Reflection

The euphoria I experience

Captivated, at your moonlit visage

On a midsummer's night surpasses

The pleasure of looking at the moon

For the moonlight itself

Is a mere reflection

Glimmer on the lake

Rippled waters form a wake

Thy guiding lights multiply

In tandem they reminisce, scintillate

Of folklore, mindsets and attitudes

Reflex, sentiment and emotion

Oft ideas, principles and social stigma

Off course  convey central dogma

Arts, music and cinema prospect

Morbid thoughts of introspect

Crime, cynicism mob mentality ensue

Poetry, epiphany and philosophy so true

Contrast, compare, symmetry exude

Chiral aromatics and vampires elude;

In Euclidean space, diffusion or specular

In perspective, history and astronomical nebulae

Reflection, oh! you're at play

Fire in Babylon

It is the dawn of a free Caribbean. The islands Guyana, Trinidad, Jamaica and Antigua had just been granted independence. Cricket, was more than a game. It was a matter of honor - an aspect in which the West Indians could unite and prove to themselves of self-worth and instill a sense of revolution against prevalent white supremacy in all regards. Until now, they have been a people under suppression, withered and tired of racial hegemony and of bad governance. But now, under a new banner of a cricketing nation - they would soon emerge as a superpower.

1975

Australia

The West Indies cricket s team, akin to their lifestyle in the island have always been construed as a laidback people with a ' relax and recreate' approach to life. This facet of the lifestyle had crept into their cricket as well. They were branded 'Calypso Cricketers'; they would entertain and eventually lose. With remarks such as these and with the death bowling of the Australia's Jeff Thompson and Dennis Lilee, literally terrorized teams had pulverized the team's spirit and ability to hold up. And such aggression culminated in the West Indies test team losing 5-1 to Australia.

But this didn’t not suggest a full stop, indeed things tipped the other way. It triggered a new wave of West Indian approach to cricket - pace and aggression. Under the cap of Clive Lloyd and the massive inspiration of Viv Richards, emerged the pace duo of West Indies - Michael Holding and Andy Roberts. While Holding was a sheer pace machine, with deliveries that could pummel batsmen to being knocked out, Roberts was an mean bowler, a man often considered grumpy who could just hide his emotions, but deliver all he could with his ball. This kind of a spirit was unbelievable - a fresh new wave to the West Indian cricket team's morale. They were the rising underdogs.

1976

England

This was a rather emotional moment for the West Indies. They were taking on their proverbial (historical) masters and the inventors of cricket in their own game and field. This feeling of unsettlement was further infuriated by Tony Greig's rather unprofessional words on television: "I intend with the help of others to make them (West Indians) 'grovel'". They could take no more. This had struck the wrong nerve. To the West Indians, it was their chance to prove that they're equals and winning the game was of prime importance. England would even go to the extent of trying to ban bouncers and long run ups, to somehow stifle the aggression of the West Indies bowlers. But the West Indians wouldn't relent. They would go on to win the series, ultimately proving their worth as unparalleled equals. Subsequently, they would beat the homecoming Indians literally by sheer power and pace to the extent that India would surrender.

1977

The World Series

Cricket was assuming a new and different form now. The pristineness of Test match cricket was smudged a bit with the low financial benefit. There emerged the first twinge of commercialization of the game - The World Series Cricket. Australian TV mogul Kerry Packer was an enterprising man. He was instrumental in resurrecting the game, giving it a new form and appearance. Despite imminent threats of a ban from the national team, the West Indians stuck on. Kerry Packer gave the most wanted team the inspiration to keep alive the expectations of it's fans. And they lived up to it. West Indies had morally victory of the World Series Cricket. This gave them renewed confidence in themselves as a team.

1979

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

West Indies were now preparedly stocked with a set of bowlers. They had the intimidating pace quartet in their arsenal often called Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse - Michael "Whispering Death" Holding, Andy "Hitman" Roberts, Colin Croft and a young,strikingly lanky menacing bowler - Joel Garner. Their aggression was unimaginable and the wolves would hunt as a pack . This time, they were able to counter the Australians with a fitting reply to their harsh attitude towards the game. The Australians got a bitter taste of their own medicine. West Indians as a nation of peoples, as musicians and citizens joined alike to garner support to their team.

