The man who made a difference to my life

It's not always necessary that you drive inspiration from a real person only. Sometimes he can be a virtual or imaginative character from some book or movie or tv show. Here I am going to mention one such character who has inspired me to stand by the truth whatever the adversities be. And that's Shaktiman, yes... the tv show in late 90s in which the superhero character was portrayed by Mukesh Khanna.

The superhero show was all about light v/s darkness, good v/s evil, truth v/s cheating. Shaktiman faces all kinds of evils thrown at him from the disciples of Lord of darkness, Tamraj Qilvish. But everytime, using his rock strong self confidence, he fights and emerges out winner on the side of light. And all of this was shown in such a convincing manner in the show that it must have inspired several children watching it that time thus moulding them to be a man of inner steel in their lives.

And the segment Shareek Ek Mandir, later renamed as Chhoti Chhoti Magar Moti Baatein was cherry on the top, as it tended to directly teach children to inculcate good values in their everyday lives so as to be a responsible person and citizen of the country.

So today I take this chance to pay my tribute to him also (and the man behind the character, i.e., Mukesh Khanna of Bheeshma International productions) whom I can rely on and idolize him for his passion for winning or doing the right thing with integrity or something as trivial as helping someone in need, even if it means going out of his way to help a stranger.

Those indirect teachings in childhood go a long way in shaping an individual's personality, and helps him/her to overcome the difficulties of life because what matters at last how happy you are from inside, how much satisfied and at peace your soul is. 

Take a bow, Shaktiman! 

P.S. -- I am writing about #MyRoleModel as a part of the activity by Gillette India in association with BlogAdda.com.

Action recap of IPL stars

It was Friday last night and I was not able to watch any match of the ongoing maha muqabla of cricket, i.e., IPL that day as we were working late as mentioned in my last post. And one of the best things happened that day. My friend Mohit Sharma grabbed his best IPL figures against Mumbai Indians in the Friday match. Taking 4/14 is a wonderful figure in a T20 match. This figure also propelled him to the Top 2 best bowling figures this season as well as the Top 2 maximum wickets this IPL. His earlier figures were 3/10 against Delhi Daredevils last year, where, as I recall, he trapped Sehwag to play his ball for a catch at long on.

Now about his marvellous bowling that friday I was unaware about it till next day. When I was in flight on Saturday, then I heard people talking about his awesome bowling the previous day. I couldn't wait then. I foolishly took out my smartphone to to watch yesterday's match highlights but realized later that there is no internet facility on Indian flights yet.

As soon as we landed and I took the metro to Badarpur, I logged on to starsports.com on my Android and went to its Action Recap feature to savour every ball of his yesterday bowling. And I was wowed in the over when he took three wickets in 6 balls, truly mesmerizing. His death bowling and then Brendon McCullum's superb start while CSK was batting ensured they win the match with grace. And MI was rattled by Mohit's splendid bowling effort. As a cricket fan and his friend, I couldn't ask for more. It was a feeling of grandeur for me too when I finished his Action Recap on starsports.com. May he continues to produce more such appealing figures and entertain us.

P.S. -- This post is a part of Cricket just got better! Activity by starsports.com in association with BlogAdda.com.

Celebration of Cricket in India

IPL has been a celebration of cricket in India for several years now. Nobody, even the guys neutral to watching the IPL can deny this fact. People in our country are crazy for cricket and for such people Star Sports has brought exciting new features this time.

One such amazing new feature on starsports.com is the Deferred Live video streaming of the match, that too totally free but only with 5 minutes of delay. The delay doesn't matter for me but the on-field excitements. It has saved me a lot of effort to watch IPL matches recently

I recall it was Friday last week, and I was in Kanpur that time on official purpose. It was late in night and I was returning with my team to our Guest House. In this situation, the starsports.com was my only option to not let me miss any class shots being produced every other minute in Sharjah.

