Yuvstrong and how!

The finals of Natwest Trophy 2001 launched a flamboyant, young left-hander from India into the record books. The journey after that was as dramatic as it was heart-warming. From a T20 World Cup winner to the ‘water boy’ of the team.  From being almost out of the side for the World Cup 2011, to being the Man of the Series and bringing the Cup home.  Controversies haunted him throughout his career. Yuvraj Singh has seen it all.

Everyone remembers the image of a sobbing Yuvi after the finals. Those tears returned to many a cricket fan’s eyes when Yuvraj Singh was diagnosed with a rare germ cell cancer between his lungs. An emotional cricketing world rallied behind him for support. People prayed for him, sent their wishes on various social networking sites. Someone known to uplift the spirits of the dressing room was now left on his own to deal with a matter of life and death - literally.

Instead of shunning himself in a corner, Yuvraj tweeted his progress regularly for his fans and the rest of the cricketing world. It was as if he owed this much to his people.  It is ironic that it was only during this phase that people could find out more about Yuvraj the person Yuvraj, rather than the cricketer Yuvi. Many didn’t know that Yuvi had founded an NGO – the Yuvraj Singh Foundation - way back in 2009. More than himself, it seemed like he was assuring the nation that he would fight and end up on the winning side. Through social networking sites, he regularly cheered for Team India not only in cricket but also in other sports.

The man who had won India two World Cups had another battle to win, yet again single-handedly. His efforts speak volumes of the mammoth will and determination that he possesses - qualities which can win you half the battle. He uploaded pictures of his bald self after his chemotherapy treatment, proving that cancer was nothing to be ashamed about. Many cancer patients wrote to him saying that he is an inspiration to them, to which he encouragingly responded back. He thanked each and every one profusely who came to meet him or talked to him, like Anil Kumble, or Sachin who had said he would matter when it would matter the most, before the World Cup 2011, or Zaheer Khan who had said he would be the man of the series of the World Cup.

As Yuvi had tweeted, ‘Comeback is not a challenge, it is a statement’. Welcome back, Yuvi! Your story only proves - “Jab tak balla chalta hai, thaat hai!”

Gone- II

So, I was sitting on my bed, reading ‘The Glass Palace’ by Amitav Ghosh (It’s lovely, btw), when I suddenly wanted to call Mom. We usually talk at 9, so I waited. I called up at sharp 9 and my call was on wait. It has happened before, c’mon, my mom is a normal insaan, she gets calls all the time. But my intuition said something was wrong, and I just knew what was wrong. She called back after sometime and made small talk (which she sucks at). Before I could poke her about what was wrong, she broke it to me. My grandmother (Patti) had passed away.  And the creepy part was that I felt it, right from 8:30, which was kind of the time of her death.

I didn’t cry as much as I cried when my grandpa (Thatha) passed away, because of the circumstances (I work, so I had to be professional and all that, so I couldn’t go with red rimmed eyes and a headache the next day) Yes, I wanted to go to Chennai but my parents told me not to come because it’s not worth going all the way, just for a day, that too when she is no more.

I dressed up without looking at the mirror the next day. I couldn’t see the mirror because when I saw myself, I saw Patti. She was, of course, definitely more good looking than me, but we resemble a lot. When I tried to recall till what standard she studied, or some of her stories when she was small, I realized with a jolt that I did not know anything about her childhood. Her father was a Doctor, and she wanted to become a Doctor too, but couldn’t, because she had to look after her brothers and sisters. It was always Thatha who ran the show. He talked on and on about his life, while quiet Patti cooked for us, washed and folded our clothes. She didn’t study that much, but I clearly remember her grinning and tell us (me and my sis) about her grandfather boasting that his grandkid reads English newspaper :D

She used to be very inquisitive about everything. She poked her nose in whatever textbooks my sister and I used to read. I used to wonder why she read the heading of the textbooks or opened them to browse. I never asked her. I should have. 

She hated cricket and always supported the opposite team, be it Australia or Pakistan. And whenever she told Pak or Aus would win, they always won K

I remember the Sharjah cup when Sachin went berserk, my sister, Thatha, mom and I went berserk too. We didn’t let Patti sleep the whole night by thoroughly discussing all the matches. We slept the next day till 10, but sweet Patti, had a disturbed sleep all night, but she was still up by 4 to cook for the house. And no complaints from her, just a scowl when we informed her that India won :P

I wish I had learnt to cook from her. I wish I hadn’t snatched the remote from her to watch my random serials or cartoons, which made her sleep early that day, out of lack of anything better to do.

