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Monday, January 17, 2011

Keep on going fellows!


Perhaps it is way too early for predictions and way too late for criticisms and praises. We chose the grounds. We picked the army and the armor, now it is all about going at it. One more a series of heroics and the Cup will be ours once again.
The road is rough with battles on untrodden grounds even on the home soil. The sun will begin to shine, and the winds will settle. The waters that knew no limits for the last couple of weeks will go back to their lodgings. The people, recovering from the flood-shocks and election fevers, will tune their voices and take to roads. One more month to go and it won’t be a mere word picture drawn on a travel leaflet- but the reality.
This is not a mid-January dream every Sri Lankan has, but the ultimate yearning that has got stitched to the ‘Sri Lankanness’ of everyone. The dream of winning and being on top of the world do not fall into the category of selfish desires. Rather it is an innocent way of showing your patriotism and your real sense of belonging to this island soil. Even when the troubled times hit the land, cricket has been the unifying force that made us all sit in front of the TV, tuned into the same TV or radio channel and cheer the nation’s best in the same voice, despite all our physical or attitudinal differences.
Since then, we have come a long way; with peace strewn in the four corners of the country and fear of getting killed on the road without getting to know the final score, eliminated from the hearts of those who love to take to outdoors, light crackers and wave flags in the name of victory.
Be it a vociferous celebration or a silent prayer uttered in seclusion, every bit of it is going to count in the journey to the victory which is by no means a velvet-carpeted one.

Let the flags dance to the tune of cheering, let those drums beat and the baila music lull the cricket-feverish island youth, let its resonance pull crowds from all over the country, let them sit in one row and shout out the same slogans in the name of the victory a nation demands in one voice.
Those who rewrite history inevitably become kings. As for them, they have already reserved their places in history for making the Lion flag flutter in its glory on every continent and bringing together a nation that was shattered in so many places. In a juncture like this, a victory would be just the thing that would appease the triumph-hungry nation that has been united to desire and to drink nectar from one Cup.
And there are still people who ask me why I die for cricket.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

I will be there


I don’t care what the place is or the time. No matter whether it is going to be a rainy day, or a typical day under the scorching Colombo sun- forget about getting sun tanned, I promise that I will be there.
Keep your juicy tales in tact and the sinful secrets and the public secrets I’m the last to know. I promise you that I will listen to you with the same uniform-day eagerness. Remind me to be rude with the people I don’t feel bad about being rude. Remind me to punch the people who would love to receive the blows with an adult-like calmness. Remind me to laugh the same old laugh which you found more hilarious than the joke itself. I promise, I will be the same old friend you didn’t see for ages.
I promise to behave on the road, not to check out on the colours of strangers’ socks. I promise I will walk slow and accept the shade of your umbrella even if it’s pink. I promise not to drag politics into our girly-talks and never to bug you about your ‘polkatu’ belt.
Go ahead and order hot coffee, I promise not to make a fuss. I would chatter over when you sip yours until my one gets down to a temperature my tongue can tolerate. Go ahead and try your hand at games, though I can’t promise that I wouldn’t break the rules, I will assure you that I won’t invent anything new.
Go ahead and stop over at the worst restaurant in town. Though I cannot promise you that I would not scribble things on the customer comment sheet, I will never complain how bad the food is; for I will be too full of the buzz of being with you to notice the state of any food.
Keep the clock ticking and I know I have a reason to go on till next month. Even if the hype dies down and the meeting becomes imaginary, keep the messages flowing then I know we keep thinking about each other like we used to do in the cozy little classroom, all bundled up together.
In this part of the galaxy, the world spins at Usain Bolt’s speed and the life in Press has only turned me into a small top that moves at the equal pace. I cannot say no when I get a second to break away from the spin and bring my universe to a worthwhile standstill just to be with you.
So, count me in and I promise, if I’m alive and able to get on to my feet, I will surely be there!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

I know…


I know that this is not going to be just another year starting from somewhere and ending up in the same old twenty-something crisis. I know I have a fresh list of exams to get through and a countless number of pages to sub edit. I know I have a house to build and a book to write.
I know it’s time to get my thoughts together to sit and do some serious writing. I know I should be on the look out for inspiration that comes to me in most unusual packages. I know I should stop reading teenage love stories and move onto more sophisticated books. I know instead of yearning for a book-light, I should get treated for the dark circles around my eyes.
I know I should find more time to spend with family and interesting places to go loafing with them. I know I should help out more with Malli’s homework and contribute to Nangi’s pocket money.
I know I should eat more vegetables and less chocolate. I know I must learn new recipes and modify the old ones. I know I have to perfect the art of draping a sari in five minutes before I end up in a place where wearing sari will be a must.
I know I should be more disciplined when it comes to keeping my table tidy and my mind clutter-free. I know I have to get myself organized without waiting for someone to bring me an organizer.
I know this is going to be a hard year, with very less visible challenges and perhaps quite a few invisible ones. No matter in what condition, I know I am going to survive and help others survive. I know I will fight for the things I deserve and gift what I already have to those who are more deserved.
I know I will continue to be the same anger-absorber, the listener and the annoyer to my friends who are around me. I know I will keep missing my childhood friends, my school friends and the friends I made at my former workplaces.
I know I will grow fat with the amount of junk food I eat and look old with the silver hair that appears one by one. I know I will try to be more politically-literate and pragmatic enough to call myself a true journalist.
But, despite everything, I know, in this year or for the coming hundred years, I am not going to grow up.