Happiness for free, anyone?

These pictures are taken en route my jogging track.. about a stones throw away from my house. Let me put things in perspective...this small area these kids are playing is reclaimed land, which used to be mangroves, to be redeveloped for a club house. There is a small fencing segregating the area these kids can play in from the jogging track-semi playground.

A look at the kids from elite South Mumbai families fortunate enough to be playing in the playground ... all of them would, needless to say be dressed in the best of clothes, most wearing the new fad among kids - crocs for footwear. (crocs cost no less than 800-1500 rs even in the kids range). All kids have their aayah's (maids) accompanying, and less than 3 feet away from them, monitoring their every move, fervently wiping dirty hands, cushioning a fall and other such activities within then realm of 'taking care of the child'. Each child has his or her own sand basket, skipping rope or some other fancy toy, swinging on dinosaur swings or the T-Rex slides... with neat little matching clips in hair, disney water bottles in short, each thing they own is monogrammed, branded or some form of exclusive.

The pictures of the kids above is from the slum nearby, who have made the Ganesh idol from mud, and worship it everyday with the accompanying music (provided by beating wooden sticks on stones and chants), dance around the idol. Been watching them since a few days, finally curiosity overcame and i hopped over and had a look at the Ganesh. The picture does not do justice to what these children have made. There are tiny flowers, buttons and other scrap adorning him... he's never left alone, always guarded by at least one child.

I am fascinated with street children. It takes sheer ingenuity, or possibly forceful circumstances to spend an hour playing with a broken rubber tyre or a few sticks and stones and be that engrossed, and happy.... I told these kids Id come give them printouts of the pictures upon which i was asked 'Aunty aap bhoologi nahi na?' (Aunty u wont forget right?), of course i cringed at the word 'Aunty' :) but whats there, my phone was tossed around 15 hands looking curiously at their pictures in it. These kids who on an average mustve been about years made for a truly Happy smile on my face.

When i first asked if i could take a pictue, they were a little skeptical... after all how many of us 'rich people' really bother to take notice and even spend a minute asking them their names, let alone taking pictures. Initial cynicism once surpassed, they were more than happy to pile into a photo and give me bigg grins.

It saddens me... these children are exposed to the other children in the park.. with their expensive clothes and fancy waterbottles and playing on colourful swing sets. How do you tell a four - five year old child that those swings are out of bounds? Your not allowed to swing because u live in the slum? would he even understand what rich and poor is?

Having said that, these children are content with their rubber typre hung off a tree. I didnt see a Single face looking at the park with the other children wishing he or she could be there, and for that Im glad.

I am what I am. And what I am, is careless.

After years of walking repeatedly into furniture, doors, tripping on flat surfaces, losing and misplacing things, having various other atrocities happen to hands and feet, I have come to the (un)happy conclusion that I am careless. This after a whole lot of denial and 'that was a phase', 'that was an accident', 'this wasnt my fault' and so on.

I (think) I have lost my swipe card today. (the access card for work). This comes close on the heels of me having lost my debit card 3 weeks ago. It was my good fortune that the person who found it was either an honest person who did not use it, or a foolish person who did not know how to use it. What worried me was the realization of the lost card came a whole 3-4 days after the last time I used it. (Of course, there was a reason - there always is. New wallet, money section separate from card section, cant see cards each ime i open hence didnt notice it).

That said, I got a lot of flak from people at work over my carelessness, some of which I deserved. I prided myself over being a fairly responsible person (when it comes to important things), but this is just questioning my belief . Major upheaval of one self is in order no?

One of my most famous moves is tripping on flat land. Its a patent. There is also a testimonial on orkut imploring to enrich the quality of my life by at least making an effort to tryyy not to walk into things, or have them run into me. :) But, then I was sent only like this. Defective, prone to mishaps, careless, restless blush monster.

Still still still, I cant go around losing my debit cards and swipe cards and other such important cards around like its part of my natural disposition to do so. (it is, btw). But this is a vow. a very solemn one that Im going to give this responsible, organised, documented person bit a very good shot. And this starts now. Cause one of my other great strengths is procastination. But that's another story :)

Rahoge fit, fit and fine!

Delhi - Nehru Place

A matter of Conscience

Last night as I walked out of Yoko's - a popular sizzler joint in town, something i will not forget anytime soon happened.