I wish I had forced her to tell more stories about her life. She never spoke about how her father in law used to insult her in his letters to my grandpa. She never spoke about how she felt when my grandpa came to see her for marriage. But she always went inside another room when my grandpa spoke about the first time he saw her. And a pink faced Patti would emerge from that room after a while :P Once at an airport, one random lady had told my granny that she is very beautiful. My grandmom blushed so hard when she told this to us.

She had weak bones, she fell down a lot of times, in a lot of places. Once, she fell down while climbing an auto, and she was very quiet when she was home. As usual, I asked her how she was feeling and there were no injuries or anything, so I went back to Thatha or doing some other crap. My sister used to sit down, more with Patti and talk to her, so my sis later told me that Patti was upset because she felt embarrassed when people had to help her when she fell down. She was always independent, so her last few years were terrible. She had Alzheimer’s, almost, immediately after Thatha passed away, for 3 years.  Her last memory of me, was that I was still in college. I could never give her a reason to finally be proud of me, that I was working in a different city and living independently.

She used to always tell me and my sister that we look great. Frankly, I started looking good only in college… How could she even think I look good, forget great, when I was in school ?!?! I never asked her why she lied to me on my face. 

I had called her during my college internship in Delhi. She asked me if I had found any hot guys. She was this traditional, orthodox woman, who would have really liked it if I married a Tamilian, same caste and all that, but for some reason, she always asked me if I found any good looking boy. I never asked her why she did that.

My sister and I, at some point of time, decided to say ‘I love you’ to my grandparents every time we talked. I think we read it in Cosmo or Femina or somewhere that you should keep letting your grandparents know that you love them :P The result was awesome, my grandpa used to gush and say, I love you too or I miss you. And my granny? She said “Hmmm…okay.” I was aghast when I heard that, and I wailed “You don’t love me!” And she dryly replied “Ok ok I love you” I think my future boyfriend also wouldn’t create a racket like this to profuse his love for me, man! I was adamant, and I went on, “How much do you love me, Patti?”  And she replied, “BIG BIG BIG BIG!”

I never told her that, THAT was the cutest I love you, I have ever, ever got, and I ever, ever will get.

There was this one time, when my sister and I had called them and my granny picked up. As usual, I demanded that she should give the phone to my grandpa, because as I said, my grandpa was always in the limelight, so I hardly talked a lot to my granny (Sorry Patti, I’ll not do that in our next life together) And my granny tried unsuccessfully to put an accent, and she went like “He has gone to the market. Who is calling?” I squealed with excitement and shouted “PATTIIIIIIIIII” and she sniggered and told, “This is his secretary speaking.” Not to be outdone, I asked her why he has gone to the market, and she replied, “Gone to buy bhajji. Do you have any message?” (All this in pure English, I swear)

I never reminded her about this conversation and I never told her how cool she was, and the accent she put on, was ACTUALLY good.

My grandparents used to travel by Navjivan Express every summer to visit my family. My granny fell down in the bathroom many times. Plus it was more than a 24 hours journey. I never asked her how she put up with all that, just to come to a place which didn’t suit her.

She stitched cushions and made a sofa out of thermocal for my barbies. And even made tea for my tea set (which but obviously my dolls never drank, and I ended up throwing their share) and gave me biscuits for my kitchen set. And she put up with me, when I woke her from her nap, saying I was hungry or the dolls were hungry or asking her if I should dress one Barbie up in a mini skirt or in full pants.

She never asked me what I wanted to become, she never asked me what my grades were like, she never criticized me for my bad temper, she never advised me about anything. I never realized this either. My grandpa had these questions for me, but my grandma never had. She was actually the only person who never questioned my actions, but continued loving me. 

Grandmothers are special and I lost my second and last special person in my life. And I know I am not going to get unconditional love from anyone, anywhere, ever again.

P.S.- Grammar and Formatting Nazis can please try not to do a Madhuri and point out my mistakes here. My granny passed away on 5th June, 2012, in case anyone wants to know... 

