Very few know of Edmund Hillary's achievements and adventures beyond that he was the first man to the tallest mountain on earth, Mount Everest. In fact, that was just one of the many adventures as far as he was concerned.
He did amazing journeys to the South and north pole of the earth.
Went on a magnificent journey to search Ganges's sources (started from Bay of Bengal and went all the way up till Hrishikesh.)
Also, he showed a big sense of compassion, empathy and responsibility towards his fellow human beings. His work for the Sherpa community in Nepal is widely regarded today and much less publicised.
Coincidentally I happen to read the his book ("The view from the summit") some months back and felt overwhelmed as much by the adventure itself as by his frank, simple style of narration. He didn't write the book as most world famous people today write the autobiography, much less like a celebrated national hero that he was. He wrote it like a simple amateur climber would. So it doesn't smell like those autobiographies which are well choreographed with the main theme being "I-knew-i-was-going-to-do-all-this" !!
The bee-keeper from New-Zealand (and my mountaineering hero) is now resting in peace, but through his achievements in a lifetime full of adventure, he showed the world a glimpse of a person as tall as that mystic peak he climbed, for the first time.
PS: I would highly recommend his book to everyone, adventures fans or otherwise. The name of the book is (very aptly) "The view from the Summit"!
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
A virus called "Speeeeeeeeeeeeeed"
One of these last Sundays I was reading my newly bought F1 encyclopedia, a neat volume describing the F1 cars, drivers and championship in some decent details. Looking through the list of champions, it can be seen that some 28 (or 30) special human beings have been able to win the coveted, probably the most prized title on earth one or more times during the last 50+ years.
However what was more interesting to see was the almost even longer list of martyrs!! The drives who were killed en route to the title or after winning it. It is simply amazing to see how one of the most dangerous motor sports is also the most prized and most fought for.
My mind raced to the question: what kind of death traps have we create for ourselves? And we are falling into those traps for so many years and will probably continue till eternity??
And i thought what is speed after all? Why does we have to value it so very highly to put our own life like a bait? Why does man really aspire to be faster? And since this disease called speed does not seem to be specific to any culture / religion or any geographical area (though some areas like Italy, Japan are more susceptible to this desease than others!) it does seem to be something that goes back to our roots, quite some years back.
Well....I think speed is a virus! A deadly kind which goes beyond any boundaries and which has probably killed almost an equal amount of people as any epidemic.
Is speed really worth our life .....I know, a lot of people who know me will definitely find it funny that such a question is being posed by me, of all people! The speed fanatic, maniac who endangers his life multiple times every single day! But believe me, in that one moment, this question did hit me quite heard.
I think some part of the reason maybe traced back to the times when our ancestors lived in caves and try to hunt down animals first physically and then with weapons. Its safe to assume that the first part would have failed miserably (for most of the animals ) owing largely to man's inability to run as fast as most other animals. Could that have instilled the desire to be faster in our genes?If yes, that may have been the first seed of this whole new game.
The other part however comes from he competition that is installed in us be default owing to nature's theory of survival. Man's natural instinct is to be the best, strongest of the lot, because only the best will survive. This desire is imprinted deep in our genes. In IT terms, it is programmed in our BIOS!! And you will find examples of this "programmed" competition almost everywhere, right from small school kids racing against each other to the ultimate competitions in Sports, be it F1, or any other sport.
Not to mention the presence of the huge materialistic aspect as far as the F1 circus goes: the amount of money paid is really extravagant, the glamour which is attached to F1 game creates such a hype that it becomes the bulls-eye for all speed-savvy youngsters.
The biggest part of this game however, maybe due to a hormone in the human body called "adrenaline" which is responsible for creating all the excitement and thrill associated with being part of the vehicle in speed.
The adrenaline, is responsible for the "kick" which racers (and dangerous drivers) get out of speeding and risk taking driving manoeuvres. It will continue to drive human beings to sensational, death challenging sports like the F1. Speed remains the primary motivating factor for millions of humans across the world on or off the track and in-spite of (or because of it?!!) the risk of losing life completely or whats infinitely worse, being handicapped.
Even after spending so much time in writing these words on paper, do not expect me to change course or willing to try to break free from this virus called "speed". (reminds me of famous MJ's song "Speed daemon").Personally, i am pretty much aware that speed is the single biggest threat to my life but i almost know i cant take much corrective measures for that!
Don't be too surprised if you saw me speeding past or making a dangerous manoeuvre cause speeeed is a virus of the mind, of the kind most difficult to cure!
However what was more interesting to see was the almost even longer list of martyrs!! The drives who were killed en route to the title or after winning it. It is simply amazing to see how one of the most dangerous motor sports is also the most prized and most fought for.
My mind raced to the question: what kind of death traps have we create for ourselves? And we are falling into those traps for so many years and will probably continue till eternity??
And i thought what is speed after all? Why does we have to value it so very highly to put our own life like a bait? Why does man really aspire to be faster? And since this disease called speed does not seem to be specific to any culture / religion or any geographical area (though some areas like Italy, Japan are more susceptible to this desease than others!) it does seem to be something that goes back to our roots, quite some years back.
Well....I think speed is a virus! A deadly kind which goes beyond any boundaries and which has probably killed almost an equal amount of people as any epidemic.