As we parked, just outside our car, lying on the pavement was a man drunk and passed out on the ground. I missed noticing him at the time since Mumbai is full of pavement dwellers, random people grabbing a wink on the footpath and the likes.

However, when we returned from dinner, and as I got into the car, I noticed another man opening this persons back pocket and trying to pry the wallet out. By then we (3 girls, 2 boys) were all in the car, and I had surmised that this person was trying to steal this drunkards wallet (and later i realized, shoes as well).

Since this was about one foot away from our car, this man noticed and at that time generally looked away so we dint think he was being suspicious. He also pulled his hand away from the other mans pocket (who was still passed out) which led us to believe that he could be his companion, or friend.

Once we started our car and began to pull away, I saw that this man quickly put his hand back into the drunk mans pocket, pulled the wallet out, changed into his shoes and very inconspicuously shuffled away. Seeing which i immediately almost yelled, and we stopped the car.

The drunk guy was still in an inebriated state... he would have woken up today finding his wallet (whatever little money would be inside) as well as his shoes missing. We could do nothing about it... since he was drunk, the other guy looked very suspicious,and could have had a gang, we were three women after all --- all those reasons. Still...

I couldn't get that image out of my mind for a long time - and still cant. I hope that the person who was drunk and passed out to an extent that someone could come and open his trouser button, take out his wallet, shoes and whatever he had on this person, learns a lesson and learns the limit. I also hope some luck comes his way and he doesn't have mouths to feed.

Offer me a rainbow

What is this phenomena of thinking in terms of blog posts, but when u click on 'edit posts' your face is a big white blank? In due course of time, someone should coin a term for it.

Its not even the lack of events that one has nothing to blog about. currently one would want pace of life to slow down a little as overwhelmingness could take over soon. Too much to do, too many decisions to make, too many webs to unentangle, and as is always the case, far far too less time.

What is is about inertia that just fogs your mind? I feel as though the amount of inertia is directly proportionate to the importance and time-crunched-ness of the situation. The bigger decisions and things of greater urgency I need to do, the more my usual proactive self takes a backseat.
Where is the dynamic-self-confident-sorted-out avatar when one needs it?!!

Add to that, one gets a horoscope saying "What are your goals in life? You might benefit from taking some time to write them down this week. Perhaps you'd like to find your soul mate, reach the top of your company, or lose a few pounds. But you can have the loftiest ideals in the world and not have the faintest notion of the first step to take! " Who asked Astocenter anyway. Even they know i need to figure out my life! Gah!! #$%^&@#

Add to the already unrequired inertia are things which one doesnt need - a familiar voice best left unheard, a relative with questions rather left unanswered, and conversations of matrimony when current mindspace is allergic to all of the above.

Aformentioned setbacks notwithstanding, Today I plan to make a note. Of the things I need to do. And action it. I think its my blogs fault. I used to have a diary in which I would actually write nearly each day, and make notes and pointers and felt guilty if I didnt do-a-to-do. This blog business is all public and all and then the concept is 'whats there, ill do it at some point'. no one makes me feel guilty about it. My diary was my friend. with real angry faces when i didnt do-the-to-do. lol.

So here's to 'The List'. (Currently there are two in my life - the one I will make today and the one in the book im reading - P.S. I love you.)

Why am I reading P.S. I love you? I needed to read a nice sweet book to tell me love exists and butterflies in stomach are real ... and in the first page i find out that HE DIES. Thank you Author woman. So much for my nice sweet love story, should've bought a Mills n Boon. 'A Special sort of man', 'Promise of passion', 'Love on loan' sound good to you?!! LOL!!

Driving, Drivin in your car...

If your driving me, here's a heads up on some do's and dont's. Applicable for EVERYONE.

• Dont drive at 40kmph if the road is empty. Revv up the engine and GOO! Cabbies especially, it is excrutiatingly difficult to be in a hot stuffy cab if your driving so slow that i could jog faster.
• Make sure the wipers work. In case of friends, let me work the wiper, i LOVE doing that (its a thing). If your a cabbie, just make sure the ONE LONE wiper you guys generally have only on the drivers side of the windshield is not too loose, not too tight and you dont have to prod it with a stick every once in a while.
• Always have tissues!
• If you dont have auto lock, TELL ME. Most cars today generally do, and if we (I) forget and conveniently walk out, its not our (my) fault. :)
• If your playing Music, let it PLAY! Dont rewind and forward and repeat and skip till I box you.
• In case your a cabbie, please give up on getting the EXACT frequency of the radio station, cause face it, each time we go over a speedbreaker the receptions gonna crack. Lets just go with peace and quiet. Unless its raining, in which case feel free to play old hindi songs. :)

Same sh*t, different day

U HAD to BE here to believe it. These are'nt bad resolution pictures - thats how the weather was!! Rain lovers in Mumbai - head to Lonavla/Khandala ASAP!! Of course, be sure to witness full aunty-uncle-tinku-minku type crowd, but so long as u got your little coterie with you, your set.

