When we met Santa...

Lured by the glittering Christmas trees and streets in Leuven last year, I desperately wanted to spend (at least one) Christmas in Europe. With stunning white Christmas around the corner this very year has been an incredible experience. All throughout the year, I dreamt about Santa clause coming to the door step with a lot of goodiebags and gifts providing lots of support and strength. I always believed he must be just around the corner, just to the left or to the right or... Illusioned by his presence, I kept on venturing and exploring each and every activity eagerly looking for surprizes, half chances with the hope that someday I would catch him...I would talk to him...I would sing with him...I would clap with him. From Jan to Nov. passed without much luck but with Christmas around the corner on one rendezvous evening I could indeed meet Santa....We all met Santa....We all sang...We all clapped...We all cheered:

"Wish you a Merry Christmas
Wish you a Merry Christmas
Wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year"

Julienne playing Piano

Itziar on Piano was a marvel. Julienne, Tomas and Sandeep in the background

It's a pity that camera's can't capture sound

It's Jingle Bells time. Everybody joining the corus.
Have a look @ the instrument with Parvathi; Bells in Sandeep's hands are not visible.

What a fantastic evening it was!!! Tomas's aunt Julienne warmly welcomed us and within no time we were in their enthralling music room with Piano, Guitar, Violin, Bells and many more musical instruments I do not even know. All three sisters are heavily into music. They compose songs, melodies, compile lyrics and perform in Chruches mesmerizing the crowd. Make crowd sing with them, clap with them, dance with them. If we would have had other two sisters at the venue, we would have had a live performance for sure but the shear amount of energy and enthusiasm with which Julienne was singing, playing Piano and Violin was good enough to offer us some glimpses as to what these performances would be like. With the house packed crowd, what amount of energy levels these artists must be producing, Stupendous! simply Out-of-the-World!!!

Although this was not the only surprize in store for us. Itziar, one of the new IMEC interns from Spain accompanying us on the trip was an accomplished Piano player. Phew!!! Practicing Piano from the age of 5 (if my memory is sane), her fingers started dancing on Piano producing incredible symphonies. With Julian on Violin and Istiar on Piano, we were treated with plenty of Christmas tunes. Some familiar, some unknown and it was an evening none of us wanted to end. From Beethoven to Jingle Bells we kept on singing and clapping and cheering:

Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way...
What fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh...

If Santa greets me this way every time; I would love to spend Christmas in Europe year after year...

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File photo of Tomas with his parents taken last year
during the Leopoldsberg reenactment battle visit

Do we have it in Us....

Nileshbhai pointed out this motivational piece in Indian Express. The story is about his star Basketball playing sister and her friends coming back to courts after tangible time off it: punes-basketball-moms-script-fairytale-comeback. For more than a reason this is story proves the power of an agile mind. The win of will over all adverse circumstances proving if you want to achieve something and if you set out to do it with all you have, success won't be that far. Acting as a catalyst this encouraging story made me hallucinate sitting right here on my desk. Here I narrate my dream and hope some fellow (ex-)AVS players have similar thoughts. I strongly believe, if we come together, We Can Do It...

I have no second thoughts that my (and hopefully yours) best times have been playing on courts. Be it Kho-Kho or Basketball, just being present on the court in a match or a practice session was a thrill in itself. Gaining approval of the coach and the audience after winning a good tough match has certainly been memorable and loosing a close match and standing in front of angry coaches (Milind, Manoj, Anand and Shetty sir) was as distasteful. Getting selected for district and state teams was the formidable goal and not ending up making it was indeed a huge disappointment. Manisha made us all proud to play for Indian Basketball team through her shear hard work and determination but there are plenty of us who gave it up in between for one reason or the other.

Believe it or not, we were a formidable team (Boys in Kho-Kho and girls in Basketball) in Bombay circuit and if most of us have continued with the sport, some of us would have been head peons (or may be on higher rank accountants) in banks, railways or other public service institutes supposedly bolstering sports and sports men/(wo)men. Obviously this was not a career that a middle class dreams off and with all the surrounding peer pressure we all landed in other Better Safe Than Sorry careers ending up being engineers/doctors/CAs/artists/scientists and what not.

Most of us are excelling in our respective careers, leading happy family lives, making decent money towards meeting both ends meet but in a process we have had to forgo our dreams to excel in sports we all passionately played and practiced every evening. The joy of any sports is not only about winning and loosing but getting back to the competitive spirits does lead to an inexplicable happiness of a higher degree. The bonhomie and team spirits inculcates stronger bonds as we had developed a long while ago. Unfortunately True!!! Under the stress of time and inevatible circumstances, the bonds have waned, contacts are lost. But, if we can take a cue from these brave moms and super achievers not only in sports but in life, we can as well relive our dream to be a formidable opposition in the Bombay circuit.

I believe we can do it. If moms could do it, we could certainly do it. The question is, Do We Have It In Us?

Leuven 'O Leuven!!!

As you dream for tomorrow, you miss today.
As you look far, you miss the things close to you.

In between traveling around Europe, I get a feeling I have almost overlooked the beauty of the very town I stay, Leuven - beautiful Leuven 'O Leuven. In fact, people from all over come to visit Leuven, which I used to find very funny. But no more!!! These glittering christmas lights are for sure a testimony of the fact that Leuven is indeed beautiful and once in Belgium one should visit Leuven.

