Being a good player and a good sports-person are equally important. Being a good player, one does indulge in mental games too, playing with the psyche - its all about who can hold it together till the end of the game. Coz, obviously all participants are equally under pressure. The one who is good is under pressure of expectations, and the one who is not-so-good is just under pressure to perform.
You use whatever tactics you need, that help you to hold it together, get through the game, win it. But once the game is over, whatever be the outcome, hold your head high and be graceful about it - whether you win or you lose. You do the best you can on the field given the circumstances and given the pressures, and thats it. When the game is over, you are free - whether you win or you lose.
There is nothing more off-putting than a sore loser or a sore winner. Well, in TBBT, Leonard explains that (Sheldon) being an unpleasant winner justifies Sheldon's bad loser behaviour, and that explanation summarizes the whole point. Only an unpleasant winner can ever be a sore loser, and a sore loser is the antithesis of a good sports-person. Ergo, grace in both victory and defeat is an essential component of sports, and ofcourse life.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Why is life like that?
Without a close friend around, life starts to feel lonely. No, it is not that Preeti didnt have any friends and therefore was feeling lonely. But, definitely there was a fall in the number of friends surrounding her, compared to the same month, last year. And the void, she felt, was inescapable.
She was not the kind to drown herself in memories, or long for the days gone-by. Well, atleast not all the time :-D. Very wild mood swings characterized her day. When she doubted herself, her potential, there wasnt anyone she could share it with, who would assure her that she was gonna be just fine. So she did that job herself. She spoke to herself throughout the day, convincing herself, persuading herself to not give up in her quest.
She also had plans for the future, big plans. But those future plans depended on her ability to handle the present well. And her confidence in herself was kind-of becoming rickety.
And yet, she experienced everyday what a great opportunity she had. She regaled everyday, in the knowledge that she had had a better life than most. And every day that she lived, was a gift that she treasured. Preeti wasnt one to be cowed down by insecurities. She vowed to herself everyday, that she would rise. And she declared, "I am not complaining". :-)
She was not the kind to drown herself in memories, or long for the days gone-by. Well, atleast not all the time :-D. Very wild mood swings characterized her day. When she doubted herself, her potential, there wasnt anyone she could share it with, who would assure her that she was gonna be just fine. So she did that job herself. She spoke to herself throughout the day, convincing herself, persuading herself to not give up in her quest.
She also had plans for the future, big plans. But those future plans depended on her ability to handle the present well. And her confidence in herself was kind-of becoming rickety.
And yet, she experienced everyday what a great opportunity she had. She regaled everyday, in the knowledge that she had had a better life than most. And every day that she lived, was a gift that she treasured. Preeti wasnt one to be cowed down by insecurities. She vowed to herself everyday, that she would rise. And she declared, "I am not complaining". :-)
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Talk of ambiguity
"Spare the rod and spoil the child..."
Talk of ambiguity! Is the above sentence pleading with you to please spare the rod and pamper the child, make the child feel like a prince/princess? Or is it actually a warning that if you decide to spare the rod, you would end up raising a spoilt brat (which is decidedly not what you want to do!)?
Definitely a case of context lending meaning to the prose! Did I say already that I love English? :-)
Talk of ambiguity! Is the above sentence pleading with you to please spare the rod and pamper the child, make the child feel like a prince/princess? Or is it actually a warning that if you decide to spare the rod, you would end up raising a spoilt brat (which is decidedly not what you want to do!)?
Definitely a case of context lending meaning to the prose! Did I say already that I love English? :-)
Friday, September 11, 2009
Chance encounter with a snake
Half an hour back when I was leaving hostel to come to lab, I had a chance encounter with a long snake. I was on the B-wing corridor that enters the mess, walking absent-mindedly thinking of this and that and the other. And apparently the snake was day-dreaming too, hoping to cross from one wall of the corridor to the other.
I do not know whether the snake saw me coming. Well they say that snakes dont have eyes, so it wouldnt have really "seen" me anyway but you know what I mean. So it happened that the snake and I managed to startle each other during our absent-minded walks. While I gave out a loud yell and stood in my position, the snake took a different approach to handle the situation. It jerked suddenly and started wiggling even more wildly.
Its body was long and though its mid-portion was quite fatter than my arms, its head was very small, so I couldnt really make out which end was its head and which was its tail. Well you might be thinking why I wanted to know which end was its head. The thing is that, in the split-second that my body decided to move, my brain told it to first figure out the head direction so that it could be clear where the snake wished to move and therefore, my body could move (read run) in the opposite direction.
But the longer my body stood there letting my brain try to decipher head and tail, the more was the danger to my body. So body's reflex action started taking over and telling my brain to shut-up. But my brain wouldnt budge, saying that if my body moves in opposite direction, I might end up stepping on the snake itself, which undoubtedly will be an unpleasant experience for the snake and might be full of unpleasant consequences for me too. So after a long 2-second struggle between body and brain, they reached a concensus that since the snake's body frame, and hence direction of motion, was loosely perpendicular to my direction of motion therefore it would be wise to just run back instead of attempting any more investigative activities at the moment.
