ZEN - Official Review

Zen Restaurant merits its status as the finest Thai/ Chinese restaurant in Dubai. From its extraordinary and authentic taste to a cozy and spacious ambiance it takes a foodie to the next level of gluttony while being inexpensive. Beautifully lit, this on the water restaurant, with a stellar view of the high rise including the Burj can be the perfect place for a date or be the place to take your entire family including those distantly related pile - ons for a meal to get into their good books.

The carte du jour ranges further than the customary Thai eatery, and it also offers a carefully crafted Indian and Chinese menu presenting sumptuous, aromatic chow flavors. If you love food and Thai food in particular, then you need to look no further. With the numerous awards it has already won at various food festivals you owe yourself a meal at this restaurant.

The restaurant does not serve the same style food to its customers, but each dish is carefully prepared keeping in mind your tastes, preferences and food fetishes. The menu is extensive, exhaustive and the names are Thai, Chinese and Indian sounding but there is Nicky to the rescue who will simplify it for you and whip up your favorite meat, fish or vegetable with your choice of color curry and all dishes are cooked to order.

The Zeus of Thai food and the Adonis of Romantic places this one has my vote for being the best restaurant I have visited food wise and ambiance wise.

STOMACH THOSE EMOTIONS

Emotions probably originate in the stomach and not the heart and definitely not the brain.

- When you are nervous and anxious you feel butterflies in your stomach and not anywhere else.

- When you are feeling pain, grief or shocked you feel something in the pit of your stomach.

- When you feel betrayed there is a feeling as thought someone kicked you in the stomach.

Well yes I have made my point that the stomach is supreme [if you have seen mine in recent times you will know for sure] but this piece is not about the stomach. It’s about emotions and actions.

Why does it happen that every time you are selfless that you come across as selfish? Why does it happen that when you have to do something good for someone you have to be the bad person? Why can’t people see through your actions and know you are doing it for them?

Well it’s simple, when people don’t get what they want they feel angry, betrayed or sad. But we have to realize that people most often do not know what they want. Or they think they know what they want, but it is what they want ‘now’ and not really what they want to carry forward into the future.

Let’s take an example. Growing up was fun for my brother and me because we had an elder sister who took care of us. She was our role model. I remember being 6 years old and thinking wow, she is so tall and smart and just wow. I remember the night family prayer ended with a request every single day – “Jesus, when we grow up please make us as tall as Tina [my sister].” As always my prayers were not answered because today I stand at a mere 5’8 while my sister is a towering 5’0. Thank God for small mercies.

Yes, many a time people cannot see beyond now and what they feel now, what they want now, their life now and it all happens in now. But you cannot always give in to people’s now. Maybe sometimes but not always. And knowing when to be ready to get that feeling that someone kicked you in the stomach is knowing that you love the person so much that you are willing to be hated just to do what’s right and not right now.

Right now my stomach hurts but its nothing a little mint choco chip cannot help soothe now because perhaps in the future people will grow out of now and see that it was the love for them that made my stomach swell.

Relationships – The Uncommon Man

Choices. Reactions. It’s the stuff that life is made of. Come to think of it what is life but the choices we make and our reactions to the experiences and incidents that happen to us?

I have always been a propagator of this agenda but somehow it’s pretty hard to follow 100%. There are times when I slip up and forget to be calm, react objectively and I lose the plot at times. I do my best to recover, and most often I do as well but the pain of having been ‘common’ lingers. After all who wants to be the common man?

Common reactions lead to poor relationships. Our brain is probably wired for us to react poorly to conflict and painful situations. We need to overcome that initial urge to react and be very logical in our thought to have an uncommon reaction. This uncommon or common reaction is what we call attitude. So you may have noticed that whenever we're in conflict with someone, and we want to do something to hurt the other person because we are hurting, there is still one factor that separates damaging your relationship or deepening it. It’s called attitude.

The next time you boss cheats you out of credit for a project, your friends drift away from you for whatever reasons, the delivery boy delays your meal by half an hour keeping you famished, the neighbors play the vuvuzela late at night while cheering their team at the world cup on TV, your wife nags, your children behave wild, parents are breathing down your neck, crazy drivers on the road, – remember you have a choice in the way you can react.

