Long drives, Empty cafes, Parathas, Too much Love and a Birthday

As the yearly ritual goes, here is a mandatory  birthday post coming a day late. There is no better time of the year to access how the year went by as my birthday almost coincides with the year end (the next few days generally do not count, but..) - Three things take precedence over so many things that happened  this year

First thing has to be Completing my Masters. It was a very big highlight of the year and this year (the last two to be frank) has helped me re discover myself. As I  have written here before, Christ college gave me my life back. There has been little looking back from then on. The year has been so happening that I cannot get over the fact that i was stuck with a dumb research project earlier this year doing my masters. It feels a lot of time has passed. Christ university was a boon and I would always be  happy about myself that i made the decision to come back to University ans a good one at that. Thank you Christ for all the memories... Cherished every memory those two years (Miss Some of the people I met there :( )

A Job and how have I enjoyed that. Analytics Quotient was a breath of super fresh air after both Infosys and Christ. The company and the atmosphere there has been the best, though it has been a little hectic in the process of knowing my strides in the place.

Now coming to the most important thing of the year that passed. This is my last year as a bachelor. Engaged to the most beautiful girl who agreed to stay and make a mark in my life. Getting Married in December, these two months have been magical and special just like the 3 previous years we were in a relationship. Looking forward every bit to the life and joy of the wedded life. (No she is not sitting next to me  making me type all this :P )
Thank you Radhika! You are simply amazing.

A contented year this one has been and hope for some more similar or better years in the future.
Happy 26th!

(P.S. The title is how I spent this Birthday )

A letter To my Beloved.

Hi Sweetheart,

This was long time coming and I felt this was the perfect time to write this to you as you turn a year older when the clock strikes 12. Last few months and days have been eventful for both of us and for the good. I have been wanting to tell you a lot of things and have been telling you some, but as I said earlier, this probably is the perfect time to tell it all.

Thank you Radhika, for you are the most wonderful woman I have ever met. I just cannot believe that its already been more than four years that I first met you. They say time flies by when the times are good and I am pretty sure time has just sped past. From the Day one I have liked you and the feeling got stronger and stronger as we got to know more about each other.
Every moment I have spent with you has been memorable. From the mouth watering palak paneer at Maitri in Infy to hating together most of the movies we watched to the jitters when we planned to break the news about us to our parents to all the skype calls we had when you were in Australia and now finally getting engaged. It has been a dream come true for me. You are the most mature (yet a little kiddish), the most sweet and the most loveable person I have ever come across. There are so many small things that make me love you more and more every single day; Like the way you wake up early so that you can talk to me for sometime before we get busy with work, Like the way you analyze things, like the way you lift me when i am down, Like the way you admonish me when i am wrong. I have loved it all and it just makes me grow more fond of you.

In these four years we have had some amazing time, we have had some bitter fights ( all my fault i know :P ), I am extremely sorry for so many times i hurt you when i am insensitive to absolutely hopeless and pathetic. You have been a rock in every situation - bearing me and my stupidity and Idiocy.  we have had our confusions, worries and doubts about the future. I assure you now, what ever might be the situation, what ever might be the circumstances, I will always be with you. I will always love you and will always keep trying to make you happy in all small things we do.

Happy Birthday My Dear.

This will be the year we get married and start leading a life together.

All the best for the many new chapters that unfold this year. Wish every new chapter is as exciting as a Robert Langdon chase, as romantic as an Erich Segal Love story.

Cheers to all the fun times to come our way in the future.

With loads and loads of Love
Ananth

The wonderful game called CRICKET

The second most popular sport in the world, having just a third of the number of teams participating in the world cup and less then 20 percent of the number of teams actually playing the sport compared to its big brother sport football.

There are a hell of a lot of people in this country who follow the game just because everyone else does... There are people who love entertainment and a game of cricket is no less drama so they watch the sport..