And within minutes as I logged on the website on my 3G android, I encountered the marvellous catch by Lynn of AB De Villiers. Whoa! What a superhuman catch it was!!! He leaped up from a sitting position, extending his spine in an unbelievable manner, holds the catch, falls down, recovers marvellously while falling down to remain within the boundary line. Just awesome! It was Catch of the Century, no doubt about it. And the plus point, it saved the match for KKR by just 2 runs as RCB wasn't able to finish the match on winning side again.

What is altogether important is the moment when you catch such moments live, happening real just now. Highlights and youtube videos, of course, you can watch anytime. But that live magic producing moment contains a different feeling altogether. And starsports.com made it possible for me this time. A big, big thank you for BlogAdda to provide us with this amazing contest from where I took the inspiration to go for this website and use its several exciting features to keep myself up-to-every-shot being played in the IPL.

P.S. -- This post is a part of Cricket just got better! Activity by starsports.com in association with BlogAdda.com.

My Role Model

My first role model since childhood has been my father. The one and only person I know till now who is the most honest person in life for me is my dad. Whenever I get in a situation where I have to look upto someone whom I can rely upon for doing the right thing with integrity is him. Although it's true that I do have some issues with him personally, but it is also true that I idolize him for his passion for honesty.

As I am writing this post, I recall an incident when I might have been 15 or 16 years old. It was Diwali time, and since my father used to work as a Purchase Officer for his company in those days, he used to receive several gifts from the people required to maintain good professional relationship. The idea behind this must have been to get themselves considered for the tenders or material supply for the company my father used to work for.

Most of the times the gifts used to be Diwali sweets may or may not be accompanied by some small gift, like clothing iron, or toaster, or fm radio, etc. Generally my father would accept these gifts (only on Diwali time) as a token of goodwill from his professional relations. But once there was this fellow I remember who gifted a shirt cloth to my father. When he left after tea and we opened the packing, we were surprised to discover a cash of Rs. 1000/- inside it. My father's face got tensed up, as I recall. The words came out of his mouth "Ye kya hai, paise dekar gaya hai! Yeh main wapis kar doonga".

I asked him why would he want to return the money when he used to accept gifts from others. He replied that the profession he is in, he cannot turn away everyone for bringing him such gifts as most of the time people just want to extend their professional courtesy on such occasions as Diwali, a day which is meant to bring prosperity for their businesses. But that particular fellow who is gifting the cash has crossed the line of my father's integrity. It means he takes him as a person who can be bribed for that person's gains. It hurt my father and he respectfully called him the next day to return him his gift as it was (with the money inside) and asked him to refrain from such activities when it comes to him, i.e., my father.

I am proud of my father for doing the right thing with utmost integrity. I know he would have returned even if he had received an amount of Rs. 1 lac instead of one thousand rupees. He is a man of inner steel when it comes to honesty.

P.S. -- I am writing about #MyRoleModel as a part of the activity by Gillette India in association with BlogAdda.com.

Dhoom dhadaka cricket wala

Oh yes! We are a cricket crazy nation. This game is no less than a religion in our country. It enjoys the same status as Bollywood rules over us, perhaps more.

Pepsi IPL-7 has already begun. And due to India in election mode at present, the IPL 2014 is being played out of the country second time in its history, this time in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Since 99.9% citizens of India can't and won't travel to a foreign destination to catch the cricketing action of world's best T20 series live, it has to make do watching the first phase of the matches on their tv sets.

In addition to the point made in my last post about what I've done to make sure that I don't get to miss any shot of the crazy 3 hours, I have purchased a 3G sim so as to catch live tv action on my android smartphone. This way I can keep track of every shot, every boundary, every wicket, every action on the field onto my memory card.

Second option for me not to lose any clipping is to log on to www.starsports.com and click on Zip Clips section which contains the quick videos that capture key match points in real time. This is one of the many breakthrough features initiated by Star Sports recently. This way we can watch and rewatch a shot which we may like to be just very cool.