Journey from the Common Man to Come’on Man

Be UNCOMMON

Avatar remade in Bollywood

Avatar being made in Hindi but this time its an underwater theme. Casting for the title character has being done.

Auditions for the remaining roles are being held as you read this.

Marathi Manoos

Know Theory

I've heard people say - "What I don't know cannot bother me"

I think that's not necessarily true. I would like to make some rearrangements to that phrase and make it more elaborate.

• What we know, we know pleases/bothers us.
• What we know, we don't know scares us.
• What we don't know, we don't know does not bother us.

Swan is just an Ugly Duckling

We have all heard about the Ugly Ducking turning into a Swan theory. What about something that’s different from that? [I evolved from the ugly duckling to the whale if you look at my weight these days]

The Swan is nothing but an Ugly Ducking within.

We look at all the beautiful, rich, confident, successful, [not necessarily they are all one person with all these qualities] and similar adjective people and think how they must be living life without any of the insecurities that we live with. That’s totally untrue. They live with bigger insecurities and the worst part is that they probably do not even get to show it because they have to live up to a certain image.

You would think a model has a complex about her body as compared to us mere mortals, or a jock feels timid around the geek, the boss feels threatened by his understudy, or that a multiple time champion has no belief in his abilities but feels that he just got lucky on all those occasions. These people live with complexes and insecurities, and to project that they don’t they overdo the image projection part.

So you will see that they may appear extremely snobbish, or overtly aggressive, or over adjusting, or awfully rude. Some will not miss an opportunity to put you down, make fun of you all the time, ridicule your tastes and humiliate you in public. You just have to see through this and know where the insecurity lies. These people are a nuisance to others but they tend to be a torment to themselves.

Ugliness is nothing but feeling alone against smiling enemies. It’s the double whammy of misfortune to yourself and good fortune to others. So the next time you encounter one of those beautiful swans you admire, do not forget that they are nothing but the ugly duckling wearing an attractive outer layer.

Beauty my friend is only skin deep, but ugliness goes down to the very bone.

Casabianca

I read an evaluation of Casabianca written by one of my closest friends and she has taken a very philosophical view to the whole poem and has dissected it and related it to life. Her view as someone slightly younger to me appealed nonetheless, and she is a very talented writer. So I am not too sure if I should credit her for her views or for her writing. I credit her for the effort though, because this girl is going places.

THE POEM
Young Casabianca, a boy about thirteen years old, son of the admiral of the Orient, remained at his post (in the Battle of the Nile), after the ship had taken fire, and all the guns had been abandoned; and perished in the explosion of the vessel, when the flames had reached the powder.

TRIVIA
I recited this poem while I was grade 3 at the inter house recitation competition.

VIEW
The same poem made sense to me then in such a different way as it does now. But the one things that remains the same is that I always looked as myself as the boy in the poem. I considered myself fairly obedient and very loyal to my causes be it football or green house [that’s the name of the house, not the green house effect thingy]. Now I find myself fiercely loyal to family and yet at the same time living life on my own terms and condition however anti society or anti establishment that may seem.

The feeling of destruction is one that grips me when I do read this parody. Burning, wreck, dead, flame, booming, despair, wreathing, fragments – they all convey the carnage that took place and yet it does not seem to refer to the environment but more to what happened to that young lad and all that went through his mind as he stood atop the deck.

Depending on what you are going through in life, this poem will make sense to you within that context. If you do get the time, please do read the poem.

RELATIONSHIPS

You can’t do without them, that is for sure. It exists. If you do want to maintain it then that also is your relationship. They never remain constant. They constantly evolve. But there is one factor that affects all relationships and that is attitude. It is your attitude that will help make or break your relationship. Good times happen because of the stance you take to a particular situation. And during the bad times, your approach decides on whether you drift apart or some closer.

Death for example can take people apart or get them closer. I remember the death of my grandma brought the whole family closer with my sister donning the mantle that ma granny once held. It could have gone wither way. She could have fallen apart and all of us would have also, but the attitude she took saved us all. There is no better feeling that sitting next to the one you love especially in times when you have lost another loved one.

