Euphemism ???

Epilogue

After my last Blog on the Cricket WC, I decided I would leave the job to the experts like Rajan Bala & Harsha Bhogle, I better be doing what I am best at. Retrospection – reflection of thoughts, theories of life, what’s right & what’s wrong. The idea of throwing your thoughts open on a blog, sounds as gamble to most people, but I have to admit that my most of blogger friends whom I know personally have caught me by surprise with their unique thoughts and certain aspects of life, which we probably would never have discussed face to face.

Euphemism !!! don’t get carried away by the title of the blog, I am not a MA in Literature or Phd in English.


“Honesty is good, but Euphemism was invented for a reason” sounds a philosophical quote by some great individual, not quite, one of my friends from Graduation had penned it for me on my slambook (yeah may sound silly now, but I managed to capture all those Quotes in one of those books). To be honest it didn’t make much sense to me, but then I would like to borrow a Quote from my friend Gajanan who said “You don’t need a book titled ‘1 million copies sold’ to teach you something, a small child can teach you"

For people who have been wondering WTF is Euphemism, I had to google it when I heard it from the first time.

Euphemism

defination: A euphemism is an expression intended by the speaker to be less offensive, disturbing, or troubling to the listener than the word or phrase it replaces, or in the case of doublespeak to make it less troublesome for the speaker.

Antonyms
dysphemism - offensive or merely humorously.
cacophemism - sense of something deliberately offensive.
power word - used mainly in arguments to make a point seem more correct.

Personally I come across as a very straight forward person who is brutally honest, (thought a few people would out rightly deny my claims) and I was very proud of the way I speak to people. I always believed – A hidden truth can cause more damage than a lie.

The key to being successfully is not just Hardwork, dedication, passion or smartwork. Its about knowing where you stand & where you start off from. (sounds philosophical ???)

I always have great respect for people who are realistic in their approach towards life. And I Love making people realize where they stand (yeah as if God has sent me on this planet just for this). So with a great sense of pride I used to criticize people as if it was my birthright to do so. It has gone well with a few people and not so well with others.

I regret occasionally having said something or done something in past, in the name of straightforwardness I have ended up insulting people. Had recieved a fair share of reverse criticism

I didn’t know what politically correct statements were. I screwed up my first job because I didn’t know how to make ‘politically correct’ statements and ended up leaving it in 10 months. Doesn’t mean I have changed much but I have definitely realized the value of sweet talk, glorifying the work you do.

“Truth is always Harsh” & “You learn your lessons the tougher way” may have been significant sayings, which are just confined to books, calenders and desktop wallpapers, but they hold no good in today’s world.

Euphemism has a long way to go…. Let me rephrase it.
Adapt Euphemism If you want to go a looooong way !

There is thin line of difference between Euphemism & Sarcasm, and that’s where I seem to be hanging now !!!

PS: The opinions or views mentioned by the author in this article are definitely influenced by occasional madness/frustration that normally lead to occasional states of retrospection. The readers are hereby warned not to pass funny comments or ridicule the author.

Passion or Compassion???

Epilogue

After my disastrous/embarrassing last post, which failed to evoke any kind of criticism/appreciation, I have learnt a lesson that there is no point in posting a blog ‘just for the heck of posting one’. Every time I run out of ideas I feeling like giving up blogging, but instantaneously lighting strikes and end up penning down my thoughts. Having been ridiculed for my pathetic sense of humor, I have taken a firm decision to exclude humour from my (atleast next couple of) blogs. It’s always a big gamble to write on something as monotonous as cricket. But you sometimes do things for yourself.

Its been a while since India has been Knocked out of the ICC Cricket world cup 2007, which has evoked ire, criticism, sarcasm, dozens of forwards, a couple of commercials; few stupid ones and few humorous ones.

But the commercial that did make some sense was the “Bajaj – Avenger” one.

IND 191 All out
“I forgive the batsman”

BAN 195/5
“I forgive the bowlers”

Indian Team Returns Home
“I forgive the team”

The reason the advertisement was more apt, because we Indians come across as the most forgiving people which was rightly portrayed. (Excluding the last part of the commercial)

After the Post Mortem analysis being done by Ex-Cricketers, TV anchors, BCCI, paanwalas, milkman, the next door uncle who doesn’t know the difference between a night-watchman and a pinch-hitter. Here I come up with my own Post-Mortem report, just because I am an Indian (I am NOT being sarcastic here) and it is so typical of an Indian to have an opinion on any damn issue, in the name of democracy.