Is speed really worth our life .....I know, a lot of people who know me will definitely find it funny that such a question is being posed by me, of all people! The speed fanatic, maniac who endangers his life multiple times every single day! But believe me, in that one moment, this question did hit me quite heard.
I think some part of the reason maybe traced back to the times when our ancestors lived in caves and try to hunt down animals first physically and then with weapons. Its safe to assume that the first part would have failed miserably (for most of the animals ) owing largely to man's inability to run as fast as most other animals. Could that have instilled the desire to be faster in our genes?If yes, that may have been the first seed of this whole new game.
The other part however comes from he competition that is installed in us be default owing to nature's theory of survival. Man's natural instinct is to be the best, strongest of the lot, because only the best will survive. This desire is imprinted deep in our genes. In IT terms, it is programmed in our BIOS!! And you will find examples of this "programmed" competition almost everywhere, right from small school kids racing against each other to the ultimate competitions in Sports, be it F1, or any other sport.
Not to mention the presence of the huge materialistic aspect as far as the F1 circus goes: the amount of money paid is really extravagant, the glamour which is attached to F1 game creates such a hype that it becomes the bulls-eye for all speed-savvy youngsters.
The biggest part of this game however, maybe due to a hormone in the human body called "adrenaline" which is responsible for creating all the excitement and thrill associated with being part of the vehicle in speed.
The adrenaline, is responsible for the "kick" which racers (and dangerous drivers) get out of speeding and risk taking driving manoeuvres. It will continue to drive human beings to sensational, death challenging sports like the F1. Speed remains the primary motivating factor for millions of humans across the world on or off the track and in-spite of (or because of it?!!) the risk of losing life completely or whats infinitely worse, being handicapped.
Even after spending so much time in writing these words on paper, do not expect me to change course or willing to try to break free from this virus called "speed". (reminds me of famous MJ's song "Speed daemon").Personally, i am pretty much aware that speed is the single biggest threat to my life but i almost know i cant take much corrective measures for that!
Don't be too surprised if you saw me speeding past or making a dangerous manoeuvre cause speeeed is a virus of the mind, of the kind most difficult to cure!
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Inspirations...
Four of the biggest stars in the sporting community decided it was time for them to quit the sport during this year. This is a small tribute to all of them ......
To start with the most shocking of them all, was a record exit by a very young athlete. Ian Thorpe’s retirement announcement shocked the Australian sports world and the world of swimming in general. This is by far the youngest age for any athlete to retire.
Ian Thorpe aka “Thorpedo” had a dramatic entry into the world of sport when he became one of the youngest swimmer / sportsman to win the Olympic gold medal. He also holds the record for maximum number of Olympic medals.
His announcement hit his fans like a thunderstorm on a clear night. I literally kept staring at the monitor for 120 whole seconds, after reading the news on BBC. I could not quite believe what I was reading. “Thorpe Announces retirement at 24”.
We don’t know what really triggered this decision. Perhaps time will help unravel this mystery. One thing is for sure, Thorpedo made sure that his exit from the world of sport was as dramatic if not more as his entry into it, 10 long years back.
Contrary to the Thorpedo-exit, Andre Agassi’s swan song was well published. With his age and clearly losing physical ability required at the highest level of competition, it was a matter of time before the legendary las vegan would call it a day. Discussions were rife all over since last year, when he started losing tournaments in the final round. The formal announcement came just before this year’s Wimbledon, where he got tremendous publicity. Even the all England club so famous about its rigid traditions, for once saw no hitch in making way for some on court interviews, bypassing tradition.
The end however, when it came, was far from sweet. It was painful in more ways than one. His obvious physical pain at reaching the not-so-difficult balls in the second set, was mixed with the pain of his fans (me included!) who were trying to savor the memory of seeing him for the last time on any kind of tennis court. It was really hard to see a man of Andre’s caliber and athletic abilities in his last match, struggling merely to reach the ball, not to hit any of those trademark return shots.
His tearful adieu draw curtains on an all-American era of tennis long dominated by most players of his generation, his buddies at the tennis academy and most notably his arch-rival the legendary Pete Sampras.
By far the saddest of all the retirements was the one man whom every one of the people watching the world cup (excluding all Italians) would have wanted to walk away with that trophy. Of course, all those fans also knew that there is a fair chance that France might not make it there, but it was a chance after all. However, as France moved up through the rounds the expectations started rising and with a reason. Because they were able to raise the level of the game along with winning the games. The expectations sky rocketed when France beat brazil 1-0 and people thought that was the end of it. Now France could win any cup. But again, the most unusual circumstances came into play. That invisible plot, call it destiny, call it god or call it Satan, if you may, came into play and not only kept France from winning that cup once more but did so in the most unforeseen and unwanted manner. I don’t want to repeat whatever happened on 7th July, cause I think whatever that was, one thing was certain. It was a defeat for any and all kind of sportsman-spirit. Whoever “architected” that “glorious plan” to win the most coveted prize in the sports history did a brilliant job, because not only did he / she actually succeeded in winning the cup but got away with it as well.
Following the disgrace and the grief of losing in the final,Zidane vowed never to come back on the international soccer scene again. Thus ended an era in football. An Algerian brought up in Marseilles shot to fame for the right qualities like few people did, plunged into eternal disgrace for something which was not his doing ……completely!
So went Zizou into retirement, France’s most celebrated and beloved sports man!!
