Good one -- felt like sharing

Once, while interviewing Rahul Dravid, I asked him what it felt like to know that a billion people go to bed happy or sad depending on how Team India played that day. I’ve always regarded Dravid as a very intelligent, articulate person, and his answer that day only enhanced my opinion of him.

“Everyone is born with a special skill,’’ he replied. ``In my case, it happens to be hitting a ball with a piece of wood. Others have skills that enable them to become doctors, or teachers, or scientists. Personally, I’ve always felt that it’s these people who really deserve to be celebrities, not cricketers like me.”

It was an interesting insight, and I was reminded of it the other day while seeing an Intel ad, taglined ‘Our superstars are different from yours’. You know, the one which has a middle-aged man whom you and I would probably walk past in the street without giving a second look. In the ad, he’s evoking the kind of hysteria normally reserved for rock stars. It turns out that he’s a co-creator of USB (Universal Series Bus).

The ad didn’t say it in so many words, but I think it was making an important point: Bollywood stars and sportspersons entertain us, but they don’t really change our lives in any significant way. So just why are we so awed by them, rather than by people who actually make an impact on our lives, without us even realizing it?

I love playing, watching and reading about cricket as much as any Indian. But I do think that as a nation, we lack perspective about it. If we want to feel national pride, why not about something like say, the launch of Chandrayaan, rather than winning a cricket match? If we have to feel dejected, why not about the maternal mortality rate, or our low literacy levels, rather than losing a match?

I hope India sweeps four matches on the trot and retains the T20 World Cup. But if it doesn’t, it won’t be a national catastrophe, so let’s not act like it’s one.

During my career, I’ve reported from battle zones, and I’ve huddled in bunkers while shells have whizzed around. I know a little about life-and-death situations. Believe me, a cricket match is not one of them. Let’s not inflict unnecessary emotional atyachar on Team India and ourselves by making it seem as if they’re fighting a war on our behalf. They aren’t.

So, let our team have a great time playing the sport they love, without fear or undue pressure. And let us have a good time watching them. If we win, great. If we lose, well, let’s appreciate the efforts of the other team and look ahead; our day will come again. As Sachin once told Sidhu during an India-Pakistan match, “tension mat le yaar”.

Beautiful Words

Things turn out the best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out. - John Wooden

Success is a journey, not a destination. - Ben Sweetland

Some of us might find happiness if we quit struggling so desperately for it. - William Feather

Do not expect much from others and get disappointed, but more importantly do not disappoint those who expect a little from you.

Beautiful Quotes by great people

A loving heart is the truest wisdom. - Charles Dickens

There are no great people in this world, only great challenges which ordinary people rise to meet. - William Frederick Halsey, Jr.

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. - Les Brown

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.
Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. - Thoreau

Awesome Quotes - By Great People

Anger makes you smaller while forgiveness forces you to grow beyond what you were!

He who looks always flaws in others,actually carry a big flaw in himself!
"dont always embarrass other by showing flaws always....instead you can advice sensibly! "

You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand. - Woodrow Wilson

That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet. - Emily Dickinson

Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential.
Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do. - Pope John XXIII

Awesome Words

No one can avoid love...when it comes, there is no way except falling in it..

Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.

Keep your head and your heart in the right direction and you don't have to worry about the feet .

Men want to be needed, and women need to be wanted.

Time is a great Architect...

Thoughts of the Day - Good Quotes

We are all responsible for our own actions...

The sign of maturing is not when we start saying big things but actually it is when we start understanding small things.

Be passionate about everything you do.

You know how to give , You know how to forgive."A giving person is a forgiving person..:)"

Failure is an event, "never a person."