As the blame game begins our Ex-Coach - Greg Chappell is among the first people to be victimized, which seems very normal to most people, but once you get into the nitty gritties it is a different story altogether.

So all those people who strongly feel Greg Chappell is to be held responsible … read on….

What was the role/responsibility of Greg Chapel as a coach?

Greg teaching

1) Sachin how to bat
2) Harbhajan how to bowl a doosra
3) Pathan how to bowl the slower one
4) Yuvraj how to dive

The very thought of teaching a maestro who has scored 20,000 International on how to bat sounds silly. It is very obvious that Greg had a different role to play.

The need was/is for a Motivational & Inspirational Individual who played cricket at the highest level. Someone who will not get intimated by the Cricketer’s Demi-God Status and will go to any extent to maintain professionalism and motivate people and get the best out of them. Indians Lack the killer instinct in them (Indians here refers to you and me each one of the billion people)

If Greg has done that or not is a debatable issue, as there is scope for improvement always. But he is not to be blamed for the debacle for sure

I know we are a country of 1 Billion people, but there is No Indian who is fit enough to do this job, because we Indians are basically more of Compassionate people rather than passionate ones.

Talking about passion many such incidents run through my mind, but let me quote this one incident …… "An Indian in Japan standing all alone in the Bus Stop watches a guy zoom past him on a Honda Bike, moments later he takes a U turn comes all the way and parks his bike, he notices a Honda Logo dangling on one of the Honda bikes parked close-by, in a jiffy removes his tool-kit, and starts mending the Logo, the confused Indian asks him if he owns the bike…”I work for HONDA, I cannot see my Company’s Logo dangling upside down” was the reply from the Japanese."

That little incident might have given you goose bumps for a minute, and you quickly say “It just cannot happen in India” and would ridicule the entire episode.

If Greg Chappell holds Virender Shewag’s collar for playing a rash shot at a crucial stage in a match its nothing else but passion towards the game, passion for his job, the passion for winning. That’s the AUSSIE way of doing it. An Indian coach in Greg’s place would have been show compassion instead of passion, even if he had some passion along with compassion he would surely have been intimated by the star status of the individuals in the team.

Indians always come across the most kind-hearted, caring, individuals who spread the message of goodwill, humanity, love, warmth, empathy compared to people from the other parts of the world. It is this very attitude that ties down us making us emotional Individuals who are more compassionate towards fellow beings.

It would be the same people who burnt effigies of cricketers who would rush home early to catch the highlights of the Ind-Ban Series in about a few weeks time.

The point here I am trying to make is;

1) When you have given the authoritative control to an Individual whose nationality is not an Indian, who has put India’s interests ahead of his personal interests and is proud to wear the Indian tricolor on his apparel you better start treating him as an insider and not as an Aussie.

2) Greg has every right to question the attitude of the Indian cricketers, be it Sachin or be it Dravid. When was the last time Sachin scored a Century in the Second Innings of an ODI? The 20,000 runs he has scored may prove the point that he has Talent, but the debate is about his commitment, not his talent.

3) Questioning someone’s attitude doesn’t mean he has to be dropped from the Indian Team. If Sachin has to be dropped, find a suitable replacement someone as talented as him. Only when talents are on par commitment would come into the picture.

4) Easier said than done. Applies to all Ex-Cricketers who always failed to realize that India was never one of the Top Ranked teams over the last century.

5) Everytime we loose a series, we all wake up and talk about the pitches in India, Cricket at the grass root levels, which is true. However none of these things are the reason behind India’s debacle in the Caribbean. Nobody can teamPut bat to ball !!

It is very difficult to balance between two opposite adjectives called Passion and Compassion.

If you are Compassionate - the passionate ones blame you for all the debacles.

If you are Passionate - compassionate people will label you as shrewd.

You can choose to be compassionate or passionate, you cannot force others to choose !!