1982

South Africa

This was a moment of reckoning. While the national and ethnic pride of the West Indians was at the peak, the South Africa series was a tough choice. The West Indies, through music, cricket and political propaganda had developed a sense of brotherhood and cultural oneness for all the suppression that their African brothers underwent in their continent. While team South Africa had been banned from cricket for the practice of Apartheid, some considered the West Indies playing for a country that harbors such an injustice was preposterous. No amount of 'artificial honor' could be imposed on players like Viv Richards and Michael Holding. An interesting dichotomy arises here. Players like Colin Croft, who went on to play the tour were ultimately banned by the West Indies board forever. In his defense, Croft justifies saying that calling him a mercenary was very humiliating. For him the game remained a game, and if he was a mercenary now, so was he during the World series. Such a situation beckoned to reconsider the players approach to the game.

1984

The Indomitable

This was a period of continued domination. What started out as aggression and fiery bowling attack also paved way to a classy display of batting power by Viv Richards, Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes. Richards could meet the bowlers eye to eye, and rip their deliveries past boundaries unseen. He was regarded as a new hero - a cultural icon, both at home and internationally. This team also saw emergence of youngster bowlers like Malcolm Marshall, who would go on to play several more years of cricket. The new balanced nature of the West Indian cricket team spread a new wave of friendliness and display of gamesmanship. They were now being patted on their backs and shoulders by the England team. What started out as a statement to prove as equals had been achieved. West Indies had won the series 5-0. Cultural exchange however had given some sort a universal brotherhood feeling. And a new form of love for the game was born.

1985-1995

Years of continued glory

Clive Lloyd would step down as captain. Viv Richards would take over. With a fresh approach to the game, well seasoned in all conditions, West Indies would go on to play test cricket the next ten years without have been defeated even in a single series. This was a world record, that no other sporting team had achieved.

Footnote: The only other team that stayed unbeaten for close to 3 decades was the Indian hockey team.

In the words of Venky : "The Indian hockey team, from 1928 to 1956 won 6 Gold medals in 6 Olympics. They never ever lost in 28 years (you may take off 6 years due to World War). And in my opinion, these 2 teams offer interesting studies. World beaters - at one point of time"

Aravindh Kamakshinadha

Life and my entangled poonal

Life is often compared to various things. One such analogue would be the entangled poonal. If you are one of those who happen to sash the sacred thread on your shoulder, you’ll know this.

My case was a peculiar. What happened was:

1. The Poonal was in a complete disheveled state.

2. It was in an imbroglio with the earphone cable

3. The snarled thread was still on my shoulder

So what did I do:

1. Get Frustrated

2. Looked at it as an opportunity to provide a solution

3. Developed some perspective and decided to throw some philosophy on life

Comparing, the three stages -

1. Life’s sometime screws up

Being an aspirant Statistical Thermodynamicist, I’d like to sprinkle some scientific perspective on this. Nature always has a way of maximizing entropy. With respect to any string/chain/polymer, there are more configurations that it can assume in the coiled state rather than in the outstretched, or near outstretched state. The point: chaos is inevitable. What we need to do, is see order in chaos, and tackle chaos without causing further chaos.

2. Our life entangles in other’s issues – We are not alone

Living independent is again an impossible thing to do. The conglomeration of people is like a gossamer. Oftentimes, in sophisticated societies, there is an extent to which independence is existent, but this is at the price of isolation where plebian support is also negligible. The point – We need to leverage other people being around and work together towards detangling. The people, society and others must never be a liability to our progress.

3. Our ego still sticks on to our problems

When I was young and when my poonal used to entangle, Amma used to help detangle it. She always had a systematic approach to problem. And during the annual “avani avittam”, Appa used to detangle it. But in life, you can’t always expect others to look into and solve your problems. You need to work your way through.

We need to dissociate ourselves from our problem and approach it rationally and logically.

The modus operandi:

1. Dissociate yourself with your life, but don’t run away – unsash the poonal, don’t get rid of it.

2. Take a first glance at the problems, the poonal is intertwined like a labyrinth

3. Locate the problems, they are all over the place like the knots in the poonal

What we often do is getting too caught in our own problems that we continue to live in the rut. Else, there’s always somebody calling. Like Steve and Shrevats wanting me to play “Halo” with them a street away. They are waiting. But I didn’t relent. I wanted to prove to myself that I could solve this before I leave. Similarly in life, we ought to get distracted, but we mustn’t. We must endure.

So what comes next?

The brahmamudichu:

1. The brahmamudichu or the brahmagranthi is the master knot that holds the three strings of the poonal together. The three strings are said to represent unity of thought, word and deed. In life, the brahmamudichu is our spirit or the eternal life force, which holds us together.

