Rant 13 (contd): the un-LUCKY ones part 3 # Third Time Lucky

And so it had to be this way...after two years of enduring maddeningly humiliating defeats, not to mention constant reminders of THAT and of how pathetic our college was in sports, I guess it was to be right at the very end that we got our chance to give something back to the college and a kick up Mr. Mallya-and-his-MIT-goons backsides.

Of course Shazzy and I had already given Mallya a taste of MIC's potential at the Tennis in 'o7, but I am actually very very glad that we suffered in football for another year before this year, oh the sweetest of them all. It is so much more worth it than it would be for a college with 4000 students used to winning largely owing to Mallya's devilish operating methods, but only wins one football trophy in 6 years. (not to take credit away from the team that did it...they are pretty good).
If any of the current football team members are reading this then please remember that we have lost way worse than you can ever imagine. I feel like a world war 2 veteran when i say that but that is the truth. We are at a point where we can challenge any damn team in the Manipal region. But we have grown from virtually a garbage dump to reach that point, through some really bad losses, not just in terms of scores I should say...so think about that the next time any of you decide you've had a "bad" game!

So moving on with this fairy tale year...
There were three out of four major milestones that the MIC football team crossed:-
1) Scoring a goal.....EVER! check
2) Scoring a goal in a tournament check
3) Winning a match....EVER! check
4) Winning a match in a tournament

the first and third are an interesting story as they both happened in the same match. At this point, MIC football had crossed another small but significant milestone in terms of practices. We had now conducted the most number of practice sessions in our history with I might add, the highest ever average number of players per session.
the reason? our two fresh batches, BAJC 1st year and MS-COMM 1st year, gave us 9 of the most awesome players I have played with. I am proud to call them my team-mates.
Agnello, Narottam, Pratik, Yasin, Boppanna, Kevin, Awijit, Asim and Ankur have given our team the much needed players. To chalk one more up for the milestones section, we actually had a proper subs bench this time
So we practised and somehow I think all of us felt like we were waiting for a chance to play, because we were simply that good now. defensively, we had a rock solid line. Naim on the left, Narottam and Yasin in the center and Awijit on the right. Pratik, Gautam and Agi were our backups for defence. My mistake even at this point was to play Yasin back even though it was actually quite a big help. At least for the initial few games I'm glad he played back. This guy is probably the most cool-headed and gentlemanly player i have EVER played with or against. Having never seen him lose it on the field, it was actually surprising to see him push an opponent in a recent match. However, and this was the funny part about that incident. three mit guys close in on him, trying to show their anger and from my position it looks like this French lambu has three annoying kids looking up and begging for more candy!
Naim, the ever present, with extra build (I'm guessing from a life-time of roshogolla!!), spectacles notwithstanding, he goes on as if nothing as happened even if every other game, his lenses fly in two different trajectories! That's our strength right there for you!
and Palli, who has now earned the dreaded (for others that is) reputation of being a hard tackler. There is a yellow card in MAHE sports archive with his name on it that says : "Palli, hard-ass from the word Go!" His amazing defensive cababilities perhaps outshine his forays into the midfield...for the last time Palli...look up and pass! lol
Narottam, normally a very level headed defender, he too has his times of aggression. and Yet, his presence in the very heart of our defence is a sight wholly reassuring. I can't tell you how many set piece disasters have been avoided with that height and head of his.
Pratik, my heart goes in my mouth everytime he goes in for a risky tackle. the number of times he's been called up like that is only comparable to the number of times he's gotten the ball as far away from the goal as possible...that's his strength. Agi, who stands firmly, ever ready on the sidelines, just hoping that somewhere, in that huge field of 22 players, a small spark flies. and then its ON! but on the field, he rivals the best amongst us in his dedication to the game.
However, I have saved the best for the last. This is to say that the MOST dedicated member of the MIC team is Gautam. For the simple reason that he is there on the field for 99.9 % of the sessions and def, I find it hard to recall the last time he missed a match. "Playing time", as he calls it, nothwithstanding. I can see him working towards giving more to our team and I sincerely hope the next year's lineup will have his name on the starting 11.
The attacking lineup was def strengthened with the arrival of Bopi and Kevi from MS I section and Deepak from 2nd MS towards the end. Kevin had the legs and the stamina to out run us all. Bopi was the cool head in midfield, always looking to play his team-mates, more than himself. Deepak was an excellent asset in midfield as I found out, and I still wonder why we didn't see more of him in second year. We already had the three weirdos in Ashish, Ashwin and Vineeth from second year. Ashwin, the self-proclaimed (only later accepted!!!) Christiano Ronaldo of the team. Though he can be a prick at times, it's his sheer tenacity at playing that keeps the team going.
Ashish who despite Manipal ki hawa could run like hell all day on the field, shouting "ayee...what the fuck man!" all the way to all those who dared tackle him.
Vineeth, a player so skilled and yet one who trips over on his own (no tackles needed!) to earn a two month long injury. I'm still waiting for him to hit that top corner, but he needs no better description than crisp for the way in which his free kick flew in, at a moment very close to full time, when we most needed someone to shine.
Tenzin, the ever ebullient striker always looking for the sly opportunity to get in goal. This ability of his got us our first win against MIT.
and Ankur, the slightly lanky midfielder. Even though he mostly came on as sub this year, he can still hold his own and pass the ball well. Let's hope he builds up some muscles, those MITians ain't taking things lightly next year I can tell you that!
Shazzy, well what a story that is; became a little absent from the practices owing to too much education happening, but came back strongly and is now an invaluable asset in midfield. Also, I'm half scared everytime I lose my own mind on field, dreading Shazzy's verbal assault on me. I can still hear it from that Inter-Mahe game, "Dash shut the fuck up!!!"
And we have Asim, another striker cum midfielder. Dedicated and needless to say an amazing footballer, who's been at the core of many a victory in our repertoire.