And that was it, my brain gave command to run back, my body willing took the step without making any mistake and ran 5-6 feet back and then ofcourse turned back to make sure that the snake wasnt following. My brain congratulated my body on a mission well accomplished while my heart complained of a few missed beats.
Meanwhile, the snake was also apparently very perplexed with the kind of behaviour that my brain and body were exhibiting. In its fright, it changed tracks and instead of going the way it was previously going, it fell down the steps into the mess. As soon as my heart's missing beats were back, my eyes saw 2 mess workers in the mess, cleaning up. I suddenly found my voice again, and it shouted (in English), "There is a snake there" while my fingers pointed into the mess, thus establishing for a fact that even now my bodily movements were still coordinated.
Just when my voice was done shouting, my brain reprimanded it for having shouted in English. It said, "dont you think hindi/marathi would have been a better choice if you were trying to warn the mess workers?" Well my voice agreed and was just about to yell in hindi/marathi instead but realized that the mess workers had been generally looking in my direction and had already seen the snake. They were already running after the snake, pointing it out and planning some party for it. So my brain let my voice off the hook, and my body finally heaved a huge sigh of relief.
Judging by the mess workers point of attention, my eyes concluded that the snake had moved near the windows of the mess and hence the B-wing entrance into the mess was relatively safe to tread on. However, just to be on the
safer side, my brain commanded my body to jump the steps into the mess and run out of the mess in a single go. Thankfully, once again my body complied without tripping anywhere, and finally I reached the lab to write this post.
I do not know whether the snake saw me coming. Well they say that snakes dont have eyes, so it wouldnt have really "seen" me anyway but you know what I mean. So it happened that the snake and I managed to startle each other during our absent-minded walks. While I gave out a loud yell and stood in my position, the snake took a different approach to handle the situation. It jerked suddenly and started wiggling even more wildly.
Its body was long and though its mid-portion was quite fatter than my arms, its head was very small, so I couldnt really make out which end was its head and which was its tail. Well you might be thinking why I wanted to know which end was its head. The thing is that, in the split-second that my body decided to move, my brain told it to first figure out the head direction so that it could be clear where the snake wished to move and therefore, my body could move (read run) in the opposite direction.
But the longer my body stood there letting my brain try to decipher head and tail, the more was the danger to my body. So body's reflex action started taking over and telling my brain to shut-up. But my brain wouldnt budge, saying that if my body moves in opposite direction, I might end up stepping on the snake itself, which undoubtedly will be an unpleasant experience for the snake and might be full of unpleasant consequences for me too. So after a long 2-second struggle between body and brain, they reached a concensus that since the snake's body frame, and hence direction of motion, was loosely perpendicular to my direction of motion therefore it would be wise to just run back instead of attempting any more investigative activities at the moment.
And that was it, my brain gave command to run back, my body willing took the step without making any mistake and ran 5-6 feet back and then ofcourse turned back to make sure that the snake wasnt following. My brain congratulated my body on a mission well accomplished while my heart complained of a few missed beats.
Meanwhile, the snake was also apparently very perplexed with the kind of behaviour that my brain and body were exhibiting. In its fright, it changed tracks and instead of going the way it was previously going, it fell down the steps into the mess. As soon as my heart's missing beats were back, my eyes saw 2 mess workers in the mess, cleaning up. I suddenly found my voice again, and it shouted (in English), "There is a snake there" while my fingers pointed into the mess, thus establishing for a fact that even now my bodily movements were still coordinated.
Just when my voice was done shouting, my brain reprimanded it for having shouted in English. It said, "dont you think hindi/marathi would have been a better choice if you were trying to warn the mess workers?" Well my voice agreed and was just about to yell in hindi/marathi instead but realized that the mess workers had been generally looking in my direction and had already seen the snake. They were already running after the snake, pointing it out and planning some party for it. So my brain let my voice off the hook, and my body finally heaved a huge sigh of relief.
Judging by the mess workers point of attention, my eyes concluded that the snake had moved near the windows of the mess and hence the B-wing entrance into the mess was relatively safe to tread on. However, just to be on the
safer side, my brain commanded my body to jump the steps into the mess and run out of the mess in a single go. Thankfully, once again my body complied without tripping anywhere, and finally I reached the lab to write this post.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Friday, September 4, 2009
nahi chalta hai
http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/randomaccess/entry/chalta-hai-killed-ysr
Well, I am sure that the so-called "Chalta hai" attitude has caused many, many more problems for everyone throughout the history of mankind. But as they say, now is as good a time as ever to bring in a positive change. So going forward, no more "chalta hai".
Well, I am sure that the so-called "Chalta hai" attitude has caused many, many more problems for everyone throughout the history of mankind. But as they say, now is as good a time as ever to bring in a positive change. So going forward, no more "chalta hai".
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