The expressway from the eating place at Dukes Retreat - the clouds completely shadow the hills that lie beyond.

Justttt before it started pouring and I could see this no more.
Its amazing - how a change of scenery can just put things into perspective. I came away from a small day and a half long picnic with a calm realization of the battle that lies forth, and how much introspection lay impending - and ignored.

Do we actually reach a point in our lives when past experiences shadow future endeavours? Off late I seem to have proved everyones point - that I did live in a bubble, and being too much of an optimist and hoping against hope is for fools, that ONE day I will wake up with a eerie realization - 'I'm no longer that crazy optimist I used to be, Realism and Pessimism have overshadowed my dreams and longs and expectations'

Do we reach a point in our lives that we're so scarred that every experience seems like a re-run of the past? And if it isnt, well still feel that cause once bitten, twice shy? Should you learn from past experience and guard yourself better, or should you give new people/new situations a fair chance to get to know the real, soft, unedited, vulnerable you?

If you learn from each experience you go through and figure - 'I need to toughen up' - you may toughen up so much that no one will ever reach a point that they can hurt you. I wouldnt want this.

Else, if you DONT learn from each experience and continue being the same, you'd just be allowing people and situations to get the better of you and continue hurting. I wouldnt want that either.

What about the people you hurt along the way? The people who did no wrong except allow themselves to be caught up in your mess? Can you pass it off by saying that that's their battle, just like you have yours? Or should you not have allowed that person to get caught up in your entangled, entwined mind?

Where's that fine line? Between holding on to youself and letting go? Between loving someone and falling in love? Between learning from the past and looking forward to the future? Between being independent and fiercely guarded to learning to depend and share? I would really like to cross over to the other side....

Lets go!

Offer valid till stocks last?!!

I cannot be resigned to an occurence, event or state of being.
I cannot not have Butterflies in my stomach
I cannot align myself to forces of nature other than the ones I choose.
I cannot stand a calm unruffled serene existence (although i would crave one)
I cannot not be fiercely determined to want all my 'things'**
I can only be foolishly in tune with that little voice inside my head that will revolt against the sensiblest of ideas, and walk into complete disarray, defying all odds.
I can only be strong enough to deal with whatever the hells thrown at me
I can only be unnervingly independent cause in the end, its just me.

And I can know all the above and know that Ill be ok. Either which ways.

There's a lot to be said about intuition - that little voice in your head that sometimes is right against all odds. I find that somehow, when I fall back on that 'Gut feel' Im somehow always right.

Understand it, I cant. Sometimes when all the odds are in my favor, and it seems like nothing could go wrong, I'll be doubting the outcome. 'Come on, your being paranoid', or 'Your being too much of a realist' are rationale offered to my uneasiness on accepting a situation by friends and family. After all, they've got reason, logic and facts on their side, whereas all ive got is a measly little 'But I Have a Bad feeling about this'. Explanations none, reason facts and logic even lesser.

People who explain things algorithmically fail to factor in the 'You-never-knows'. The flow of Your a good person? If yes ----> Good things will happen to you does not always apply. In fact, there are two categories of Good people - Good people to whom good things happen and Good people to whom good things happen after much ado and heartbreak, trials and tribulations. Fondly also called the 'Aa Bail Mujhe Maar' , loosely translated as 'Im right here wild bull, come n get me, Im even waving a red flag for you'category.

Ive seen Daddy go through it - a simple thing like a formality to be completed or a form to be filled... 7563485875 people ahead of him would get through with ease, and he'd get stuck since the person decided to be on a 3 month leave or some frivolous reason. Albeit, it would get done but was everything he had to go through even fair? We once celebrated a promotion since we got inside news from top quarters ... which fell through due to some highly placed politics. Honesty and Integrity were shown their true place in this world where time and again I realize we need to include selfishness, shrewdness and rid naivete of all forms from our portfolio of emotions.