2. We must use this ‘master knot’ as a pivot and approach the problems carefully, using it as reference ensuring that the master knot itself doesn’t get caught in the imbroglio.

3. Now the rest of the tangled parts of the poonal have different points where the “confusion” is.

The final solution

1. Once the brahmamudichu is pivoted, we must ensure that we locate our other problems carefully and disassociate one from another. This way we’ll have a better idea of how our problems look like and how big they are.

2. Work on the problems, one by one. Ensure that you do not get boggled by the big problems. Once the small ones are on the way, the big one seems easier.

3. Work on the big problem

The big problem:

Often the last step is the toughest. It’s tantalizing, playing a game with you. It forces you to give up at the same time, you know you don’t have much left before you get to the cheese. The most important thing is to NOT GIVE UP NOW.

Once you show enough commitment, dedication and focus, life will pave a way itself. And in the end, the last of knots will be detangled by a simple “legerdemain” of the wrist.

You get the cheese. Your life’s in your hands. Crystal clear. Now don it. And live life. King size.

Yagnopaveetham paramam pavithram
Prajapatheryasahajam purasthad
Aayushyamagryam prathimuncha shubram
Yagnopaveetham balamasthu thejah!!

I'll do Raine

This is a video of my impression of Brad's Pitt character in the movie Inglourious Basterds. There is a distinctive Tennessee Mountain accent with the Southern drawl. The character is a brash American Lieutenant who, with 8 Jewish Americans under his command, embarks on a guerrilla operation on the Nazis. This scene depicts his "pep-talk" to the Jew crew known by the Germans as the Basterds.

Hues of thought...

Colour and life. Nature and Beauty. These things somehow have a connection. A heartfelt one. The impact of colour is pretty significant in our lives. Colour is perceived at an emotional level. We attribute different moods to different colours.

In this rendering of "Pachai Nirame" from Mani Ratnam’s "Alaipayuthey”, Vairamuthu has churned out the to the best, a picturesque ode to color. Even in here, femininity and beauty seem to go hand in hand. But nevertheless, the real magnificence of the song lies in the awe striking cinematography by PC Sriram and a mellifluous tune by ARR, voiced appropriately by Hariharan and Clinton.


My earnest efforts lie in “translerpreting” in English what the lyricist conveyed in Tamil. A fairly simple job, I must confess, it however took quite a bit of analysis to appreciate the beauty at the same time trying to keep the poetic flow alive. Read on...
And see if you can relate to it...

You symbolize fortune, desire & penchant
Harmonize meadows, so lush and verdant
Green, you dwell in juvenile leaves
Mellow my nerves to peace
You assure, allure and you do please!

The parrot’s beak with the verbal squeak
The pouty lips of the damsel speak
Through the loveliest scarlet rose
And the newborn’s tender feet
Red, you justify the most righteous woes

Richly lining dusky skies
Emanating from feisty fires
Sparkle, you do on the golden pendant
Daffodils & tulips, oh, don’t they flaunt?
Yellow, you glow and do outline
The radiant full moon’s soft shine

The idyllic expanse of the wave-less ocean
The spotless azure sky with an endless horizon
Ah! The cobalt-naped prideful peacock
Thanks you for its copper-sulphate flock
From the romanticism of blaue blume
To the purple tinge on the Martin’s plume
Blue, you exude the lull in a melancholic tune

The pitch darkness of the midsummer night
The nimbus clouds of stormy might
The forlorn feather of the northern raven
Lining mascara’d eyelashes of pretty women
In the earnestly lilting springtime cuckoo
And in silky tresses, black, you rule!

In flakes of snow, icicles and sleet
On the innocent dove and flag of peace
Through sclera in eyes of serenity
White, you signify honest thought and purity

