Underdogs no more..

The FIFA World cup is coming to a close tonight. Its been one hell of a month with 32 countries fighting for glory. India is not really the football fanatic country (with cricket being the poison for sports enthusiasts....i think that has something to do with the Brits ruling us for 150 years...). But then we have states within India who have a passion for football. Kerala and Kolkata (Calcutta if you're not looking for political correctness), are examples of such states. Both are communist states with a lotta strikes happening either way. Added to that, the fact that football is revered and Pele & Maradona are gods here, It's a no brainer to conclude that its a virtual holiday season in these parts. Mumbai views the World Cup phenomenon as a social meet, with friends hanging out at pubs for drinks and cheering the teams they have very little idea about. Well, thats a generic view though we do have people following the sport with equal passion. The favorites for this year's cup were Brazil, Argentina & Germany for most fans and Portugal, France and Italy for the lesser few. This World cup has history in the making as none of the major teams came close (with Germany coming close to it by clinching the third place title) Now we have Spain and Netherlands fighting it out for the ultimate glory. Both were the underdogs throughout the competition, with Spain never reaching the finals and Netherlands having a chance to win the title after over 30 years. It is pretty cool knowing that eitherway its pure entertainment and fun since there wont be much heartbreak over which favorite team would win (with all the favorites out of the tournament anyway). I know I will be happy with either win because I will be cheering now for game and not the players (would be awesome if the Dutch takes the cup though :P ) Will write more after witnessing history being written. It has begun....

Surprise!!

Surprise!!...That's something people love to hear.....well most of the times...unless you're surprised by the fact that you have become bankrupt or something...in which case, it totally sucks!! Well I just celebrated my birthday recently and that is the word that, well, took me by surprise. The day started off pretty well and the plan was to have a quiet time with one of my closest friends. To say the least, that was the plan in just my head. Unknown to me, she had something else planned......obviously!! So we are there with a plate of nachos and a drink and all of a sudden I'm blindfolded by some hand and realizing later on that I'm surrounded by my gang of close friends yelling (yeah you got it) SURPRISE!!. Needless to say, I was stunned. I probably understood, at that very moment, what it feels like to be frozen in time...(Like the sloth in Ice Age). What followed after that was some more moments of me frozen in different poses and good food and a lot to drink. Needless to say, the birthday went very well.
What surprised me truly was the love and affection that i saw within the gang that day. The warmth that could be felt being within that group...those moments of laughter and fun. This is where I belonged, that group of friends not just mere friends.....they are family now. I know for a fact that there is a much stronger bond that ties us together than just that of friendship. It is perhaps the best gift that anyone can have. A gift for a lifetime....I am blessed...To the ones who make life worth it...love you all...