I'd say I take in after him, and If someone can describe me as having even a third of the qualities he has, I'd be over the moon. His devotion to duty, deep rooted integrity, civic sense and strength of character have always made me in awe of him, and always will. That said, Im also as impatient, restless and lucked out as he is. Ive never known what it is like to have something 'easy' - be it grades in school, love, friends, or even a childish thing of winning a prize. The closest Ive come to winning a 'Prize' was 5 bottles of Citra at kids housie :) Mistake this not, it is not self pity that makes me write this, it is simply something unforgettable! (and funny)

I just need a little luck, a little break from tumultous situations and a little stretch of smooth road for a while, for sometimes even the strongest of minds and hearts wears thin.

Of alcohol induced bonhomie

This weekend started out itself with a brilliant friday evening - and since I had a couple of events lined up for saturday as well as sunday I knew I was in for a tiring next coupla days.

'Made of Honour' was my weekend fiesta initiation. The movie is mostly flat with Patrick Dempsey being the only thing worth watching about it. Ok no, make that two things, there's a scene in the movie when he kisses Hannah (his best friend) that made my stomach plummet to my ankles or thereabout. [I'm wondering if im old enough to stop being flippy about these things?]

Dinner was at Ivy Lounge, with a glass of Merlot-something. I like this place, though I wish the inside was as nice as the outside. I have a theory about wine being had in a slightly dimly lit place, with mellow music and a nice companion. Its kind of an intimate drink, in my opinion.

Saturday night saw Serendipity at 'Shiro' - a lounge bar/club type place, with FANTASTIC ambience. Its a go-in-a-big-group or go alone with someone-you-have-so-much-fun-with-you-dont-care-whose-around type place. They serve a nasty Mojito, in a tall glass, no less which can make a happy person veryy happy. Add to this the house music they were playing and it all culminated into a brilliant time. The only bad move being some alcohol induced decision of 'Lets go to Bling' at 2.30 a.m. in the morning. There were all of 2 people not drunk, myself included and two cars so apparently since we had non drunk drivers = number of cars, we had problem solved. [except the tiny detail of Bling being at Andheri, and Shiro being at Worli, and most of us living in South Mumbai].

4-5+ Drinks raises enthusiasm levels to off the scale limits, hence we all set off, reached Bling at 3.15 to find out it would cost us about 3 grand a couple to enter. Did we enter? YOU THINK? Got home that errr morning at a shameful hour, only to be asked by mom the next day 'Beta what time did u come in home last night - 3?' and I dutifully nodded my head apologetically , all the time thinking (phew, im glad that wasnt an open ended question, had she waited for me to answer, i'd have had to tell her 4.30!!)

Sunday was spent playing Taboo and Jenga among most of the guys who were stull hungover from the previous night, and who were (wonder of wonders) still drinking. Im a sucker for board games - Pictionary, Taboo, Monopoly, Jenga are my favorite favorite party games YET. If there were any words to elaborate how much ive laughed and the ridiculous things these boys have said in their half drunk stupor, i would. Until then.

Cyanide and Happiness!

"Intimacy is a four syllable word for, "Here's my heart and soul, please grind them into hamburger, and enjoy." It's both desired, and feared. Difficult to live with, and impossible to live without"
- Dr Meredith Grey

Edit - Completely Yearning for Season 4. Have watched until episode 6. Does anyone have the remaining? :)

Semi adventure sport # 2

Like completely overexcited, impatient fools who got carried away with the weekful of rains last week, we planned a trip to Durshet. Its a small forest Lodge close to Khopoli, that encloses close to 43 acres of land. Its a beautiful contrast to the cemented, commercial getaways we're generally used to. There was no television, cellular network or vehicles.

For once, you could hear the sound of yourself breathe, look out of the room and see an expanse of greenery and nothing beyond. The only spoiler (and what a spoiler it was) was the small teeny meeny itsy bitsy fact that IT DID NOT RAIN. However, the weather was overcast, cloudy and kept manipulating us into thinking that it will, in fact rain. But it did'nt. Darn it. Darn and Double darn.

source

The picture above is of the river Kundalika - where three of us from the group that had gone, went rafting. A must-do if u like thrills. Add this to the snorkelling we did at Maldives and im slowly striking off things i want to do from my list of 'Things i Have to Want to Must do'.

source

Its a whole lot of fun, although not life defying as we had expected it to be. As one of the people in our group said ' At no point were my balls in my mouth' lol. For the crass language, i apologise :). The rapids had interesting names -'Johnnie walker', 'Morning headache', 'Butterfly' etc. Our guide too, was the right combination of fun, serious, dispensed a lottt of information about the place and the sport which was good to know. The coolest part was jumping off the raft and into the river and swimming alongside for a nearly a km or two.

