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[Log 17: 2004] More and more people these days are following cricket. Ever since World Cup 2003 in South Africa, there has been a renewed interest in the sport not just for me, but also for many here in America. Of course it is partly due to the Indian team doing so well, but that's the things that inspire us. I watched many of those World Cup matches thinking cricket was my favorite sport and I wanted to play it. But to me, it now has a developed respect. I not only want to play semi-professionally, but also I want to promote it to other regions of the world (like the U.S.). Before I went out to meet my Cricket Club members (at NNHS) one day, I talked to a former teacher of mine. He said to me, "Did you know, cricket is going to be a regular IHSA sport?" Whether his facts were true or not I don't know, but there was this mixed feeling inside me. It just so happened that the last year I was at NNHS, a lot of people began showing interest in cricket. Why not earlier, so I could've played?? Well anyway, the better feeling was that cricket was being promoted. Brian came running up to me one day, and he said, "One of my teachers told me that they had this special on cricket on ESPN last night." This was going great, I thought. Hopefully cricket is as popular here in the U.S. as it is not too far off in the West Indies. One day, I was in my doctors office waiting for my appointment. I picked up the latest Sports Illustrated magazine and began skimming the contents, when I stumbled across a huge article on the India vs. Pakistan series (2004). It included great pictures from Pakistan. It was very exciting. I'm going to college next year, and I know that it has many cricket leagues. Hopefully, they are college sponsored and that we get to play professionally. There is one thing about dreams that I've learned...not to let them go. Links: FA Cricket | India vs. Pak 2004
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| Log Archive 2004
[Log 16: Tuesday, March 16th, 2004] It has been more months than one can remember, but last summer was when it happened. It ended that is. Jabali left us forever. Here is a recollection of what might've been going through his mind as he got into the airplane and sped off to the land that he lauded so much...well before he went there anyway. Gripped with anticipation, questions on his mind, Jabali looks around the airport. There is his mother and Ananya anxiously making sure of the ticket and boarding information. Ananya can't wait to get back home. The rising sun on his back, the cow mooing distantly, the fields glistening in the orange hue. Lizards zip across harmlessly. Ananya is holding his hands up and letting the sun beat down on him. It's a dream, but not a unbelievably dream. His mother is arguing with Jabali, who wants her to show him his ticket. She tells him that she doesn't want to lose it and will safeguard it for him. Through her mind, she is very satisfied thinking that her sons will get a better education, and will also learn respect. Jabali is prowling near the gate, looking outside at the brightly lit airport. The time has come and accordingly, the flight leaves. Over oceans and across seas, his flight lands in Bangalore. Then the future cloudy. Bangalore is hot and humid, but the Siddamsetti family is far from knowing what's to become of them. Jabali has left nigh 9 months ago, but news of his coming back is ever so imminent. It all rests on his experiences in India that will determine his relationships here. There are many questions still to be answered, and many more to be asked. His arrival will be duly noted, his stay will be less than comfortable, more uncomfortable for the people who can only imagine what Jabali used to be like. We are all haunted by the past, and still fear the future.
[Log 15: Saturday,
February 28, 2004] Sending two rovers to Mars certainly raised hopes for this newest plan (crazy plan I call it) to send a vessel into space and have it land a small probe on a moving comet! This seems tough even as I describe the mission, but the details involved are even mind numbing. The European Space Agency (ESA) will have launched this space vessel. It has been delayed twice because of weather and technical difficulties.
The BBC has an excellent animation guide of
the path this vessel will take through space
*The images are a copyright of the BBC and their respective photographers. I have simply copied them to advertise the BBC's story.