So thats the team I guess. There were many who came and went but i guess this is the bunch that stuck it out for this one glorious year.
our first victory and our first goal, came at a practice match against a lowly architecture team. i say lowly, because not only did we score our first goal thanks to an amazing low and hard shot by Pady, but we ended up scoring 5 more! for the first time, WE were the ones celebrating a 6-0 scoreline. From then on, we never looked back. Our defence slowly gained a useful reputation of being able to hold out against a veritable seige. Even MIT was finding it hard to break our defence down in the first half. Stamina problems meant we sometimes ended up giving away the odd goal in the dying minutes and hence lost. But there were moments aplenty for us at every game. Thus we never lost hope!
Finally comes the tournament, this time it was Revels first. I guess, we needed a platform to really show off our game. Our opponents, MIT B. Lets put aside the fact that MU technically doesnt permit two teams from one college under the same Gender category. Instead lets talk about the game itself. This was lets say the MIT reserve team. Their future players. the game itself was nerve wracking to say the least. They managed to score a scruffy goal in the first 20 mins, but we crossed our second milestone as we managed to equalise mere minutes after their success, with a brilliantly developed move. Vineeth and Ashish were at the heart of that as far as I remember. I also recall someone telling me that Atman, the MIT main team captain, had to actually get up from his bench as that happened, and control things from the lines. A quick image of a fiery scotsman doing the same in the Theatre of Dreams comes to mind, even though it hurts me to think of ever wishing against that king of managers.
The second half and just when it looked like we would be going into penalties, they pushed in yet another scruffy goal. I was much at fault for this one, as the ball slipped in from just under my arm. an unlucky 2-1 loss!
Inter-MAHE, and this time I don't think anyone felt not-ready. We'd taken up morning practice sessions once again after more than 2 years and it looked like paying off at last. Our attackers literally and pardon the expletive, Raped their defence. MCOAHS, the Allied Heatlh college wasn't exactly easy pickings, but we had no less than 8 chances, 3 of them, so cruelly missed, you wanted to take a bludgeon and smash your own head off (cos you were so far away from the guy who missed!). However, we were unable to break through in the first half. The second half turned the whole game upside down. A freak handball in our box but one of their players, yet the ref somehow missed that. In the ensuing confusion, a stuck out leg was enough to get them 1-0 up. We would def have equalised had it not been for this horrendous blunder on the part of the ref (he really sucked that day..honestly!). Three players, one of ours and 2 from them, were coming on as subs or were basically just coming on. In the middle of this their move began and before you knew it, one forward was almost at the D. I had little choice but to charge out as I was not sure if the defender was going to make it. A chip over my head and a relatively cool finish and it was 2-0.
tweet tweet tweet.....it was all over!

