One of the interesting experiences I have had is my placement in college. And my placement stories are some that I keep telling ppl and now I would like to recount it to a wider audience. Before I start, let me clarify that I am in no way trying to make fun of the esteemed institutions (including my college) or my much respected training placement officer. Any inherent humor is as is and has not been introduced for literary exaltation.
Now that I have covered my bases, I better start. I did my engineering in a well known college in the city (For the record, well known is not equivalent to the best!). The college was not a hotspot for placements... until the new training placement officer came in. Thanks to him, we had some good companies coming in. But what I really pitied was the state of the students there. Here I would like to thank the TPO for his true efforts in getting as many students placed as possible (considering most of them had multiple backlogs)
I got placed in three companies out of the three that I attended (If this was cricket, I could boast of 100% Strike Rate but then, I know how lucky I was to get these offers and how much I really didn’t have what it takes to get it, so I won’t blow my own trumpet). And there is only one other person in my college who accomplished the same feat (A nice guy even though he thinks he is superior to everyone else:P)
I will be putting the stories for each in 3 posts following this. Hope you have the patience to go through them all :P
PRELUDE: iCe, the event organizing team in the company (now under the capable organizing skills of B, our very own DJ) came up with a brilliant event. It was but obvious that the only event that could ever bring out a big group and make iCe events hip, hop and happeneing was the master of all games – Cricket… thus came the iCL (keeping in line with our naming convention of starting with an "i") 10 players per team out of which only 8 can play – 8 overs match.. 2 mandatory female players in that 8 playing members and only a lady can substitute another lady… registration closed on Thursday and there were 16 teams… I was obviously in P’s team… and then the inevitable happened… the quest to win took over and S and P talked and merged the team to get one super team with all good players (obviously not including me)…
By Friday, those who got left out of this super team and some others who missed out on the registration on the whole were independently feeling a bit... a bit left out… then came the idea of getting these ppl into a team… a last minute team… including me, the ultimate cricketer, someone who is not a cricket fan, not a cricket buff, someone who knew nothing but the spelling of “Crikett” and that someone who had played less than 10 cricket matches in his whole life… yes I am indian but I refuse to eat cricket, sleep cricket and drink only coco cola…. (Coz I prefer Slice or Aavin/ Nandhini flavoured milk :P)
Anyways, the league matches were commencing on Saturday, to be played in the adjoining college ground (how convenient.. I wonder y no one came up with that idea one sooner!!) P and S’s team came before us.. they plaeyed well and won (they should! After all that grouping and the sort!!!!) even R who was in their team bowled well… by the time it came for our team’s turn to play, I remembered a vital thing… owing to my having played very few matches, I didn’t know bowling at all.. coz I hadn't bowled at all in that very few matches… fortunately, for some unknown reason, whenever I did bat, I used to bat well enough… a bit above average, if I say so myself.. anyways, enough of blowing my own trumpet… oh, I didn’t mention my team members did i?
Tuff-E-Nuff – S (A & C’s project team mate and our team captain), Another S (A & C’s another team mate), C (A's team mate and originally P's very good friend, now my friend too), A, H, Myself, JK and N (from R's project team). A & C being the ladies in the team.
H gave me some last minute bowling tips (how a ball looks like, what we are supposed to do with it, how it is held and how it should be thrown etc.) Then P said just swing your hand and throw it – simple.. and I tried twice and it did seem simple! Hand didn’t swing enough but that was okay… lucky for the girls that they could just throw the ball without swinging. Anyways, to be on the safer side. I “suggested” to the captain that I be used in the last over (I forgot to mention the “nail-in-the-coffin” rule.. all playing members must bowl an over!) the captain thought my “suggestion” was some strategy of mine and agreed (he didn’t realise that when I said I cant bowl, I meant I CANT BOWL!!!)…
We won the toss and as planned we decided to chase… before I cut to the chase, let me mention that we bowled well and I caught out someone. In 5 overs, we had given about 52 runs.. next 3 overs were from C, A and the gr8 me… C gave about 20 runs, A gave around 25. In my turn, the first ball went okay.. then in the next swing I sprained my shoulder… now comes the best part… one- I cant bowl, two-its sprained now and three- the umpire insists that I cant just throw the ball or be substituted.. so I ended up with wides and no balls.. the batsman understood that he might never get to hit the ball and took the trouble to go out of his way and hit the balls to fours and sixes… I tired convincing the umpire to get myself substituted… he said no and the charade continued… I gave 29 runs and their total reached to 128!
To compensate, I entered as opening batsman along with N… he was a good batsman and made me run for 2s and 3s and he hit a four or two.. and he got out… next came the other S, we ran a bit, he hit a bit and I hit a bit… then I hit a four… the next could-have-been-four-if-that-guy-was-not-standing-there shot was got caught. And I started to gloomily walk out of the crease… the fielder threw the ball and the bowler immediately hit the stumps… I was wondering why someone would try to out me when I was laready out. Turns out that the leg umpire had given a no ball and that the catch was invalid and that I was run out!!! Imagine that.. with total disappointment and back to pavillion… soon one after the other, the others including our dear captain who did score a few runs got out with everything coming to H and A..
