Football fever!!

Let me clarify my state here. Though I like sports, I am clueless about this game--football. Probably because, the nation which I belong to doesn't play this game at the world level (As though I follow Hockey ;-). I don't either) . So, I never had any interest to follow this game. Only saw it as a game where some 22 men chasing and kicking a mere football. I know that it is a ridiculous on my part to have had such a presumption. Wonder what a football fan would think. He/She must be hurt deeply looking at people like me. I presume that they might think that instead of talking to morons like me, they could either talk to a wall or a tree.

Now, I am mentioning about this because, I am surrounded by people who are ardent fans of this game. As I am currently residing in a country which is famous for the premier league, I cant but help talking about this now. I am talking about England which has this EPL(English premier league). They talk about Man U, Liverpool, Chelsea and what not. And if you are like me, then, these are some of the teams here. I only understand that it is a football version of IPL. Or should I be mentioning that IPL was inspired by EPL and other leagues across the globe?

Until recently, I never bothered to watch this game as my perception about this game has always been game full of arrogance and fight, instead of sportsmanship . But, I guess I have been wrong in being ignorant and forming my own views without even watching a single game. This 2010 World cup has been an eye opener. All this happened when I was forced to watch a match when England played USA. We all sat with pizzas, burgers, fries, crisps, etc. in front of the TV.People were talking about the fouls, the marking, off side, corner kick, penalty kick. And I understood none of these terms rather I should say I was keen on the junkies' spread in front of me. But when I started to watch the game for the sake of it(I had no other go), something fascinated me to keenly follow that day's game. The intensity with which each player was running from one corner to another to possess the ball and strike a goal was very instigating.

The passion with which each player played and covering the players in order not to let the opponent to hit a goal and the never give up attitude, were all evident. When people were calling names like Rooney, Lampard, Gerrald, Cole, Green, etc,  They said that "Wow, Rooney has been marked so well that he  is not able to attempt to put a goal". I could see the passion in the audience as well. The passion and the love for the game was infectious. I was slowly getting involved in cheering up. Though, I could not map the faces with the names, I could understand that England and USA were playing a good game and that USA's goal was a give away from  Green,  England's goal-keeper. 

This was just a beginning. Later when I saw a match where Argentina was playing, I could instantly get into the mood of the match. I saw the match had a mixture of emotions from anger to joy, from kissing to abusing and what not. I had seen Maradona for the first time on TV. I had learnt about his career peaks and  how it hit rock bottom and how he has come out as a coach inspiring every player, it was a joy watching him emoting :). A short guy jumping in joy and running here and there.. Wow, that was treat.  I am just half way through learning about this game though :). I am smitten by this bug already. Looking forward to Argentina's victory.

In all this, I learnt that perseverance and passion will help you hit the right target.  This game, "Football" is a very good example to show it practically in just 90 minutes. It holds good in every walk of life. Good lesson to learn.

Joy of Gardening

Mother Nature is a mixture of colours yet, the colour green stands out whenever I think of it. Generally, people tend to relate the nature to the greenery around and I am no different. I've always dreamt of maintaining a garden in my house with a small pond in it where fishes swim, children play around and elders have a relaxed coffee chat. It has till date remained a dream b'cos of the weather conditions in Chennai and as always b'cos of the lack of space and the hectic mechanical schedule. I've only witnessed extreme weather conditions. It has  either been hot and humid or heavy rain lashes out everything around. 

We have always been taught that there are four main seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn,Winter. And the colours associated with each of these seasons spellbind me. The colours are an evidence to the seasons.

Spring -- Bright parrot green

Summer -- dark green

Autumn -- yellowish green

Winter -- the leaves fall off.  

With the onset of summer and a house with a vast balcony, I have no reason to complain. Yes, we(my husband and I) have started living the dream. We've started to have small garden with many pots of plants. 

From the seeding to the growth, it is just like a mother having a baby in her womb and the joy is profound when my husband an I see the saplings grow. Every little care brings in more responsibility in our lives and it is such a joy. A few of our plants are flowering plants and that too "Roses". Rose plants are the best reflectors of the mood in the house. I came across an article which said that plants sense the mood. Whenever there is a dull mood, the plants reflect by not producing more flowers. However, when the house is filled with joy, it starts giving you more and more flowers. Everytime there is flowers in blossoming, the joy and happiness in the house is doubled!! There is a pair of  an ornamental dwarf plant which is a variety of crotons. They show us the real colour of the seasons. 

