Cold Fire

Can’t help but beat myself,
On being the jerk that made you hurt.
With my stupid actions and silly defects,
And weird thoughts right in my head.
But dear o’ dear, my heart and soul,
You being the one I always behold.
The days and nights with you by my side,
With the love in your eyes and warm touch,
I will forever stay and leave all to rust.
You were the one, who gave me a reason,
To move over issues and be brighter,
Heard my sorrows and made me relax,
Forced me to go out and party with a blast.

All is great and working fine,
But it’s the fear which is making me resign.
I have a certain lacking of focus and want,
When things I need are right there.
To realize the desire I go through a certain test,
By end of which, everything I hoped, goes far and lost.
I am not great when the going gets tough,
Tension prevails wherever I thought I was robust.
That’s where the fault in me exists,
I don’t want you to suffer with me & persist.
Please try and forgive me for my stupid behaviour,
All I wanted is you to be happy and not dragged along in this cold fire.

By Aditya Bajpai
12th Feb 2010

Spectrum

The need to breathe stays with the both of us,
Air once inside would not be of another different use.
It would solve the same purpose and answer similar needs,
But then why is there a difference in the freedom to breathe.

If his body hurts, his mind suffers, he feels the pain,
Same is the case in my story of disdain.
Tears flow from eyes, as the heart cries to resolve the struggle,
His are heard and wiped clean, mine are left for exhaustion.

His will to work and desire to achieve would be rivalled by my heart and gut,
The endeavours and hardships bear the same load and brunt.
Both of us feel the joy of achievement like a utopian desire,
Still I get pushed towards dirty chores and he is at helm of command, rising higher.

I use my voice to present my heart’s feel and thought, which is also his way of expression,
It can be as needed – revolutionary or a pretty creative explanation.
Varies from positive to negative with loads of content and clarity,
Mine is suppressed and ignored, his get encouragement beyond infinity.

Black and white might be two extremes which are a spectrum apart,
People claim one to be good and the other to be bad.
One day I would meet the almighty and understand if he believes there is a right one,
Till then, they are merely colours in the eye, shining together.

By Aditya Bajpai
2nd Feb 2010

Silver Lining..

Fixated on the board, figuring the dark picture
I sat there believing, that this would be another dream
As I felt cold, perhaps it my body which is getting old.

They say – ‘every dark cloud has a silver lining’,
But does the cloud realize that, do the birds understand silver when they see it,
The sun doesn’t pity and neither do the winds.

Looking out for freshness in air, softness in snow,
Smell of flowers or pain of thorns, the ones which the world proudly beholds.

I thought the world is small, coz I saw it all when she was in my arms,
We did great and I was wonderful, life seemed simple and yet so beautiful.
Someone up high wasn’t so sure, so paid a visit and left me alone.

Again they came and showed me the lining,
Which they claimed to be silver, but to me it seemed grey.
As I lay, I turned to the friend who at times when happy, was always ready to drown me clear.
Deep down the world seemed high, and ‘the rush’ haunted me for a while.

Adrenaline is a fast flow, people around, all crave for more.
It’s not a spark or a fizz of joy, it’s an addiction you just cannot hide.

It takes long to search for life, not much when you are on the wire.
As I stood perplexed on the ground,
With a picture in front claiming I AM GONE,
I just remembered what the world had said,
“Its DRINK DRIVE and DEATH !!!”

By Aditya Bajpai
30th Nov 2009

A New Memory

A phase in life I would love to preserve,
The cap on the fun was not so clear,
Believed to be a change in style and thought,
It turned to be among the best in the lot.

Off by the road, besides the stable,
Stood my place, memories behold and love untold.
All the 4 floors were chilled and dark,
Devoid of pain and sadness the world savoured a lot.
We stayed in and played, sometimes burned in the sun and sometimes bathed in the rain,
But the hunger for fun was outlived by the ferocious stomach growl.

At times seriousness beckoned at the door,
With extra bit of study load we stayed together,
Bore the burden and never wept another.
Weekends were outings or craze of sport,
Football, cricket or movies was the most popular resort.

Everyone partied and created a lot of fuss,
Of how the next day beholds the agony and hurt.
Call on a party and pizza was served,
To make it grand, drinks everyone deserved.
One shabby room crowded to the limit,
Fun talk turned emotional but the mood stayed on,
Sometimes it would be sleazy with all laughing along.