While all of these was happening, the last exit was already being choreographed in typical perfectionist style (read: german!). Michael Schumacher aka Schumey has a fan following as few have had in their life time and sporting careers. His personal charm coupled with his technical perfection made him an Icon for millions around the world.
He has received all possible accolades and many more, in one of the toughest sport, if not the toughest and beaten many to create his own in the last dozen years. From 2000 till 2005 he was not just winning the world championships, but so convincingly winning everywhere that he made one of the most competitive sports in the world look like a farce! His competitors were left to talk about the spoils and less-than-perfect cars! Schumey ruled the F1 world,….. but no one rules this world indefinitely as does uncle time! Who monitors everyone and calls “time” as required! Schumey heard the call, indeed he did, among the sounds of the Renault engines and cheers of Alonso & Kimi (raikonnen) fans, oh yes he heard it alright! He took the call as calmly as he has done most of the things in his driving career and decided his own course was now moving away from the high energy, high stake environment of the F1 circus! Being the ambitious German that he is, he sure wanted one last hurrah and he tried like hell to achieve it despite repeated protests from uncle time! He was fighting against it literally and then came the time to show who was greater. Uncle time responded in typical manner and Schumey for once found himself running out of luck! His punctured tyre, ah …punctured luck showed that none of us are infallible against the greatest of all generals, uncle time! It was inexplicable to see the man who has had all the luck in the world for the better part of last 12 years or so, was falling short of so little luck.
That felt like a special moment, one of those where you can feel you are watching something out of the ordinary. I felt something similar almost 7 long years ago, when Pete Sampras ("Pistol Pete" ) won his record seventh Wimbledon title in fading light and in front of his proud parents. I had the privilege of seeing an emotional Sampras; not a normal sight and I sure had equal no of tears in my eyes as much as he has in his!
Coming back to this special deciding moment, I felt like it was all over. Someone up there had made a decision about the world title that Schumey was trying to win for a record 8th time;it simply wasn’t to be. He must have got it as well, cause despite his all year long best of the best efforts, the tide simply turned against him. In that one moment, even this great sportsman looked as helpless at that point as any of us. I am dead sure, he would have given all the luck he has had in the last dozen years, just to get those 10 points. But life’s scripts are neither known in advance nor can be controlled!
So really what’s the deal here? Thousands of us retire from their own chosen or un-chosen professions everyday and no one blinks an eye. Why so much fuss and time is put into these retirements? Why am I putting my time writing this and asking you to invest your time reading it?
The answer to me is but obvious:
Just like no one remembers or mentions all the houses and buildings that exist around the world but surely can’t miss the Eiffel tower or the pyramids, the human race with its billions of living and breathing members would not be worth a mention had it not been for the exceptional performers among us. The Michal Jordans, Tiger Woods, Pete Samprases, Michael Schumachers, Andre Agassis of this world are those monuments who would stand out in this crowd of breathing and living sea of human genes and bodies and continue to inspire millions of common people in their own way of life. These inspirations are something that would help a common life transform into an extraordinary achievement.
These gentlemen and many others like them are the tall statues we would look up to and say “ I want to be like him“ and something invisible to us, call it God, almighty or destiny, would simply say “Amen”!
Cheers!
PS: Retiring in 2006 seems to be a special thing for some reason.While I was drafting this write-up two of the biggest names in the cricketing world decided to join the long list of celebrity retirements. Australian spin legend Shane "Warney" Warne and paceman Glenn "Pigeon" Mcgrath have announced their retirements already. Some other time i would put in some words as a tribute to these two legendary kangaroos!
To start with the most shocking of them all, was a record exit by a very young athlete. Ian Thorpe’s retirement announcement shocked the Australian sports world and the world of swimming in general. This is by far the youngest age for any athlete to retire.
Ian Thorpe aka “Thorpedo” had a dramatic entry into the world of sport when he became one of the youngest swimmer / sportsman to win the Olympic gold medal. He also holds the record for maximum number of Olympic medals.
His announcement hit his fans like a thunderstorm on a clear night. I literally kept staring at the monitor for 120 whole seconds, after reading the news on BBC. I could not quite believe what I was reading. “Thorpe Announces retirement at 24”.
We don’t know what really triggered this decision. Perhaps time will help unravel this mystery. One thing is for sure, Thorpedo made sure that his exit from the world of sport was as dramatic if not more as his entry into it, 10 long years back.
Contrary to the Thorpedo-exit, Andre Agassi’s swan song was well published. With his age and clearly losing physical ability required at the highest level of competition, it was a matter of time before the legendary las vegan would call it a day. Discussions were rife all over since last year, when he started losing tournaments in the final round. The formal announcement came just before this year’s Wimbledon, where he got tremendous publicity. Even the all England club so famous about its rigid traditions, for once saw no hitch in making way for some on court interviews, bypassing tradition.
The end however, when it came, was far from sweet. It was painful in more ways than one. His obvious physical pain at reaching the not-so-difficult balls in the second set, was mixed with the pain of his fans (me included!) who were trying to savor the memory of seeing him for the last time on any kind of tennis court. It was really hard to see a man of Andre’s caliber and athletic abilities in his last match, struggling merely to reach the ball, not to hit any of those trademark return shots.