TRUST
Trust is another key ingredient. It’s like a pair of socks. Its gotta be two and it’s got to match. It’s the foundation of any relationship. When you feel betrayed by a particular situation you have to take a look at it objectively and look at the intent behind the actions. Many a time we feel betrayed, and we probably are by our own perspective and expectations but it need not be that someone else betrayed us. That is nothing but your attitude.

UNDERSTANDING
Understanding. Its difficult understanding the word understanding. Very often it’s misunderstood. Your understanding is also based on your attitude. If you take responsibility to ensure that others understand perfectly what you are communicating and you understand perfectly what others are communicating the relationship work pretty smooth.


Many a time we feel incomplete. No man can live as an island they say [though we can definitely live on one]. We feel we are imperfect, and so we're always searching for somebody to perfect us. We get into a relationship. When, after a few years or a few months of a relationship, we find that we're still incomplete, we blame our partners and take up with somebody more promising or sometimes with something more promising. It need not be a person. We do share relationships with inanimate objects as well though we may not realize it. Food, TV, Sports, etc. This can go on and on--series polygamy--until we admit that while a partner can add sweet dimensions to our lives, we, each of us, are responsible for our own fulfillment. Nobody else can provide it for us, and to believe otherwise is to delude ourselves dangerously and to program for eventual failure every relationship we enter.”

YOU AND I
I have a few relationships that I consider real important to me. Some of them have existed from the time I was born, some from my childhood, one from my stay here and one in the very recent past. I cannot define them though. I am limited by vocabulary. They are not water tight compartments and often spill in over to another compartment. So I shall not try to define them or set parameters but instead when I refer to them for other people I shall use generic terms like friend, sibling, and colleague so that someone may have a term to put to it. I do not need one.

You know how important you are to me and the very fact that you are reading this means you are already an integral part of my life for life.

Compilations - Creative Thoughts

[more from 2004]

So I have been trying to get the creative juices flowing. Hope at least some of you laughed. Because that was my intention. Some must have laughed as they were reading it and some after. She who laughs last thinks slowest so I hope you have the last laugh.

I needed to borrow some money to get through my initial expenses. I learnt an important lesson there. Borrow money from a pessimist, they don't expect it back. And you can go back for seconds. Speaking of which I clocked 13 in my 100 meters. Pretty good considering the amount of people I met on the way as I was running. I am in terrific shape. Most of it is due to the amount of exercises I’ve been doing. Though in the last few days it has kind of reduced. I get enough exercise just pushing my luck with my boss.

This place is great but the loneliness is a killer. Tina you were right. I do miss her. I need someone really bad. (All you single women out there)Are you really bad? Needing someone is like needing a parachute. If she isn't there the first time you need her, chances are you won't need her again. Don’t think I’m getting smart with you. Am I getting smart with you? How would you know? I can please only one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't looking good either. But I’m sure your day will come. Haven’t you heard, every dog has his day? Then what about the bitches?

Hey did I tell you guys I have girls living with me in the same house? It’s a great learning experience. One good turn gets most of the blankets. Sometimes I wake up grumpy. Other times I let her sleep. I do miss my ex gf a lot. A lot. But my aim is improving nonetheless. We used to party like crazy. It was always One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor. Every time I left her she threatened suicide. If someone with multiple personalities threatens suicide is it considered a hostage situation? But the one important lesson she taught me I’d never forget.

When a man goes on a date he wonders if he is going to get lucky. A woman already knows. When women hold off from marrying men, we call it independence. When men hold off from marrying women, we call it fear of commitment. Wow. When a man talks nasty to a woman its Sexual harassment. When a woman talks nasty to a man its $5 a minute. But I know how to please women. It's something that's six inches long, two inches wide, and drives women wild? Yep it’s Money.

My girl left me. She was too demanding. She always wanted free gifts. Aren't all gifts free? Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups. Especially if yours is a coed group. So how’s things back home? Hey here is a funny one. What do you call a beautiful girl in India? A tourist. Well I must get back to work now. Trying to hone my leadership skills. Quickly, I must hurry, for there go my people and I am their leader.

