The FIFA World Cup 2010 has sure come packed with many surprises. The occurrence of certain shocking happenings that came to pass this time has sure rocked the confidence of many soccer buffs, who usually have a certain "smugness" writ upon their face when the "conversation around the water cooler" turns to their favorite topic of soccer. So, to some extent, i don't feel that empathetic towards them. I can't call myself a "soccer fan" as such, as i'm rather indifferent to this sport which demands an hour and a half of your full attention just to witness a moment of glory which lasts a few seconds. For me, its not a good return on investment "time-wise". For me, its more like eating crabs, because you have to put in a lot of effort just to get to the "eatable-part". (Vegetarians, don't worry, i don't expect you to understand...lol...). But, frankly, though you're compensated with the adrenaline rush everytime your favorite team reaches anywhere near the vicinity of "the D", i somehow don't get a kick out of watching matches ending in a "draw". So, i'm not the regular football crazy guy who can rattle off the entire biography of their footballers( as opposed to just the names of their WAGs in which i'm more interested....lol...), but once the world cup starts, my dormant football genes awaken from their four year long slumber and all of a sudden i'm unwittingly a part of a world consisting of statistics and football trivia and football gossip.

This year hasn't been different. I can't claim to have seen every match minute to minute and as a matter of fact haven't seen any matches except the midnight ones. And i don't want to stretch the already over-blown impact that the WC shockers have had on the football community, so i won't be bringing up any of the "Hand of Clod" or "Referee goof ups" or "France wtf were u thinking" episodes or "England when will u realize that you're all in the same team" agendas. No no no.... that stuff is trite and i guess you could write another "Illiad" out of these topics. I was particularly touched by the "Ghana vs Uruguay" quarter final. Now this match in a Quarter final is something people wouldn't be losing sleep over. I mean i haven't seen a single person out here in India going "ga-ga" over any of them, like "buying shitty fifa tees and cups and saucers with their favorite Ghanaian or Uruguayan player on it"....( Bt then again being a slacker when it comes to soccer, i wouldn't know if such whackos do exist, so forgive me if i'm wrong..:p) So, where were we... ah.. the boring match that somehow i'm blogging about... So, what was in it?? The usual kicking the ball around. But this time, with every shot on goal the heart rates of an entire continent fluctuated. Ghana- a puny little country with a GDP of 16.7 Billion $( much less than the money in the pockets of a number of Indian industrialists)- had something to smile after a long time when they took the first lead in what was a clean effort. The match had all the elements of a Boxing match that a soccer match offers, but the amusing thing was that it was a one sided war- by that i mean that the only people punching were the Uruguayans and the only people getting punched were the Ghanaians. I don't know whether the Ghanaians read "My experiments with true by MKG", but they seemed to act like his non-violent follower clan. That's what made it even more pathetic. A fluke shot at the end of the first half got them a good chance of making it to the next stage, but an "exceptionally brilliant" comeback 9 mins into the second half by the Uruguayans saw the Ghanaians struggling to avoid extra time. All said and done, what intrigued me the most was the last minute of the last half of the extra time which saw an act so seemingly cruel that crushed the spirits of an entire continent. The people out there literally had tears in their eyes- some were tears of the anguish, some of happiness following the penalty. But mine were totally glazed and surprised. This was the height of conceit any team could go to just to win. Its true that the glory begotten by any team worthy enough of lifting the cup is far more than all the riches of the world combined, but in the juicy lust of achievements, people often forget the greater purpose and lose sight of the big picture. "My game is fair play", is not just a catchy-quote that the FIFA adopted to adorn their emblem, but it is a reminder that the game what they are playing ain't just soccer, but also a game of honesty and fair play. It is one thing to stretch yourself to your limits to achieve something, but its something else to forget morals and be hell-bent on winning. Results don't justify the means out here. The means are of utmost importance here as you as play role model to millions of aspiring kids out there. I really pity the fans of luis suarez. And more so i pity the continent of Africa, who for one fraction of a second thought they've done it and lived up to the "this time for Africa" slogan that is the gift of this world cup to this world, only to be deprived of the joy by an act of uncomprehendable conceit. I empathize with Ghana and just can't wait for the 6th of July when Netherlands kick their ass. Won't be sympathizing with Uruguay even if they are brutally murdered( figuratively of course, but i won't mind it either ways...:P...) on-field.

The sire driven by desire

Man is undoubtedly an animal, biologically speaking, but of course there are certain traits not found in other organisms that keep him on top the food chain and the undisputed "master of the Earth". These traits that make him superior aren't physical, nay! They are the spiritual aspects, emotional, psychological, and most important the power of thought that make man so unique. One of these is well, an innate craving for more of everything. Be it spiritual or temporal, abstract or physically realizable, there are things that all of us crave in varying degrees. No man can claim himself to be totally devoid of "desires". If he has no material desires, he definitely has spiritual ones. In fact to some extent it is good to have desires in life. It is good to pause for a while and think of what we really want and day-dream about actually having it. It is the "desires" that drive us to do things. Every action has a motive based on a "desire". It is the "desire to live" that has accounted for the phenomenon people in the scientific community refer to as "adaptation". And even in our day to day life, our desires make it easier to brave whatever bullshit life throws our way.