His tearful adieu draw curtains on an all-American era of tennis long dominated by most players of his generation, his buddies at the tennis academy and most notably his arch-rival the legendary Pete Sampras.
By far the saddest of all the retirements was the one man whom every one of the people watching the world cup (excluding all Italians) would have wanted to walk away with that trophy. Of course, all those fans also knew that there is a fair chance that France might not make it there, but it was a chance after all. However, as France moved up through the rounds the expectations started rising and with a reason. Because they were able to raise the level of the game along with winning the games. The expectations sky rocketed when France beat brazil 1-0 and people thought that was the end of it. Now France could win any cup. But again, the most unusual circumstances came into play. That invisible plot, call it destiny, call it god or call it Satan, if you may, came into play and not only kept France from winning that cup once more but did so in the most unforeseen and unwanted manner. I don’t want to repeat whatever happened on 7th July, cause I think whatever that was, one thing was certain. It was a defeat for any and all kind of sportsman-spirit. Whoever “architected” that “glorious plan” to win the most coveted prize in the sports history did a brilliant job, because not only did he / she actually succeeded in winning the cup but got away with it as well.
Following the disgrace and the grief of losing in the final,Zidane vowed never to come back on the international soccer scene again. Thus ended an era in football. An Algerian brought up in Marseilles shot to fame for the right qualities like few people did, plunged into eternal disgrace for something which was not his doing ……completely!
So went Zizou into retirement, France’s most celebrated and beloved sports man!!
While all of these was happening, the last exit was already being choreographed in typical perfectionist style (read: german!). Michael Schumacher aka Schumey has a fan following as few have had in their life time and sporting careers. His personal charm coupled with his technical perfection made him an Icon for millions around the world.
He has received all possible accolades and many more, in one of the toughest sport, if not the toughest and beaten many to create his own in the last dozen years. From 2000 till 2005 he was not just winning the world championships, but so convincingly winning everywhere that he made one of the most competitive sports in the world look like a farce! His competitors were left to talk about the spoils and less-than-perfect cars! Schumey ruled the F1 world,….. but no one rules this world indefinitely as does uncle time! Who monitors everyone and calls “time” as required! Schumey heard the call, indeed he did, among the sounds of the Renault engines and cheers of Alonso & Kimi (raikonnen) fans, oh yes he heard it alright! He took the call as calmly as he has done most of the things in his driving career and decided his own course was now moving away from the high energy, high stake environment of the F1 circus! Being the ambitious German that he is, he sure wanted one last hurrah and he tried like hell to achieve it despite repeated protests from uncle time! He was fighting against it literally and then came the time to show who was greater. Uncle time responded in typical manner and Schumey for once found himself running out of luck! His punctured tyre, ah …punctured luck showed that none of us are infallible against the greatest of all generals, uncle time! It was inexplicable to see the man who has had all the luck in the world for the better part of last 12 years or so, was falling short of so little luck.
That felt like a special moment, one of those where you can feel you are watching something out of the ordinary. I felt something similar almost 7 long years ago, when Pete Sampras ("Pistol Pete" ) won his record seventh Wimbledon title in fading light and in front of his proud parents. I had the privilege of seeing an emotional Sampras; not a normal sight and I sure had equal no of tears in my eyes as much as he has in his!
Coming back to this special deciding moment, I felt like it was all over. Someone up there had made a decision about the world title that Schumey was trying to win for a record 8th time;it simply wasn’t to be. He must have got it as well, cause despite his all year long best of the best efforts, the tide simply turned against him. In that one moment, even this great sportsman looked as helpless at that point as any of us. I am dead sure, he would have given all the luck he has had in the last dozen years, just to get those 10 points. But life’s scripts are neither known in advance nor can be controlled!
So really what’s the deal here? Thousands of us retire from their own chosen or un-chosen professions everyday and no one blinks an eye. Why so much fuss and time is put into these retirements? Why am I putting my time writing this and asking you to invest your time reading it?
The answer to me is but obvious:
Just like no one remembers or mentions all the houses and buildings that exist around the world but surely can’t miss the Eiffel tower or the pyramids, the human race with its billions of living and breathing members would not be worth a mention had it not been for the exceptional performers among us. The Michal Jordans, Tiger Woods, Pete Samprases, Michael Schumachers, Andre Agassis of this world are those monuments who would stand out in this crowd of breathing and living sea of human genes and bodies and continue to inspire millions of common people in their own way of life. These inspirations are something that would help a common life transform into an extraordinary achievement.
These gentlemen and many others like them are the tall statues we would look up to and say “ I want to be like him“ and something invisible to us, call it God, almighty or destiny, would simply say “Amen”!
Cheers!
PS: Retiring in 2006 seems to be a special thing for some reason.While I was drafting this write-up two of the biggest names in the cricketing world decided to join the long list of celebrity retirements. Australian spin legend Shane "Warney" Warne and paceman Glenn "Pigeon" Mcgrath have announced their retirements already. Some other time i would put in some words as a tribute to these two legendary kangaroos!
Monday, July 03, 2006
Tennis will never be the same again!!
Tennis is a sport older than a century and is played in lots of countries around the world. It has seen thousands of winners, loser and hundreds of champions !
But rarely has it seen a long haired punk rebelling against the world of traditions and spending his talents on his looks, morphed himself into a middle aged statesman & philanthropist, focused completely on the job at hand and becoming an icon for millions of sports professionals around the world.