No Write

I have been terribly busy with the play and then work for the last month or so and hence I have not penned anything down recently. But am posting up some stuff I had penned in 2004, when i just moved here. Letters to family and friends. All are compilations.

Reflective Self

You are many people. Most people know that they are who they actually are and who others think they are, but what most do not realize that they also are who they want others to think they are. It’s called the reflective self [my brother gave me the word for it while we sat at the beach talking this weekend]. And it plays such a big role in shaping who you are.

So when I ask you tell me something about you its very likely that you will reveal what you want me to think of you as opposed to who you really are. And we tend to get so engrossed in depicting this perception to others that we tend to believe it at times even if it is not true. Over the years you built a certain reputation and now you stuck with it and you like it and even though its not you anymore you have to work hard to keep up that impression. And we then spend most of our lives living that or trying to undo that reputation.

There are some of us who of us who face ourselves but lack the balls to face the world, there are others who face the world but then cannot face themselves and then there are those who face the world and themselves but have to go through a lot of crap to be that way. This reflective self comes from our conditioning. It comes from what is taught to us directly or indirectly and we are slaves to that conditioning. I will not tread carefully to be politically correct here. There are those who do not follow any of the principles of religion but are at the fore of all religious functions to show how religious they are. There are those who are married, but keep testing the water [you know what I mean] given the chance if they think they can manage it slyly and get away with it. There are those who rationalize things according to the situation and then tell themselves, ‘I am not that kind of a person [you believe your reputation over reality] and I am only doing this within limits’. There are those caught in bad situations but cannot get out because of what other people will say and think. And there are many more of ‘those’.

If you look back at your life, you will see that there was one person who was really special to you in your life and that person is not there anymore as the years passed by. If you look carefully you will realize that the person was you yourself. It was you and your innocence that made life so beautiful. Gone are the times when you thought that your parents were the best parents in the world apart from your dad being the most handsome and your mum the most beautiful. Gone are the times when you had the best family, the best uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparents and friends. Gone are the times when you thought that even if you moved to a better house you would like the same neighbors to come along there as well. Gone are the times when on a deserted road you looked at a stranger and were happy that there was another person there.

The world remained the same. We changed. Our outlook changed. Those days we had no set principles but we followed them nonetheless. Now we have principles that we talk about and harp about but we do not follow them and even if we do we bend them every once in a while. Our problem is our reflective self. We hold others to standards that we ourselves cannot live by. That is the hypocrisy of our lives. We never lie, but we just do not speak the truth either. I know of a person who told me that she had buried the hatchet; she did not mention that she buried it in my back.

Reflect Yourself.

Real Heroes

I have been disappointed with the audio visual journalism in India in recent times. Sensationalism, glorification, and making mountains of mole hills have been the trends. Some of them are such utter nonsense I can’t believe that there are actually people who view this shit and think its news.

I was appalled at the commercialism during the whole Mumbai terror attack by all the leading channels. If you think that making someone cry on television and use his sorrow to up TRP is business, I do not want to live in that part of the world anymore. I wish someone had done this to the very people who presented this nonsense at the loss of a loved one and I would like to see how much they enjoyed being on TV then. Leeches. God knows. Some of them may actually do just that and invite the whole world to come view their mother’s funeral if it brings in the moolah.

Just when you think everything is lost and we have no hope you switch on the TV and surf through the mindless crap and you come across a news channel that’s airing ‘Real Heroes’. Great I thought – another award function for the film stars who are nothing but stars [big balls of gas]. I do not know what prompted us to linger on that channel, maybe the presence of Aamir Khan, but it was a pleasant shock. They were actually recognizing the efforts of 24 heroes from real life who have done great deeds that have gone unnoticed till date.