So that is the story of the final throw of the dice, at least for my batchmates and I.
I should however, also give a special thanks to the entire cheerleading squad of MIC. Truly, it is a treat in any game (good or bad) to hear custom made cheers for the team members being shouted out at the top of your voices. here are some of the choiciest examples:- 1) na na naa naa...na na naa naa...hey hey hey...take your shirt off!
2) MIC is what?...DYNAMITE (ma fav)
3) Hey *player name* you're so sexy...I wanna be just like you...SEX BOMMB!
SO, as huge a thanks as I can ever muster up goes out to you guys...you guys are the real dynamites.
And in the tradition of my earlier posts, enjoy the pics..

late as usual...even for the team photo

we're not always that lucky you know...
but that's why we have teammates


sometimes we point fingers...


...but win or lose, we are united as one...


...courtesy our cheerleaders and this slightly amnesia hit old man 's shop


3 emotions in one...Anger, Depression, and Frustration.
not to mention Ashwin and Naim!!!!


(sitting, right to left), Naimul; Tenzin; Ashwin; Ashish; Bopi
(top row, right to left) Awijit, Ankur, Deepak, Narottam, Agi, Shaz, Asim, Pratik, Yasin, Subu Sir, Gautam and myself)

so guys
WHAT ARE WE???

Rant 13 (contd): the un-LUCKY ones part 2 # a Second coming

So first year was probably not a lot to write home about in terms of football.
anyways, Second year and I could not wait to find out players from our junior batch. We got about 5.
Ashish, Ashwin, Naimul, Gautam, and Vineeth brought a ray of hope to our despairing team.
a further boost was the arrival of two German exchange students, Chris and Mark from Bremen.

Chris, alongside Shaz

Mark was this bulky forward who despite that could handle the ball damn well. Chris was a defender and a pretty good one at that.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but we actually managed to conduct a good number of practice sessions. Manipal's ever faithful rainfall made sure that we were well entertained by sights of a bulky german slipping in Indian mud.
From the MS section, we got Tenzin and Deepak, the former was aptly named Monkey Boy for his extraordinary antics beyond the field.

cometh the hour...cometh the fool
for the match, yours truly decided that he wanted to play outfield as opposed to something more useful like...oh i dont know...Goalkeeping. Hence, a self-proclaimed goalkeeper was put in place of me and I lined up alongside Chris in central defence for our first Inter-Mahe match. We actually played well for parts of the first half, making the odd half chance at times. however, KMC Mangalore drew first blood off a corner and from then on they managed to score two more before half time. One of those two, well...the less said about the keeper's effort, i guess the better it is.
second half and I had to take on the gloves, which didnt actually help our cause too much. we still conceded another. I managed to save a few, but I guess it was too little too late by then. 4-0 the final score.
We didnt fare too well at the Revels cup either, 6-0 i think we managed to lose. Either way, I chose not to remember much from that game. We started with 9 players, went up to 11 as the game began, then came back to 9 owing to too much alcohol in one and a fly in another's eye.

That's it...we lost...end of story.

to be continued of course!