Andre Agassi underwent this morphing in just about twenty years time. His arrival on the tennis scene twenty years back, was much publicized, as was everything else bout him. He was a young man with great consideration for his image, his looks, his earrings etc. I vaguely remember he was advertising some product which had the catch line "Image is everything" and I am sure this was very much his catch line too!
Despite all this, none could deny that the talent the young Las-Vegan had even then, though it was still unproven.Today he has proved himself beyond any doubts, with 8 grand slams titles, numerous masters titles, many hundred weeks on world no.1 etc. But maybe his the most important achievement is winning all four slams, albeit in different years, but being the only one man to win all four slams on four different surfaces, which is an incredible achievement by whichever way you look at it!!!!
Early in his career he was very much of a rebel; rebel against any and all traditions in tennis and life in general. Tennis being a sport originated from England, the traditions were and are still present in some form or the other.
No where else the traditions are quite so strong as Wimbledon which goes at a very minute level of dictating that the clothing is to be only white.Young Andre found it completely un-acceptable, cause his image was a colorful young man wearing t-shirts and long shorts of any conceivable & "manufacturable" color.
Due to this,incredibly,he skipped the most prestigious tennis championship for 3 years, only to return to Wimbledon in 1991 in a (shocking!) fully white outfit. However, his famous Wimbledon win in 1992 changed everything for him, his game more or less his personality and his perception of Wimbledon.
It was the first time he has proved something to the tennis world and showed that the publicity received all this while, was not just a hype. He beat big serving croat Goran (Ivanisevic ) in that epic 5 setter when Goran himself looked like a champion that year. Andre earned himself the accolade of being "one of the best returners of service" in the game, if not the best. Goran's serves are generally invisible to human beings cause these are in infrared red wavelengths, and can only be seen on TV screen in the form of slow motion replays,but Andre did well not only to see the serve and reach to it but flashing back a trademark Agassi return almost all the time.
Till date, he continues to be "the" returner of any and all serves. In that sense, it is also said that he changed Wimbledon to suit his style. Prior to his win, Wimbledon was always considered the "Mecca" of serve and volleyers and the grave yard of baseliners. Ivan Lendl, one of the best baseliners in tennis, failed to clinch the all England crown despite reaching three finals, while net experts like Becker and Edgers were winning titles alternate year.
But Agassi changed it all in 1992. He stood firm on the baseline and with his lethal returns (generally touching the toes of the incoming server) and pin point passes (the smaller the margin, the better the pass) become the next king of Wimbledon. Today, we see lot more baseliners in contention for the title. All this started with that famous win in 1992.
During his career, he also found a very respectable but deadly arch rival in the form of Pete Sampras (aka Pistol Pete). Their rivalry provided Tennis with 34 most magnificent matches right until Pete Sampras's final professional tennis match, the US Open final in 2002.
In his early years I was never a big fan of Agassi. I always thought he is making much too noise for what he is doing. But his transformation in after his marriage with Brooke Shields and his down word plunge in rankings in 1997,changed my mind. Its astonishing to see what he did to himself and his game.
Its almost like there were two different people playing before 1997 and after 1998. His game, his focus, his fitness, his attitude everything has changed, almost like at the press of a button. The marriage affected his game so much that at one point he was ranked as low as 141. That time , it looked like curtains for the Las-Vegan. But he showed remarkable depth of character, which very few believe he had, and clawed his way back to the top. During the course of this recovery, he also played in challenger tournaments which are local tourneys for players ranked outside top 20. All his hard work paid off and he made the biggest jump in ATP rankings in one year : from 141 to 6 !!!!!
I think this effort not just changed him game, but it changed him as a person. Cause the Andre Agassi who was back to major touneys after this event, was a completely different person than the rebel. He trained a lot harder and gained terrific fitness and focus, on the court. This is the best example for any professional willing to achieve something in his life. His sheer determination paved way for everything else and he truly became a superstar; more than just a brand ambassador for shoes and T-shirts, a truly great champion.
Last week, the rebel came back to Wimbledon for one final hurrah. After 14 years since his only title on the fast grass, the rebel was back, hungry for more and more importantly because he wanted to come to Wimbledon one last time. According to him, this is where it all began for him !!!! And it happened when no one expected him to win this event in 1992.
His march this year, was stopped at the third round by the new Spanish sensation, Rafael Nadal. The change of guard was obvious while watching this match, cause Andre Agassi, who for so long had dominated all baseline games, was for once, struggling to adjust to the ground strokes coming from the other side of the net.
While watching the match, one line keep coming to my mind
"The King is dead, long live the new King".
The rebel who changed himself for better all this while changed Wimbledon too !!!Wimbledon saw an "on-court" interview (which made all the traditionalist aghast!) for the first time after Andre's final match. Having an on-court interview is synonymous to wearing a black T-shirt and short. The long standing tradition was broken for this special man who was very much emotional and chocked for words in his final moments at SW19.
Andre Agassi will leave the international tennis at the end of the US Open this August and will retire happily to his wife (Steffi Graf) and two kids. But his legacy will continue. For he is one of those rare genre of players, who made a lasting impression on the game, which is much more beyond the numbers mentioned above. He is more a spirit than a man!
