- Way to go!! http://fb.me/SAgR9RCE #
- Always be the reason of someone’s happiness never just a part of it.
Be a part of someone’s sadness never the reason for it 🙂 # - Can these two 38 year olds repeat what they did 10 years ago? bat out a whole day? #
- Why are we doing what we are doing? Come know all at Pick a Fight Team Meeting – Bangalore today 4:30 pm… Give… http://fb.me/CKD5JsUY #
- Moving Out of Our Comfort Zone http://lnkd.in/VbwcTG #
- Rahul Dravid has now overtaken Ricky Ponting and is number two in the list of all time run scorers in Test Cricket… #
- You can’t connect the dots looking forward; You can only connect them looking backwards – Steve Jobs
We should… http://fb.me/Lvx5FKrd # - Always give without remembering & always receive without forgetting. -Brian Tracy #
- Seems true… read this interesting comparison between startups and big companies!! http://fb.me/QdRaElp8 #
- A man who says it cannot be done should not interrupt a man who's already doing it. #
- Wonderful post… Read it to start your morning.. Best dose for a wonderful day!! http://fb.me/10BS4ekA8 #
- Wonderful article!! Life lessons from 8 years of travelling.. http://fb.me/NwavrVXZ #
- Super Awesome Pics!! http://fb.me/YJo74ss3 #
- LOL … RT @TheSolutionBaba – The phrase “I need to talk to you” has the ability to strike fear into the heart of anyone. #
- Six years of professional career… Few highlights!! http://fb.me/AW97nCHD #
- Long, but wonderful article.. Must read… fully echoes my thoughts 🙂 http://fb.me/1beXAvGQN #
My weekly tweets archive for the week ending 2011-07-25
- Way to go!! http://fb.me/SAgR9RCE #
- Always be the reason of someone’s happiness never just a part of it.
Be a part of someone’s sadness never the reason for it 🙂 # - Can these two 38 year olds repeat what they did 10 years ago? bat out a whole day? #
- Why are we doing what we are doing? Come know all at Pick a Fight Team Meeting – Bangalore today 4:30 pm… Give… http://fb.me/CKD5JsUY #
- Moving Out of Our Comfort Zone http://lnkd.in/VbwcTG #
- Rahul Dravid has now overtaken Ricky Ponting and is number two in the list of all time run scorers in Test Cricket… #
- You can’t connect the dots looking forward; You can only connect them looking backwards – Steve Jobs
We should… http://fb.me/Lvx5FKrd # - Always give without remembering & always receive without forgetting. -Brian Tracy #
- Seems true… read this interesting comparison between startups and big companies!! http://fb.me/QdRaElp8 #
- A man who says it cannot be done should not interrupt a man who's already doing it. #
- Wonderful post… Read it to start your morning.. Best dose for a wonderful day!! http://fb.me/10BS4ekA8 #
- Wonderful article!! Life lessons from 8 years of travelling.. http://fb.me/NwavrVXZ #
- Super Awesome Pics!! http://fb.me/YJo74ss3 #
- LOL … RT @TheSolutionBaba – The phrase “I need to talk to you” has the ability to strike fear into the heart of anyone. #
- Six years of professional career… Few highlights!! http://fb.me/AW97nCHD #
- Long, but wonderful article.. Must read… fully echoes my thoughts 🙂 http://fb.me/1beXAvGQN #
Life Lessons from Sachin Tendulkar
Most players come as rookies, show their talents and skills, have their ups and downs and after performing consistently well over many years they are termed as legends by the critics and the media. But the case of Sachin Tendulkar is unique. Right from the first time he burst on the cricketing scene as a 16 year old, everybody knew this boy was special and there was something legendary about him. And the way he has been performing over the last 22 years, he has left all those expectations behind and rose tall among legends themselves. As a cricketer, and as a person, there are many life lessons to be learned from Sachin Tendulkar, and I am listing five of them below –
1. Humility
He has the most runs in both forms of the game, the most centuries in both tests and ODIs, the maximum man of the match awards, the highest ODI score and numerous other records to his name. He is called GOD in India. He has been called the world’s best batsman continuously over the last 15 years, and Sir Donald Bradman saw himself in his batting. Perhaps there is no one else in world cricket today who can take all this praise with the grace and humility that he embodies. Carrying the expectations of a billion people, and constantly improving the benchmarks he sets for himself has been his hallmark. When asked about being termed a GOD, he humbly says, “I don’t think it is possible for anyone to become GOD”
Still the same smile and enthusiasm
2. Always a Student
Despite having all the records to his name, and after consistently performing well for the last 20+ years, he is still a student of the game. He believes that there is always room for improvement. He says he is always keen to improve his game and wants to focus on the next game rather than celebrating his records and achievements. The same holds true for life too, as we must strive to be its students always and take whatever lessons and learnings life has to offer daily.