Rant 13: the Un-LUCKY ones, Part 1 # our first steps

I guess the universally unlucky number had to be the one that told of My football team. I'm sorry if i sound a tad selfish when I say that. In my final year, i found a totally new outlook on football here, (sports itself) which is very indicative of the power of mind over body.
First year:-
we were 5 of us,

Shaz (an excellent Tennis player as well, he and i have our own "hollywood" script about that sport),

Akhilesh (I called him Crazy Legs , like a frikin roadrunner!),

Norten (awesome guitarist as well as footballer, still cant forget that first five a side),

Pady (another awesome striker, he scored mic's first competitive goal ever)

and me from our batch. There were others who tried playing. And try they did, from the cultural rep of our class to others with really strong "capacities".

our first practice with the seniors was quite impresssive for us. we were beating them at 5 a side quite easily i guess. We were warned countless times about prior performances, mostly from Captain, Tamal, who was then in 3rd year. A chill goes down my spine hearing numbers like 10, 12.
Nevertheless, the five i mentioned stuck it out for the better part of our first year, and we had some great times.
Minor ones include the precious few practice sessions in the morning. Manipal in the Odd sem is all Rain and no gain, however, the mornings are quite pleasant in that respect. Slush and mud made up those practices but we definitely honed our long ball and trapping skills to the fullest. Even Tamal joined us for a couple of sessions.
One glorious match that comes to mind is the first five a side that we played on the 10th Block basketball court. I played goalie in that and i got my fair share of knocks on the face! The whole game as such is a bit of a blur, but we were trailing 3-1 towards the end. It's about ten mins per half, and just when i had lost all hope, Norten came up with two of the sweetest struck goals in street football i had seen. both in the top corner meant we were into penalties. I remember running up to celebrate like mad when we were finally level, everyone was jumping and hugging norten like crazy.
the penalty shootout(which was basically shooting from one end of the court to another into goal). All the euphoria and relief that we felt from equalising was washed down as none of us were able to score. the good thing was, only one from the opposing team was able to score. still it was a crushing end to such a brilliant performance...unlucky!

Sadly, we were unable to carry the good bit of that into the Inter-MAHE and Revels tournaments in 06-07. 6-0, and 5-0 i think were the resepective scores. Our defence was a testamemt to the word "patched". I got badly scratched as the ground was pretty fucked and they made a helluva lot of attacks on goal. our midfield and attack did a fair job considering what practice we'd done.

I guess thats the story of first year.

to be continued...

Rant 12: the Second hike!

So, i guess it may come as no surprise that I absolutely love taking a hike!
this latest one takes us to Kemmangundi (i hope i got that right), which is a very scenic hill station about 7 hours from Manipal. located amidst the lush greenery of the Western Ghats, it is a very pleasant one day trek that everyone in need of a getaway should consider.
i myself was waiting for a getaway like this for quite a while now. I think maybe i was a bit too desperate, and obv any chance i get to go shutter crazy is reason enough. i went mad on this trek. my final tally after taking out the really crappy shots...was 312! this is by far the most number of pics Ive taken till date in a single session...in a day for that matter.
this was a trek organised by the adventure club at MIT manipal, thats RED-X. Even though i normally would have preferred going alone, the fact that we ended up with 2 filled up inter-state buses (if u ever saw one, u'd know what i was talking about), was actually helpful in me getting more and better shots.

so without boring ya'll with too much text...

Land formation at Sunrise point, first stop of the trek

full HD colour


a Macro touch







Rock formations


wow! check out those curves on that...rock!


mini waterfall...always a welcome break on a route like...


...this. En route to Z point...no that's the name, really!


see? the route...hence the name

Ze Z point (what I can't imitate french guys now?)


the one we didn't bathe in...Kattahi falls


7 kms to Hebbe falls...simply beautiful


crossing streams


en guard at Hebbe falls


my dream...is to fly...over the rainbow...well..waterfall!


halfway top


picture perfect end...


...however, there's always something more to think about

Rant 11: milestones

There are two milestones in sight as of now...
1) i have just crossed 10 posts
2) My college days are finally numbered...literally...i have about 46 days 14 hours and 2 mins (as of this moment) thanks to this lovely wittle widget i found yesterday.