Nisheeth Mehta 80% of whose workforce consists of employees who are disabled. Mohamed Sharif who gives abandoned dead bodies a dignified burial after bearing the trauma of seeing his son been buried as an unidentified body. IIT graduates who have returned to the village to give back what he has learned and resisting the lure of the big bucks. A vegetable seller, who let nothing stand in her way of setting up a multi-specialty hospital, Zaputou Angami who polished shoes and washed utensils to raise money for setting up a home for the destitute children in Nagaland, a fruit seller who set up a primary school in his village, a 16 year old boy who set up a school at the age of 9 and now provides free education to nearly 600 students. [these are just a few of the people I remember]

It was so overwhelming that tears welled up in my eyes and everyone with me who was watching this. Here we have such easy lives and yet we complain about the cost of living, the living conditions, the rents, the government and every goddamn thing and we have forgotten to thank God for our blessings and all that we have. We do absolutely nothing for others such is our life. You do one good deed and gloat about it for the next five months. Such is our shallowness. Where we see disability others see ability, where we see poverty others see an opportunity, where we see things gone astray others see a chance to rectify it. They bring to light the triviality of our existence. [Me included]

I sincerely hope that these people are elected to their constituencies as independents and they get a chance to do for their region what the politicians have failed to do in all these years. There is so much inspiration to be gained by them. I think CNN – IBN have done a commendable job with the Real Heroes project and I would like to put my hands together for a news channel after a really long time.

WRITING

I embarked on a journey to express myself through prose and poetry as a kid. I was never great at telling people what I felt about them or what I felt in general. So I took the help of writing down my thoughts. I remember writing poems in school and very soon half of the guys were approaching me to write poems on their behalf to their beloved. It was good fun because that way I figured out who is chasing whom and sometimes I have counted up to 20 + guys after the same lass. Now since I didn’t know too much about these women except that they studied with me in the same class you can imagine that she must have received a few poems from her admirers which were not so different from each other.

Now if you think that writing is easy business you are mistaken. Everyone likes to have had written but no one really likes to write. A person who composes a message or story in the form of text is generally known as a writer or an author. But I do know what to call myself because I am none of them. I am no poet either just because my lines rhyme.

The important thing about writing is that you do not play to the galleries but at the same time be open to suggestions that people give about your style and content. Now there are those who tell me that I don’t write as frequently as I used to. Now what do I tell them – it’s the damn recession.

Writing to me is more about an escape, an expression and a creation. A creation of a new world, where I reign supreme, where my word has value more than others. Innovating upon words of George Orwell I say – “when I write I am more equal than others.”

Thank you, Tejjal and thank you Perri.

Controversy Land

Barber Blabber

I remember going to the barber as kid for my haircuts. It used to be a dreadful experience because I loved growing my hair long. I guess Amitabh Bachchan was my idol and hence the fascination for long hair. But dad used to make sure that the experience was a pleasant and used to buy me a bar of 5 star later to compensate for the ‘hair loss’. I wonder if I do return to that saloon would it be offensive to call my barber a ‘barber’. Would I be sued for calling him that? It’s ridiculous. Billu Barber was changed to Billu because barber is a derogatory word. Its there in the damn Oxford dictionary. It’s a legal term.

Now you will tell me I cannot call a plumber a plumber and a carpenter a carpenter. So are these people to be called basin stylist and wood designer respectively?


Kutte, Kaminay

This is my favorite dialogue as far as Dharmendra is concerned where he goes, “Kutte, Kaminay, Mein tera khoon pi jaunga.” [Dog, Rascal, I will drink your blood] I think anyone who imitates him will always begin with this dialogue. And its never considered bad or rude or derogatory or an expletive. In fact it’s funny when we use it. And yet after slumdog millionaire was out and became a hit people had an objection to the word “Slumdog” because it has the word ‘dog’ in it. Really? And what do you think Dharampaji was saying. Maybe the breed of dog is important as well. I guess he was talking about the nice German Sheppard’s while Danny Boyle was talking about the Mongrels.


Can’t Touch This

Delhi 6 had Divya Dutta play an untouchable and there was uproar over that saying the term they used was inappropriate. So what do you call her then? Or should be not call her at all? Maybe they should have used M.C. Hammers – ‘cant touch this’ as the theme song for her every time she was on screen, as that would probably give the hint that she is one.


