Luke, come over to the dark side!!!

The words of one of the most immortal villain's (Darth Vader) of all time, appears to be very apt for my current state of being. I feel as if I am slowly but steadily moving over to the dark side, which begs the question what is the dark side??? 3 years ago when I graduated from VIT, I vociferously denounced the idea of going to the US to do a masters in engineering and fit the stereotypical definition of a "Gult". Then somehow in found myself working at the most awesome company in the world "Google" (Yes, the story about the F3 key in college is true. There I said it) but I still worked at Google and was good at what I did, so in your face !!!!.

But coming back to the point, working at Google I felt I was a long way from the concept of " MS in US" , I had totally forgotten about the desperate measures I had resorted to after going to the CTS training program I had given the GRE and applied to 4 colleges. Then somehow after a strange sequence of events which I find difficult to rationalize now, I found myself in College Station Texas doing masters in Industrial Engineering. I came here saying I would love to get back as soon as I can and I miss every single as aspect of India and find it difficult to get used to most aspects of life here.

Now, two years hence I find that not only have I got used to those very aspects but they have become second nature to me,

I have picked up a moderate accent with respect to certain words like fast = phast, you all = y'all, and many more …

Football no longer relates to F.C Barcelona (would have never imagined) but the Dallas Cowboys/ New Orleans Saints.

I find myself telling people to please state the word "soccer" when talking about the champion's league or at least say European football.

Prefer watching the Superbowl instead of watching a test match which involves India fighting to stay number 1 in the world.

I seem to have gotten so caught up with the whole "school spirit" thing that my wardrobe is 75% maroon ... almost everything I wear says Texas A&M or Aggies on it ... I so need a wardrobe change its not funny people might actually start thinking I have only 2-3 t-shirts.

Use the word "soda" with reference to Pepsi and Coke and find almost impossible to have a meal or watch a movie or watch a game without them by my side.

I find myself guzzling down Gatorade/Powerade like nobody's business before playing/while playing/after playing.

All of sudden temperatures between 13-17 degrees is pleasant weather, this coming from the same guy who used to wear a sweatshirt in Vellore and used slept using a bedding that contained 2 bedsheets and a blanket.

The last full soccer game I watched was the el classico and before that was the champion's league final.

I used to think people who hit the gym were just too lazy and crazy to play organized sport but now I hit the gym almost 4 times a week ( so jay watch out I still have an outside chance of making good on our bet).

I seem to developing a strange liking for mashed potato and beef in most forms. (Hope my mom never reads this, she ask me to go to the Ganges to take a bath before enter the house again.)

It has got to the point where even " Taco Hell " seems alright , even though in actual truth it is not !!! I have just let my standards slip so much ...

Beer seems to be the form of only alcohol that I can take, Rum and Vodka are things of the past (so guys no more crazy shot nights like the last time we in eXcess or at Jatti's place for me)

I just love watching Desperate Housewives, there I said it. I just cannot understand why people cannot digest the fact that I love watching that series!!!!!

Don't get me wrong my love and longing for India or to be back in India has not diminished by even an inch but somehow I find myself enjoying the very things I could not even stand initially. At point this point of time I find myself looking for a job here in the US and even dabbling with idea of delaying my graduation so as to get a job. Sometimes I feel like a major hypocrite of an insane measure. I find myself becoming the one thing I vowed to not become "a stereotypical gult".

No disrespect to those of you who are. I just do not want turn in to one of these people who visits India once in a blue moon forgets about life there and loses sync with life in India, forgets about his friends and does a pathetic job of staying in touch with his friends (extremely guilty of the later, especially with regards to my friends from VIT, I might be out of sight and not very active with regards to the phone …but I will never forget you all) Basically I don't want be stop being the one thing I want to be most "Indian "and then a " Hyderabadi".

Guys please do not hesitate to slap me back in to my senses , if I ever lose sight of that.

So this goes out to all my friends in India,

Special mention: lieutenant Tarun Chauhan, Kevin John ,Billu,Harry, Anoo, Amlaan and Bunny.

Does It Really Matter???

In the past few months there has been a lot of hue and cry about the personal indiscretions of many a famous sportsperson. John Terry and Tiger Woods are the most recent to suffer this fate. The media as usual is a sucker for sensationalism and has turned these personal issues in to a stupid circus. Channels running shows in which some stupid sports psychologist living his 10 minutes of fame tries to explain why player did what he did and the impact of it on his mind, game etc if his wife should divorce him or not ?? I mean seriously… get a life. Then this guy is most often accompanied by a "has been " or " never was" player who tries to estimate the impact of the incident on the legacy of the player.

We all know who Muhammad Ali is right?, I can guarantee that most of you have never watched a boxing match or have any interest in watching one in the future. Here are some tidbits about his personal life the man changed his religion publicly, refused to go Vietnam as part of the draft, went to jail for it, has been married 4 times and has 2 children from extramarital relationships. Despite all this turmoil in personal life, He is considered one the best Heavyweight Boxing Champions ever and man was voted "The Greatest Sportsman of the Century" by BBC . If Ali's life played out today, the media would label him as unpatriotic and a man of low moral character who will never be anything more than a footnote in the history of sports. And as usual they would have been wrong because Ali's greatness was because of his ability to overcome these obstacles in his personal life, you stupid morons.

Look at Agassi , the man recently confessed to using crystal meth during his playing days. He was vilified by most of the media for using and most of them portrayed it as if, he used Performance Enhancing Drugs. But fact being Agassi had stated in autobiography that he used it during one of the lowest points of his career 1997, while suffering poor form(Ranking outside 100) and to quell worries about his upcoming marriage to actress Brooke Shields. And promptly the stooges who run the media jumped on the band wagon to vilify him and said that he tarnished his legacy. Well In my eyes if anything, my respect for him has grown for the fact he overcame his addiction, came back to sports to win the French Open in 1998 and the U.S. Open in 1999. If anything he is a role model for all of us, he exemplifies the fact that we all fall make big mistakes but you are never really down and out unless you choose to give up.


Now look at kobe Bryant, In 2003 was accused of sexual assault and later agreed to having a sexual encounter with accuse but said it was consensual. Everyone said it was the beginning of the end for him. Now fast forward to the present, he became the highest scoring Laker in history and four million dollar ring sure did help to save his marriage. And will go down in basketball history as one of its greatest players.

A personality from Indian cricket, Vinod Kambli made a bigger splash than Tendulkar when he arrived on the international stage, many say he probably was more gifted than Sachin and that theory is definitely backed up by his early career stats but rest as they say his history. Despite his fall from grace, many an ardent Indian cricket fan will tell that he was one of the very best batsmen that India had ever produced, the fact that someone is even mentioned in the same breath as one best players of an era is testament enough to their sporting talent.
So now in this case of Tiger Woods I really don't think he has anything to worry about with regards to legacy even if he decides to call it quits. The man monopolized golf during his time and one can take away his 14 championships because he happened to be a serial adulterer. Same with John Terry, affair or not he is one of the best defenders in world football if not the best and as sports fan I will tell you this, I would watch these guys play any day of the week and twice on weekends (confession I really don't like watching golf and probably would not but… it just sounds good). 20 years from now, if anyone asks me who these men were? I would say he was the one man monopolized golf to extent Google has monopolized the internet and the other was a hard as nails defender who made one half of the blue wall at Stamford Bridge.

Basically the legacy of a sportsman is rarely tarnished or reduced by his indiscretions off the field, if anything it his success after it only adds to his legacy.