Saluting a Genius

"All my life, I've had a choice of hate and love, I chose love, and I'm here".

And that speaks volumes of the man.

Hearty Congratulations ARR, you never stop making us proud :-)

Hope the young people may learn a thing or two from your life.

Valentine’s Day in Dalseo

Although I had never celebrated a Valentine’s Day in my life, this year I badly wanted to, the rebel within egging me on to dare the moral police back home. But just a couple of days prior to it I was told that I will be presenting the proposal for a highly technical Aerospace Engineering project to an international team of experts on the same day. I received the full draft of over 100 pages on the eve of the D-day and spent a sleepless night digging it in. Having never made a business presentation in my life, I prepared for the show putting myself at ease and trusting my ability to summon something out of thin air as the deadline neared.

The day began on a brighter note when at six in the morning, my Professor came carrying a large pack of chocolates gifted to him by his wife. Biting into the chocolates in the early morning cold, we set out on our three hour journey to the Aerospace R&D center of Hanwha Corporation in Cheonan. I had my first ride in a limousine, cruising at an average speed of 150 kmph. The presentation lasted for about an hour which was followed by the brain storming. The whole process lasted for about six hours. I slept through the entire return journey.

Once home, I jumped into the shower to recharge myself in hot water, changed over to the pink: pink shirt to be precise, lit the candles, kept the red roses I had bought for myself on the table near to it, poured the red wine into my glass, and switched on the music on my laptop: the ‘favorite songs of love’ among the play lists.

And I celebrated the Valentine’s Day, sipping the French wine and listening to 'My Heart Will Go on.....'........

......alone........

"Jal Moga Simneeda, Appa, Amma"!

One Sunday we went out to have lunch in a Chinese restaurant in Dalseo. The ground floor of the restaurant was furnished in modern style with chairs and tables. But we opted for the traditional arrangement on the first floor wherein we had to sit on the floor around a round shaped table with a revolving tray in the middle on which food was placed. A young family was waiting for food on the adjacent table. A little girl of about three years was hanging around, exploring the place with an air of seriousness. Her elder brother sat quietly between his parents, a well groomed son not betraying any sign of waywardness. Their father was lost in thoughts, his eyes fixed in some distant object. But once in a while he was asking his errant daughter to come and occupy her seat, which she promptly dismissed wagging her head each time. “I am no longer a little girl to be ordered around”, the expression on her face seemed to convey. The mother had the look of a contended housewife; she was spotting a peaceful smile as she sat gazing at her daughter in silent admiration.

The little young lady looked a bit peeved initially for no one in the hall seemed to be interested in her new discoveries around the hall. But her seniority in the hall suddenly shot up with the entry of a couple of families. The first family had two girls both toddlers younger than her, accompanied by their mother and grandma and the second had two even smaller girls, with the mother carrying her younger one on her back pack. All of a sudden there were a crowd of people paying rapt attention to all her deeds and discoveries within the hall.

The senior toddler was patiently watching the free spirited young lady in action. But in between she found time to bend down and adjust the pants of her younger sister on the instructions of her grandma. She did it with great care and attention before returning to her observation of the adventurous super woman. The lady in the backpack was by now released to crawl around the table with the cutest of smiles of someone enjoying the ultimate freedom. The senior senorita was demonstrating her skills with the rotating tray on a vacant table, pretending as if she was not noticing the presence of the keen observers and at the same time ignoring her father’s occasional taunts. The chief observer appeared to be in awe of the skill sets and seemed a bit unsure about her own abilities with the wheel on the table which apparently prevented her own foray into the thick of action.

The food arrived and the crowd settled down around the respective tables with their families. I was enjoying my share of Chinese noodles, when suddenly I heard the voice of a little girl, but spoken in a mature tone with utmost seriousness;

“Jal Moga Simneeda; Appa, Amma”!*

* “Thank you very much for the food, Father, Mother” in Hangukmal

What it takes to be successful in life?

A question that bothers every young person venturing out into this world of opportunities and complexities. 

"I don't brood over issues. The more you think about it, the more complex it becomes. I want to keep everything simple. And I don't mean just the game. Matters off the field may not be within my control as well, so why lose sleep over things you can't control? What I can do is to give my best every time" says a 22 year old young man from a town we may never have had seen in a world map about his climb to the summit against heavy odds. 

"Whenever anyone outperforms me, whether in academics or sport, I tell myself that if he could do it, so can I. Whenever someone from the team is adjudged Man of the Match, I feel the honour could have been mine as well, It's not jealousy - my team-mates' success obviously gives me a lot of joy - but one basic question: 'If he could, why couldn't I?" he adds.

Simple thoughts Shakib, but great philosophy for life. 

Note: Although he is not as renowned as some of the contemperory practitioners of his profession and is relatively unheralded, Shakib al Hasan is the world's No. 1 all round cricketer in One Day Internationals as per the current ICC Rankings.