Astro Flash

I must surely have been a parachute inventor in my previous birth - or else how could one explain my nature of attaching as much importance to the Parachute as i give to the boarding pass when deciding to fly. And what would explain my penchant for always trying to look at the greyer side of life through my astrological lens... its all that parachute instinct!!

Well, from an astrologer's perspective, we enter a very intriguing phase - Sometime between the midnights of 1st Feb and 3rd Feb, we have a serious affliction from Ketu to Sun,  Moon and Mercury. Plus the Mars-Venus mutual aspects.

Matters that could be severely impacted relate to telecommunication, Government officials or people in authority, the mind and mental state of individuals, the elderly and the statesmen among the politicians (what a subtle difference).  Ketu gives pain and suddenness. So watchout...

January

If there is ever a month that has maximum birthdays (from my view point), it must be January. Practically every day this month i have been getting cakes and toffees. And almost all of those that give me sweets are quite good in life, hard working, sharp, intelligent and most importantly calm and blessed. 

Wondering if i should  make it a policy to hire only September, November and January borns in my team...Atlas Shrugged?

The boy turns 39

Some twenty years ago as i was stepping out of my evening nets (i had scored a dozen ducks in every form of cricket just before that), i saw this 'boy' furiously practicing 'on-drives' with Kolaveri in his nets - at an hour of the day in Bangalore when the only thing clearly visible was the KF beer.  I told myself  'he's a serious threat to my place in the team' and watched him bat for a few overs - i hated his determination and wished he would soon give up playing cricket for some good programmer's job in the US or Singapore.

Its a different story that i decided to stop playing cricket from that moment - but what awestruck me was his fierce commitment to be perfect and a blind passion for being a disciplined cricketer.

Braving all dirty politics, he made his presence on the national scene soon as a 'one-drop' batsman and has batted at that spot always. Ask any batsman, number 3 is the most difficult spot to bat - that's a  position the Greats  Don and Viv occupied in their prime times for their countries.

Yes,  am speaking of  Rahul Dravid. A rare breed in Indian Cricket. And a misfit in modern day cricket. He is one of the few that have always always placed team's interest ahead of personal one. Foolishly.  Rahul would unhesitatingly  push himself to open the innings when wicket was dreaded by the regulars. One of our finest batsman indeed.

A Kapil, a BSChandra, a Venkat and some of those rare real gentlemen alone merit to be compared with Dravid's stature as a cricketer. If commitment alone is used to benchmark the best among the talented, then these three would always be my favorites. And ofcourse the Sachin.

Rahul turns 39 today, that's what some blogs suggest.  

Wish you a very happy birthday Rahul Dravid.  Your only flaw was sheer focus on batting and talent.  No one taught you "success is 30 percent talent and 70 percent right-positioning." Being in the right place at the right time under the rightest person is as important as playing the first few overs in the 'v'.

The person who proves to be a great utility man often ends up as a diaper.

ps: Its for wit's sake that i called him a boy (Rahul would always say 'The boys played well' in any press conf). Else, he is the real man among kids in the team.