A page is no measure of the stamp it left,
My heart and all my pals will forever cherish those times we stayed...

By Aditya Bajpai
1st Dec 2009

Legacy of Jordan enters the Hall of Fame

It may have well happened if he hadn't been there. Someone else may well have been the beneficiary of the confluence that occurred in the early 1980s: the merging of globalization, marketing, Larry and Magic, ESPN-led media proliferation and luck (luck is in everything) that helped turn a basketball star into a global icon.
Maybe it would have been Clyde Drexler. Maybe, a few years later, David Robinson would have caught the wave. Surely, Charles Barkley could have starred in a movie with Bugs Bunny and Bill Murray, instead of just making a cameo appearance.

But it's Jordan that's become a synonym for American excellence, the way GM and IBM used to be. Google "the Michael Jordan of ..." and you get the following:
... Turkey (Hedo Turkoglu)
... Rapping (Kanye West)
... Porn (Jenna Jameson)
... Electronic Games (one Dennis "Thresh" Fong)
... Washing Machines (the "Tian Chi" Chinese Washing Machine)
... Bagpipes--but just in Portland, Oregon (a gentleman by the name of Alasdair Gilles)
... Cricket (Brian Lana)
... Economics (Dr. Gary Becker)
... Golf (Tiger, natch)
... Walking Trails (the Bent Creek Recreation Area in Asheville, N.C.)

He left Mark Price and Brad Daugherty and Dominique Wilkins and Reggie Miller and Barkley and Patrick Ewing and John Stockton and Karl Malone without a single NBA championship among them. Hakeem Olajuwon won two titles (and Drexler one) while Jordan was away playing baseball; Alonzo Mourning and Gary Payton got their ring only after he was gone for good.
Pat Riley used to always say there were only two states in the NBA: winning and misery. Jordan inflicted much of that misery on Riley, first in New York with the Knicks, and then in Miami with the Heat. Riley had gotten used to championships and champagne with the Lakers. And then came Jordan, and it was almost 20 years before Riley won another title, coaching Mourning, Payton and Dwyane Wade to the 2006 championship--when Jordan was safely in Charlotte.

For years, the Bulls couldn't solve Detroit, which won back-to-back titles in 1989 and 1990 by overwhelming Chicago with defense, intimidation and will. The actual "Jordan Rules" invoked by the Pistons' defense were nothing more than being physical with Jordan at every opportunity and daring his teammates to do something about it.
Jordan scowled his way through the 1990 Eastern Conference finals, when the Pistons got the better of his Bulls, yet again, in seven excruciating games. He barely spoke with the media and belittled his teammates' toughness as they were pushed around by Detroit's champions. His silence spoke volumes in the Bulls' locker room, both during and after the series.

Jordan also made a major change in his approach. He finally accepted that he shouldn't dominate games just because he could. He had to trust his teammates and save himself for what Magic called "winnin' time."

Rest they say (and its true) is HISTORY !!!

Bottom line: No post or page for a mere mortal like me can talk enough about the greatness associated with one of the best athletes to grace the field of sports. This 11th Sep 2009, he enters into the hall of fame with fellow inductees David 'Admiral' Robinson, John Stockton and Jerry Sloan.

Its a day everyone associated with the game of basketball, will remember as the day the king rightfully ascended atop his kingdom.

Singh is King ... no actually 'the king'

I am very happy writing this post as my request has been heard by my fellow countrymen. (ref. my earlier post - 'Wake up and Shout')

All of you must have heard this popular phrase being used in media over and over again in the past one week, but the truth is there is not other title better suited to describe the turn of events in Indian politics over the week. (I wanted to stress a bit more on Dr. Manmohan Singh's achievement and therefore modified the contents.)

Indian general elections were concluded on 16th May 2009 after a rather fast counting procedure (courtesy Electronic Voting Machines, are you listening USA - EVMs) and declared UPA as the most dominant alliance. The fact that Congress led UPA won the elections with such a decisive margin was unexpected and also belied the predictions of a hung parliament. Over the past couple of months leaders of all kind of regional parties harboured dreams of being on the hot seat of Indian democracy. All of them had prime ministerial ambitions or at least had the belief of playing a major role in deciding who forms the government.