His attitude, commitment and persona are unique attributes individually, but their combination as it is present in him, may never be seen again.
Agassi changed himself for tennis, but then he changed the game too. Tennis will miss the character of this man as much as his core game. His attitude, his humility (especially in the later parts of his career), those thundering forehand, back hand return winners, that lovely shake of the head when a backhand goes wide and the soft, humane smile while shaking hands with the opponent at the end of a match.
Andre Agassi will not be what he was twenty years back and tennis, without him, will not be same ever again ..... !!!
But rarely has it seen a long haired punk rebelling against the world of traditions and spending his talents on his looks, morphed himself into a middle aged statesman & philanthropist, focused completely on the job at hand and becoming an icon for millions of sports professionals around the world.
Andre Agassi underwent this morphing in just about twenty years time. His arrival on the tennis scene twenty years back, was much publicized, as was everything else bout him. He was a young man with great consideration for his image, his looks, his earrings etc. I vaguely remember he was advertising some product which had the catch line "Image is everything" and I am sure this was very much his catch line too!
Despite all this, none could deny that the talent the young Las-Vegan had even then, though it was still unproven.Today he has proved himself beyond any doubts, with 8 grand slams titles, numerous masters titles, many hundred weeks on world no.1 etc. But maybe his the most important achievement is winning all four slams, albeit in different years, but being the only one man to win all four slams on four different surfaces, which is an incredible achievement by whichever way you look at it!!!!
Early in his career he was very much of a rebel; rebel against any and all traditions in tennis and life in general. Tennis being a sport originated from England, the traditions were and are still present in some form or the other.
No where else the traditions are quite so strong as Wimbledon which goes at a very minute level of dictating that the clothing is to be only white.Young Andre found it completely un-acceptable, cause his image was a colorful young man wearing t-shirts and long shorts of any conceivable & "manufacturable" color.
Due to this,incredibly,he skipped the most prestigious tennis championship for 3 years, only to return to Wimbledon in 1991 in a (shocking!) fully white outfit. However, his famous Wimbledon win in 1992 changed everything for him, his game more or less his personality and his perception of Wimbledon.
It was the first time he has proved something to the tennis world and showed that the publicity received all this while, was not just a hype. He beat big serving croat Goran (Ivanisevic ) in that epic 5 setter when Goran himself looked like a champion that year. Andre earned himself the accolade of being "one of the best returners of service" in the game, if not the best. Goran's serves are generally invisible to human beings cause these are in infrared red wavelengths, and can only be seen on TV screen in the form of slow motion replays,but Andre did well not only to see the serve and reach to it but flashing back a trademark Agassi return almost all the time.
Till date, he continues to be "the" returner of any and all serves. In that sense, it is also said that he changed Wimbledon to suit his style. Prior to his win, Wimbledon was always considered the "Mecca" of serve and volleyers and the grave yard of baseliners. Ivan Lendl, one of the best baseliners in tennis, failed to clinch the all England crown despite reaching three finals, while net experts like Becker and Edgers were winning titles alternate year.
But Agassi changed it all in 1992. He stood firm on the baseline and with his lethal returns (generally touching the toes of the incoming server) and pin point passes (the smaller the margin, the better the pass) become the next king of Wimbledon. Today, we see lot more baseliners in contention for the title. All this started with that famous win in 1992.
During his career, he also found a very respectable but deadly arch rival in the form of Pete Sampras (aka Pistol Pete). Their rivalry provided Tennis with 34 most magnificent matches right until Pete Sampras's final professional tennis match, the US Open final in 2002.
In his early years I was never a big fan of Agassi. I always thought he is making much too noise for what he is doing. But his transformation in after his marriage with Brooke Shields and his down word plunge in rankings in 1997,changed my mind. Its astonishing to see what he did to himself and his game.
Its almost like there were two different people playing before 1997 and after 1998. His game, his focus, his fitness, his attitude everything has changed, almost like at the press of a button. The marriage affected his game so much that at one point he was ranked as low as 141. That time , it looked like curtains for the Las-Vegan. But he showed remarkable depth of character, which very few believe he had, and clawed his way back to the top. During the course of this recovery, he also played in challenger tournaments which are local tourneys for players ranked outside top 20. All his hard work paid off and he made the biggest jump in ATP rankings in one year : from 141 to 6 !!!!!
I think this effort not just changed him game, but it changed him as a person. Cause the Andre Agassi who was back to major touneys after this event, was a completely different person than the rebel. He trained a lot harder and gained terrific fitness and focus, on the court. This is the best example for any professional willing to achieve something in his life. His sheer determination paved way for everything else and he truly became a superstar; more than just a brand ambassador for shoes and T-shirts, a truly great champion.
Last week, the rebel came back to Wimbledon for one final hurrah. After 14 years since his only title on the fast grass, the rebel was back, hungry for more and more importantly because he wanted to come to Wimbledon one last time. According to him, this is where it all began for him !!!! And it happened when no one expected him to win this event in 1992.
His march this year, was stopped at the third round by the new Spanish sensation, Rafael Nadal. The change of guard was obvious while watching this match, cause Andre Agassi, who for so long had dominated all baseline games, was for once, struggling to adjust to the ground strokes coming from the other side of the net.
While watching the match, one line keep coming to my mind
"The King is dead, long live the new King".