Last year I had only a hint of Leuven gearing up for Christmas but had very little time capturing it through the lenses. Only Last night before departing to India, I decided to give a skip to (much desired) sleep and went to Leuven Centre to capture the town in the wee hours of morning. Here are a few images:

Glittering Leuven City Hall - It's a very artistic structure with a lot of art work all over. A must see when you are in Leuven. Looks like the town never sleeps during Christmas...

Glittering facade of the city hall

Oud Markt - I was informed that this is judged as the largest pub in the world

A Glittering Christmas Tree

City of Leuven has plenty of statues. This one right at the Leuven Center depicts a KUL student in my opinion and you can see the beer flowing while reading equations? Well, there are actual equation inscribed in the book he holds. Have a look if you haven't so far...

Update:

KU Leuven Library Building. I was informed that it's a renaissance style of architecture.
This photo is taken on one fine evening in 2009.

OMG!!! My fly is open

"Stop! Stop!! Stop!!! One by One.", I, acting as a bad Erasmus coordinator, banged the table hard screaming at fellow actors on stage at the end of scene 3, only to figure out that my fly has remained open and was wondering what to do next as I continued with the scripted dialogs, "Do not worry. I will listen to all your problems. I will solve all of them but one by one! Is that clear? One by One!!!" but in my mind I was shitting in my pants pondering to myself, "OMG!!! My fly is open. WTF!!! What should I do now?" The next part was the closing and most important part of the scene where I have to move to the front threatening on phone, "If you don't finish your job today, I will cut you into pieces and feed you to dogs. Understand? Understand++ you M*****F*****"

Going to the front part of the stage with the fly open would have been adventurous and would certainly have guaranteed stardom in Leuven in no time. Showing back to the audience and fixing the problem would have meant negative body language and hence was not advocated. I never realized what to do, how to act and how to fix up the mess without digressing from the scene. What I spontaneously ended up doing was zipping the fly as I walked down the stage at an inclined angle. Thankfully nobody came up to me saying that I had messed it up royally but it goes without saying that some in the audience must have noticed it. To my surprize, some informed me in the intermission that I was outstanding in the same scene. LoL :-)

But, then again. That's theater. Everything is for the real. No retakes, no editing and everything is uncut and up for the audience to grab it all. You can never fake it and all your problems and strengths are all out in the open. As an actor, not only yours but the lines of the fellow actors should be in your memory. Timing is crucial. The body language, on stage movements should be streamlined with the character and above all you should be ready for all the surprizes. At the end, anything can happen. Everything is a possibility. You can practice any thing and everything. Rehearse for hours, days and months together but performing in front of the house packed audience? It might surprize you altogether. Tailoring your dialog delivery as per the audience responses, taking adequate spontaneous pauses whenever demanded could hardly be simulated and that makes every theater show unique, be it the first or the hundredth. That's why it is and will always remain an art, a performing art of highest quality.

As it got planned, all my scenes were listed one after the other and that meant a limited amount of time to prepare (mentally and physically) for each of them. To add to the predicament, all of them involved change of dress and as narrated above, I ended up making a mess during the last scene. On the whole, the Janus show was an astounding success with "Mind your Language" opening the show to a very warm audience and the grand "Global Party" scene providing a brilliant end. Other scenes in between were very well received as well.

Some in the audience said they just loved it. It was a indeed a pleasure and a very memorable experience to work with all of the Janus crew (Actors, directors, stage setters and others) and the hard work indeed paid off as some in the audience were lured (some even vowed) to be the part of Janus next time. There can hardly be a better complement. As audience was in the guffaws outside I was discussing with Fredrick in the wings when he quoted, "They are not fools to pay 3 EUR to watch us play. We are good, just too good!!!" Indeed We Rocked and made 'em Rock in sync with "I Got a feelin'. That Tonight's gonna be a good night~. That Tonight's gonna be a good night~. That Tonight's gonna be a good good night~" OMG!!! What a fantastic night...

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++ Understand? Understand you M*****F***** was not part of the script. But I ended up saying it. Do not know how?, why? but I guess I was just too much engrossed into the character and it came up naturally. In retrospect it fits well to the character as well. Wonder why I never thought of it during any of the rehearsals. Never occurred.

Janus Theatre in Leuven Poster

The poster prepared by hardworking Janus International Theater patrons (Bieke, Bart and Others):

I Love Leuven Poster

The preparation is going on and on and on and all of us are putting in lots of hard work. Honestly, I am getting more and more nervous with every approaching date and hour. The show appears to be much more serious than I had thought about. I need to work on my voice and on my gestures. This is unbelievable excitement. Really excited to see how it all unfolds...

For those who have asked for tickets:
It's not possible to advance book the tickets. There will be about ~130-140 seats and show is likely to go Houseful. Reminder, it's on 10th Dec., 9pm @ Pangaea. Please be there around 8-8:15pm when the tickets sale will start.

Viru and Sheru

In one of the English county championship matches, Viru and an Englishman were facing Abdul Razzaq who was making the ball talk with his reverse swing. Quite impossible to face, Razzaq was running though the batting order. In between the overs, Viru nonchalantly informed his partner that he has a plan for Razzaq in his mind and with the same nonchalance next over the ball was dispatched out of the park, never to come back again. Phew! Problem solved!! New ball in!!! Good Bye reverse swing!!! Get back to basics!!!

