Yuvraj Singh is all “Balle Balle”

India thrash Australia out of the World Cup! What a match it was, not at all for the faint hearts! Indian cricket team is shining! One can already sense that nothing means more to the 2 nations than a World-cup clash of the arch rivals. India take on Pakistan at their home ground. Look at any Indian News Channel, they suddenly forget the scams, the movies, everything. There can be not a single hour, in any news channel, where India Pakistan World Cup semi final is not discussed. Over the next 5 days, all the Indian players will be reading and hearing just one thing — “It does not matter if you lose the Final, beat Pakistan”. Ravi Shastri rightly says “It will be the mother of all games”. I belong to the generation that has watched Sachin Tendulkar all through their life  and I know for sure that people like me will be dying to see this match with their old mates. The 1996 world cup thrill will be back. Friends, family will get together to watch the match of their life. I know for sure that I would want to watch this match with my oldest buddy Abhinandan. It will be a match of nerves, for the players and the viewers.

For this Indian team, talent is no more the winning point, its their mental strength, and few players like Sachin, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Harbhajan and Zaheer have it in abundance. From the last match one can only say “When the going gets tough, the tough gets going”. Playing under pressure, Yuvraj (and every time I say Yuvraj I want to say in the same tone  as Ravi Shastri) stayed calm even after the unhappy moments with Gambhir. He was playing on nerves but he did it in style. He chose not to get agitated. Did not go for big shots but got the big runs. What a team player has he become. If we go a little behind, all of us would have been caught saying “Yuvraj is not a team player” or “Yuvraj seem to have lost his touch” or “Yuvraj ka kuch nahi ho sakta, he is not focussing on cricket, its just girls and ads for him” and now he has come back strong. How many times have we seen great players coming out of their poor run in a grand manner. Yuvraj has done it. And what a press conference. When asked how he feels to have won the match single handedly, he says he did not win it single handedly, appreciates Zaheer for bowling the middle overs and Sachin and Gambhir for their fifties and says he could not have scored 250 runs alone, it was a team effort. I’m finally getting the sense of team spirit from India in this world cup.

I have always admired Yuvraj Singh’s class. And now is the time to go to the next level. His mental strength. A die hard fan of Sachin Tendulkar, and millions like me, have always thought of what cricket would mean to us when Sachin retires (and btw, i’m really scared of the thought) and what/who would be the reason to watch cricket. Till date it has only been 2 names Sehwag and Yuvraj. They bring the thrill no one else does.

Congratulations Yuvraj! Congratulations Team India! And no matter how much we celebrate the success, the job is half done, the other half is to beat Pakistan. Chak De!!!

On the verge of diving in the ocean

I’ll start from where I left in my last blog – “Believe in Yourself and Be Yourself”. Yes, and I have finally decided to start my venture. The best way to describe the feeling is “It so feels right!” I know I’m going to enjoy the journey. I know I’ll have a smile on my face when someone says “So, what do you do?” 🙂 I know I’m on the right path coz I’m sure of making lives out of my venture. I know I’ll help people build dreams and some of them achieved. And I know I’m gonna face a lot of changes, something I enjoy the most.

I’m not the best prepared, but I never wanted to be. I know I’ll learn to survive when I dive into the ocean. And I’m very sure that I’ll start swimming with ease after some time. I just want to constantly work with enthusiasm and I believe “success” will be a part of my journey and if it is not, I’ll find a new definition to success and make it a part of my journey.

I’ll share a few quotes that I’ve always liked and I think will help me in my journey:

1. “Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there” – John Wooden
2. “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much” – Hellen Keller
3. “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other” – Abraham Lincoln
4. “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle” – Plato
5. “Believe you can and you’re halfway there” – Theodore Roosevelt
6. “First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win” – Mahatma Gandhi
7. “If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail” – Abraham H. Maslow
8. “The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times” – Paulo Coelho
9. “Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes” – Mahatma Gandhi

I could have added more but “9” seems like a good enough number already, and also I want to start believing in my instincts 🙂 And that reminds me to ask everyone to wish me luck!

The dots will somehow connect in your future

I do what I like and at times “no support” helps. When I was in Class 9, I used to solve mathematics books of Class 11, yes, because I loved Mathematics. In trying to follow my interests, I learnt how to move ahead of your time. When given a choice between commerce and computers, I chose computers even though my entire family background (and people around me) was build around Commerce. In trying to follow my interests, I learnt how exploring can be fruitful and not just fun. When I passed my board exams of Class 10, my Mathematics tutor advised me to go to Kota for preparation of IIT-JEE. Till then I had never heard of IIT-JEE but I knew that I wanted to take mathematics and science as my main stream of studies. Going out of the town to study was not something in fashion in my locality and family. People objected the idea but I went on to book the train tickets. I did not have the admit card but I still wanted to go. Eventually I was allowed to appear for the admission test and I secured an All India Rank of 36. Parents’ support has been instrumental in my life and yes I did my +2 from Kota. In trying to explore a new opportunity, I learnt how going against the convention can be an excellent learning curve. Did not study in Kota, at all. All the time in cyber cafes, playing cricket, watching movies, but no study at all. Could not clear IIT-JEE but then I met my life-long friends. It is after coming out of that place that I realized the importance of relationships and how deviating from one’s focus is easy. When going back to Kolkata, my dad said to me on the railway platform failing at an early stage of life is always good. My graduation was a much improved performance compared to my +2 and I got a first class with distinction. Academic performances never really mattered but I had learnt a lot during my graduation in computer science. All set for a “secure” job in MNC. Fortunately I got internship in TCS and in 5 months I realized that this is not what I expect as my work culture. Once again I was fortunate to come across a startup through a friend of mine and it clicked. Family members objected, as usual, saying that job will not be secure in a small company. I was confident about my skills and I still am. I did not submit myself to people’s opinion and took the risk of joining the startup. Only when you work in a startup will you understand the thrill. An amazing journey. The small companies always have the potential to become the big ones. The room to learn is more in small companies than in big ones. Life has been an awesome journey since then.

This has been my life. There were many dots, they never made sense looking forward, they always do when looking back. My advice to everyone is to do what you like and the dots will somehow connect in your future. Believe in yourself and Be yourself.