Noida! :D

I shifted to Noida in the first week of April for professional reasons. It's nice...No, it's actually pretty. I know, people think of NCR as the National Capital of Rape instead of National Capital Region but trust me, there is a lot to this place than rape. It is true, everyday, TOI's headlines go on the lines of some woman's beheaded body found after she was raped, and it hits you really hard every morning. But, seriously, this place is PRETTY. We are having unseasonal rains for the last few weeks, so I'm making the most of it.

Enough of the philosophy! Some fun stuff now ;)
Overheard a group of girls talking amongst themselves during my first lunch in the place where I am putting up-
One girl- Yaar, I got a dream y’day. Awesome it was.
Other girls (And me inwardly)- What what what batao batao batao!
Girl- I dreamt that we got good food in the mess.
#Facepalm.

The other day, there was a huge line for food in the hostel. The girls and me at the back of the line, salivated at the thought of custard or halwa or some awesome stuff to eat, by judging the length.
We finally reached the mess counter, only to realize we were getting SALAD that day. That too, only cucumber slices. Hence, the line, apparently. #KillsSelf

I go shopping for food stuff and other essentials on Sunday, because I don’t have time at all on the other days. Before I forget to mention, I always found UPites, Jaats, Punjabis, very charming. They needn’t look good to be attractive, they can charm their way through me, full on.

So, this young shopkeeper caught me as his victim-

1)He- “You really want grape juice? You will get loose motion if you drink it.”

Me- “Errrrrr. (inwardly- Why would you say that and lose a customer?) Fine, give litchee.

Banda smart nikla. Litchee was more expensive than grape.

2)While I was handing him the money, he gawked at the new notes and went like, “Badiya madam, new notes, you stole it from somewhere, didn’t you?”

Me- Oh yeah, how did you come to know? :O
Later , I thought he might believe me actually (people around me do not getting my sarcasm nowadays, that’s why), and mom would kill me if the UP police was after me, in my first month at Noida itself. So, I told him that my mom works in a bank, hence the new notes.

He- (flashing a charming smile) So when you getting the new notes ka bundle for me?

Me- (inwardly, shut up Madhuri!) Pakka, soon!

 Moving on, I was very amused by the reactions my (???) loved ones showed when I informed them that I was shifting to Noida.
Examples:
1) "Noida?? For what?? Law?? Law firm?? They have law firms also there kya??"
2) "Noida?? You mean Delhi naa? Noida is a part of Delhi naa?"
(On being told, no, Noida is in Uttar Pradesh) "U.P.???? YOU ARE GOING TO U.P. TO WORK? HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
3) "Noida?? Yaar, you are this obsessed with drinking that you are shifting all the way to Noida?"

I was naturally irritated by the dumb fucks who told me congratulations but inwardly, I am sure, thought I'm going to work in some brothel or something over here (Noida, famous for rape, remember?) And like seriously?
People, kindly note- even if you drink, it is NOT a sin. And it is NOT necessary, that you have to drink whenever you have to party. My office was working on my birthday, so one of my friends asks me if I will get drunk after office. I told her no, because it will be too late, and no company, plus no mood. She went like, OMG but you people drink on every occasion right? I wish they manufactured maturity pills.

But what the hell! I know what my job is all about, and I know why I have come here. I get my independence, so screw you! Score- Madhuri-1, losers-0!

My best Rahul ever.

When I first read about Rahul Dravid's retirement, the first sentiment that went through my mind was- WOW.

Wow? That's what you would least expect from the biggest Dravid fan ever, right? From someone who's email id is iloverahuldravid@gmail.com. From someone who easily calls Sachin a selfish chutiya if you dare to say that Dravid is a slow coach and a burden on the team (Note- I love Sachin, but I have to punish him for the abuses Dravid receives). From someone who has always defended Dravid in online and offline debates. People ridiculed me all this while. After the England tour, where Dravid scored 3 centuries, and you know who's bat was still silent, only then did people start respecting Dravid. Like, seriously? Do those schmucks even know cricket, that they started respecting an individual scoring centuries at the fag end of his career?

I started watching cricket only during the famous Sharjah series where Sachin went ballistic. It's weird, because I fell in love with the game of cricket because of Sachin and I ended up liking Dravid the most.