True or false, the story tells a lot about the character of Viru. Simple solution to an otherwise difficult problems. That's Viru. Rather, "Keep It Straight and Simple (KISS)" has been his mantra right from start and to his credit, he has never ever mended it. Careless, fearless, Out of the box and above all always his own self. "When you commentators (Goeffrey, Gavaskars et. al.) discuss about batting, its techniques etc., it looks as if it is the most difficult pursuit in the world. I know only one simple thing. See the ball and hit it.", He had commented to Harsha Bhogle on one of the TV shows and doesn't he make it look so simple?

Peeping into the history, there have been three prolific batsmen who metamorphosed Indian approach to batting. Gavaskar in late 70s and early 80s showed us how to stand and stand tall. Weathering the storms of Roberts, Halls, Marshals, Holdings etc. Indian team learned not only to save games and but they earned the pride too. Tendulkar (Sheru) in the early nineties started demonstrating how to walk and at times run. He offered confidence that we have it in us to take the attack to the opposition and at times we can indeed dictate terms. Unfortunately, he did not receive adequate support from team mates to keep that pressure for long (a day or 2 straight in a test match) in the early nineties. Soon realized that the longer he stays at the wicket, more beneficial it is for the team and (probably) had to alter his game to a reasonable extent. The usual flamboyance was replaced by caution with aggression approach. The behind the wicket minimal risk shots were invented and longer he stayed at the crease, the team looked better. Otherwise it was like Sheru gone, match gone.

Starting Ganguly's tenure as a captain and settled quality middle order (Dravid, Sachin, Ganguly and Laxman) at his disposal, Sehwag has started to offer us a dream that we can fly and fly high. To his credit, Viru has never changed his apporach to the game. Probably because, he could always rely on the cushion of the prolific middle order batting line-up. With his brutal ability to hit the ball hard at will, he has changed the role of an opening batsman in Tests. The usual role of the opener has been to leave as many balls as possible, take the shine off the ball so that it becomes easier for the middle order to plunder the bowling. Viru, even in a short period at crease, not only takes the shine of the ball but also changes the shape of it, setting the opposition to the back foot early on. The longer he stays at the crease, more devastating is the effect. Be it the first ball after lunch or the last ball before the end of days play, he plays every ball the way he wants to. The position of the game, nature of the wicket, reputation of the bowler seldom intervene in the decision making. Average balls never receive any respect and bad balls are always treated with disdain. Remember, he went from 294 to 300 during his first 300 @ Multan with a flamboyant six. How many can ever do that? and how many can go public after missing another saying, "(No big deal.) It was a missed opportunity, but there will always be a next time." Striking, isn't it? Looks like he treats tripple 100s just as another 100 or a 200. To me, there is a very thin line between confidence and arrogance. For brave hearts like Viru the boasting probably suits the most and touchwood he gets another chance sooner than later.

I really wonder what would have happened if Viru phenomenon would have occurred to Indian cricket ahead of Sheru? Sachin surely has an early bird advantage over Viru. Owing to the rule that the best batsman should bat @ no. 4 in Test cricket, Viru would definitely have been given that role in the absence of Sheru and Sheru would then have had to open the innings for team India. If Viru then had altered his game? and if Sheru would have remained his aggressive self? Would Viru have proved to be a better finisher of the game? and if Bradman would have felt Viru bats very much like him? The questions are fun to address. Thoughts are welcome...

Janus Theater in Leuven

Nowadays I am excited to realize yet another childhood dream, acting in a theater. As a kid, nobody ever offered me a chance to act :-( so here I have decided to don it myself through an ingenious Janus International Theater group. The entire group is so vibrant with a plenty of talent at its disposal that we should be able to pull it off in great style on 10th Dec. '09 evening @ 9pm. So, if you are in and around Leuven on the day, mark your calenders and see you for the show in Pangaea...

Meanwhile, here is the song written for one of our skits "Language Class". It's based on a hilarious Mind Your Language TV show in UK and it should make you laugh your heart out. At first, I was not satisfied with the song as I was not finding apt words. After twisting and turning a bit it looks decent enough for Ley, the music director to try his hand (and guitar). Well, Let's see...

A student in Leuven, walking in the park
After the walk, the gets on to a cart

The cart is French and the cart man is Dutch
Queries student if at all he knows Dutch

Student sees left and the student sees right
Could not hide his shame in a gleaming twilight

With shame in his soul, he is forced to think
Dutch is important, for the lady to wink

With heart on his sleeve, he goes to learn
Finds out that it's a lot of fun...

--GuruDeFundae

Burn The Box: TEDx Brussels

"What product to launch do you have in mind?", questioned one of the participants on the table during a TEDx coffee break. Though I was not completely perplexed at the question, I was for sure taken by surprize that the question propped up within the first 5 minutes of confrontation. But then, that has been in sync the spirit of TED, isn't it? So informal, for sure informative, very ingenious and above all steadfast. It was just an amazing feeling just to be with a bunch of diverse minds, those were open to listen to new ideas, ponder over their repercussions and delve into the complexities to realize them.