[Log 14: Thursday,
January 29, 2004] Today, as I strode to my swimming practice, I was half hoping to miss practice because of this damned cough and stuffy nose. But I got to experience something more. I walked up to Mr. Raab (our varsity swimming coach), and explained to him my sickness. After a few jokes about how my germs would infect him and that I should stay away, I took a seat on the empty bleachers. There was a team meeting in order for today, and like everyone else, I thought it would be any ordinary team meeting - asking for a 'better' effort in the next meet or whatever. But rather a somber Mr. Raab stood in front of our group. His large pot belly (and please don't take the word "pot" lightly) was protruding beyond the reach of his arms. This time though, it was his face I paid more attention to as he choked while saying, "Guys, I'm retiring from teaching this year and coaching the boys swim team." He was uncontrollably choking as he gasped the few words he had to say. What hit me the hardest was when he said the following words: "I have not had a Christmas vacation with my family for over 30 years...I didn't want to tell you I was retiring at the beginning of the season because it was never about me. It has always been about you....I don't carry this team, you do...I don't want you to think that I've abandoned because I haven't. I will always be here for you." At this point, Mr. Raab just had to let it out and he did. As always, I have thought the diving coach Mazz to be very considerate. Mazz stepped forward and consoled a bawling Mr. Raab. Some people still claim that he is a racist asshole, and I do have to agree with them. Sometimes, Mr. Raab can be your worst nightmare. But I highly discourage judging a person solely on the basis of what he said or did once or twice (unless its a matter of international security - which it's not). So, just give him the respect he deserves.
[Log 13: Saturday,
January 09, 2004] "Delegates, please take your seats. Now, roll call will be called," came a soothing feminine voice over the microphone. All people scrambled to their seats and quiet was restored in a few minutes. Without pause, the Secretariat began listing countries for the roll call. Time passed with much excitement as we first discussed a resolution regarding some stuff. All I can say is that this activity boosted my grade and I don't care anymore. It could've been much better, but oh well. Lol...I must say that Nick kept saying the Mcdonald's slogan over and over and over again till Kaleba could bear it no longer. It went something like "Para pap pap paa, I'm lovin' it." Well you decide for yourself how many times you could say it before pissing someone off. For the material part of the MUN process, Pravin's resolution sucked so bad that Mother Teresa would have shed tears. Appropriately, it was about curbing world hunger, but if anyone read the resolution out loud, it said more like "I'm a retard and this is my bullshit work for which I'm getting extra credit." The argument lasted forever because the African states kept passing resolutions that would only benefit them (and this happens in the UN). Obviously, people thought it was best to include the entire world...blah blah. Sam up in that black room with the projector did a nice job with the microphones and such. I especially liked the cool projector on the stage. It was a overhead projector with a camera so you could see a persons hand moving on the screen. Anyway, the funniest moment came when Mo went up to the microphone representing Iran and said resoundingly, "We condone any terrorist acts." Knowing Mo, it was legitimate to think that he had made a genuine mistake. "Delegate, did you say you terrorism?" one delegate questioned. "Yes, yes I did, we condone it," replied Mo still convinced of his word usage. Thankfully, before Mo ruined his already duped reputation, Mr. Bedore interjected. "I believe the delegate misspoke and he means condemns." The last hour was spent in a lethargic fashion, with most people full to the brim with a nice lunch break. And of course, who could question the delegates starting some nuclear war if this was the real UN. Log Archive 2003 [Log 12: Tuesday, December
30,