I can't pinpoint which shot of his, I liked the most. I think it has to be his straight drives. I find that shot very cheeky, when you hit it right back at the bowler, khekhekhe. I loved his sixes, since the people around me, used to love these apparently 'unexpected' shots. My favourite Dravid moment has to be after we won the Adelaide test, and he kissed his cap. I think that defined the man that he is. Another defining moment was when Michael Slater was sledging the shit outta my man, and Rahul just hung his head and went about his business. People get thrilled when Virat or Uthappa go about sledging or abusing back. Sorry, I don't. I think a sport should be played in a gentlemanly fashion. My When-Has-Dravid-Surprised-You moment was when he ran Inzaman fatty out and Rahul ran away with the ball and celebrated.



I found his habit of putting one leg across the other, when he is on the non-striker end very stylish, somehow. I always used to wonder why he is putting so much weight on one knee. I always wanted to know what he and Dhoni used to talk in the slips. Him and Laxman, okay. Him and Sachin, alright. But what did he and Dhoni have in common? I wanted to know what he thinks about the youngsters. I wanted to know if Kohli and the other bitches were ever rude to him or have ever abused him.



I loved his smile that reaches his eyes. I was jealous of his patience, his gentlemanly behaviour, his way of knowing exactly when to shut up and what to say at the right time. I remember, I cried a lot when he got married. Duh, I was in school then. Gradually, from having a crush on him, it turned to admiration and respect.

Now.. why was WOW my first reaction to reports of his retirement? Because I, his biggest fan, wanted him to quit. I knew he was still not finished. I was being selfish. I was more concerned about the future of the Indian test team. The sooner the seniors are kicked out, the sooner will the kids be able to move into their shoes. I was thinking about the World Test Championship. I was thinking about the No.1 test rank which was stolen from us. It was my obsession to see India do well, that I wanted my hero to quit. So..WOW. He quit for the future of Indian cricket. That dude made me fall in love with him, if possible, more.


As my status message on Facebook said- The only thing that Dravid has ever grabbed was the jam bottle in the Jammy ad.

I will always miss you, Rahul Dravid. You will always be my best man, batsman and the manliest man, ever.

When I was Devganized.

Hai !

Ok, so I'm procrastinating work, and I am TERRIBLY bored, so yes, I'm back to trying to scribble something out here. Colleges have started hence there are no cute interns at work too, dammit. Ok, before you people think I am a pedophile, I have a 'Look but don't touch' policy when it comes to interns, alright?!

Oooooh! Did I tell you I got one of Virat Kohli's balls?



Yessir! That too an autographed one ! Thanks to my cousin brother who shot an ad with him. Apparently, Virat's a grouch in real life and my cousin is bitterly disappointed in my taste, heh!

Moving on, for those who know me personally, would know I am associated with an NGO in A'bad, and as I have blogged before, I am not going to mention much about it, since I do not want to publicize it, unless people ask me personally about it (Again, fyi, I volunteer at an NGO and I work in a law firm). I believe volunteering in an NGO is totally- voluntary, hence it should not be thrust upon people who think it's full of crap. Anyhow, right now I hardly have time to work for them, since my darling boss sometimes wants to see my face on Sundays also. And my body parts stop working on Saturday, so I usually doze off on Sundays. I know, I know, I feel guilty doing this, but oh, did I tell you, I'm trying to quit this job and get out of Gujarat? Ok, now you know, so move your ass and find any god damn law firm or big shot lawyer in Delhi or Mumbai for me. Of course, you will ask me to find myself, but hello, I'm the first lawyer in the family and you need hell lotta jugaad to get a really good job. So, yup, this is my lame ass attempt at jugaading!

Coming back to the NGO, when I had relatively more time in my hands, I had to organise an event along with the rest of the team. It was a rock concert where the funds would go into buying books for slum kids. Needless to say, it was a roaring success. *lifts collar* Now, the band that was playing there is called Ozyris. They are based in Delhi.