A Networking Heaven
But then I normally get these feelings whenever I spend time with Sneha - A biochemist and Naveen - A chemical engineer. First of all, these guys never talk anything less than a Nature publication. With all the bargain, they end up falling down to Science publications and with my entire PhD publication focus on IEEE (and nothing beyond IEEE) I give myself a huge condolence saying, "All is not lost dude. For sure better days are ahead of you :-)" Jokes apart, if at all you want to derive some motivation for science and achieving greater heights in science and technology, talk to these bunch of guys. Most of TED talks are at their finger tips and Naveen can narrate you the biography of most of the famous TED speakers on (and off) demand. It was a fabulous experience to be with them for the conference and meet others from diverse backgrounds as well. If there is only one reason you should to attend TED, it's networking. TED is a networking heaven. You can seemlessly talk to anybody and everybody at the conference and the best thing is they are all willing to talk and talk their minds. As soon as we entered the EU Parliament building, I was confronted by an MBA from Columbia saying, "I would like to talk to you as we are supposed to talk to each other." After exchanging the pleasantries and what brought each of us to TED etc., we had to rush for the session and although I could not locate him again, I ended up having discussions with a variety of people throughout the day. Now the crux is to keep those discussions moving. History suggests that I have been poor at this but I am going to restructure this time.

Burn the Box
The theme of the conference was Burn the Box and some speakers did just that with their splendid speeches and in some case brilliant performances. But, some speakers (you may not believe) were not as good, not at par at all. Some of them even chose to read their speeches. Could you believe that? So boring... In my opinion, they squandered a very good opportunity, rather denied an opportunity to another deserving candidate to make an impression. I am sure there must be plenty in the waiting list.

Some speakers did not (or may be could not) turn up and that was disappointing. Also, some speakers were not really available for discussions afterwards. TED does not have any Q&A time and it's believed that the audience will interact with the speakers during the breaks. But then it is not certainly easy to locate most of them later. As a feedback, it would not really be a bad idea to include a two minute Q&A session after each talk. The time for Q&A sessions can as well be monitored as meticulously as speeches themselves.

If one carefully dissects and segregates the ideas that are spread through TED, (in my assessment) they fall into the following categories:
0. Education
1. Poverty Eradication through
-- Economics
-- Technology
-- Psychology
-- Others
2. Quality of humanlife improvement through
-- Healthcare
-- Biotechnology
-- Computers, Networking and others
-- Others
3. Environmental Challenges
4. Exotic and way too futuristic like
-- Space travel
-- Time travel
5. Entertainment

In retrospect, what I gained out of TEDx Brussels was not only inspiration and stimulation but also confidence, a huge confidence and I would like to share the same with all of you. If you have an idea that falls to one of the above segments (or other novelties) and looking for a great market place to advertise, do dream about participating and presenting at TED, do dream about burning that Box. Dream Big. I, for one, am waiting for my day...

TED Calling...

I want to highlight this hilarious TED talk on local warming, cited to me by a dear Dr. (His title: "Why you should not join IT"): Local Warming The title of this post could very well be "Why I do not use laptop" or "Do Blog but not with laptop" or something else..... but as I am excited to visit TED in Brussels on Monday I prefer to call it simply TED Calling. Here I list my favorite five (F5) TED talks. Have a look at them and you will enjoy for sure:

School kills Creativity by Ken Robinson

Why do we do what we do by Tony Robbins

One Laptop per child by Nicholas Negroponte

East vs. West -- the myths that mystify by Devdutt Pattanaik

Robotic Surgery by Catherine Mohr

Looking forward to a wonderful inspiring and stimulating Monday ahead with TED fans...

My First Prize in Chess

First things always come first and inevitably they last long. Can you ever forget the day when you learned to ride a bicycle/motor bike/car for the first time, the day when you went on your first hike/solo trip, the day when you appeared for the first interview, the day when you left your country for the first time, the first day of the first job, first love, first...... They are all unforgettable and etched in memory for a long long time. Last Sunday was such as unforgettable day for me as I won my first Chess* prize (3rd prize in a <1500elo>

Envelope with Prize money. A Moderate prize money (75 EUR) with a humongous value.
I am never going to trade this currency. Never, Never Ever!!!

With one GM and a few IMs on the top boards and plenty of serious players around, amateur participants like me are usual suspects during such tournaments but then they offer us an opportunity to improve further and with the prize money I received as a motivation proves nothing but it's only a start and there is a long long way to go...
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* In my mother tongue Marathi, Chess is called Buddhibal, literal translation in English is Brain Power. Most of the times, I feel I use more power than brains on the board. With such skills winning any prize in this skillful sport is normally out of question.

Scottish Boards

I recently had a wonderful Scottish trip (Edinburgh, Inverness and Oban) and booooy, wasn't it a fantabulous experience to learn lokgyan from (none other than) Dr. Bond?

Scotland is a wonderful part of the world, you would not fail to love and Scottish gentlemen (and women) are much more warm and open. Even rather stern messages found poetic verses but indeed the messages very loud and clear. Here are two examples:

Message in a Scottish Souvenir shop. Loud and Clear!!!


Belgian Manneken Pis got an unambiguous meaning in Scotland

Then there is one well known parlance that goes on to say why I have always been and will always be stupid :-)

So True!!!

Jaya in the middle order? Life is Cricket and Cricket is Life!

Hari - The Liverpool Fan pointed me to this cricket news (http://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/21133/Jayasuriya-might-bat-down-the-order) suggesting Jayasuriya to bat in the middle order. Moreover he wanted me to share some fundae about it. While chatting with him, I started translating the Life Fundae to Cricket and vice versa. The discussion became interesting. The thoughts below are just an extension linking life and cricket while elaborating on an insane Srilankan thought to move Jayasuriya to middle order.