However, "desire" cannot escape the universal law of "things have both a good as well as bad side". And yes, it is the degree of desire that actually differentiates it from good and bad. It is the degree and motive of desire that has caused classifications like "motivation", "inspiration", "ambition", "greed", "lust", "mania". Though there is a wide chasm of good and bad that separates the first three from the last three, it should be noted that both there is a very thin line separating the two. And its very easy to get carried away and get mixed up between them. At times what we feel is just an innocuous desire for something often overpowers us and turns into a "mania". To be very frank, we just don't know where to draw the line. It is true that we achieve things only when our "desires" materialize through our physical or mental efforts, but there is no limit that we set in our minds. All of us are prone to "test the waters" to see how much more we can get out of a situation, even though we are fully aware that we've already got more than how much we wanted to get in the first place. And the previous desire is replaced by a new desire to get something that was never on our mind in the first place.

Take the example of somebody who walks to office everyday. He envies people who have enough allowance to travel by bus or other public conveyance. Now look at the guy sitting in the bus. Every morning as taxis and ricks pass by wonders how good it would be to be able to afford a personal "taxi" on hire. Now, shift to the guy in the taxi. He looks out of his window and fancies something as trite as a Maruti, arguing that even though its a cheap and small vehicle, it atleast is his own. And the guy in the Maruti just drools at a Merc that passes by. Whereas the guy in the Merc has his eyes set on a private chopper maybe. So, its a never ending cycle of wants that are present in almost every thing associated with our lives. And its good to some extent as it is a benchmark to analyze our progress. I mean it would be stupid if three generations of people in a family pass by just by being happy to manage with the least possible.

But what i want to point out is that, "People associate their happiness with these material things". This is by far, the most ridiculous thing that a human mind has perceived( that of course beside Himesh brand of music and acting, not to mention re-electing Bush for a second time to ruin whatever was left of the American economy...jokes apart..) It is crazy to condition our happiness on the occurrence of events like "a promotion" or "a better lifestyle" and then we spend a miserable life working hard just to get there at the summit of our dreams, only to discover that it isn't as comfy-cushy as we expected it to be. There's no "holding hands and singing about and dancing about happily" that we expect to happen...(lol). And in the bargain to reach there, we've already spent a rather miserable lifetime. Its very similar to suicide bombers, who are in such a rush to die and be rewarded with 72 or so virgins. It'd be funny if, after they die, they get a 72 year old virgin. For all you know, it can be a big mis-interpretation. For all you know, the 72 virgins maybe "guys". What you going to do then?( Lol.... any suicide bombers or Al-Qaeda reading this, m sorry guys, but "Screw you!!!What has to be said, just has to be said"...) My point being we don't realise that we don't need to be a billionaire, or the most popular person in the world or stinking rich to be happy. We can be happy with what we have. Happiness is just a "perception" and of course, the "remote control" is totally in our hands. That is the entire secret of creation and here i am just giving out this gyaan for free. We all are the masters of our own bodies- be it our physical or our spiritual, mental or emotional being.

The problem is "We are too used to being sad to such an extent that we feel "guilty" being happy". We feel so awkward being happy, that we soon give it up and pretend that "life sucks" and show up with a miserable face. Yeah, its true, all of us have rough days, sometimes months, but it is no excuse to mope about and look for sympathy. Though this write up looks like its been inspired by a Simpson episode(where it starts with one thing and ends up with a totally different thing.....) nt that i mind being a Simpsons writer...hehehe, but the point is, we got to take a leaf out of the book of the "yellow fat guy haunting our TV screens for over 20 years now", and that is "No matter whatever happens in life, be shameless enough to get up in the morning and pretend nothing has happened and move on with life." I mean life is too short to mope about. By the time it takes us to cry and wipe our tears in our hankies, countries will have already bombed other countries for their oil, hundreds filmstars will have died of drug overdose, Himesh will have already released another 1000 romantic songs, hundreds of people might already listened to those songs and committed suicide and Tiger woods would have scored another perfect hole in one, if you get my drift. My point being, we just can't miss these absolutely amusing things that happen all around us just cos we are teary-eyed.. Switch on the Telly- there are so many things happening to get ur mind off. Watch politicians tearing each other to bits. Go for an adventure- get injected with swine flu. Drink hooch and get hospitalized. Bet all your life savings on Satyam stocks just for fun. Get killed in Nascar racing. There's so much to do in life. We seriously are a bunch of funny people living in an even funnier world.....

He rose above heroes

Heroes have come, heroes have gone.

Heroes are here, likewise shall they go.

Their deeds, their words, their thoughts, all high

They’d do anything short of touching the sky

The world will acclaim their deeds for a while,

But, bye and bye in memory they’ll be gone miles.

And another would then take his place.

Many have and many will run this race.

But when we think, speak and act

See that it benefits the least of the pack,

By doing so, we’ll not receive worldly applaud-

But, we’re heroes in the eyes of God.