Funny Guys

I recently read that Hindu activists allegedly opposed erecting a statue of comedian Charlie Chaplin as part of props on a local beach for a film in Bangalore, because the actor was a Christian. Apparently the land on which the statue was to be installed belonged to a Hindu temple and the statue would hurt Hindu sentiments. If that’s the rule then ban all SRK, Aamir Khan’s, Salman Khan’s, Saif, Irrfan and John Abraham movies as well unless of course they convert. Then again the “some” Sena [just too many of them floating around with problems to keep track of] is against conversion so that would be a problem as well. Hence we are stuck. Idiots.


Problem

The problem is that people are really jobless and have nothing to do. I guess all this talk of us never attacking another nation and being a peaceful state is getting to the people. They want to fight. They want the limelight. They want to be heard and want to be in the news. No one is giving them their 2 minutes of fame without a protest or controversy.



Solution

There is no point in media not giving the coverage because they will get more desperate and take bigger measures to ensure being in the news. I did the right thing thanks to my foresight and vision. I sent my brother to study law and he is the brightest in the family. I get all my articles, speeches, etc etc checked and verified from him before I make them public and if someone does sue he will make sure that the case goes on for at least 20 years or so.

If only these ‘jobless’ [not people without jobs but people without anything worthwhile to do] people had protested against corruption, child marriages, dowry, injustice or even joined the armed forces to take on enemies within and outside we would be living in a better place.

CONSPIRACY THEORY

My take on the whole Sri Lankan cricket players being attacked in Pakistan is bound to stir a controversy. I think BCCI is behind the whole attack. After a word with the Indian captain they must have realized that Ajantha Mendis is a real threat to our chances at the T20 world cup this year. Our players have failed to read him, and as Willy put it – we make Mendis look ‘Tremendous’. And Pakistan we just managed to beat last time thanks to India’s dancing cricketer – Sreesanth who held on to the catch leading to the confirmation of the fact that there is a Mallu at every corner of the earth.

So they decided to kill two birds with one stone or in this case a few bullets. They set up an attack on the Lankan team while in Pak and put the whole blame on them. So now Pak will be banned from further cricket, India will get sole rights to the one day World cup, Mendis will either quit the game or never be the same player again. One can imagine the comments and the sounds the Indian batsmen at the crease will make when he comes on to bowl. “See there. That guy has a gun.” Finished. Our man is already pissing in his pants remembering the attack. And when we are bowling the slip cordon imitates sounds of the blasts and gun firing. The batsmen as a result is out hit wicket. He cant wait to get back to the safety of the dressing room.

India wins the next world cup. Both T20 and the ODI. Checkmate.


NOTE: All views mentioned above are just speculative and are my personal views. Please take them seriously because I am joking. And dare not think of suing me for defamation. My brother is studying Law and he quite good at it.

Reasons Men Love Football Fridaze

• Everyone has a chance to “score” on a Friday morning [I scored twice last week]

• You get a chance to play with full sized balls

• You can juggle them and others will not have a problem sharing with you

• For the guys on the other side of the fence – you get a chance to get physical with 21 other guys

• You can whack a guy on the butt after he scores and it wont be considered gay

• You get to be the boss of you for a change [we all know who is the boss at home]

• You can yell, "put it in, put it in!" and that too in public and no one will raise an eyebrow. [this actually happened]

• You can shout "Fall back. We need MEN! and get away with that too. [this actually happened too]

My "Will" Be Done

I have to go Sky Diving on Saturday. Now I am not sure how this goes, but just in case it goes the wrong way I think it’s wise to write down my will. Now where do I start from?

Ok. Sis, you get all my letters, mails and the white and black money [more liabilities than assets, mind you]. It is your job to distribute the money among the other siblings as you deem fit. [No one knows about my Swiss bank accounts so deal with them once things settle down.] I also leave you my three packets of Maggi since I know it’s the meal you make best till date. [I have a recipe book somewhere and if you find it, it’s yours to keep.]

Den, as the eldest boy, you get the first pick of all my houses and villas clothes, shoes, accessories, hair gels, shampoos, my three chains, hair bands etc. Also I leave my beloved bed from IKEA to you. Under the bed you will find my diary that has all my secrets on how I managed to charm so many women. My pick up lines, list of compliments, observations and the gory details of my numerous flings are engraved in that manuscript.