3. Continuous Hard Work
He is one man in the team who many would argue doesn’t need to practice. But still he is the one who always works very hard before every series and match. He is always punctual in team practice sessions and makes sure to practice more before an important series. His asking leg spinners to bowl in the rough outside leg stump to prepare for Shane Warne before the 2001 series is well known. He has never sat on his laurels but always look to work hard on his technique and fitness, and that is the reason he is still one of the fittest players at 38 years of age.
Enjoy life like he enjoys cricket
4. Never ending hunger of the game
“I am happy with my performance, but not satisfied”, he has said many times. This after having almost all batting records to his name. His hunger for the game is something which makes his game worth watching. He still has the same smile as he had as a 16 year kid when he plays the game. He still considers every game important and the joy on his face after winning a match or scoring a century tells of his never ending hunger. The hunger to keep scoring runs, to keep his fans happy, and to prolong the misery of the opposition bowlers. If we all live our lives with the same hunger, would there be anything not possible.
5. Discipline
His greatest talent is not to pick up a ball early or hit it through the gaps, but to do it consistently for over 20 years, and constantly improving the standards which he himself has set for the world. His discipline in the nets is well known, where he sometimes bats even after the younger players wind up. Tendulkar shows that talent without discipline is useless. His preparation before every game, and his decision making at crucial times as a batsman is for all to see and marvel at. And when everybody else calls him a perfectionist at many shots, he is continuously improving at them for the last two decades with enormous hard work and discipline.
Will this India v England series live up to the hype?
This series is certainly the most awaited series for quite some time for me. If the India v Australia series last year was legendary (where I watched two days of test cricket in a stadium), and the India v South Africa series was termed as the clash of the titans, this series has the anticipation like none. Maybe it is because of the landmarks which the first test of the series marks, as this would be the 2000th Test Match ever played and the 100th between India and England. Sachin Tendulkar will be looking to complete a century of centuries and it will be Duncan Fletcher’s 100th test as coach.
Apart from that, there is also the fact that the No 1 spot is on stake in this series. The first match at Lords also marks the return of Dravid to his debut ground 15 years after, when he sparkled with a 95 alongside another debutant Saurav Ganguly who scored a century that day. The number 1 team playing the number 3 team, who defeated Australia easily in the Ashes, in their home ground should make it a cracker of a series. Add to it the fact that there are 4 test matches in a series after a long time will make for a evenly and toughly fought battle between these two teams.
Watching a test match sitting in a jam-packed stadium was super fun
History of India in England
If you see the last three series India have played in England, it has marked the emergence of Dravid and Ganguly in 1996 where India lost 1-0, it marked the promotion of Dravid into the league of greatness in the 2002 series where he scored 602 runs in 6 innings at an average of 100+ and the series proved to the world that the Indian middle order is the best in the world. Add to this emergence of Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh ably supporting Anil Kumble in this series. It also marked the emergence of Saurav Ganguly as an enigmatic leader who showed the world that he is here to stay. The 4 test series in 2002 was tied 1-1, an achievement at that time.
When India came back to England in 2007, they were led by Rahul Dravid. And if Ajit Agarkar managed to hit a century at Lords in 2002, it was Anil Kumble’s turn in 2007. We won the series 1-0 that year, mostly due to team unity and partnerships and not any big individual performances. With Anil Kumble being India’s only centurion in the series, the more important stats are that India scored 14 half centuries and had 16 half century partnerships in the series, making sure England never got two quick wickets.
Waiting to watch them in action
Will this series live up to the hype?
This series will be the first time many Indian players play on England soil, as indeed it will be the last time Laxman, Dravid and Tendulkar will be seen playing in England. Add to that the non-availability of Sehwag, the most destructive opening batsman in world cricket today, and you have a series on your hands. England are perhaps in their best form of the moment, and most of their players are fit and in good form. India have been slow starters abroad, and playing England at home will not be easy. But I hope for a tightly fought series, and it will a tough test for players from both the sides as they will be facing quality opposition and that might just bring out the best in them resulting in a truly scintillating display of Test Cricket.
Key Players
For India, a lot of depends on how well Gautam Gambhir adapts to England where he has never played before. With Sehwag not playing, the responsibility on Dravid and Laxman will be more to cushion in case of collapses and pressure situations. How Ishant Sharma, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh bowl to Strauss, Trott and Peterson will decide who will hold the honors at the end of the day.
For England, James Anderson, Chris Tremlett and Graeme Swann will lead their attack and test the Indian batsman to the max. India should not take Swann lightly as he is the best spinner in the world as per ICC rankings and will be no pushover. The form of Strauss and Trott has been amazing over the last two years and dismissing them will take a real test of skill and patience for the Indian bowlers.