Now, again coming back to those who know me in real life, I suck at liking people in real life. I have a zillion reel life crushes, from Rahul Dravid to Vidyut Jamwal (That Force guy!!), sometimes I actually pity my own taste. In my real life, I have just had 2 big time crushes. Now, crushes means liking the personality and liking the look of the guy. Usually I end up liking a personality of a guy, but his height sucks so I kick him out of my mind. OR, he has a cute face, bad personality. OR he has a cute face, good personality but he is shorter than me. (Again, for those who don't know me, I am 5'8.5 only.*smug smile*)

So needless to say, having so many have's and have-not's in my list, I hardly liked anyone in my real life. My first big time crush was a guy I met in my German coaching classes, after my 10th standard. But again, after the classes ended, we stopped being in touch. Hell, when we were in the same class, also we hardly spoke. That is because- *drumroll* I CANNOT TALK TO GUYS I LIKE. I am a Raj from Big Bang Theory. And supposing the guy shows a little interest in me, I run away in the opposite direction. Commitment phobia, at your service.

College started. I scanned the guys head to toe. Not a single one caught by interest. Except one senior, who was my height, but again, cute face, good personality, played all sports (That is a turn on, for me, again :P). Needless to say, somehow the word spread that I liked him a lot. He used to talk to me, but again, the *feeling* wasn't there. So he was out again.

So basically, I just had 2 major crushes in 22 years. Coming back to my NGO, it was a normal Sunday when we had gathered at a team member's place to do some work, and I poked them to show me the band members' pics (I had to make do with the gate pass thingy, I was too lazy to facebook stalk them). I scanned all the pics, and screamed at the others, telling them why the hell did they bring such kids to play and that no one is remotely good looking. They sniggered and we continued on with our work.

The band finally came. Bleh. I was least interested in the concert, I only cared about how much funds we would raise for the kids. So I was busy begging/seducing/bugging/threatening my friends and acquaintances to come for the concert. A very important point to mention here- The passes were only 50 bucks but still most of the gujjus refused to pay, because it wasn't worth it, it seems. This rapidly increased my hatred towards gujjus. #AllOffenceMeant.

I was very very very tired on the day of the show, hell, we all were. For once, I did not even get dressed with josh, I did not wear accessories, nothing and I just went. Then I saw him. Himanshu Devgan, lead singer of the band. Ok, he actually has a normal face, with adorable dimples. I found him very very charming even without interacting with him. We girls found him freaking hot after he opened his mouth (and sang :P) but I actually have seen better looking Delhi boys. But this guy had some charm. The irritating part was all the girls liked him a lot, but everyone picked on me for having a crush on him :| Hmph! Obviously my obsessive compulsive shyness disorder pricked up when the others asked me to go and talk to him after the show ended. Finally I went up, and ended up talking more with the others :| I just couldn't talk to him. Others were extremely friendly and sweet, actually even he was/is very down to earth and friendly but I looked at my shoes (heels), looked at the other band guys (Oh God I hope they didn't think I was line maaring on them also), in short, I just couldn't talk or look at him. *sigh* And and and, he is a law student, so we actually had a topic to talk about, but no sir. I know, I know I suck.



Anyway, we landed on each other's Facebook lists, and I hate Facebook chat, so I don't bother stalking him on chat. And again, he is my height so I don't actually *want* him :P Yes, I am very finicky about the height factor, deal with it!
So, the band was back a month ago, this time I told myself to talk properly with him and atleast be friendly and not embarrass him by blushing and stammering and stumbling over my words. I met him and I realized I was over him :O So my crush list still stopped at 2, in real life (for now :P) But of course, my friends in the NGO wouldn't let me off so easily, would they?? They screamed my name, out loud, when he had just finished a song, and I went beet-root red despite me being sure I am over him. And then he actually paused and said, "Hi, Madhuri" on the mike, out loud :O I think blood circulation must have stopped in my body since all the blood must have collected in my face to make it so red. Oh and I freaked out the next moment, because my boss had also received an invite for the same concert and I had bunked office that evening to attend the concert. So I was worried whether my boss saw me or heard my name being called out. Anyway, this is something I can tell my grandkids about! :D

He's still very sweet, extremely down to earth and has an adorable smile, and sexy voice. I do not know about his relationship status, but I know that he will always remain my first real life rockstar crush :D

P.S.- I am going to show him this post, so kindly keep your creepy comments about him to yourself, and not on the blog :P
P.P.S- Himanshu, I hope u don't mind that I have stolen your pic and thrown it here :O