One another variety that we have got is the tomato. The shape of the leaves are so beautiful and very cute. I just cant wait to see them produce tomatoes. The growing attachment towards these plants is so evident that we both are not able to see even a small leaflet drying out. Such is the affinity we have developed towards them. It also made us realise how difficult it would be for our parents to stay away from us. The love, the affection, their selflessness, the pain and gain---everything has been centred around us and we are indebted to them forever. 

 These living beings have a lot to offer to us and they teach us some hard lessons which we sometimes fail to recognise. One thing that struck us yesterday was that these plants and trees take nutrients from the soil grow to give back what they have got. These plants bind the soil and help in getting rid of soil erosion. Even after they are dead, they go back to soil to only as manure. There is so much of give and take. Subtle yet strong.

Now, enough of the emotional stuff.  With every morning springing me more surprises with more buds and flowers  I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of a new variety into my lil garden. It also makes me feel so happy that I am giving back the nature what it deserves(See, I have learnt a lesson ;-) ) 

5 Hrs!!

Those 5 hrs yesterday were like being in hell.. Because I had nothing to look up to, share my thoughts with and to see what was happening in the outside world. It was a mere adapter failure and my laptop's charge got drained out. So  I was rendered without a laptop.

These one& half years, my laptop has been my best companion and my worst enemy. I have shared everything with it right from my joy to my discursive thoughts and writings. I've seen the outside world through this notebook for the best part of these days.  All of a sudden, when I was rendered without a lappy, I realised how dependent and lazy I had become. Everything came to a standstill for me (from searching for recipes for dinner to going through articles relating to my study and to going thru' the various online news websites). I had developed a routine this is way and when it was disturbed, I dint know what to do. I searched for a novel in my book shelf(Thank God, I had some books)and started gng through it only to find me even more restless. Insane isn't it? When I was wondering how people lived without this luxury, I realised certain facts.

In my childhood, I've often come across a debatable topic "HUMANS Vs COMPUTERS" . My opinion has always been pro human. I used to say that since humans created these computers, they can never overpower humanbeings. I always vehemently denied my oponents' arguments of how computers were taking over control and that we would all be addicted and to it one day. But today I realise that they were "mostly" true.  From children to elderly, we all depend on this box for almost every damn thing on Earth. Earlier days, men and women had more time for their families and thus there was physical exercises involved. Children weren't hooked on to the computers. They had the opportunity to harness their team skills by playing in groups. Everything has reduced drastically resulting in a global impact!!  

Now-a-days, we use  search engines and we get umpteen number of choices. And the intelligence of these search engines is increasing and you get so many other options for a particular search term. For calculation, we take up the spreadsheets, maintain our day to day accounts, for mailing use gmail or yahoomail and what not? Now-a-days rarely do I(we) use the Inland-letters nor do I(we) use postcards to our near and dear ones. Instead of going to a post office and buying a post card and sending it across, I(we) prefer to send an email or an e-card. There are these social-networking sites anyway to help us peep into our friends' and others' lives in the form of comments and pics. My goodness, everything is based on a computer activity. Coming to childeren, they are taught how to handle a computer since they are 6months old. I find it strange when ppl start judging you based on your computer diligence!! The whole concept of shrinking the world using computer with the  means of Internet has only made humans lazier and I am no different. In all this, the simple pleasures of life have decreased and  the global warming has increased.  Yes, for e.g.  the computer usage for searching has a lot of effects.I was worried when I read the article on the Effect of google searches on Environment  

On the flip side, being hooked on to a computer or not is again based on ones' needs. This small box has been a boon to many rather than being a bane to some! The advent of technology has helped us to connect to any part of the world from any.  Getting almost everything we want with the advent of e-commerce is magnificient!! There are so many gogs things to pen down in this small place. All good things come with some disadvantages and in this case we are losing the simple pleasures. Yet, we still remain connected.

I felt happy when I realised that I was not a part of carbon emission atleast for 5 hrs. Every little helps!!