A almost hit a four (the fielder stood too close and didn’t realise she would actually make contact with the ball).. that fielder ran after the ball and stopped it at the nick of time… (A special thanks to A for forgiving the fielder's instinct to run after the ball to stop it and deciding not to kill him after all!)... everyone were so engrossed in watching this situation play out (including H and A) that no one took runs… soon H also got out and it all came down to A and C… then it was just a matter of time before they got out too… probably on the last ball… we scored some 80 runs and lost…
But our team had set some nice records:
1. Only team in which a guy gave more runs while bowling than the girls in his team (that's me!)
2. Only team to give so many runs in an over (till then)
3. Only team which let the other team reach 128 (till then)
4. Only team in which the girls actually got to bat (till then)
5. Only chasing team which played all 8 overs (till then)
6. Only losing team to do hip-hip-hooray after match
But the saving-grace part of things:
1. I actually batted okay and could have led to victory with my batting if not for that run out (this is how we all are convincing ourselves)
2. The team we lost to, actually ended up as the runners up in finals, so we lost to the second best team in the league
3. The girls too got to play and have fun
4. Everyone had fun and we did manage to score well considering our line up
After that wonderful performance, I am sure no one would take me into their team. But hey, I did get to play and have fun. And I am sure that someone else (who hasn't seen me play yet but thinks that all guys play at least okay cricket) would unwittingly hit his/ her leg on a chainsaw and take me into his/ her team.
And oh ya, the best comedy of all - P's team had cleared the quarter final but lost at the semi finals to the winners of the league match… so the whole point of merging and forming a strong team turned out to be almost futile (almost coz the team they lost to had 5 players who represent the organization at the corporate matches!)
On 24the Feb, Sachin Tendulkar did what I thought would not happen for a long time to come. And no... I don't just mean the double century that he made. He did something more than that. Sachin Tendulkar, on 24th Feb, made a non-cricket fan want to write another post about him and cricket. And that, I believe, is definitely a compliment to him. Don't get me wrong now. It's not like I am a huge cricket critic and getting an appreciation from me is hard. It's in fact the complete opposite. I can never recite the scores of famous matches or remember any such match that should remembered in "the history of cricket". I don't know of most of the achievements by Sachin or for that matter by any other cricketer. And my cricketing knowledge is itself very limited (as already mentioned in one of my earlier posts).
So what's so special now, you ask. It's simply that Sachin has done something, the magnitude of which, even a complete cricket-less non-sports person like me can appreciate. And there lies Sachin. At the age of 36, when most people (especially in the sports field) are losing their grips on their skills and are getting ready to look for alternative paths, here we have a person who refuses to slow down. Who continues to show that he is still capable, probably even more than the youngsters. Who continues to display what sportsmanship is all about. And why there won't be another Sachin.
The best part of the match was when MSD was playing well too and everyone watching here was scolding him for not giving a chance to Sachin to get his score. For once, ppl were actually asking a batsman not to hit boundaries and just give the strike to Sachin. And there wasn't single point where Sachin actually went up to him and said anything to MSD about giving him the strike (Probably he did so using telepathy a la SRK in Chak De)
There is a lot to learn from Sachin. His stubbornness to not stop playing and slowly fade into oblivion may be regarded by many as childishly adamant or even over-ambitious nature. But then, the real question is, why should he. He has repeatedly proven that he is capable of more. The fact that he scored the double century at the age of 36 rather than 26 is in itself proof enough. Yes, he is physically not as energetic as the teen who entered the cricketing world. But the experience that he has culminated over the years has helped him play smart cricket. And that is thanks to his brain. In the modern world when everything from planning to strategy is computerized, a person who is able to remember, analyze and adapt to the playing conditions is definitely a super player. And Sachin is, quite simply, that - a super player. Not just because of his performance. But because of the type of man he his. I cannot think of anyone else, who rose to stardom at such a young age and who did not let it get to his head. And not just in cricket. It's rare to find talented persons with not only the skills but also the humility to carry it. If only we had more persons like Sachin - down-to-earth, humble, still having the inner drive to perform and someone who respects everyone around him. When Sachin scores magnificently and quite calmly states that he is honored to play for India, you can't help but feel proud to be an Indian.
And that is the magic called Sachin. Which reminds me of this small Tickr on MTV that I once saw. It said that the best way to attain Peace and Unity in India was to make Sachin the Prime Minister and President (at the same time) because everyone loves Sachin and no one would oppose anything he says. Making Sachin PM would ensure that smaller parties don't fight and bully the major parties. There wouldn't be any religious/ communal fights. Pakistan would give up it's struggle over Kashmir. Babri Masjid can be resolved by building a stadium there. And with a person like Sachin, we can be sure that he wouldn't let the power go to his head and that he would do good. Whilst the other things stated may be just wishful thinking, the building of a stadium is indeed a good idea.
Sachin for PM!!! Sachin ki jai ho!
Till then, may he continue to keep setting records and keep breaking them himself and may all that attract me to be a cricket fan. Okay, not the last one...
Note: Any facts mentioned above have been googled. I really don't remember the day when he took the double century or for that matter, his correct age!