The drive to this place is absolutely picturesque, its as though your driving through small villages which have been untouched by technology and modern life. The roads are surrounded by lush greenery on both sides, and the other vehicles (!!!) will be the occasional meandering cows.

Did i forget to mention that like last time, im Tanned AGAIN?

Sunny side up

Must accredit the picture to my cousin who clicked this at Juhu beach...

We turn one year old today. This blog was born out of a long initial inertia to having someplace to take my thoughts. The Nomad, and I decided its high time so we set deadlines, and promised each other we wouldnt miss. And Serendipity was born. Why Serendipity? Why All that Jazz? She loves the word, hates the movie. Its got the right amount of enigma, can be understood with a romantic connotation if one wished, among other reasons. And thats what life's about isnt it? A little bit of heartache, a lot more fun, highest highs and low lows and all that jazz.

So heres to another year of being creepily moody, hormonal, brownie loving, incurably romantic, nostalgic and embarassingly crazy.

Of being there...and doing that.

Overrated and badly edited it was, but I came away from having watched Sex and the city very mellow. Was thinking to myself - 'Do I have a Charlotte or Miranda in my life?' The intense love and unquestioning caring between these women is the kind of friendship dreams are made of.
The scene where Charlotte hugs Carrie and doesnt let Big get near (on the road, right after the almost wedding) that sheer anger in her voice when she says 'NO', that assertive protectiveness in the way she held Carrie, that intense hurt she showed, gave me goosebumps.

I love the bond these women have, I love how 'each other' took precedence above all else, how everything is unimportant enough to ensure that they were there when Carrie needed them. 'Its the Movies' I KNOW! But by now its established that im a foolish foolish girl with stars in her eyes who still believes in romance and prince charming and all the other ghastly untruths of the world!

I loved the unthanking, assumed and seemingly routine way the love and friendship would be exhibited between these women, that there was no doubt Carrie was going over to Mirandas dressed in Pj's in the middle of the night, the undoubtability of these actions really struck a chord with me.

I LOVED that they love each other with so much passion, thats the only way love is meant to be loved. With a crazy intoxicating logic defying all encompassing execution of seemingly mundane things. Somewhere we're a lot more calculated, a lot less giving and even more held back....

Last evening i spent a few hours with someone who, thanks to my advice, Didnt hold back. he now regrets it, thanks to some confused woman who isnt sure what she wants. He asked me once -'What did i do wrong?' and i was B-L-A-N-K. The price hes got for being there, going ALL OUT, and giving her the benefit of doubt when she was acting like a kook is a broken broken heart. somewhere i blame myself, and my ridiculous theory of filmy romance. Maybe i ought to have asked him to play the game. Maybe i ought to learn to play the game myself.

That place

*sigh*

Wants, Needs and all the unnecesary accompanied reasons

I need shoes. Here are the top reasons why. (Let it be known that there are more, however in view of consumption of blogspace and saving of bullet points etc, I shall jot down only the most important ones).

1. Because i have only 2 pairs of stilettos now and one of them is really old.
2. I recently bought 2 really cute pairs of shorts and other than sneakers, have no other shoes that will GO.
3. In the last 3 weeks, two pairs of work flats BROKE. and I got only 1 replacement.
4. The stilettos at Nine west Called out to me
5. Ive always wanted a pair of really cool to-die-for Puma's. And if a guy friend validates that a pair of shoes is nice, imagine HOW NICE they must actually be!
6. I dreamt i owned the shoes in question
7. They're not shoes, they're a whole new me.
8. Because Rainy season's here and we ought to celebrate no?
9. The Ash moved to Kol and I no longer have anyone who convinces me into buying shoes i dont need. I mean i need.
10. Because ballet shoes look terrific on my feet. They told me.
11. Im a shoes and bags person. Also watches, perfumes and clothes. Which indicates i should be buying these things in quantities more than the average woman else i would be defying the definition. I wouldnt want to defy the definition now would I?
12. Its the 4th of June
13. After looking at these I had sweet sweet dreams.
14. My toes will be painted this weekend and deserve pretty shoes.