Ynot, considering your love for Gizmo's you get my mobile, laptop, i- pod and other appliances that I have. I also leave my Giant pencil to you which will come in handy if you have to write your will. Please note that the laptop is already running slow, so do not save any more files on this one without deleting some or saving it elsewhere.

Nel, I leave you all my board games - Taboo, Pictionary, Junior Pictionary, Scrabble, Cranium, Scotland Yard, Monopoly, and Trivial Pursuit. I know you have not played most of them and this will be of real help to you as you can always take the game and go away if you losing. It’s a ploy I used a lot.

Baby, as the youngest you will get what you always got from us - Hand me downs and leftovers. But considering the career you have chosen I leave you all my speeches, my boss speeches, my colleagues speeches, my poems, work folio, fantasy football team, fantasy cricket team, fantasy euro team, my football, my cricket bat, my tennis racquet, three hard tennis balls, my habit of playing with people ears and Nels baby photos which I flicked [he does not know they exist and he still thinks we adopted him].

Guys’, one last request. I have booked plane tickets for each of you to various locations, made hotel bookings and have sealed envelopes awaiting you at each hotel. Photos and Videos of me with several of my girlfriends, Lindsay, Paris, Scarlett, Megan, Jessica, Meg, Angelina, Cameron, Katrina and others are not in my possession and could cause harm to my reputation long after I am gone. I have made these booking so that you can go to these people and retrieve what actually belongs to me and I request you to bury them in my grave at my first death anniversary. [yes I expect you to remember it]

Love

Yours truly,

PS: In case I make it back alive this document is null and void and you can start paying me back all the money I lent you guys.

Cricket Controversies - Neil Bloom vs Brad Haddin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBv4gq72p4M

I was watching the video of the Neil Bloom dismissal in the Australia vs. New Zealand and following the comments made by both sides. After watching it closely it is very clear that he was not out and that Haddin had got the bails to be displaced with his gloves rather than the ball dislodging them.

I thought that Haddin should have indicated to the umpires that he had gotten the bails dislodged if it was done unintentionally. First of all his hands were in front of the stumps and then he collected the ball and his gloves displaced the bails. Given the stage the match was at, that decision could have well changed the result of the game. Its very poor sportsmanship by the Aussies and I think Ponting should have reviewed this before making the statement he did against Vettori. "We'll wait and see. If [a replay] does show anything that Brad is in the clear, I'll certainly be letting Daniel know about it. It's probably worth Haddin having a chat to him as well. He's basically had a bit of a crack at Haddin's make-up."

Haddin then had the cheek to call Vettori’s comment that he was disappointed that Haddin did not make an effort to call back Neil Bloom as poor and low. I hope this is not an indication of sportsmanship of the Aussies in times to come.

Football Fridaze

Its amazing how something that is seemingly unimportant like a soccer game can be the motivation for a whole week. For those wondering about what I am talking about it’s the Friday morning game of soccer that we play.

For once in the week you do not have to drag yourself out of bed and you actually get up much before the alarm goes off and lie awake waiting for it to ring so that you can get on with it. You wear your jersey, shorts, stocking and studs and make off for the venue. Meet everyone outside at the gate, share a few jokes, catch up on what happened during the week, the conditions in Dubai, the sports scene worldwide, comment on the latecomers, and make our way to the pitch. The warm up is slow and deliberate and while that is happening two of the regulars will pick teams. There is a usual argument on which team will wear the bibs and the game begins.

Its fast, its fun, its serious, its relaxed and all of it rolled into one. Started by a few of which only a handful remain its moved on from the 5 on 5’s to become a full fledged 11 a side game. The quality of players is excellent with most having played soccer at some level, including the national level and the ethnic mix really makes the game very diverse in terms of style. Some are really brilliant at the game, some lazy and most above average. I used to be one of the youngest till very recently and trust me I am not too young but the energy of those who are beyond their prime is simply wow. I’d give anything to have that speed at stamina at that age.

Its just 2 – 3 hours of a game but it really charges you up and gears you for the next week to come with all its challenges and headaches.