2003] Since I was just sitting at my computer rotting away, I decided to write this log. I will talk about my swim meet at Naperville Central (my first one there) because it was so interesting. I knew I was going to be in the meet and so I took all my required material. Upon reaching there and going through a maze of bathrooms and hallways, I reached the deck of the pools. They were beautiful pools. One was from swimming, the 25 yard long, and the other for diving (about 20 ft by 20 ft and 13 feet deep). The odd thing was that the starting step was 2 feet off the ground. The only other meet I participated in had a step that was 4 inches off the ground. Well in any case, I decided to practice diving off before my actual race. I got up on the board and it slanted off towards the pool - a scary sight at first - and succumbing to it, I just did a cannonball. Surprisingly, that made me more confident and the next try I flew off the board and into the water with a belly flop, but it was definitely an improvement. Fitch tried helping me by showing me his dive (and so did two other people). But alas, time was wasted without me learning much. Time came for my race. I heaved myself up to the diving platform and got into position. "Mr. Starter" had his face buried in the microphone, and in less than ten seconds I had a smile on my face as I leaped into the air. To no avail, it was the largest belly flop...EVER! People told me how the coach and the referee high-fived each other after my dive. Well anyway, in the water, I was struggling to get my Speedo back on since it had slipped off in that belly flop. It got it on and began swimming as fast as I could. Upon getting out of the water, people came up to me to ask me if I was ok. I wasn't hurt so I looked at them in confusion. This was the end of a great day. I was a senior and so even though I was an atrocious part of the swim team, I was regarded with much respect, especially on Senior night. After the meet, the pizzas, and salads, all seniors had to give a speech (few words of 'wisdom'. My speech was as follows: I climbed up by the mic. and pulled it down to my face since Andrew Fitch (6'7") used it before me. That extracted some giggles out of the parent audience. Then I began. "You know, the water is cold, I have to wake up early, I'm a slow swimmer, and practices are hard. So, it is a living hell for me everyday (more laughter). "But...but the important thing is that I stay committed (I said this so that it wouldn't look like I was doing a stand up comedy routine). Committed to myself, because my health is more important than academics. Also, I've gotten to know many people that I would just see in the hallways. I have made a lot of friends and we have great coaches. I'm glad I joined the swim team and I look forward to enjoying the rest of the season as well." [Log 11: Friday, December 26,
2003] Writing: Well, since I promised that I would write about my Swadhayaya speech experience, I will keep to my word. The prompt for the speech was "Gita Challenge to the Battlefield, May Actions be Our Offering". To the majority of the people this topic was confusing to begin with, to the rest, they were lying to themselves about understanding it. It was later that I learned that this topic was so vague that it was supposed to be open for interpretation. The night before, I opened up word (which is now comparable to saying I took out my journal and began writing anything that came to mind - although I do contend that hand-written stuff is better). Well anyway, I read a bit about the first chapters of the Gita online, and in it, was a battle scene. Perhaps, it was a coincidence, but I doubted it, and used that battlefield as my literal interpretation. Then I connected that meaning to the problems (conflicts is a better word.. Ah! Choices!) faced in my life. Delivery: There were about ten people before me. The proctor there had given specific directions that anyone who had not prepared the speech will speak nevertheless. So, a few people spoke impromptu. Some of the impromptu speeches were pretty good, but others simply sucked ass. I remember a good-looking girl go up to the stage and start with the word, "like". From then on, I tuned out the speech (but that's just my ears, my eyes were wide open ;-). My heart wasn't racing, it never had been. This wasn't that big of a deal to me, it meant that I could write a speech about the Gita (whoo-hoo!). I did learn a few things I had never learned before about the Gita. I suddenly became interested in reading the whole version. Anyway, that wasn't what was going through my mind, but it was the question..."Is what I'm about to say, right? Should I change a few things? Or take out some really personal parts? I decided to leave all parts in as they were (I remembered that the proctor has said that personal interpretation counted more than literal explanation). My name was called, finally, and I got up, and walked up to the base of the stage, facing the audience spread out throughout the room. I was handed the microphone, I turned it on and began speaking. From speech class I'd learned well to keep eye contact and to speak at an understandable, calm rate. The only problem was that I couldn't efficiently turn over my note cards as well as hold the microphone. Well, as soon as I started the speech...I ended it. After a few seconds of lazy claps that I didn't bother to listen to, I went back to my seat. After all speeches, the judges explained the rubric for grading. I slapped my forehead. Had they told us the rubric beforehand, we would have known to address the name of the group leader, Dadaji. Well, in all, it was a good effort. AT LEAST I GAVE THE SPEECH...cough ahem...ANUBHAV! [Log 10: Sunday, November 16,
