Bagan scores five; buries 34-year old ghost

Sunday's match between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan at the Salt Lake Stadium was to be a battle between two beleaguered teams, desperate for three points to bolster their dwindling fortunes in the I-league. In the end, though, there was more to it than just points and league table standings. The 5-3 scoreline in Mohun Bagan's favor itself created a record, as never before have so many goals been scored in a clash of the Maidan giants. Yet, the biggest talking point in the post-match frenzy was whether Bagan had finally exorcised the ghost of 1975!

The IFA Shield final on 30th sept., 1975 will forever be etched in the annals of Calcutta's football history and the minds of the countless fans of these two clubs. East Bengal had thrashed their rivals 5-0 that day, a scoreline that, for 34 years, has been the trump card for every EB supporter to win any argument on supremacy. But, all that has perhaps changed on Sunday. Bagan supporters now have a spring in their strides; they believe this victory has finally relieved them off the burden. Yet, East bengal fans think otherwise; even, past players from the two sides are divided in their opinions. Debate rages as to whether this latest win by Bagan could be compared to the one by East Bengal in 1975, which had turned out to be an entirely one-sided, humiliating affair. Mohun Bagan fans can hardly care less though !

Man of the match Nigerian Edeh Chidi scored 4 goals in the match, a record for the Calcutta derby, overwhelming, in the process, Bhaichung Bhutia's hat-trick for EB in the Federation Cup 0f 1997. Although, glaring errors in defense of both the teams is a cause for concern, yet the barrage of goals delighted the huge crowd on a day when football won, and the thrill of seeing goals being scored was the gift that every spectator got.

Happy Diwali !!

I didn't burst many crackers this Diwali... it was a quiet affair at home, mainly sweets, lights and some nice free-time. I enjoy gorging on delicacies and decorating the house, but always go low on the crackers part, considering I enjoy watching others, being a little apprehensive myself! October is always a grueling month in terms of workload, and while the oncoming exams had influenced me to plan for some serious study in the 3-day break from Kali pujo till Bhai phonta, the sounds and the festive ambience severely impeded my efforts to concentrate on studying! I ended up spending the three days and the preceding evening watching the recently released movie X-men origins:Wolverine and all the three previously released X-men films !! It was indeed a gala Diwali celebration...Wolverine and Magneto all the way !

"keep the spark alive"

I was aimlessly surfing the Net, a few days back, when I came across an article…the title caught my attention, and though fairly long, I proceeded to read it, for I had nothing else to do. It talked of a spark within, that excites us, and enumerated ways and means of keeping it alive and guarding against the various elements that often play a vital hand in dousing it. On finishing reading it, I found it quite enlightening indeed!

There are few days in human life when one is truly elated. For instance, our first day in college – what would the new place be like? How are the new teachers like? How are my new classmates going to be? – there’s so much to be curious and excited about! The article hailed this excitement, this curiosity as constituting the spark within us that makes us feel truly alive sometimes. It is very important to keep that spark shining – being happy most, if not all, of the time.

This spark is inherent in us; we are born with them. Little things, like a swing in the park or a story from his father, get a kid excited! Often, however, this spark fades with age, making us dull, aimless and bitter. This makes it important to have goals and nurture the spark, in an effort to strive, to improve and achieve our full potential.

We are mostly from middle-class families. To us, having material landmarks is a success in life and rightly so….in situations, where money constraints often force everyday choices and decisions, financial freedom are indeed a big achievement. However, that isn’t the purpose of life – striving for the next level is important, because this can make us feel alive and happy to get better from our current levels.

Ensuring balance in life is essential too – health, relationships and mental peace, all in good order establish harmony, without which success in life has no meaning. Reasonable goals, balance, sincerity and not taking life more seriously than actually needed go a long way in nurturing the spark. However, different factors must be guarded against.

Often, our efforts don’t fetch us the expected returns; things don’t go as planned, get stuck and we face failure. We must be careful then not to let disappointment and frustration creep in….we must learn to appreciate the fact that if challenges could always be overcome, then they would cease to be challenges anymore! Merit and hard work are not always linked to success in the short-term, but the long-term correlation is high. Such situations may sometimes be difficult to overcome, but those who do, come out stronger. It is then essential to have pleasurable distractions in life – friends, food and travel can help us overcome it all!

The second post

The Puja holidays had been curtailed this year onwards. And so, unlike previous years, our university classes are resuming right after Lakshmi Puja. This marks the beginning of a busy couple of months, what with all the class tests, viva-voce, extra classes, report-writing and, above all, the semester exams just round the corner. Time again, for work and work !!

I spent the festival holidays in a quaint way....very little study, more amounts of lazy leisure. I did write five lab. reports - one on metrology, four on metallography - and studied a chapter on fuel-air cycles, though...but, they took me two weeks !!

A new thing that i started was writing blogs. While these things didn't interest me initially, now that i have started, I find the exercise quite pleasant and nice to spend my leisure time with. My first blog was just out of the urge to write something...for me, I believe, it's a way to improve my my writing skills. Moreover, I hope to utilize this pursuit of writing blogs to relax, to spend my free-time creatively and fruitfully, and bring about a kind of personal fulfillment.

This year's ICC Champions Trophy, being held in South Africa, has been a good and interesting one. Unexpected results, some close games, and the elimination of some big names have generated curious interest, while sponsors and organizers have been left to ponder over the absence of India and South Africa in the knock-out stages of the tournament.

World no.1 Australia play New Zealand in the final, in an attempt to successfully defend the title they won in 2006, as well as to consolidate their position at the top of the ODI rankings.