Rule 1: Never Change a winning/working combination
If something has really worked well for Srilanka from the middle nineties till date is their quality spin bowling and scintillating top order batting. Murali has really been on the pinnacle of success all through and so has been Jayasuriya since the days when he redefined the top order batting alongwith Kaluwitharana starting 1996 World Cup. He has won innumerable games for Srilanka and now has a very able partner in Dilshan* who has really been a sensation on the top for Delhi during IPL. Both have immense potential to provide brisk start to the innings. These two followed by Sangakara @ no. 3 and Jayawardhane @ no. 4 form an ideal top 4 and if one of them bats through the innings, Srilanka is likely to post larger and larger totals and win more and more games. I see no reason to believe why Srilankan selectors are so much paranoid of the sudden glitch of temporary form to Jayasuriya, forgetting his permanent class. Something that has worked for so long is likely to work for lifetime. The need of the hour is to back him with confidence and not to move him to the middle order.

Rule 2: Learn from Others' mistakes
The top 4 are the pillars of Srilankan batting, a reliable source of strength while the middle order and the late middle order has been susceptible largely because of inexperience. Possibly, Selectors want to move Jayasuriya to the middle order to add that vital experience to hold one end so that the side does not crumble in crunch situations. If you poke in the recent history, Indian team went through the same predicament before 2007 World Cup and guru Greg (Chappell) envisioned a strategy moving Tendulkar to the middle order. The result is there for all to see; LoLz. Life is too short to learn from ones' own mistakes. Srilankan selectors would certainly reduce one if they look at their neighbor.

Rule 3: Build upon your strengths and improve upon the weak links

Modern cricket is all about a balance of a side. Side that can provide brisk starts, sustain momentum in the middle and pile it towards the end result victorious. While bowling one has to prevent other side from building partnerships. Srilankan bowling has been brilliant with Murali, Mendis and Malinga (3Ms) providing quality options for the captain. The top order is world class while the only weakness being the middle and late middle order. Moving Jayasuriya to the middle order would mean sacrificing the strength to guards against a weak link and the result would hardly be in favor of Srilanka in the long run.

Rule 4: Two wrongs never make a right

In other words, moving Jayasuriya to the middle order will be wrong on both counts. It would diminish the desirable ferocity at the top of the order while adding only marginally to the middle order. To site an example, Indian team ranked up to no. 1 (or 2) ODI spot today not because Tendulkar moved to the middle order but largely because MSD has adeptly assumed the role of the finisher. Many a times, he has had to crub his natural instincts to ensure reliable run chase and hasn't he done beautifully? Michael Beven in the nineties played the same role for Australia and results were evident. What Srilanka needs at this hour is somebody in the middle order to play a similar role of a finisher. Easier said than done but there is a large talent pool out there and the role of the selectors is to handpick a talent, groom him to ensure that he delivers. Meddling with the world class top order would be a disaster, a complete disaster...

To me all this sounds a common sense but as adage goes "Common sense is not very common". Well, that's tagged Rule No. 5.

Update added after Hari's comment:
==========================================
Now, that brings me to Rule No. 6. Kiss in Public; Kick in private!!!

Guess, all managers, coaches, mentors should follow this. What have Srilankan selectors achieved going to the media for Jaya's case? Sensation, infamy and nothing else. So did Guru Greg when he talked so much about the batting flexibility of the Indian batting order and blah, blah, blah. Instead of offering the confidence to the rookies, it made them paranoid, uncertain about their role in the team and that in turn unsettled the entire squad. I am curious to know what Rafa Benitez informed Gerrald about his vision while moving him to all possible places?

On the issue of giving adequate respect to our players, I tend to think that we Asians in general bring more emotions than warranted about our stars (beyond a point we fail to recognize them as players, as humans). Look at the way Aussies deal with their players. Professional, Methodological. How they offered a fitting farewell to Steven Waugh and moved on. If Waugh would have been playing for India, he would never ever have retired. Did Ganguly ever wanted to retire? In reality, the job of selectors is very vital in Asian ecosystem and they need to assess the value of every player (senior and junior) from time to time. Age honestly does not count but the fitness, focus, ideas and 3-D (Determination, Dedication and Discipline) count the most.

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* Other option is Tharanga. But I prefer to root for Dilshan.

Italian Adventures...

First two posts about Italy have created a perception that NBH did nothing but to eat, eat and eat in Italy. Well, amongst other things Daniele’s summer house is indeed well equipped with a variety of fruit trees (Grapes, Apples, Figs to name a few) but honest judgment of the trip is that we immaculately followed the one and the only NBH commandment "Hike Hard and Party Harder". There were no half measures as we undertook two strenuous (hikes in Appennini mountain ranges) and one quite hike to the castle of Sestola. Albeit a bit more demanding on the body and the mind, hiking on the mountain is much more fun when compared to a plain surface as it offers a huge high. It’s so different compared to the usual hikes in and around Belgium. The mountain ranges in Italy were indeed very much picturescue relieving all our stress whenever we got tired. We also encountered the beautiful Lago Scarfaiolo (Scarfaiolo Lake) and a refreshing waterfall called cascate del Dardagna along the path. All through the journey, Kaya kept collecting flowers, Mika kept herself busy collecting blueberries on the way and we kept ourselves busy munching those. Again, we only followed the only NBH commandment :-o

Lush Green Appennini Mountain range

Good to hike on the mountain!!!

Lago Scarfaiolo!!!

Refreshing cascate del Dardagna !!!