2003 12:11:02AM] Ok, well my inefficiency at work has yet again been quite apparent as I have been unable to do another of one of these activities. Disappointments are but a 'necessary evil' in our lives. If I wasn't disappointed, I don't think I could've done any better the next time. The 'this' I'm referring to is a speech I had to do for an extra-curricular activity. People made it seem like I had no choice, everyone would hate me. That I would be an outcast in society. The 'leader' also explained that we had to participate in this activity and people around him supported his avid fervor. Many reasons contribute to me not being able to give a speech. First of all, the prompt is so vague that 'right' and 'wrong' could mean anything. Second, the topic requires intensive research, something that in the time period of two weeks would be mere cramming information, that also for a 2-3 minute speech. I'm not critiquing the idea for the speech. I think it's a great way to motivate the teenagers of today and get them to think more, but I don't think if I am not able to do it, people should 'look down" upon me. It wasn't necessarily to the extent at which I make it seem, but certainly, at least least one of the people threatened me that people would be mad and everyone would start hating me, and nobody would talk to me. All for a competition, I asked myself? That ceased to make sense. Simply put, I just have too much work to think about this project, and I DO regret it. I wish I could use my time well (maybe instead of writing here, I could write my speech). Again, I question what I'm going to achieve from giving this speech. I understand its a competition and that I would have a chance of winning, but it also means that participation is voluntary and I should be able to 'pass' this opportunity at will. I do commend the people who used the 'everyone will hate you' idea to motivate me, and I thank them, but taking into consideration the voluminous amounts of work I have left to do and my procrastination at working, I better get back to work...
[Log 9: Tuesday, October 7, 2003]
First of all I would like to say that I'm sincerely enjoying my senior year despite the ridiculous amounts of work we have to put into SATs and ACTs, College applications, extracurricular activities, and on top of that our daily shit-load of homework. As a senior we've enjoyed to the full extent privileges such as open-campus lunch, senior parking, etc. Most of the people I know are taking hard courses their senior primarily to make a good impression on colleges. I've seen the most improvement in the number of extra-curricular activities people are doing, including myself. I have a club almost every night. Monday (Religious Roundtable), Tuesday (Scholastic Bowl), Wednesday (More scholastic bowl and Spectrum club in the morning), Thursday (Indian Student Association in the morning and Amnesty International), Friday gets whatever is left over. I have a feeling that senior year is going to breeze away like no other and even before we know it, we will have finished all our applications and GOTTEN ACCEPTED to a (any!) college.
[Log 8: Friday, July 4, 2003]
Yes, Happy Independence Day (USA) to you all. My summer is still going strong and yesterdays party at James's house was fun too, I guess. Now I volunteer at a local library three days a week, but not in July because of summer school. Speaking of which, it is boring as shit. But our teacher is funny...he makes jokes and is a sincere, pragmatic man. This log is not going to be that long. Just letting people know that it is good to lose weight (unless you're already 5% fat). OK, well I have work to do today!
[Log 7: Monday, June 16, 2003] This is one of my better weeks in a LOOONG TIME! Thank heavens school is over...I hate what that place has done to me over the last few weeks and I have complained enough about that in my previous log. So I will try to lighten things up. First off all, I would like to say that we have played cricket thrice in the space of a week, and that is amazing! The second day of cricket was much more interesting, but the first was much more intense, the third one was fun. On the first day, temperatures rose to about 75 degrees and the sun never disappeared for a second. It was just a practice session and we just pitched the ball and caught it. The second day was amazing, it was 5 girls against 4 guys and this time the temperatures rose to 85 degrees and the sun was relentless. I smacked a ball for a 6! The next ball crashed far into a tree! Then...I got out with an amazing diving catch by the bowler. Then we all played tennis. On the third day, there were only 6 people total to play but it was fun. People just hit around, joked, and Jason got a hang of it somehow.
