Life Etc Etc

Until Next Time, Yours Thoughtfully, Chaitanya J.J.

I seldom set off on a tour or a trek without a book. Books are my source of relaxation and a welcome diversion from the rigors of travel. On one such trip I found myself unwinding on a park bench overlooking a beautiful landscape. I reached for a book within my bag but soon realized that I had left the book behind at home. I had no other recourse but to pull out my mobile and start reading my own blog. 15-20 minutes later when I resumed my trek, the only feeling I had was that my blog made some sense, that for me was my first measure of success .  Life gets very complicated when we refuse to understand or analyze the motivations behind our actions. Life Etc Etc should have been done years ago when a series of personal misfortunes rocked me. The blog and everything associated with it became the farthest thing on my mind during that period. While I was piecing my life together, I remembered something that my mother told me when I was at school. She advised me that things become...

" The road to my 100th post had to go through a chilly 8 KM run! " Spring in the northern hemisphere is not all bloom and sunshine as they make it out to be, there's the frequent rain coupled with the occasional snowfall and then there's the gloom of the dark skies engulfing you at every possible interval. But this was not a gloomy day by any stretch of the imagination. The forecast predicted sun and we had sun. At about 10 degrees Celsius we had the hottest day of the year thus far and I was right there basking in the sun. Now why I was there? Because I had to get out of my house! I was reeling from months of snow and sub-zero temperatures. The weather was just not conducive to keep up a schedule with anything else other than work. I did manage to squeeze in a few hours of gym every week though and was eager to test myself at the right opportunity. The opportunity arrived soon enough in the form of ' The Spring Run-off ' at High Park and I signed up for...

Until Next Time, Yours Thoughtfully, J.J. Chaitanya

I woke up to a morning which no other Indian fan would have liked to wake up to . Chasing a modest total India were 100-odd for six wickets. There was a faint ray of hope however in the form of Jadeja and Dhoni. An hour later when I reached the office that ray of hope burnt like a flame when the partnership brought the target down to about 40 runs. But it didn't last much longer when everything was snuffed out in the matter of a few deliveries. 2019 World Cup Semifinal: When Jadeja and Dhoni kept us in the hunt <Courtesy: ICC > The first thing I did after the match was to attend my morning meeting, thinking that only some positivity in the form of work would allow me to drown the negativity of this defeat. The next thing I did was to reach out to my brother whom I knew had watched the match in its entirety. I also tried to console my best friend who was disconsolate that India had come so close only to lose the match. I  naturally felt bad for the disappointment they experi...

Life and sport rarely offer a sequel upon request, but today the 2019 Queen's Club Championships delivered a heart-warming and larger in every sense sequel to the 2017 edition. The hero on both occasions being our man of the moment, Feliciano Lopez. There's something in the hallowed lawns of Queen's Club that spurns the genius in 'Feli' (as his friends on the tour call him) and transforms him into a mythical hero who scripts incredible sporting moments every time he sets foot on this court. Champion again! (Courtesy: Sportsnet.ca ) The History: But let's rewind a bit, Feli had just concluded winning the 2017 Queen's Club Championships in a thrilling fashion. As an avid tennis fan I was extremely excited about his prospects at Wimbledon 2017 but no sooner had the first round begun Feli was forced to retire with an injury. The next time I saw Feli was in the 2018 Queen's Club Championships where he was in decent form but couldn't get past Ni...

Until Next Time, Yours Inspiringly, J.J. Chaitanya

Until Next Time, Your Inspirer, J.J. Chaitanya

I have a soft corner in my heart for the action films of the eighties . I am also a huge fan of movies where stars are cast against type ( see Vera Cruz ). So, when I got a chance to watch 1988's  Black Eagle  pitting international action star Jean-Claude Van Damme as the 'villain' against acclaimed martial arts guru Sho Kosugi ,   I just couldn't let it pass by. Black Eagle 1988 Plot When a US F-111 jet carrying a laser tracking device goes missing in the Mediterranean, agent Ken Tani (Sho Kosugi) code-named ' Black Eagle ' is summoned to retrieve the device before the Soviet KGB acquires it. Ken unwillingly lands in Malta and is immediately targeted by Soviet Agent Andrei (Jean-Claude Van Damme). Will Ken acquire the tracking device? Who wins? (Guess that answer is obvious!) The Cliches Cliches are the life and soul of action movies. When you have a martial arts movie in the spy genre those cliches only double. So here are all the noteworthy cli...

Until Next Time, Your Life Philosopher, J.J. Chaitanya

The Indian Wells Masters is one tournament on the ATP calendar I've consistently enjoyed over the last couple of years. Not only is the tournament well attended but it also arrives on the cusp of spring just when everything is about to look up in the Northern Hemisphere. I still remember the humdinger of a final  from last year and was particularly disappointed that the defending champion Juan Martin Del Potro was unable to defend his title this year because of a nagging knee injury. The magnificence of Indian Wells (Courtesy: Tennis Tours ) The Draw This year though the deck was firmly stacked in favor of the number one seed Novak Djokovic who was in imperious form leading up to the tournament. Novak led the upper half of the draw and was ably supported by mercurially talented players such as Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev, Nick Kyrgios and Milos Raonic. Stefanos Tsitsipas who ousted Novak at the Toronto Masters and Federer at the Australian Open looked set to be dark h...

Until Next Time, Yours Inspiringly, J.J. Chaitanya

Happy Valentine's Day! Until Next Time, Yours Lovingly, J.J. Chaitanya

It was new year night, while the entire world was partying and going crazy with their friends and family, I was fast asleep giving my body some much needed rest. This new year's eve didn't rank in the upper echelon of all the happening new year eves I've had in my life. There was a new year's eve where I flew half way around the world to give a monster surprise to my friends and family, there was one which I celebrated after making a podium finish at Toastmasters District(National) Table Topics contest, there was another where sandy beaches and crystal blue skies were beckoning me for a memorable holiday. Yes, I was blessed to be a part of some fantastic New Year Eves but none of those years gave me the peace that 2018 did. So how a year ends is not reflective at all of how the year has been . In my blog about 2017 , I wrote about how taking a step back and doing nothing is actually a good thing. 2018 on the contrary was all about getting back on the horse and gallo...

Climb your own Mountain Until Next Time, Your Philosopher of Life, J.J. Chaitanya

We won...! We won...! We won...!  For kids like me who grew up in the 90s the thought of India beating Australia in Australia was as inconceivable as dating a Ms. World or a Ms. Universe (but yours truly did think of... ahem! ahem! let's not go there). Yeah, stars have to be seriously aligned for a victory such as this to happen and stars were indeed aligned when Warner, Cameron and Steve were all sent off on a vacation for playing around with a certain  tape . That vacation helped the Indian Team succeed in their triennial vocation. Mantra for Steve / Warner / Cameron : If you use tape your team will scrape . The above mantra was just the beginning, I set out on a journey where I personally uncovered several such lessons while watching this coma inducing, patience numbing, sometimes nerve wracking but ultimately gratifying series. Let's take a look at all the lessons I've grasped one by one: Players with rock solid and dependable techniques don't get IPL contracts...