The rebel who changed himself for better all this while changed Wimbledon too !!!Wimbledon saw an "on-court" interview (which made all the traditionalist aghast!) for the first time after Andre's final match. Having an on-court interview is synonymous to wearing a black T-shirt and short. The long standing tradition was broken for this special man who was very much emotional and chocked for words in his final moments at SW19.
Andre Agassi will leave the international tennis at the end of the US Open this August and will retire happily to his wife (Steffi Graf) and two kids. But his legacy will continue. For he is one of those rare genre of players, who made a lasting impression on the game, which is much more beyond the numbers mentioned above. He is more a spirit than a man!
His attitude, commitment and persona are unique attributes individually, but their combination as it is present in him, may never be seen again.
Agassi changed himself for tennis, but then he changed the game too. Tennis will miss the character of this man as much as his core game. His attitude, his humility (especially in the later parts of his career), those thundering forehand, back hand return winners, that lovely shake of the head when a backhand goes wide and the soft, humane smile while shaking hands with the opponent at the end of a match.
Andre Agassi will not be what he was twenty years back and tennis, without him, will not be same ever again ..... !!!
Monday, May 22, 2006
"Shwas" -- (the breath)
I went to Nashik some time back and the visit proved memorable for more than one thing. This is an attempt to share why.
The whole episode started when my in-laws (FIL & MIL) went for a weeklong sessions on "Pranayama" and they asked their daughter to join them for the last day. I decided to join in too since my Nashik visit was long pending and it looked like a welcome change from the daily grind.
These sessions were imparted by a proclaimed expert in the ancient Indian arts of "Yoga" and "Pranayama". He teaches these arts not for a living; but kind of a knowledge transfer.
I was shocked at the first impression of this 82 year old;for the very simple reason that , he didn't looked 82 or anywhere in the vicinity. He hardly looked 62 and that too a good young 62, with a smile on his face and a spring in his step :-)
I was further impressed by knowing that this guys was not the normal buwa type un-worldly person. He is an highly educated fellow (M.Sc. , Ph. D in chemistry (actually in ultrasonic and when he told me this, we both exclaimed at the same time that is falls in physics !). After that he was a professor, in IIT powai for quite some time. Right now he stays alone in his simple place above a temple and is a portrait of simplicity.
Then we had this session bout Pranayama and he explained various things in that. I am not going to go through that session word by word cause it will be killing boring. But to tell you the gist of it, he was talking bout "Shwas" (the breath) all the time and explain its importance scientifically.
After some exercises, he asked each of us to measure our breath. It so turned out that I was breathing almost 4 times faster than anyone else. On this he was astonished, but he told me that you should try to control the speed of breathing; more precisely, slow it down !!
I was a little surprised and about to ask why, when he said something which made me think.
He said, the human life is not measured by no of years / months that we live. Its measures solely based on the no of breaths. So for every human the no of breaths are fix. The ones who breathe slowly stay out for long and the ones who do it fast enough (like me!!) will move on to another life sooner.
Frankly, at this moment, I do not know the truth involved in this concept, but I am sure he knew better than me.
But I am fascinated by this concept. It does make sense to me in the large scheme of things. If its true,it means that we have a sense of some control over our lives and we are not that helpless after all. Maybe the power that granted us this life, wanted us to be intelligent enough to know how to control it somewhat ! So we can actually give it a shot to extend our own lives!
Give it a thought.. ..!
I went to Nashik some time back and the visit proved memorable for more than one thing. This is an attempt to share why.
The whole episode started when my in-laws (FIL & MIL) went for a weeklong sessions on "Pranayama" and they asked their daughter to join them for the last day. I decided to join in too since my Nashik visit was long pending and it looked like a welcome change from the daily grind.
These sessions were imparted by a proclaimed expert in the ancient Indian arts of "Yoga" and "Pranayama". He teaches these arts not for a living; but kind of a knowledge transfer.
I was shocked at the first impression of this 82 year old;for the very simple reason that , he didn't looked 82 or anywhere in the vicinity. He hardly looked 62 and that too a good young 62, with a smile on his face and a spring in his step :-)
I was further impressed by knowing that this guys was not the normal buwa type un-worldly person. He is an highly educated fellow (M.Sc. , Ph. D in chemistry (actually in ultrasonic and when he told me this, we both exclaimed at the same time that is falls in physics !). After that he was a professor, in IIT powai for quite some time. Right now he stays alone in his simple place above a temple and is a portrait of simplicity.
Then we had this session bout Pranayama and he explained various things in that. I am not going to go through that session word by word cause it will be killing boring. But to tell you the gist of it, he was talking bout "Shwas" (the breath) all the time and explain its importance scientifically.
After some exercises, he asked each of us to measure our breath. It so turned out that I was breathing almost 4 times faster than anyone else. On this he was astonished, but he told me that you should try to control the speed of breathing; more precisely, slow it down !!
I was a little surprised and about to ask why, when he said something which made me think.
He said, the human life is not measured by no of years / months that we live. Its measures solely based on the no of breaths. So for every human the no of breaths are fix. The ones who breathe slowly stay out for long and the ones who do it fast enough (like me!!) will move on to another life sooner.
Frankly, at this moment, I do not know the truth involved in this concept, but I am sure he knew better than me.