If the umpiring is upto the mark and the weather does not play spoilsport, we might witness on of the most competitive series in recent times. Let the best team win.
Six years of professional career – A quick recap
18 July 2011. Yes, that’s today. It marks six years of my professional career. In a nutshell, ever since joining InfoEdge at their Noida office six years back, I have been programming to create websites. But it has been a lot more than that. I have made some amazing friends during these six years with whom I have shared some unforgettable moments, learned a lot about coding, business and life from the people I have interacted with and situations I faced. A lot have changed since that hot and sweaty day of 18 Jul 2005 (which I still remember very vividly).
If I look back and try to recap the last six years, I can break them down into six very specific sections / phases / periods which can be associated with some really significant events in my career. Read below to know about these six phases –
First Steps – July 2005 to July 2006
The first year of my professional life was as good as it gets. I did a lot of hard work in office, and made some really good friends. Everyday during these times was so much fun and unforgettable. The leg-pulling, late night parties, the fights, and the do-not-care attitude of some 7-8 of us colleagues made it one of my best years ever. Coding till late in the night, learning new technologies and putting them to innovative use was an added advantage to the fun we were having everyday in office.
Ok, I hope you can sense the 'fun' being part of this team
Cloudy Days – Aug 2006 to Aug 2007
The fist disappointment came after a year of work, and it made things bad with a very good friend of mine. The group was divided into two, and both sides tried to irritate the other group as much as possible with their sarcastic comments and mannerisms in office. Although it was all friendly rivalry with no serious hard feelings, it did get tense at times. But as all clouds have a silver lining, Sukip and SaleRaja were born during this period out of the happenings in office. It was not a pleasant year for me in office, but a very important one. And by the end of the year, I patched up with this friend of mine and we were back to normal, fun filled days.
The 99acres team of 2008, at Mashobra
Finding the real me? – Sep 2007 to Oct 2008
If I have to choose one year as the most defining in the last six, it will be this one. It made me discover traits of my personality which I didn’t knew even existed. Managing SaleRaja and leading a team of 14 people, ensuring the co-existence of both work and fun, made me face challenges and respond to them in a way that was to shape my personality. Made another group of great friends during this time, learnt a lot about leadership, and also cleared a lot of pre-conceptions about people and life in general during this time. This phase ended with me making one of the toughest decisions of my life, to leave InfoEdge and the team (and fun) I had for SaleRaja.
My farewell from InfoEdge in Oct 2008, a very emotional moment
SaleRaja – Nov 2008 to Dec 2009
Over to Bangalore. Fully focussed on SaleRaja, I started doing everything, from sales calls to marketing to coding with an aim of making it big with SaleRaja. We worked hard, then harder, and then even harder to squeeze the most out of our time. My days have been 14-16 hour long for some time, but it started to become taxing and tiring by the end of this phase. In Dec 2009 decided it was time to move on, again one of the tough decisions I had to take. But these 14 months in Bangalore taught me a lot about business and life as I was exposed to many startups and the eco-system surrounding startups. Again, I made a lot of good friends and met a lot of good hearted and inspiring people.
The Jivox team in Bangalore
LOST – Jan 2010 to Jul 2010
There are times when everything was going so well and you take some tough decisions which didn’t work out as well as expected. You left the good for the better but are left with nothing instead. These are the times when you start asking questions like, “Why did this happen?”, “Why did I take that decision?” or “What is happening?”… Let me tell you what is happening.. LIFE IS HAPPENING… Yes… Everything was going well.. and then Life Happened… This phase of my career was a time of doubt, but also of introspection. It made me look for answers to some really tough questions within myself, and it was during this phase that I started reading and writing regularly, which helped me a lot and is a regular practice now.
Rediscovery – Aug 2010 to present
The last year has been an uncertain, uncomfortable and a bumpy journey. But this journey has taken me through peaks and sights that are unforgettable. I have faced fear right in the eye and done things regularly which I was afraid of earlier, and regularly at that. And needless to say, I have grown as an individual the most in this last year, and done some crazy stuff which I could not have dreamt of a few years earlier. I am having the best time of my life now, where every day seems better than the previous one, where I enjoy every day of the week be it a Monday or Friday and I am doing so much that my days feel like having 36 hours 😉
In reflection, whatever has happened in the last six years has made me what I am today. All the good stuff was certainly memorable, but all the not so good times were also blessings in disguise. The sooner we realize that the cloudy days are as much a part of life as the sunny ones, we can stop getting hurt from life’s beatings and instead use them to grow stronger and wiser. In the future too, I hope to be strong enough to get hammered, because I know I will get hammered into new and interesting shapes.