Rant 10: For Argument's and God's sake

Of all the ***forsaken movies we've ever watched including those made by the master of satanism himself Mr. Bill Maher, needler in Bush's ass Mr. Michael Moore etc etc, here is one movie that completely blew me away...
ps: if homeland security is reading this then ...well..nothing....ukhaad ke dikhao!
it's called God on Trial.
A group of prisoners at Auschwitz concentration camp ( a lovely little retreat in Poland built by Hitler!) decide that enough is enough. The sheer injustice meted out by the Nazis is enough to warrant answers from the big G himself.

"But the horror of it! how can you put God on trial? and how is he to be represented. and we all know he himself can't come here, ha ha ha ha!" this last bit would of course point to a higher reason but we all know poor theists are 90% blind to it anyways. and that was not a quote from the film itself, but what i assumed theists would say to a statement like "can we put god on trial pleeeease!?"

Coming back to the story, what was perhaps most interesting, was that even in the face of extreme injustice, mass murder by millions etc, people were ready to believe that it was all part of a plan.
To borrow keywords from the film's dialogue, "the holocaust is part of a purification process." Yes! just like the great flood of Noah or the endless worldwide plagues, the wiping out of entire races was considered a process of re-modeling. it's like the god here screwed up often and then just so that everybody would think he was doing ok, would tag the humans as sinners, cleanse the earth and then start all over again.
hey he's god...what are you gonna do about it?
i remember bringing a similar form of enthusiasm for my 2nd grade drawing class.

anyways.

the principle charge that the Jews (primarily) in the film lay out was that God had broken his covenant with the Jewish people. This is something like a signed contract that God made with the jews. So apparently all the praying etc that all other religions did was simply false. or did god simply listen to them so that in the end he could finally realise his dream of imitating Eric Cartman and telling all non-jews:
na na na na naah naah...u got the wrong religion.... u got the wrong religion
and just for fun Nelson (simpsons): haaaaan haan!

it is here where i feel the BEST dialogue bit of the film comes into play...
firstly theists like to see the world as intelligently designed. How else could a structure so intricate as say the human body or any other living organism be formed and fucntion. all the wonders of the natural world, delicate systems etc. It all seems so overwhelming to the theist that it definitely looks intelligently designed.
I am a simple Journalist, not a scientist. hence i'll let one of my fav characters from the film, the lone member of science at the blockhouse -the physicist- talk to u for a bit.
(Gist)
" there are a hundred thousand million stars in this universe. and numerous planets like ours around them who knows? why do you people insist on believing that a god who can create a hundred thousand million stars would stop to make a covenant, a contract with only one tiny planet at the edge of an outer spiral? and not even one planet, one set of people, the Jewish people."

and staying with Intelligent Design gives us this peach of a (dialogue) delivery
There is mention of a certain kind of wasp that lays its eggs on flowers. The larve upon hatching then carry the flower's pollen to other flowers. it does not help the wasp for it cannot eat it, but it still carries it.
wow! what intelligent design

here is the physicist's reply:
"does the wasp carry pollen for all flowers or only Jewish flowers???"

(I rest my case)

Rant 9: holi shit!!

There's always been two sides to every coin right?
So as i slept away the summer heat on a day they call Holi , one side of the coin was literally being played out at a campus hangout area called KC.
Fortunately, we live in a world with digicams and one video from that morning session kinda looked like one of those Goa rave videos with just about everybody going nuts in single spot, if thats even possible.
Your's truly woke up at the ungodly hour of 12:30 pm under bright sunshine and explored the area thus ravaged.
warning: graphic content, viewer discretion is advised


..and in between (the mayhem) were caught the doors.


on they fought...the 300, err..30!

birds? planes?

no...its vests, on phone lines


battlefield Manipal


enjoying the spoils of war...cheeky bastards!


the immortal holi-war soldier.....adi