Happy Birthday Phillip Hughes

When I started this blog, it was something about cricket that I had written which I wanted to share with the world. Over time, amongst various topics, cricket still remained an integral aspect upon which I could write freely, without any inhibitions, be it the love for Rahul Dravid or the retirement of the 3 Indian batting legends. But never did I imagine a time when I would regret the cause that would prompt me to write. Today is one such time, one such moment. Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes died a tragic death on Thursday after being hit by a bouncer during a cricket match. He was just 25. Had he been alive, he would have turned 26 today. 

I didn’t follow his career very closely, nor was I a big fan of him, but the sheer shock of the fact overcomes you when you come to know of such a tragedy. It is like someone telling you that the person you met an hour ago just died in an accident. You just can’t believe it. The fact that he had his entire life ahead of him makes this bereavement even more profound. Hughes was somebody’s son, somebody’s brother, and a friend of many. But when the tragic news came out, the entire world shed tears for him. The Australian National flag blew at half mast at the Sydney Cricket Ground, the domestic cricket tournament was abandoned, and the practice match against the visiting Indian team was cancelled. Because there was no way the players could focus on the game. Yes, Phillip would have wanted the game to move on, but those he has left behind cannot do so unless they give him one final farewell. “Mourning first, cricket later” is the thought on everyone’s mind right now.

I have always believed that no matter how close you are to someone, the pain you feel upon someone’s demise is nothing as compared to that felt by the deceased’s family. Everyone will come, share their grief and then eventually leave. It’s the family that has to begin a different life all together. The Hughes family has shown great resolve over the last few days, and the world stands united with them in these tough times.

What makes the reality more painful is the freakish, rare nature of the injury that caused Phillip’s death. Till date, only 100 such cases have come across and only one of them resulted from a cricket ball. Our hearts also go out to Sean Abbott, the bowler who bowled that fateful delivery. It was no fault of his, he was just doing his job and no one can imagine what all must be going through his mind at the moment. That is why it’s great to see the support that is flowing in from all ends for him and I really wish that he continues to play cricket, and we all would want to see him on the field soon, whenever he is comfortable.

In a few days time, we all will gradually forget about this incident and get back to our daily lives and for cricket fans, boundaries and wickets will once again become a reason to cheer. But for now, cricket is poorer. It has lost someone special. Someone whose best was yet to come. He was 63* when he was hit, and will forever remain immortal that way in our memories, 63 NOT OUT. His #64 ODI jersey has been retired, the funeral will take place on 3^rd December in his hometown, the #putoutyourbat social campaign has already spread across all spheres and condolences are coming in from all corners.

It’s painful when we miss someone who has left us, but it’s even more painful to realise that the person would never come back. Today, the cricketing world finds itself in that situation. Surely, the game would move on, the players would move on, the lives would go on.... but until then, let’s grieve the loss that we have to endure, let’s remember the man whose success hadn’t reached its pinnacle. Not yet. The player #408 to represent Australia in tests had a tremendous start to his career. Yes there were highs and lows but no one would question his potential and the promising future he had in store for him. It was a pleasure to have seen you play. 

He was just 25. Had he been alive, he would have turned 26 today. 

Happy Birthday Phil.

Rest in Peace.

Honestly Yours

They say honesty is the best policy. But some policies are not always implemented, are they? There are times when we wish to say something but end up saying something all together different because of one/all of the following reasons: 

We don’t wish to sound RUDE.

We respect our SANSKAARS.

We don’t want the other person to get HURT or OFFENDED. 

While waiting at the airport a few days back and listening to the announcements being made for passengers to board the plane, I wondered what would these announcers be actually feeling from inside while saying the same lines, over and over again with utmost humbleness...

So, while the announcer called out the name of some Raj Sharma 4 times with utmost respect, requesting him to board the particular flight, I wonder how he would be actually feeling from inside...

“Listen Raj Sharma, I was supposed to go for lunch twenty minutes back but thanks to you, I’m still sitting here. This is neither your ancestors’ airlines nor a private jet of yours. So you either get yourself up here or wait for the next flight, which by the way is not before sixteen hours from now. And if you don’t turn up after this announcement as well, I will make sure your baggage gets lost. Thank You.”

I wonder if announcements are made like this at airports, passengers will turn up 4 hours before the scheduled flight!

Delhi Metro has been the National Capital’s lifeline for over a decade now and those who have travelled via Metro will know the announcements made at every station by heart.

Personally, I still haven’t yet figured out why the announcements in English are always made by the lady while the ones in Hindi are done by her male counterpart. Either the lady isn’t good with Hindi or the uncle hasn’t mastered the English language yet.

Anyways, so at every station they announce the name of the station and which way the doors will open. Imagine, if these announcements were done manually, maybe there would come a point where the voice says....

“Next station is.......... Rajiv___ WAIT-FOR-IT____ Chowk, Rajiv Chowk!! You know which way the doors will open so I won’t be wasting my time on that. I also won’t bother with the different routes that are available from here, just ask some random person, bhara pada hai station logon se. There’s also no point of telling you to mind the gap because you people hardly listen. Make sure your pockets are safe, stations like these are like internal exams for the pick pockets. Adios. “

Same goes for our dear operating systems when we are downloading/copying/installing something. Last week I was downloading a movie and at one point it showed 2 years 37 weeks 20 days to go. What it really wanted to tell me was that the dongle had disconnected. The following image also aptly describes my point here. What if while downloading something, this message appeared... 

Lastly how can I leave out the customer care services? We all know the first thing they say is “#@!*^%$#@!#%$&*^*^%$#@$$$#@#@#%^*@ How May I Help You?”

Then there are times when the caller is required to change some settings manually and the person explains (politely) what is to be done. What if they actually want to say...

“Sir phone nahi samajh nahi aata to lete kyu ho? Simple sa chotu sa Nokia lelo. Kyu technology ke peeche pade ho?? Aakhri baar bol ra hu, samajh aaya to theek nahi to main ‘aawaz nahi aa rahi’ keh ke phone rakh dunga.”

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.”

I wonder what will honesty for honesty make the world.

So I will end this post here. You are free to write some words of appreciation in the comments below, or you can be utterly HONEST!!

Adios.

Until next time...

Take Care :)