Confessions of an ode-obsessed alliterator

Planning purely to particularly put forth ponderously pertinent alliterations purported to primarily pound pathetic people peace-less
Conjuring Carefully confusing categorical collaboration of canto, cunningly concocted to confound credulous and close chums clueless
Alas! Accidentally all things avalanche alphabetically altogether to leave him aghast and awestruck although it alternately awfully annoys all
Duh! He's doggedly determined to diligently distance from the dusty dictionary and drive his diabolic delusions to disjointedly develop a didactic droll
Greatness of this garrulous gamut of grotesque, garish and a gawd grueling of gander-like gibberish is not a result of googling or any GRE guide
Sure shot such seamlessly sewn sentences seemingly make sense even when semantically sorted in some serial order to summon remarks that are snide
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo Buffalo Buffalo buffalo being the best way to bundle buffalos but only fits too well the boisterous barrage of boo-worthy babble
To totally trick thousands, tried and tested tremendously is his truly technical though trashy intent to titillate by not truncating, thus giving too much trouble
Reiterating, it is a ridiculous repetition of resounding & reverberating repertoire of rhythm, resolute to recast a refined reader to a reproachable rakshasa
Juvenile Jester is what he is, just a joyous jumping jack; jokes apart, it's a jolly good justification of jargon, so the jealous, "Don't punch him in the jaw!"
Wow! What a wizardry with words, why not will the wondrous wisdom welcome wolf whistles to willingly woo women?
One four is obviously the onerous number of objective out-of-place one-liners occupying the rest of the ostentatious ornamental ode, so I guess it's good omen!

Venerated is "V for Vendetta" to 've vouched him to vivaciously voice vibrant views on voluble verbiage
Kudos! To the king, knighted by kith and kin, so let's kneel down to his keen knowledge!
Yahoo! Yearns his yucky yellow yolk-like youth yoyo-ing hither and yonder..
Mingling mostly monstrous monotones momentarily meet man's mental meander!
Xanadu X-Ray Xenophobia and Xylophone
Underline the ulterior ultimate urge of the unending undertone
Embarking on an extremely eloquent epilogue explicates exhaustion and ennui
His harangue hopes to hound hour-less to the horizon, for it's the hero's hearty hobby.
Quick as a quiver is his quest to quench his thirst, quoting a quixotic quire,
Zealously like the zebra zooms zig-zag through the zephyr wilderness of Zaire
Inking interesting, instinctive and intuitive interlude of inimitable innovation is indeed inevitable
For the free full flow of flamboyance to fit the flimsy fringes of this futile fortuitous fable
Neither you nor the nation can nimbly nullify or negate his nihilistic nocturnal nature
Let's be lured by this lovely lilting lullaby that lasts liberally long like lofty literature!


Aravindh Kamakshinadha

Vande Cricketum!

I am a cricket lover. I am a die hard Indian supporter, no doubt. I simply love Sachin doing his magic and Sehwag pulverising the opposition. I get the feeling of adrenaline at every century hit, every boundary scored, every sixer hit and every crucial over and not to forget, every wicket taken.

All this apart, personally, for me, sport is more than just being patriotic. Although it has been that way and it will continue to be so, I have been having a deep thought of disassociating nationalism/patriotism from sport, especially cricket.

In fact, cricket is much beyond patriotism. It is an art. A science. A true cricket-lover would appreciate any team winning against any other. She would love any player do his job the best way(I used "she" as a syntax to please any feminist that would appreciate my article!). In fact, the very reason Sachin is successful is because he loves the game. Often interpreted as the love for the country, more often proved so than not, it essentially boils down to one fact. Sachin is in pursuit of excellence. Every other game he improves himself. He just loves to go down there, invent new shots, perfect the already invented ones and add total charm to the game. The sport evolves.

Even now, I must agree I am bordering on the lines of hypocrisy by unduly talking mostly, if not entirely about Sachin. See. Yet again. But human nature and tendency makes me so. But, I would like to share a thought. I have a feeling that commentators like Gavaskar and Shastri are doing a great job. They up the euphoria during every century hit, every boundary scored, every sixer hit and every crucial over and not to forget, every wicket taken**(In lack of a better expression, I settled for a copy-paste). But beyond a point it seems like much ado about nothing. By doing so, they often miss the finer nuances of the game. It gives undue (im)balance of perspective to one team alone. Instead, they could border(pun intended) more on technique. On strategy. On appreciating cricket as a pure art form. Or science. Or perhaps even engineering*(to please my fraternity) .And for this I would recommend (if I had the powers), to bring in commentators from other countries, more experienced ones like the Windies and South Africa. They don't necessarily need to have been int'l players, do they?(I am not requesting for Man-deera's, sorry feminists). However to cool you, Anjum Chopra could just be a perfect choice.

I am writing this article for three reasons.
3. To prove to myself that I can write.
2. To kick the laziness in me.
1. To want more people to 'like' this comment passively.
0. To spring up a thread where people can discuss more on the ideas put-up
-1.To criticize me.

So please go on, do item no. 0, and feel free to appreciate me on items 3 to negative 1.

Escape
Aravindh

Peace...
Or not

Posted on my facebook notes on December 4, 2009