[Log 6: Friday, May 30, 2003] This semester has landed me a hundred people behind in class rank and one of my lowest GPAs EVER! It has hampered my chances to enter a good college and I will probably never forgive myself for that. I still see some credence in Nick's plan of us being a chef. But I like our other idea better. On a phone conversation with Nick, we basically planned out our whole life, it was humorous, but sounded like a dim possibility. The plan included Nick being a chef and owning a cruise liner. Alex is the captain of the ship. Anu and I are the onboard doctors and Jabali and Adnaan are the ship engineers aboard. Our goal is to travel the world and the doctors will see to the poor peoples of, for example, Africa. It was a very interesting plan, and someday I want to visit the world (maybe not in this fashion), but some other way. THE WORST WEEK EVER! I can't help but saying this almost every weekend. "Oh, this was the worst week EVER!" I can remember the past four weeks I've said that for. Well this log is just a sample. Its me voicing out the thousands of little voices in the head screaming, "aaaah, Roho, worst week ever! worst ever!" I really can't do anything about those, but its really frustrating and what infuriates me is that we are in school two more weeks than my cousin in North Dakota who got out yesterday while I toiled preparing for my multiple presentations, projects, and tests. Here's my weekend plan: Week
Objectives: FINALS
SCHEDULE SAT exam - is on Saturday June 7, 2003!
[Log 5: Friday, May 23, 2003] It is the end of the year when like always I have a crush on someone at school and can't see them for the rest of the summer. It is quite sad, but yet again this year, the same thing has happened. I don't know why stuff like this doesn't happen earlier in the year so I can see that person at school. I can surely say though that this year is a bit different. It is not the usual crush I have...it seems to be something more...tangible. Its not my usual pathetic craze for some woman who I'll probably never talk to. I really love this person, not just for her eternal beauty, but also for her personality. But as of course with any situation, this "crush" was hindered. First, the news of me liking somebody else spread like a forest fire and it engulfed acres of people before I even knew the extent of the damage. It is unfortunate because I didn't want things to turn out this way, but alas, they did. Second, another person liked the same girl too. Now, what other way to make this into a Hindi movie. That's not all, I know she doesn't like me anymore. That is the worst thing you could ever know, but we all have to deal with it sometime in our life. The situation almost died except the fact that I can't just stop liking her all of a sudden. Its not a video game that I can just see the GAME OVER sign and just quit. Right now what I need most is some self-confidence, and my friends...I can't thank them enough for all their help. Without then, I would never have come this close to the girl I liked. And they still continue to support me and even after I gave hope, they still held on to it and persuaded me to do the same. So now, hopefully things turn out better than they have been for the past two weeks. [Log 4: Forgot the date] MATRIX RELOADED The ticket purchasing and distributing would become one of Adnaan's toughest jobs as he tried to make a list of people he wanted to take to Matrix. His plan and Alex's list were perfect until other people found out and begged for a ticket. Reluctantly, Adnaan began handing out the tickets and very soon it was chaos. Finally, everything was set and three different cars left for the Cinemark theater. Once there, the group got separated as Cinemark had decided to show Matrix in three different theaters and the movie tickets were incorrectly printed. In any case, half of the people saw a 6:15 show and the other half watched a 7:00PM show. I was part of the 6:15 group and afterwards had to wait an hour for the 7:00 group. As they were released, people started getting into arguments and critiqued the movie. One of the toughest critics with a personal reverence for the Matrix said the movie "could have been much much better." He is absolutely right, because frankly I thought the movie had some dull scenes. Neo fighting hundreds of agents was cool, but you could tell that at times it was fake and Neo was computer generated. Another disconcerting thing was the overuse of the slow-motion, every few seconds in that scene was a slow motion. But the theater erupted in laughter as Neo just flies away. "Neo had this aura of dumbassedness surrounding him." "The first 30 minutes were soo boring!" In fact, they included a massive human orgy and a 10 minute Neo and Trinity sex scene. I really failed to see the point of that, but Alex and Jon zealously defended their position. They claimed that the orgy scene showed the humanness of the people living in...whatever that place was called. There was also a lengthy discussion regarding the perverted Frenchie. Especially the cake discussion (if you don't want to know what the cake was, stop reading here and go to the next paragraph). Among the theories of what the cake did: it made the hot woman grow a penis; it was a laxative; it was some sort of a urinal dysfunction; it was an orgasm cake. The only clue leading to the correct answer, which I believe is the orgasm cake was the perverted nature of the Frenchman, nothing concluded the woman had an orgasm by just seeing the "light raw" go to her genitals. Another jacked up part after the movie is the "surprise" after the credits. The credits themselves are 10 minutes long and if you can live through that, you will see a 3 minutes trailer of the Matrix Revolutions (planned for release in November). The trailer is definitely not worth the 10 minute wait.