And guys, did you watch day before yesterday's match of Chennai v/s Mohali. How Yuvi got the better of every bowler except Zaheer Khan, coz Zak had drank water from Kent RO purifier bcoz Kent deta hai suraksha UV se :P :P

Jokes apart, Yuvi silenced everyone by scoring at much faster pace than Kohli this time; karaara jawaab diya! And let's hope Sehwag also blazes like him, unlike his first match innings of this season. Jai Ho!


P.S. -- This post is a part of Cricket just got better! Activity by starsports.com in association with BlogAdda.com.

IPL Indian Summers

Indian Summers are just not complete without IPL knocking on their tv sets every evening.

The one date that we have all been waiting for has finally arrived! It is the day when the Pepsi IPL 2014 begins! 8 teams consisting of the best players around the world with more than a billion fans battling it out in matches to win the Pepsi IPL Champions Trophy!

To be honest, apart from last year's IPL, I haven't been much interested in watching IPL. But since I came to know that my school friend Mohit Sharma has come under the banner of Chennai Super Kings, under the able leadership of Indian Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, I have developed a 100% interest in watching his matches to every ball he bowls on the ground.

The T20 keeps you at the edge of the seat throughout the game! Until the last ball is bowled, you aren’t sure who is going to win the game! Saying that every match has a nail-biting finish would be an understatement when it comes to the Pepsi IPL!

One thing I have done to make sure I don't miss a shot: I have purchased my first android smartphone and installed Cricbuzz app just for this reason. Thus even if I am out on some chore, I don't get to miss any wicket, boundary, or my good friend Mohit Sharma's every delivery he bowls to the opponent. 

The one thing I love about new starsports.com and how it has changed the way I follow the game!

Well, the best thing I have discovered at the website is the free live video streaming of the matches, so that I get to watch some footage whenever I am home during the match, as I don't possess a tv yet. But starsports.com has given me a better alternative.

There's going to be this IPL's first CSK match today (vs KXIP) at 4 pm sharp. I am not going to miss it, nor any of the rest of Mohit's friend circle. He's going to rock again this season. And if luck favours, I will get to get a VIP pass for CSK vs RCB match at Bangalore this year too ;)

It's the season of Pepsi IPL where it rains sixes and fours. The energy, the passion, the madness! Do not miss the Gayle Storm or watching Dhoni take team CSK closer to the cup with starsports.com

P.S. -- This post is a part of Cricket just got better! Activity by starsports.com in association with BlogAdda.com.

Cricket mania aka IPL

The one date that we have all been waiting for has finally arrived! It is the day when the Pepsi IPL 2014 begins! 8 teams consisting of the best players around the world with more than a billion fans battling it out in matches to win the Pepsi IPL Champions Trophy!

On a lazy Sunday morning, walk through the lanes of any housing complex in India and what do you see? Young kids playing cricket, or is it better to say Breathing Cricket! Your colleague suddenly calls in sick at work! You are worried for him, only until you realize Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings ka match hai! The thought is then about how you didn’t think of it! This is the time when everywhere you go, you’re most likely to hear ‘Meri Delhi‘, ‘Tera Rajasthan‘ and so on! Friends become friendly foes and innumerable Pepsi & samosa bets are placed!

The T20 keeps you at the edge of the seat throughout the game! Until the last ball is bowled, you aren’t sure who is going to win the game! Saying that every match has a nail-biting finish would be an understatement when it comes to the Pepsi IPL! The last over sees everybody physically viewing the screen but they’re actually busy honestly praying for their supported team to win. The yells & screams that you hear from each house or restaurant at the end of a match are probably louder than the players on the stadium shout themselves!

Issued in Public Interest: Do not go and stand between the TV and your friend unless you want to get into a serious brawl!

Games of such intensity! How? Just how can you afford to not be in touch with it constantly? You need an update after each ball to know where your team stands. You are in office physically but your mind is at the stadium. When you are in the bus, you can’t wait enough to get home and see what stage the game has reached! Cricket on the go, is what starsports.com has for you!


P.S. -- This post is a part of Cricket just got better! Activity by starsports.com in association with BlogAdda.com.