DON'T BE NICE - BE REAL !!

ps: Now don't ask me which category i fall into

Crisis @ Institution of Marriage

Epilogue

Its been about a month and a half, since my last blog update . I had almost given up the idea of blogging for many reasons, and had began cursing Ranjan (my friend who inspired me to take up blogging). Since my valentine Blog, I had several ideas(My trip to the Taj, India's Dismal show in the Caribbean, Formula 1 without Schumacher) which fortunately/unfortunately couldn't be penned down. I was probably waiting for some kind of wake-up call, but all it took was a quarter dozen people (yeah if your maths is good, 3 is the number) forcing me to re-think. I had to re-think on my style of writing cause it was more humorous (at-least to me), so for the fear of being type-casted as an not so serious writer. So here i come up with a very serious and sober blog.
People who have been close to me must have burst out in laughter, the moment i said marriage, they would associate me with all the fake profiles on BharatMatrimony, ShaadiTimes & Shaadipoint. (I repeat i am not here to ridicule marriage) Infact i myself was not convinced that i should make an attempt, but if K-Jo can make KANK, then anybody on this planet can talk anything !! Fun apart this has been on my mind for some time now (No, No Not marriage, but a post on marriage), if you have been a regular reader of my blogs (i know you wouldn't make the same mistake twice) you would have noticed i had promised to come up with this sometime back. Yeah as if i keep up all my promises.

Its been about a year since i have passed out of SCIT, and our yahoogroups have been flooded with Marriage Invitations, about a dozen have changed their status to 'married' on orkut and another dozen to 'committed' since there is no status called 'genuinely committed'. I still have NO STATUS, just to keep people interested/Guessing and confused. Amidst of all this, One of my close friends from graduation who also happened to be the class topper, got married when he was 23 and is has now turned a proud papa at 24 (April, 2007).

The right age for marriage has up quite a debatable issue today. I have know people who have been struggling to get married in their early 30's and also people who have been forced to get married in their early twenties, people who surrendered tamely, people who turned rebellious, people who preferred their parents happiness over their own, people who felt they are the architects of their own future. With due respects to all kind of people, the point here is NOT, how you get married ? or whom you get married to ? its "When to get married ??"

Graduation at the age of 21, a Masters degree at 24, Then begins the problem "I am too young for marriage", "I need more time to settle down", "I am not matured", "Need to stabilize my professional Career", "Need to earn more money" blah blah blah..... Most guys FAIL to realize when their hairs have turned gray or for that matter have gone bald, not until the kid next door starts calling you an Uncle.. (you would struggle to realize when u transformed from a Cool Dude to an Uncle). Every Marriage ceremony I attend i hear a bunch of youngsters(sometimes i am one of them) gossiping, "its high time he got married", "look at his tummy", but it is the same bunch of youngsters who go on to make the same mistake.

For people who are tooo serious about their careers, it is high time they realize that "Settling down in your career" happens at 60 NOT 30. The sooner you get married the more responsible you become, the quicker you learn to balance your professional and personal life. Career cannot wait, neither can Marriage !! Marriage is luxury which we all can afford - don't wait for it become a necessity/formality. Especially if you are a die hard romantic then let me tell you, romance comes to a screeching halt at 30-32.

There are no age constraints for Love, but Romance has a different meaning at 26 and at 32.

Easier said than one. Life is no less than a roller-coaster ride with ups and downs. We don't live in an ideal world with ideal people. Circumstances are life's biggest obstacles. Not everyone has the luxury of choosing when and whom to get married. Having talked about the right age for marriage. Not marrying at the right age is not the end of everything. I know intellectual people who gave up a career and got married early in life, who don't regret their decision.

Its all about setting your priorities right career, marriage or parents !!! There is nothing called a right or perfect decision. Its always your decision !!

On the personal front, having written so much about marriage, i will have to confess that the idea of marriage even though 4 years away, sounds equally funny to me. So I keep convincing myself to get ready for marriage, and keep telling my friends "I am getting married next year". so that they constantly keep reminding, keep pushing me, and i have been quite successful with it.

"My advice to you is get married: if you find a good wife you'll be happy; if not, you'll become a philosopher." - Socrates.


PS: The views expressed in this article are based on most sections of people in the southern part of India, where people get married pretty late compared to the Northen counterparts. The reason behind this. i can actually come up with a book on that.