Castle Of Sestola

The breathtaking lush green views of the mountain ranges from atop offered much needed Oxygen enabling crucial next step to reach the summit and when you reach the top, the feeling of success, a sense of accomplishment leaves you ecstatic and so were we…

Memorable Tractor Ride
In the contemporary days of Nuclear families and distant relationships, it was a pleasure to be with cohesive Leonellis. All of them were very friendly but the most vocal of them was Daniele’s uncle Palmo. He took us to a tractor ride, which is again one of memorable incidences of the trip. In spite of his broken English, he was very much anxious to put forward his point, generate discussions, offer his opinions and have fun. In his attempt to pronounce our names correctly, he ended up distorting all our names. “Yao Yao” reborn most of the times with names like “Ciao Ciao”, “Miao Miao” etc. etc. In retrospect, if even one of us (except Daniele) knew as much Italian* as Palmo’s English, the fun would have multiplied manifolds. That’s for sure…

NBH on a tractor ride with Palmo!!!

Gazing Stars
A place away from city lights and an open space is an ideal ambiance for star gazing in the night. It was fantastic to spot shooting stars. Some of us spotted three, some of us spotted two, I could spot one and made a wish. Hope the wish comes true…

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* When I realized Daniele’s parents can’t communicate in English I attempted to learn Italian especially for this trip. But my Italian never went pass “BuonGiorno” (Good Day), “Grazie” (Thank You) and "Ciao" (Hello). Terrible, very terrible (Tremendo, molto Tremendo).

Italian Drivers and Ferrari!!!

"Do you mind if I smoke?", Stefano - Daniele's cousin light up his cigarette without waiting for our reply. Me and Koen were sitting on the back of the car with a sand bag in between while Tomas took the front seat along side the driver Stefano. As soon as we came out of the airport Bologna, we found Stefano steering the car as adeptly as any F1 driver could. With one hand holding the mobile while talking to a friend and the other hand holding the cigarette, Stefano could nonchalantly change the lanes from slow to fast and vice versa, mimicking an expert. Bemused with each lane change, me and Koen were colliding sideways on the sand bag one after the other, as if we were in a roller coaster. Quite a bit of a show really until we found ourselves racing with Daniele's car in the parallel lane. Imagine or not, these two drivers were literally racing against each other on one of the busy highways in Italy and later in the heart of their hometown, Modena. Although they raced against each other vehemently, Daniele never (never ever) speed-ed against the car driven by his uncle/father/mother. When questioned why, he responded, "Elders in the family have to be respected. It's a must, a complete must in Italy." By comparison, the elder generation was much more disciplined when it came to driving. It's much safer to be driven by them :-)

Italian drivers and Ferrari do have a special connection, as every F1 Italian driver aims to be a part of the Ferrari's racing team one day in his career. These were the times when Ferrari's Felipe Massa has had a life threatening accident and there were talks about Schumacher making his comeback to the F1 circuit. Looking at these fantastic drivers, left me convinced that Ferrari need not be looking for drivers outside Italy* as there is a lot of hidden talent in Italy alone. The last day tour to Ferrari town, Maranello-Modena and the Ferrari museum were one of the most memorable experiences all of us will cherish for one life to mention the least. We had never ever seen So Many of Them, So close, for So long together in such a short time. We could also don the drivers seat in a F1 car and feel what's it like to be a F1 driver. The seat is so low to the ground for the aerodynamic reasons that you would really feel dragged on the ground at supersonic speeds. must be an incredible experience driving those machines. Apparently, we found ourselves short of time for the ride in a Ferrari (yes, you can rent a Ferrari here paying EUR 60-70 for 10-15 mins or so). Next time, during the visit, this ride must (a genuine must) be the first on the cart. Enjoy the photos...

Upside down or down side up! It's Ferrari cheering u up!!

Ferrari F1 Car. I have a picture with me driving :p. Need to receive from Tomas. 'll blog later

NBH F1 Fans and Ferraris!!!

The Beauty

NBH F1 Drivers?

Never knew such a model ever existed

You can really rent this car for a while

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* As far as my information about F1 goes, another Italian Giancarlo Fisichella (former key Force India driver) joined the Ferrari team in the recent past.

One Meter Pizza in Italy

"Salute, Amore, Denaro e Tempo per Goderli" Spanish/Italian toast which translates to "Wish you lots of Health, Love & Wealth and (most importantly) Time to enjoy all of them", announced Daniele's aunt Rosy on one of the fine Luncheons @ their summer home in Casine, Modena-Italy. I knew that when it comes food Italians are unique but the last trip to Leoneli's summer home redefined my imagination. I always believed (and treated) breakfast as very important meal of the day but I never knew that breakfast should be done twice (one @ home and one in the town) in order to prepare for a sound Lunch and the purpose of the sumptuous lunch is nothing but to get ready for a rendezvous dinner. Every evening during the trip was unique. Every evening was special and more importantly it always used to be a surprize.

A delicious home dinner in day 1* followed by an authentic multi course dinner on day 2 was still fresh in our minds and on the third evening Daniele declared, "Tonight, we'll go to have a One Meter Pizza!!!" and everybody started dreaming about One Meter Pizza that indeed whetted the appetite of one and all. After a small walk as we reached the restaurant, everybody was surprized at the amount of cars being parked at the restaurant. It was as if the entire town had descended to taste a one meter Pizza on the day. Although the wait took us a while to get a table for 10, it seemed all the worth. "What toppings are we going to go for?", Daniele as we occupied the table. Soon the toppings were decided, the orders were placed and we kept eagerly waiting for the special One Meter Pizza. The drinks were served but what all of us wanted was the glimpses of that One Meter long Pizza which I was eagerly waiting to see for the first time. "The son of the owner has received a special training to make the special Pizza", Daniele extended the curiosity once again and now we were no longer able to hide the curiosity looking at the kitchen door from which our Pizza would be brought at any moment.