Good judgement and logic generally accompany most decisions. Hence i also made a list of why i should NOT BUY new shoes.

1. I am slightly broke.
2. errrr

Argghh. Why couldnt I have been born a guy. I would've owned a pair each of the following shoes in the following colours.

1. Black work shoes
2. Sneakers in Black, white or blue
3. Chappals in a colour that doesnt matter cos theyre chappals.

Coincidences anyone?

IT RAINED YESTERDAY!! And I, as someone rightly put it.. was in the right place at the right time. No coincidences this time, NO SIREEE! I was MEANT to be out when it rained first, it was a deal we'd made. Oh Joy!! Ive waited waited waited for it to rain again, and was counting down until it did!

Standing in the awning of Pheonix mills, i could barely contain my excitement. This thrill spread from head to toe.. i wanted to run into the rain, get soaked, splash into puddles, hug someone, yell out loud, get wet, get dry, go mad, wash off the past, bring in the new and top it off with a swiss hot chocolate from Barista. (with whipped cream on the side)

Never mind that this morning the sky is clear as clear could be, the excitement built up in me will tide me over for the next few days at least. Or when it begins to fade, maybe god can send me a shower :)

Ive done it before.. again and again and again ... talk about how much I LOVE the rain!
Its a complete treat for a romantic like me. The clouds which spell gloom and lethargy for some, mean dreamy, ecstatic fun for me. I left a lot of things undone the last rains, (somewhich i know will remain undone, for those are FAR too dreamy), but im determined to-do the others this time around. So here's my checklist -

• Sit at Marine Drive in the midst of a complete downpour, then walk down to Pizzeria and have a hot deep dish pizza.
• Sit in the corner window of a bookstore while it pours outside with a nice cup of chaii. How i wish Chabar had a window view, for they have brilliant ginger chaa.
• Drive down to Lonavla and back the same day. In all fairness, this was done the last time around too, but there are some things that just need to be repeated.
• Go to water kingdom on a rainy day. yipeee! MUST DO
• Spend all day getting wet, then get dry and have a nice cosy dinner with wine and fondue at Moshe.
• Have breakfast at U.S. Club in the smallshed near the Golfers Shop
• Drive around while it pours outside with a Caffe Caramello with whipped cream in my hand, and MUSIC (80's/ 90's english would be the cherry on the cake).
• Go to Aksa beach in the evening, get drenched, and then Vertigo for a drink :)

Phew. :)

Rajasthan Royals all the way!

As a rule, I land up supporting the Underdog. And this was no exception - Rajasthan Royals was defninitely the poorest team, with no coach and the only stars to boast of being Shane Warne battling personal problems and looking for redemption, and Graeme Smith.

They had no coach, no Icon as the Indian captain, no real crowd support, no big budgets for advertising and marketing, in fact, they had nothing to lose. Thats what the had going for them.

I LOVED the team spirit, the sheer determination, and never say die attitude that the team displayed. Had they lost yesterday, they had won our hearts anyway...really. Had we even heard of a Swapnil Asnodkar before this? This little guy, all of five foot somethign has held his nerves and undauntedly hit the best of the best for big overs. Niraj Jadeja, who looks more like he ought to be chilling at Barista with his teeny bopper friends had a MAGNIFICENT 69 run (6th wicket) parternship which won them a crucial match.

Each player came into his own in this team, each player found a niche and was supported by his team mates in executing it best. Words fail me in trying to express how proud I feel about a team full of youngsters who have shown so much maturity, so much calm and defeated the 'Icons' of this game - None of our four Icons Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid or Sehwag made their mark, faltering in strategy, teamwork, and at times in form altogether. With all the advantages these teams had, they went nowhere.

Have developed new found respect for Shane Warne...images of him patting Shane Watsons back after he (Watson) gave an over of 25 runs and telling him its ok, talking encouragingly to each player (some of whom dont even understand English very well), praising the 'young Swapnil' and Yusuf and the others, giving them the deserved credit, and taking very litle himself, will not leave me for a long time to come.

All in all, Im a little worried about what Im gonna do with all the excitiement and energy Ive managed to build up in the last 45 days. Phew.