But I am fascinated by this concept. It does make sense to me in the large scheme of things. If its true,it means that we have a sense of some control over our lives and we are not that helpless after all. Maybe the power that granted us this life, wanted us to be intelligent enough to know how to control it somewhat ! So we can actually give it a shot to extend our own lives!
Give it a thought.. ..!
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Ayrton Senna - the legend !
12 years passed by, as F1 cars will return to the Imola track, after that fateful day, 1st May 1994, which took something away from us.
What we lost that day, was not just a champion driver or not just a fantastic human being; what we lost is a sense of certainty in life,if I may say so.
I know that life is all but certain.But then are we not trained to believe in happy-endings always ? And that the good things win in the end?
In short, "all is well that ends well". Consequently, we start expecting that all that is going good, should end well.
That is why it is such a great shock to see a 34 year old triple F1 world champion, arguably the greatest driver ever to drive an F1 car (without argument, the best ever F1 driver on a rainy track) died on track, in an accident that looked completely unlike him !
Not that he was in-fallible, none of us really are, but even his greatest critics would agree in saying that Ayrton Senna Da Silva, of all people, would not make that kind of a driving error !!
It didn't helped that he died when he was at the peek of powers !
Personally, his tragic death hit me hard, cause I was (or I am ?!) his diehard fan. I found it hard to accept that he aint there anymore or that I wont see him driving again. I even gave up watching F1 for a while, after his death.
On a philosophical side, his death taught me a very important lesson in life:
" nothing is certain in life ! So Expect the unexpected. "
Sometimes, contrary to our beliefs, bad things do happen to good people....
This is NOT what we are trained to think, but it does happen all the same. Maybe its the almighty's way of showing us that he is the final authority and that its all really controlled by him.
That is life ..... !
Ayrton's legacy will go on. He was a F1 legend while he was alive. He is still remembered today, 12 years after his death. And chances are, he will be remembered always.
More than half a dozen F1 tracks around the world, has S bends bearing his name ("The Senna S"). But more importantly his is an image that resides in the minds of drivers, fans and everyone else, who watched him drive anytime, in the minds of anyone connected to him in anyway.
Its an image of a maverick driver, who would not care for anything but victory, who would always propel himself past any danger, of whatever magnitude.
Cause for him that danger never existed, when his sites were set on the checkered flag.
For him failure was simply not an option !
This is a tribute to that spirit, which will remind us to live life in one and exactly one way:
To aim only for success at whatever we do.
12 years passed by, as F1 cars will return to the Imola track, after that fateful day, 1st May 1994, which took something away from us.
What we lost that day, was not just a champion driver or not just a fantastic human being; what we lost is a sense of certainty in life,if I may say so.
I know that life is all but certain.But then are we not trained to believe in happy-endings always ? And that the good things win in the end?
In short, "all is well that ends well". Consequently, we start expecting that all that is going good, should end well.
That is why it is such a great shock to see a 34 year old triple F1 world champion, arguably the greatest driver ever to drive an F1 car (without argument, the best ever F1 driver on a rainy track) died on track, in an accident that looked completely unlike him !
Not that he was in-fallible, none of us really are, but even his greatest critics would agree in saying that Ayrton Senna Da Silva, of all people, would not make that kind of a driving error !!
It didn't helped that he died when he was at the peek of powers !
Personally, his tragic death hit me hard, cause I was (or I am ?!) his diehard fan. I found it hard to accept that he aint there anymore or that I wont see him driving again. I even gave up watching F1 for a while, after his death.
On a philosophical side, his death taught me a very important lesson in life:
" nothing is certain in life ! So Expect the unexpected. "
Sometimes, contrary to our beliefs, bad things do happen to good people....
This is NOT what we are trained to think, but it does happen all the same. Maybe its the almighty's way of showing us that he is the final authority and that its all really controlled by him.
That is life ..... !
Ayrton's legacy will go on. He was a F1 legend while he was alive. He is still remembered today, 12 years after his death. And chances are, he will be remembered always.
More than half a dozen F1 tracks around the world, has S bends bearing his name ("The Senna S"). But more importantly his is an image that resides in the minds of drivers, fans and everyone else, who watched him drive anytime, in the minds of anyone connected to him in anyway.
Its an image of a maverick driver, who would not care for anything but victory, who would always propel himself past any danger, of whatever magnitude.
Cause for him that danger never existed, when his sites were set on the checkered flag.
For him failure was simply not an option !
This is a tribute to that spirit, which will remind us to live life in one and exactly one way:
To aim only for success at whatever we do.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
If you failed to plan, you planned to fail.
This apparently simple statement (which at first glance looks merely like juggling of words) has a deep meaning embedded in it.
To Plan is to make a conscious decision to do something and do it in a particular way. The normal human tedency is to be very defensive about making decisions for whatever reasons, since most decision would be associated with consequences directly attributed to the decision maker. So normal human intelligence conclues that if theres a tough decision to make, you better not make it or hold it off till the last possible moment.
But very few of us actually realise that not making any decision is also a decision, which in most cases maybe worse than making a decision. This is because when you make a decision you have some idea of what the result might be and most of the times the actual result is indeed one of these known values. But when you dont make a decision you are inviting an outcome completely un-known, unexpected and in most cases unwanted!
So lets plan what we want to do, lets make that decision. Lets take the decision, right or wrong, and shape our lives ....... at least we can try :)
-- Kedar
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