Outside the theater after the movie, there was a lengthy
discussion on us making a spoof movie and decide on who would be
what characters. So far, this is what it was come to: [Log 3: Sunday, May 11, 2003] ROUTINE We were cruising down East Ogden Avenue and the air was warm. Alex rolled up the windows and started the air conditioning. Somehow the subject of routine aroused, and my abhorrence or that word led me to defend my position. I said, "You know Alex, my alarm clock wakes me up in the morning at the same fucking time, and every fucking day I press the SNOOZE button so I get 5 more minutes of sleep (as if that's going to matter, but it does). I go to take a shower and every day, I take 15 minutes to complete it. Then that leaves me with only 7 fucking minutes to put my shoes on and eat before the bus comes. I always put my shoes on first, and then gobble up the same fucking type of cereal I've been eating for months. Then I leave my house at the same fucking time, and the I'm always a minute late for my bus. So I run after it, and since mine is the last stop, I don't have much of a choice where to sit. I see the same fucking people in my bus everyday and the same fucking traffic surrounds me.The same damned traffic lights turn red at the same fucking time, and I reach school at the time I do everyday." Then I added later, "At school, I always find out that I've homework (but this is really exciting). I go through the same classes, seeing the same teachers everyday and looking at the same clock in each class...I need a girlfriend or something." If you share these problems, please respond in the Anu-Baba and Science of Spirituality section. Click here> [Log 2: Wed, April 30, 2003] DAILY LIFE AND A FREE SCOOP Weather-wise, today was a gloomy day. It started with a bright spark of lightning this morning. The school day was fine. I did well in my quizzes today...but that won't be necessarily true for tomorrow or the day after or the day after. I am also hoping to receive me Gatsby paper soon and I hope I did well. Again, after school, Grasshopper and I went running. This time we went to Arrowhead park. It was much better than our run down to Washington St. and back. We also did abs. on the hill. But all that was lost as I greedily followed Anu in to Baskin Robins for a FREE scoop of ice cream. [Log 1: Sunday, April 27, 2003] RERUN OF A WEEKEND Today was a balmy day in the middle 60's and with plenty of sun. This morning, I surprisingly woke up at 7:30 thinking that it was 9. I scanned the daily newspaper and it was time to clean my room. It was a satisfying experience. Everyday I watched my room deteriorate day by day and it was chaos. I am still not done, but it was an experience all right. Music and cleaning my room. Now I am more comfortable in my own room! Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers was a drag as I accompanied my ecstatic sister. It's a good movie, don't get me wrong, but for a second time, it is a drag. I went running after the movie (so, yes I have a life) with buddy Grasshopper. It was a good 3 mile run and one lesson was learned: we were badly out of shape, panting not even a mile into the run. Also, the sun took its toll. I was feeling dizzy throughout the run and desperately wanted water. As I said during the run, "the sun is not strong but it is focal."
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