal fan, valiantly give arguments and statistics despite knowing that the thin ice below your feet has long given way to coldwater, in which you are undoubtedly sinking.

But, as a Tendulkar fan in the past few years, you are almost completely deprived of this pleasure ofdefiance. His performances have become so consistently spectacular that his detractors’ criticisms have become feeble to the point of ludicrousness(his average in fourth innings of deciding tests in non-subcontinent conditions against teams with good blowing attacks in the past one year is 7 runs below his career average or something of that sort). Nowadays after a Tendulkar innings I feel like I am walking into a battlefield wearing bulletproof armor only to find the enemy shooting apple pips at me with blowpipes.

And what’s worse is, everyone is joining the bandwagon. Everyone’s a fan now! What happens to us, the “original” fans? The ones who stood by him through the tough(relatively speaking..) times? The most satisfying thing for me after a Tendulkar century was how I rubbed it into my brother’s face for hours, as revenge for all the statistics he used to throw at me when Tendulkar happened to fail. And now, the disloyal little twerp has finally given up and has become a Tendulkar fan! And he supports Mumbai Indians now( like the rest of the world apparently, if you look at the TV and attendance ratings). Again, I ask you, what happens to me?? Where do I turn to now? How do I, the “loyal” fan for twenty years, differentiate myself from these young upstarts? Did you know that I almost missed my flight to see Tendulkar’s double century in ODIs? Yes sir, I was at the airport and refused to leave the television set till Tendulkar got his double, which was inordinately delayed due to that miserable rotter Dhoni , who wouldn’t give him any of the strike. By the time the double happened, the airline people had been announcing my name for about ten minutes and had finally closed the gate. I finally did get them to reopen it and they had to get a bus to take me to the flight, but the point is that I was willing to risk it all for my master’s double(And yes, Mom and Dad, if you are reading this, I didn’t mention this incident to you for obvious reasons) . So, tell me, when I say I am a Tendulkar fan, how do I display the extent of my “fanliness”, to show I am the “real” fan, as opposed to these silly fair-weather fans. I feel adrift in the cricket world, without a sense of purpose and no way to vindicate myself.

Tendulkar’s career is best compared to Stairway to Heaven- you could recognize the genius right when the song started, then most of the song is brilliant throughout, but it really only hits unprecedented heights at the end- and the end carries on at those heights much longer than you would expect. And therefore my master carries on his merry way, not realizing my anguish as more droves of shameless fans flock to him. I therefore contend that I have been the victim of his most unkindest cut of all, and not you, Shoaib Akhtar.

Saturday, May 02, 2009

Science digest-2

Here's my next science digest post. This week was a bit slower in terms of science news stories, but still there are a few interesting ones and these ones should have impact a lot sooner than the life-changing ones of last week!


But before we get into science, here's something a little more fun, especially for LOTR fans...enjoy!
http://www.thehuntforgollum.com/

As for the science stories..

1. Telekinesis-moving objects with your mind-is here!


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/22/AR2009042204036.html?hpid=topnews/


My comment- This stuff is really awesome, but on a very basic level right now. Give it ten years, and then we’ll really have a lot of mind-controlled stuff on the market.


2. Self printing of books!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/apr/24/espresso-book-machine-launches/print

My comment-They call it the next biggest thing after the printing press, but there are numerous economic and social challenges that it has to overcome before that becomes true.

By the way, a similar idea, launched by two of my IITK seniors, can be seen here.

www.pothi.com


3. Human-computer interface that works without touching

http://vimeo.com/4366452

My comment- Coming up next, IPod No-Touch!


4. Stems cells are curing diseases-right now!

http://hplusmagazine.com/articles/bio/stem-cell-therapy-today-peoples-republic

My comment- This is one technology that is coming on much faster than expected and has the potential to cure many diseases that are considered incurable just because of its unique nature. And the sooner the US realizes this and stops its moralistic and religious blabber, the sooner we can get round to saving lives. Obama has taken the first right steps though…


5 . Chemical caterpillar

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16910-chemical-caterpillar-points-to-electronicsfree-robots.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news

My comment- the blob is here!