Finally the wait ended and there it was, in the hands of the waitress who hurriedly parked herself at our table serving us much awaited Pizzas, not one but two (Two but hey, we ordered only one :-)) and two half meter ones :-( Ooops!!! That's not ON :-(:-(:-(:-(:-( Not at all. Even two most beautiful Miss Universes can't replace the woman in your mind.

Pic. 1. Two Half Meter Pizzas. Disappointing :-(

They were big, indeed were huge. They were certainly mouthwatering and yet I believe they did disappoint us. Tastewise, they were undoubtedly one of the best Pizzas we have ever had but that one shear look of One Meter Pizza eluded us may be we all be looking for that elusive one meter Pizza in the heart of Pizza Land during all our forthcoming trips....

Eating the last piece of delicious Pizza ended Tomas hallucinating about One Meter Tiramisu. "If not Pizza, let's have One Meter Tiramisu, Daniele", Tomas. "Not a bad thought", Daniele,"One meter? in which direction though? 2D or 3D?". Not a bad thought either but "Why not One Meter long Tiramisu in all directions?"...LoL.

Pic 2. Can we have One Meter 2D/3D Tiramisu?

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* I understand from Massimo that it really proved to be an ordeal for them to cook a vegetarian meal only for me. Thanks a ton for the effort. I really liked it.

Curious Case Of A Photographer...

"Is NBH made up of crazy photographers?", if you pose this question to the entire NBH Group all of us will raise our hands in unison. And if the group is questioned, "Is Tomas the most obsessive photographer?". I am sure all of you will raise both the hands in unison again. NBH is totally Photo Frenzy group. With tons of Canons and a few Nikons and others (a rarity), everybody in NBH is geared up to photograph one another in addition to the splendid nature. Moreover, in any NBH Hike, Tomas acts like a Photo Warrior, climbing up and down from head to the tail of the group, ensuring that he has all the group members, important spots, all events covered to perfection for the slide show at the end of every hike. On the way, he will offer amateurs like me a lot tips too. Keep this ISO. This focal length should be ideal in this condition. This shutter speed would create a better effect with this light. He is unstoppable. So far so good, but what he did at the end of sumptuous Lunch at Daniele's summer house in Italy left all of us spellbound with his passion for photography.

Pic. 1. Daniele's parents

Pic. 2. Leonellis with the NBH

Pic 3. "The Robin" with his leisure pose

Pic 4. The Curious Case Of a Photographer. Tomas and his model

Pic. 5. Berserk NBH Group (Daniele, Koen, Kaya and Mika)

It was a very special afternoon when most of the Leonelli family (pic 1 and 2) had arrived for the gala lunch. After the sumptuous Lunch as Deniele's uncle Palmo wanted Doggy "The Robin" to be photographed and Thomas with his Canon kneeled down to photograph "The Robin" but Robin was very much adamant and did not want to give up his leisure pose (pic. 3) at any cost and that left Tomas unsatisfied. With a few tricks failing to get The Robin stand, Thomas offered another tip, "You know guys, Animals are best shot with the lens at their eye level." and he went posthumous (pic. 4) photographing The Robin as everybody burst into a huge laughter. Simply Incredible!!! The shot he took was mesmerizing as well. It's a part of the Italy Slideshow. Do have a look. As a side effect, all of us went berserk to shot the photographer and the model. Now on, we'll always remember "Animals are best shot with the lens at their eye level."

Diwali - The Festival Of Light

A Festival Of Light;
Bringing home delight!!!
Make every Diwali;
an event to highlight!!!

Be with family;
enjoy with Friends!!!
When it comes to Joy;
Never make any amends!!!

Hog a lot on special Food
and cheer up the mood!!!
Burst a lot of crackers;
don't be dummy Jokers!!!

-- GuruDeFundae

Festivals and Nostalgia

True or false, Good or bad, fortunate or otherwise, while staying abroad I have always had a feeling that something is amiss. The feeling aggravates the most during the festive season back home. You dearly dearly miss it. Missing colors of Holi downs you. Ganapati comes and goes but hardly hear or sing/hum on the chorus of aarti/bhajans. Navaratri makes you nostalgic looking for the elusive Dandya-Rass. Diwali is probably the worst amongst all suggesting that probably, just probably, you are loosing a tad more than your gains.

This is not only about food as you can cook anything and everything here but probably it's about that vibrancy, that radiance which makes you most nervous, most nostalgic and most craving for the aroma of the land (read Mitti ki Khushboo). On a typical festival day, you end up cooking a delicious meal, catch up with friends and have a nice banter. Indian diaspora is also quite active the world over celebrating the key festivals. Be it Ganesh Chaturthy in Antwerp or Durga Puja in Brussels or Holi and Diwali by ISAL Leuven, they do their bit to bring the community together and attempt to rejoice a bit on the firangi land. But, for me it hardly appeases the solace of the thought that I could have been to the Ganapati Mandir (photo below) early morning for the darshan on a Ganapati day and for most of ten days would have ended up attending the music concerts and other recreational programs. The stroll on the crowded Phadke road early in the Diwali morning is no way near to any walk on the planet. Moreover, missing company of your family members is obviously irreplaceable and you certainly miss them a lot.

