Seasons Spirit
December is king of the months.
One gets bit reflective on the memories of the year that has almost gone past.
Some ambitious ones plan for the next year while some people gifted with
sangfroid mind correctly just live in present. But then this is a month to
indulge in everything be it food, fun and things you like. And imagine if you
throw in all the birthdays in family, anniversary in the concoction goes crazy.
So this month let’s forget about G20, Presidential woes in US and France,
Brexit, Trade Tariffs, 2019 elections and state elections, forget about Modi’s
religion, forget DeepVeer, forget Picnic (Priyanka and Nick), Bank NPAs,
Sensex, Caste based Reservations, Eternal problems in Pakistan, Yuti and
Aghaadi, Water woes of Pune, Traffic in Pune. So the world is turning in 24
hours as it was and Earth revolving around Sun for another year just like
before. Usual sound bites resounding world over. Let’s sit back and enjoy.
For me Cricket (not playing) is not
just enjoyment but more than way of life, and Cricket in Australia is special.
Itched in the memories are those early morning alarms (though now its late/mid
night parties), channel9 transmission, Final Frontier. Audi, Radio Australia
pre 90s, Ind Aus rivalries filled with sledging, controversies, players,
commentators. It all started in 81 with
me glued to Radio and watching Highlights in the evening with seagulls flying
behind square leg umpire. Chappell’s, Lilee, Border were some tough players.
And that magic spell from my favorite Kapil Dev. Then there were morning ODIs
in B&H trophy in 1985 with colored clothing. India playing some fabulous cricket and it was
great TV experience even on our black and white TV and finally champion of
champion Audi ride. The 85-86 tour was the closest we got to win a series down
under with rebuilding Australia but for rains. This series was followed by ODI Tri
Series typical to Australian Summers which is no longer a feature in Cricket. The
longest tour of 91-92 saw rise of young Tendulkar at Perth. But tour was fiasco
except one win against Pak in WC which started unbeaten run for India vs Pak in
World Cups.
In 99-00 we had hopes inn Sachin as a Captain but team was brittle
as he stood out as batsman and we saw single innings brilliance of VVS in a
lost cause. It was a plain whitewash by Aussies on supreme form and cycle. Then
came Ganguly era when we came close to winning the final frontier but for a
certain Ms Satish Wagh (Indian name for Steve Waugh). We saw defiant Ganguly
innings at Gabba, Great knocks by Dravid at Adelaide, Disciplined Sachin at
Sydney and surprise spell from Agarkar. 2007-8 famous for Monkey gate saw worst
of Nationalism as seen these days in Cricket. We had great spell from Ishant,
return of Veeru, Great Perth innings by Sachin and bowling there. Result though
could have been 2-1 vice versa if not for bad umpiring at Sydney. Thankfully
IPL 2008 happened at a right time to tone down the worst of player
discord. 2011-12 as a series was bad for
India as we saw Dravid and VVS ending their wonderful careers and Virat Kohli
emerging as a great player. Though we lost in 2015-16, the series was close fought
with players like Vijay, Rahane and Pujara joining Virat to launch an
aggressive Indian Team.
2018-19 sounds exciting with
Aussies down with on-field behavioral issues, main batsmen banned but still
they have good bowling attack versus careless and inept Indian batting barring
Virat and Pujara and part Rahane. Waiting to see Prithvi perform in second
test,, and Indian bowlers performing against top order of opposition batting.
They need skills to wrap up the tail.
On the other hand we have Hockey
World Cup; Indian Team looks promising but keeping my fingers crossed. Though
so let’s finish on highest podium after an excellent stadium and ceremony. Chak
De India.
On Entertainment front not
following Bollywood post Badhai ho but ver2.0 seems to create ripples as usual.
Marathi films are looking good especially on Biopic front. Ani Dr Kashinath
Ghanekar was excellent movie making out of no such dramatic story line. Looking
forward to Biopic on P L Deshpande by Mahesh Manjrekar. Indian Idol season is outstanding this time
with quality singers and Manish. Looking forward to grand finale this month. KBC
season is over. The shote shur veer a chiildren’s singing contest in Marathi is
doing great with amazing performances by kids. Judges are great and so is the little
Monitor.
December or say winter has
different connotation depending on Geography. Here in Northern America, we are
hovering below 32 deg F (never known US way of having everything different from
ROW). Long nights with things getting dark as early as 4 pm. With winds things
go nasty in outdoors. Heat is the survival mechanism inside Offices/Schools/
Malls/ Houses/lobbies and Cars. On the
other hand, in Pune popular for its
Gulaabi Thandi, it is the most
salubrious time of the year marked for health drives, events (Sawai), sweaters, monkey caps, shawls, marriages,
travel, parties, Client and family/friends visits from US. Common thing all
across is the festive spirit, shopping, fun, events, parties, family and
friends.
As we buy planners, calendars
(applies to those technologically challenged with due apologies to
environmentalists), there is a sense and sound of a busy highway with endless
and variety of vehicles running at break neck speed to a listener in the nearby
locality. Each one has own vehicle trying to reach the destination earlier than
others throughout the year and December is small detour taking an exit to sit
back, refresh with stimulants, relieve yourself of all the pressure and join
those who love observing endless movement of life. Happy Holidays and Enjoy
December Season
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