6. The bulb at the edge of classical and quantum physics


http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17058-worlds-tiniest-lamp-spans-quantum-and-classical-physics.html


7. Models that predict that swine flu will become a pandemic next week..


http://nextgenlog.blogspot.com/2009/05/algorithmschips-lab-models-swine-flus.html


My comment- I initially thought that all this hoopla about the swine-flu was just fear mongering by news media to garner more revenue, but a little bit of doubt is creeping in now. Maybe its just them getting to me. Or maybe I just trust science more than people!


8. Unmanned miniature helicopters that can sniff out drugs being used by the Dutch police!

http://www.radionetherlands.nl/news/zijlijn/6277434/Dwarf-helicopter-sniffs-out-cannabis-plantations


My comment- really cool! Though this thing has the potential to raise the old big-brother-is-watching fears, I think that for better or worse, surveillance is going to be a big part of our future. And if it is, I would really like something nifty like this spying over me rather than just a big camera!


Thursday, April 23, 2009

Science stories of the week

I read so many science and news stories that is it is difficult to keep track of them. And there is no point in reading them if I don’t track them and remember them. Therefore, I decided to keep a record of all the stories that interest me. Then I thought that rather than storing them on my hard disk, its better to have them on my blog, where everyone can see the stories I liked and maybe some of them will interest you too!

I am planning to update this blog about once a week with the stories I liked. Hopefully that will be about the right duration in terms of amount of content.

Well, here goes nothing then-

1. New discovery may end transplant rejection

http://www.examiner.com/x-1242-Science-News-Examiner~y2009m4d7-New-discovery-may-end-transplant-rejection

My comment: May be crucial for medical science, although I am sure there is a long way to go before this becomes practical

2. A Japanese company is preparing limited mass production of a cybernetic bodysuit which dramatically increases user strength up to ten times

http://www.hplusmagazine.com/articles/robotics/i-am-ironman

My comment: This is just cool! I would love one of these-and they are not that expensive either!

3. Are human beings organisms or living ecosystems?

http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/the_body_politic/

My comment- Rather interesting- could explain a lot of things!

4. 1. Supercomputer for rent....

http://www.networkcomputing.in/Supercomputer-as-a-service-001Apr009.aspx

My comment-was always going to happen…

5. US grid penetrated by spies

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123914805204099085.html

My comment-scares the hell out of me…but isn’t surprising, really…

6. Car with the power of a hairdryer that can reach upto 60 mph

http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/04/07/solar-powered-bethany-race-car/

My comment-These kind of things are the future of automotives..

7. Shooting particles in the air to prevent global warming

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hm1kMpA2nQALOfQL8Y8PxxTHNVtgD97EG5200

My comment- I think that it is one of these innovative solutions that will solve global warming for us, cutting back on consumption is never gonna happen..

8. PG&E makes deal for solar power from space

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30198977/

My comment- It is high time we looked for such out-of-the-world(literally!) power sources

9. Work progresses on 10,000 year clock

http://news.cnet.com/2300-11386_3-10000718-6.html?tag=mncol

My comment-I would love it if our generation makes something that future generations remember us by for 10,000 years!

10. Pirate Bay Trial Ends In Jail Sentences

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090417.wpiratebay0417/BNStory/Technology/home

My comment-Now this is something I followed closely, and the judgment really upset me, though I have to admit it was only fair.

11. Louisiana Rep. Preps State Bill Banning Human-Animal Hybrids

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/04/humananimal_hybrid_ban_sought.html

My comment- Well, can’t blame the guy- everyone’s afraid of an island of Dr. Moreau, but in my opinion, banning doesn’t work!

12. Device Keeps Lungs Breathing Outside the Body

http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/22510/

My comment- One more thing with considerable potential benefit, but again, just a stepping stone.

13. Species of ants that reproduce by cloning- no men required!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7998931.stm

My comment- one more of the emerging studies showing that men really aren’t required, after they had made sperm from female bone marrow.. 

14.Skin computers

http://www.hplusmagazine.com/articles/enhanced/nano-tattoos

My comment- we are slowly but steadily moving towards human-computer interfaces!




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