Ganesh Puja in Antwerp. Quorum must have been around 1000 and the slogans of "Ganapati Bappa Morya!!!" filled the air. Photo Courtesy: Ajay

Durga Puja @ Brussels. Photo Courtesy: Sagnik babu. I personally was engrossed in an India-Pak Cricket match and decided not to go. If Dandya would have been there...

Ganash Mandir Sansthan, Dombivli. The place I miss the most every Ganapati. Phadke Road next to it is what I miss every Diwali :-(

Unfortunately, this is the 4th Diwali I am missing (3 abroad and one during the first year @ IIT-M) so far and this one being special it hurts the most. This is the first after Rucha's (my sister's) marriage last year and the home should be abuzz with all the relatives and friends enjoying festivities. They say they are going to miss me. But in reality I am going to miss them the most. The truth is with flesh and blood I am in Leuven, but with heart and sole I am in India, with them @ home...

A Taste Of India...

If Indian cuisine is considered the crown of the world cuisine, Punjabi cuisine could easily be the shining stone demonstrating its glory. The reason why Punjooo food is so popular across the length and breadth of India and places abroad, in my opinion, are the delicious variety of Parathas it offers. From Kashmir* to Kanyakumari and from the Run of Kutch to the Bay of Bengal, everybody craves for them and can go places to hog on them. Where I have had the most delicious Parathas? Well, it's a difficult question to answer but probably the Parathawali Gali near Chandani Chawk and the roadside ones next to IIT-D gate in Delhi are etched in my memory for a long long time. But obviously the list goes on and on...

To me, Akhil certainly is a veteran Paratha expert in Leuven and in addition to Parathas what I love the most is the vintage tomato chutney he prepares. Both these things go so wonderfully well together. Sukhi almost makes them single handedly (guess with left hand) and my new neighbor Amrit is as adept as anybody can get at the art. Taking a cue from all, we decided to give a shot at making Parathas at my new place. Being the tutor, it was natural that Amrit's Parathas were superb. I was awestruck though, when I saw my first Paratha slowly but surely took the shape of a circle. Well, almost circular :)

Guru's First Paratha

Lasnachi Koshimbir (Garlic n Curd), a Maharashtrian delicasy learnt at Millionaire's place in Leeds also went very well with the Punjooo Parathas. Tamil delicacy Pachadi (composed of ginger and curd) that Sandeep prepares should also go well. Isn't it wonderful the way cuisines from different parts of the India come together and result in what could be termed A Taste Of India...

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* Sagnik wants Kashmir to be replaced by Kathmandu in the present context. Reason: Amrit hails from kathmandu.

She came; She saw and She conquered...

"काय करताय?(What are u guys doing?)", Kiran could not control the curiosity looking at the near liquidous Modak flour and our floured hands. Question did nothing but to rub the salt on our deep wounds as we ourselves were trying to come to terms with the fact that Modaks have turned out to be a complete disaster. So much so that, we were finding it difficult even to put them in the simplest form, forget about much revered and dreamed Modak's shape.

The plan was indeed to make modaks during the Ganesh Chaturthi and having done them last year under Harshada's tutelage, I was hopeful to pull them off this year too. Moreover, Madhura# and Nandan, the most enthusiastic foodies in Leuven were set to don the lead role and all I was supposed to do was to arrange things, offer a bit of moral support and of course eat my heart out on the day. This would have proved to be a nice surprize for Harshada and Prabhat (and new born Nitya) too. All things were set. We zeroed on the recipe to follow and the aroma of the modak feeling filled the entire room. The taste of partial success made us more enthusiastic. Madhura cracked a joke. You know what my grandma used to say, "It's very difficult to screw up modaks. Why in the world would a recipe with lots of coconut and Jaggery get screwed up?" But we managed to do the improbable in the 2nd Innings and screwed up the flour a big big way. From last year's experience, the crux of preparing nice modaks is to shape them when the dove is warm. This is a very crucial step. But, the flour became so soggy that the it could have been declared as dead drowning in the water. We added a part of extra flour and tried to fix it to some extent but nothing really worked and all we ended up was these pieces, if one dares to call them modaks :(

The disaster that we need to call our modaks :(

Now, all our hopes rested on one individual and it was Harshada - The Annapurna. If there was one who could fix the flour it was her. She came and in no time realized the grand plan we had. She saw the messy flour and started giving steadfast instructions and in a while She conquered all the obstacles in the way to shape the first modak of the day to make us all jump with joy. The rest of the modaks were a mere formality. Thanks to her expertize*, we could have our taste of Modaks this year. Not to mention that we ended up stuff ourselves heart out.

Harshada's Fix to our Modaks. I am not terming them as Harshada's modaks as the usual ones look far more beautiful than these fixed ones. should blog them the next time we/she makes them

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# Madhura's enthu to try out new and newer recipes (and feed us) is endless. One can never forget the Tikhatmithachya Purya (Do not request translation) and Bhaji, she had prepared during the Madonna Event Hike. Being enterprizing, she has a courageous plan to start a small eat out place in Leuven. If any of you are interested to participate in such an endeavor, please contact me.

* An expert is the one who has done all possible mistakes achieving the goal. We are now a step closer as far as the modaks are concerned :)