All those dreams and ambitions became a thing of past as Congress proved too strong for its rivals and swept the elections. By doing so it reduced the market power of the so called 'Kingmakers', who have to ability to make or break any government. The biggest victim of these elections was the third and fourth fronts. These are two coalitions formed by a number of regional parties. While the Left is a big party name in the 3rd front, 4th front was something entirely new to this elections with the voters failing to identify with any or all its leaders. As both these fronts didn't get anywhere close to the numbers they obtained in the last elections their power to have a say in the government diminished. BJP led NDA was able to achieve close to its last election mark but failed to improve on it. So the entire benefit ended up with Congress and its allies.

All said and done, Dr. Manmohan Singh and his cabinet have taken the office and have started serving the country for a 2nd consecutive term, which looks very unlikely to end before 5 years. The best thing what I and a huge number of Indian population felt was that the government will no longer be threatened or bullied by the demands of its over rated allies. The left forms no part in the new government and so does other similar self centered parties, who fail to see beyond their own selfish interests. The youth of the country is fed-up with the tricks of dirty politics which are played even at the time of national interests. (For better understanding look at examples of the nuclear agreement and the attack on Mumbai). Maybe it was this frustration which made the voters of India stamp their feet in authority and declare that 'whichever party comes to power should have a single hand majority in order to take its own decisions'. The fact that Rahul Gandhi, youth icon of India, tirelessly reached to people all over the country, swung the vote balance heavily in favour of Congress.

Whatever be the reason the outcome of this election have been a blessing for people of India, as they try to fight their way against the monster named recession and get back on track to the double digit growth numbers. Nothing else could have express the joy as expressed by the stock market, which rose by extraordinary numbers so much that it had to be closed twice for over-shooting the barrier. Its balle-balle time...

I congratulate Congress-UPA and Dr. Manmohan Singh for the victory and also hope for a stable constructive 5 year term for them in office.

EVEN MORE I WOULD LIKE TO HAIL THE PEOPLE OF INDIA FOR MAKING THIS POSSIBLE. KUDOS !!

I for Internship <> I for IPL <> I for Introducing APL

Come the season of summer there is a weird curriculum waiting for wanna-be MBA grads in a B-School. They (includes me and my fellow mates) are told that through a thing called internship, they would gain valuable experience for becoming a manager. This 'I' starts off during the worst time in a year... Summers. So it is also called summer internship. Well the biggest let-off besides the weather is the fact that it is more of an opportunity for the corporate to get 'cheap labour'. And when i say labour, it’s actually means manual labour. I don't mean to disrespect the Labour class of our country (frankly speaking they are the best in the world) but once you are into a B-School you expect something better. Ok nobody has issues with working for a corporation, but there needs to be a certain level of motivation involved which needs to be generated from the hirer. So far with various reviews I can safely say that 90-95% of the interns are not at all motivated. The reason can vary from culture of the firm, the work assigned to the salary given etc etc. It has been a horrid time for me as well, partly due to the weather of Delhi. It has been the hottest April in Delhi for over half-a-century and I feeling its brunt. Add to that the no stipend clause and ** you get EXPLOITATION OF LABOUR.
Tired and exhausted for most part of the internship, my only salvation is the 2nd ‘I’ – IPL. After a sedate and rather boring start, the 2nd edition of IPL is turning in to another success star on Lalit Modi’s cap. Now the teams are getting used to the conditions and are able to devise better strategies. Indian players (well at least the ones in national team) are performing superbly. After slogging the entire day in heat and crappy work, I head back to my hostel with the expectations of a nice cricket match, and its rarely I have been disappointed. Adding to the fizz in IPL is the fantasy game, which is played by almost all cricket lovers from my college. Due to this fantasy game you can see people cheering for players from both the teams just for the fact that they are included in the fantasy team. It’s hilarious… It’s weird, but I actually get the motivation to run back home just because of IPL. Somewhere down the line I would owe a lot to IPL for saving me from one painful death. And yes, when I speak of the above lines, I am not being selfish. I speak on behalf of half a dozen friends of mine who feel exactly the same.

Waiting for the days to end and dump this internship thing into my historical ‘don’t-touch’ ledgers..

And ya I forgot to introduce to you all .. Adhchini Premier League 2009 (APL). This is the cricket extravaganza we have organized to keep the craze of cricket alive. Matches take place involving teams from adhchini who cross cultural boundaries to play together. This league involves 2 formats:

1. Hot sun format

2. Underground format

The hot sun format includes matches which brings players out on the sun and test their physical fitness and stamina. The underground format checks more of the temperament and skill as it happens under lights and is played in the basement. Transfers keep happening regularly with the no. of players also variable.