And there are people like me who love the romance the sport offers... People like me follow the game for the pure spectacle it is... From the pre match show to the last minute of the game observing all the minute details from the field positions to the seam position of the ball... We don't mind watching all the 5 days of a gripping test match down under and wonder why timeless tests were scrapped.. We watch it to witness those fiery spells of fast bowling: like that of Allan Donald to Mike Artheton and the Waugh brothers...like that of curtly ambrose to Steve Waugh... Like that of Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn to the Aussies... Or like the one bowled by Wahab Riaz to Shane Watson... Its the pure romance of a game which the batsman has dominated is dancing to the tune of some really skillful bowling.. We watch it for those epic batting innings played to save or win a test.. Like Laxman's and Rahul's epic partnership in Kolkata... Or the back breaking and a heartbreaking 137 by SACHIN in Chennai... Like the gutsy 144 from Dada at Brisbane or the epic 281 ball 37 from ABD in Sydney to save a test... We love the sport for the little intricacies it provides...There is so much fun in predicting an LBW decision before the umpire decides... There is fun in knowing how LBW works in the first place... To see that screaming cover drive all along the ground from Virat Kohli... Or that short arm punch that Ponting used so effectively to the short ball... We love the game for that one delivery which pitches on middle and hits the top of off... We love it for that ball that is just outside off on the 4th stump that is well left by the batter... We love it when a flat track bully like Rohit Sharma is left to fend off Mitchell Johnson on a fast Perth wicket and he does it with aplomb... We also love it for the people who make the viewing more special... For the witty sledging that happens in the commentary box. We love it for the there is so much stats and math involved.. We love it for the complicated duck worth lewis... The toughest rule available in the sporting world perhaps... We love the game for all the little factors that matter from the crack in the pitch to the seam wearing out to the grain of the wood used in the bats...

Cricket is not just about 4s and 6s... Its a splendour of delicate love making...

MBA CHRONICLES: My gift to Me!!!

Two years ago, around the same time of the year, sitting on the bed losing sleep over a lot of things was wondering where would it all end up. The coffee was getting cold. The coffee was namesake, I was wide awake looking at my entrance exam results. I couldn't believe my eyes as i checked them a thousand times to check if it was really true. It was my Visa to go back to college.

Random thoughts ran through my mind. Very cynical about the way things would shape up when the University gates would reopen for me again. There were a lot of decisions to be made. Some of them so important that one person had to wait for another 3 years for her marriage. Some of them so difficult that i would lose the source that would fill my bank account every month for the next two years. Over and above all of this I was more fidgety about the way I would gel into the crowd. majority of the students would be children who had just finished graduation.
Things at my office made my decisions simpler. I was a hellhole and I wanted to get out of it at all cost. There were some easy ways though: I could jump to another job, but i wasn't sure that the things would change much. There were hordes of people advising me on what to do. Some said switching jobs was the best idea. Some asked me to continue in the technical field. Being an engineer, these were almost logical. But thoughts in my brains were stuck to Management education.
I chose CHRIST UNIVERSITY to be my Alma Mater.

The interviews and the group discussions were a breeze and the day before I joined Christ, I heard a lot of stories about the same. Some said Its "Gods' own Country" 's branch office. Some said they were so strict that cops sometime mistook it to be the JAIL. This proved right the first day i entered the place. I was completely out of place. my fellow students talked a language i couldn't even try to listen to. I was told I was put into "I" section again in the same Malayalam Accent. The same kind of panic ran through my body the first day i went to kinder Gar ten. I was all but comfortable. But it was the day I was reborn. I could rewrite a lot of things that went wrong previously. It was a rare opportunity and I had no plans to ruin it. ( There had been a lot of things that had gone wrong in my graduation. I was just another Brick in the wall. I was a part of a herd and hardly seen. I wasn't even Unpopular leave alone being popular. I was Invisible. I completed my graduation no one even knew i was a part of the course. I wanted to change that & CHRIST gave me that opportunity. )

Now, Last month to go for the course to end, as I stand by the University gates, there is a sense of familiarity. The jitters are replaced with a sense of calmness whenever I enter the place. This was the place which made me re look, re write and re-engineer my career. It brought out qualities in me that i never knew of. I survived the two years, and survived quite well. and now as i leave, a sense of heaviness pulls me back.

Thank you CUIM... for Giving My SELF back to Me!!!